#but i also love fenris and my hawke's romance

[kurp-stuff]

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[kirkwallguy]

sorry thinking about this because of a reddit post (never a good sign lol) but the fact that da2 and dav actually have really similar approaches to romance but one works well and the other falls completely flat needs to be studied. i think the issue is that even though you could argue they have similar levels of content (no repeatable kisses, only a handful of cutscenes), da2 hides bits and pieces of extra development in its quests that make the chosen romance feel like it has a presence in hawke's life, while dav romances feel almost like they disappear whenever a scene isn't specifically about the companion / romance. tiny moments like aveline judging hawke on their choice of partner or the romanced companion comforting hawke after leandra's death all add up to make it feel more significant and constant throughout the game. if you're lucky with dav's romances you'll get a banter and an extra cutscene but the time between locking in and the cutscenes in act three gets EXTREMELY dry.

[redcallisto]

A buncha my DA2 doodles featuring my Hawke (who's definitely not just my Other OC plopped into the DA universe)

More below

[apricote]

fun fact: he’s 6′11″ feet tall and bisexual.

[veatomis]

It's. Kind of insane how the datamined gondola/epilogue scene let me have a clearer idea on how lucanis would be post game but it also made me realize how much he and elio just don't belong together... I know that the reason why he's like that with both a romanced and just a friendly rook is not necessarily because it's in character or anything like that but rather how bad production for this game was and how little everyone cared abt rook themselves but god. the way most lines lucanis has interacting with rook are him acting annoyed abt them being there one way or another just doesn't sit right with me. It's kind of yet another bellara situation... you have the protag support these characters thru their absolute worst and they still end up acting like they dgaf ESP compared to the other games where it does feel like there's a real connection between companion and protag

[huldrabitch]

Fenris appeciation post. You're gonna have a character says these things geniunly, openly, and honorably with his whole chest ,and not have me fall in love with him? guess again bioware

[toastysol]

Really want npcs in video games to tell the player that they love them when you do their quests and are their friend. Stop making "i love you" locked behind a romance.

Same coin, let players tell their npc companions that they love them without making it all about romance. Heroes shouldn't have to rizz up their friends to tell them that they love them. Let me say "I love you" to my pixel besties dammit!!!

[luke-naberrie]

i saw that dragon age veilguard hasn't sold well (in the official statement, they specifically said that 1.5 million copies had 'reached players' so it must have sold even worse than that which. yikes) and while i'm quite gutted about that, ea and bioware also only have themselves to blame for it.

they let ten entire years pass between inquisition - a game that, for the most part, dragon age fans generally really like, at least for the lore - and veilguard. in those years, we saw them make andromeda, anthem, and heard reports of them trying to make the-then new dragon age game live service. thankfully we didn't get a live service dragon age game in the end, but a lot of the original writers were dropped, and i think that shows with the quality of the writing in veilguard.

i've never played dragon age for the gameplay, in any of the games. i despise the gameplay in origins - it's clunky and horrible and the deep roads makes me want to let the darkspawn win. but i love the story, which is why i endure the deep roads and the fade. the same in da2, which is probably my favourite of the entire series, even with the repeating dungeons (actually i love the repeating dungeons. i like knowing where things are), and the same in inquisition with the companions who feel like real people (cassandra pentaghast my beloved).

veilguard... the cuts show in the writing quality. the best character was emmrich (and assan and manfred) and from what i've heard he also had the best romance. which is another thing that suffered greatly - the romances (other than emmrich's). in a game series known for its romances, to the point where bioware was marketing the game as the most romantic as the series, how have they managed to mess it up that badly? cullen and solas' romances were late game additions in inquisition, and they're some of the best in the entire series, so it can't be an issue of time constraints.

rook's dialogue choices were essentially just different flavours of pleasant. do you want to be cheerful, lesser purple-hawke, or stoic? there's no real choice to be had throughout most of the game. even the choice between minrathous and treviso has little impact beyond what merchants might be available and a couple of later game choices. compared to earlier games, where you could let an entire village be overrun by corpses, or let fenris be taken back by danarius, the lack of choice is rather stark in comparison. the only real choices come at the very end of the game.

AND speaking of choices - the entire series has been about how all our previous choices have always mattered, about how we can always carry them over and use them to influence the world. so it was very much a slap in the face when not only could we not use the dragon age keep or import any choice beyond who we romanced in inquisition and what we wanted to do with solas, but the fact that by the end of veilguard, everything we did from origins to inquisition was all for nothing. bioware's choice to do that to varric was a kick in the teeth to long-term fans. oh, we got a little reference to the hero of ferelden in weisshaupt, how nice. pity they didn't tell us whether they're still alive or not. a shame we don't know hawke's fate.

so no, i'm not surprised that the game did so poorly in sales. i'm disappointed, but i'm not surprised because as i said, it's their own fault. i said back in november that they might not have another chance to make things right, and i hate that i might've been right about that.

this turned into an unintentional rant about all my grievances with the game.

[lunian]

tbh i literally have no idea who I wanna end up with

I see new companion quests on them and lm like scared to do any of them bc what if new conversations randomly start it officially or something, im—

friend is bullying me, saying without hesitation that I'm gonna fall for Anders in Dragon Age 2 even though I haven't even finished Origins yet

I will keep this post to update it later to let yall know if I won or I'm the greatest clown of the circus

[luchael]

So I saw a bunch of romance videos for Fenris on YouTube and since then I wanted to actually not pick the most popular flirty option on our first visit because I felt it was too sudden and coming a bit strong for my tastes of how I arguably projected myself onto Hawke in the limits of the game’s narrative. So getting the chance to actually play myself for the first time I chose to say stuff I cared for and oh my god if Fenris didn’t just open up like the most beautiful blooming flower. So gentle and fragile. His soft smile while complimenting Hawke implied him (I play Garrett) being worthy and fearless in contrast to Danarius’s usual guests, the way he cautiously tested the waters by saying he doesn’t want to bother Hawke with his sob stories, the way he softly chuckles and that line about practicing flattery for our next visit? Did you hear what I did in his intonation there? It totally was meant as a question! That was an invitation and a plea to come back again and spend more time together! Maker’s breath if he isn’t the most precious thing in the world! He’s so lonely and starved for connection and you say Anders is the only one who jumps you after you have shown him kindness? Fenris is also a hopeless romantic, he’s just too good at keeping his veneer of calm. It felt like I was watching the most beautiful pearl oyster opening by just softly listening to the waves! But then if you touch a little bit too close to the trauma asking how young he was when the tragedy happened he shuts down immediately. Oof. I want to gently hold him in the palms of my hands and take him home to Ferelden immediately! I heard people say that his is a story of getting rid of the shackles but still binding himself by their invisible force but the soft spoken longing when asking about your home makes me wonder if his trauma could be healed in another way as well. He didn’t sound rabid or as ready to pursue his enemies to the ends of the universe. He just wanted a home, a friend and a loved one. To live a little. And that is the most poignant tragedy.

[trashcatsnark]

hi my name is snark and im fenris posting again Granted it's not given as much space as I (an angst trauma loving fiend) would've liked, but still a big aspect of fenris' character is him talking about how breaking the mentality of being a slave is/was harder than even physically running away. That's part of what he talks about with the Fog Warriors, following orders, your will not being your own- just feels like a certainty, an undeniable fact you dont even question. And I think about how hard it must be for him to feel like anything is truly his- his freedom, material items, everything. He's not truly used to being able to have anything, for anything to be his. And he still has moments where when he does persue something just to be happy (sleeping with hawke for example) its followed of course by the memories and that overwhelming him, but also this almost guilt and feeling that he never deserved it, can never deserve it. Even his romance line is asserting that he's hawke's, not that they are his, or they are each others- this still sense of, no no, I am yours, I do not deserve to have you be mine, I do not get to have things. Which then, I can't help but think, makes it all the more meaningful that he still can't help but steal away a favor from Hawke. To take that scrap of red fabric from their room, a little emblem with their family crest- and to then hold onto it, for all the years that he's refusing to allow himself what he wants because he doesn't feel worthy or capable of handling it or deserving- but he still feels safe enough, comfortable enough to take from them. To have even small relics of that moment, to keep those mementos only because he wants them, to feel safe enough to want, to have, to take, even if it's just a fraction of what he really wants.

[arrowfortea]

i really think sera is simultaneously fantastic and also a missed opportunity. solas in DA:I took ~7 rewrites, which is understandable since he's set up for like, Big Things. but i think about that a lot when i'm ~*~musing~*~ on what sera could've been.

sera is far and away the only character by bioware i'm similar to as a person IRL, her voice actress is FANTASTIC, i almost always have her in my party bc i love her, (my url is a sera quote!!), and still!!! she feels SO FLAT TO ME!!! and i CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT!!!! this is going to be a very Vibes Based critique and i might pull up quotes etc for a post in future but i just need to. get it Out

maybe it's a "woman written by a man" issue. she feel so close to being Real and Relatable and then swings wide, it's so weird. i do think a deep part of it stems from the writers/narrative going "yeah she can really get on your nerves lol!" — for the most blatant example of this, see: the fact she's the only party member with a constant "get out of the inquisition" button on her dialogue wheel. i also feel this in how hard-line her opinions are, while at the same time she argues them, for the most part, from a place of vibes (like moi Right Now lmao) or shuts down the other side.

it reminds me of da2 where fenris is given time to Discourse with hawke about mages in the gallows, and mage companions in attendance will interject with like "yeah but. locking people up is bad" which YES! IT IS!!! 100% I AM ON YOUR SIDE but the writing gives fenris way more time to Outline his Facts and Logic so the mage companions look like they're just shutting him down in bad-faith.

and there's no real arc for her! her personal quest is about red jenny stuff and maybe working with a guy for the inquisition but then Not. (there is a point to be made about vivienne's personal quest similarly being Lacking in many people's opinion, but as this isn't a post abt her i'm not going to Delve, but i would be remiss not to mention it) yes we HEAR about her backstory but. then that's doneskies.

the romance is just having a good time (unless you're an elf who drank from the well in which case she dumps you which.. i both do and don't take issue with? it makes sense for her as a static character, but i don't WANT her to be static) — again this is where i start to chafe at my own rationale because.. do i want there to be more drama/conflict? yes. do i trust the existing writers to make the lesbian couple's drama not something trite or offensive? mmmmmm. mmmmm.

she has so many interesting aspects but they all feel like they got tacked on and then chucked out the window! the clearest "hey.. what's this meant to be" is how she seems fade-sensitive in banter with solas. i know this is used as evidence for "does she have some andruil in her", which i'm onboard with, but INGAME i'm sad the fade sensitivity seems solely relegated to the solas banters. like? did they just run out of stuff for them to talk about? 💀

her existentialism makes me WANT TO GNAW MY KEYBOARD it's SO EXCITING to see a character touch on existentialism the way she does; "The Nothing" WAS INSANE to see on her tombstone the first time round when i was expecting something juvenile. i knew what it meant immediately and i think it's so interesting; i'm really glad we get a talk with her afterwards abt it. do i also wish this existentialism more clearly permeated her characterisation ahhehehwhehahhe Yes

as for the Elfy issue: i'm not from any of the minorities that the writing for elves draws coding from, so. grain, salt. i don't think "i don't want to be seen as An Elf(TM)", or being not big on the dalish, needed to be handled in such a blatant "this is internalised racism i cannot talk you out of" way. again, fenris in da2 is a dick about the dalish, but he does have a personal relationship with his identity as an elf which feels authentic.

i also hate how shafted city elves got in DA:I so sera being from an alienage (when she was very young) but then that being breezed past makes me. sad whatever I KNOW SHE DOESN'T EVEN REMEMBER IT IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE A THING I JUST WANTED CITY ELVES SOMEWHEREEEE

i do love her journal though. that is top tier and i love it and 5 stars and whoever thought of that is amazing (probably her writer. sigh. credit sadly is due where credit is due /j)

anyway i should probably compile this into a better argued and evidenced post i just !!!!!

[ambrosia-vinca]

There's a kind of defensive attitude towards criticism re:Lucanis' romance in many corners of the fandom that I partially understand because Veilguard gets a lot of shit thrown at it, and if you enjoy something you naturally want to defend it. But this type of attitude also rubs me the wrong way when people who loved the way his romance played out say that anyone criticizing it must just not understand slow burns/not like slow burn as a genre/not understand Lucanis' character and his trauma properly/must have been expecting explicit sex scenes and a Zevran 2.0.

Maybe some people criticizing his romance don't like slow burns, or were wrongly expecting him to be a sex god, or ignore his trauma. I've seen a few. But that's not all the criticism there is.

Personally, I love slow burns, it's my favorite genre both to read and write (I'm the type of fic writer to think up 200k words enemies to lovers longfics where they've barely kissed after 100k words). I'm also the type of ace person who's not into extremely explicit sex scenes or super kinky romances (especially with male dom stuff, which I personally dislike). And lastly, I'm the type who picks the angstiest possible romance choice.

All this to say that Lucanis and his romance were theoretically made in a lab for me. Slow burn because the character doesn't trust easily and is traumatized by his past experiences and has many things he must resolve, excruciatingly slow to open up? Unexpectedly very sweet, wet, sad man with puppy eyes? Romance scenes that are caring and romantic instead of outright steamy? Perfect, right up my alley! I keep romancing Fenris in DA2 exactly for that reason because I love him dearly, and he breaks up with Hawke for 3 whole years! Still my favorite!

But the whole point of a slow burn are the steps. It's a slow burn, which means little step by little step, the relationship slowly builds to a conclusion, from tentative acquaintances who don't trust each other, to slooowly evolve into something more, and it's precisely these crumbs that make the trope enjoyable.

To me, Lucanis' romance doesn't feel like it does little steps, it feels like it skips steps. I can see the main story beats of a good slow burn, but not the crumbs that make a slow burn. I don't want him and Rook to jump each other after 2 scenes, I want to see more of the fumbling, the hesitation, the dancing around each other. No, dragon age isn't a romance game, I'm aware, but if romance is an option, and it is written to fit a specific trope, I would like it done properly. They've done slowburns and angsty before, and they were good (even Solas', and his romance is super short). I want the evolution of the relationship shown to me, not told in broad strokes and big steps, and I don't want to have to write half the romance in my head or rely on ao3.

We get nothing between the coffee date and the almost kiss, absolutely no reaction of any kind to the flirting, not even a blink. If Lucanis and Rook were capable of having an entire conversation about coffee and kisses metaphors when they barely knew each other, then I think they can flirt a bit more in the following conversations when you pick the romantic option, dance around each other, have Lucanis fumble a little more like he does with Neve when he actually registers Rook is sincerely into him. Even just a sign that he heard Rook when they pick the romantic option in the following conversations, because as it is he immediately resumes whatever he was saying. And if his lack of reaction is because he's suddenly afraid and thinks it's a bad idea, I would like it shown on his face, or as an actual noticeable pause/hesitation. It didn't look like he thought it was a bad idea at Café Pietra, unless he just thought Rook was flirting just to flirt and wasn't serious, but again, none of that is hinted at in any way.

Then there's the almost kiss that follows and is the first actually romantic moment we get after the coffee date, and suddenly Lucanis is all smooth and confident about flirting again. With nothing in between ever since *Illario voice* he got all romantic about roasts. Was he reluctant before and that's why he didn't react to Rook's flirting/caring concern? We have no idea, because while he warns Rook it's a bad idea to be attracted to him, he doesn't seem scared, more amused at their daredevil tendencies. The first time in his entire romance we get a clear indication he's afraid and won't open up for a long time is at the end of this specific scene, when he pulls away, and the way it happens is like Lucanis himself wasn't expecting his fear to overcome him. He wants, he lets himself be pulled forward, and then he suddenly gets drowned by overwhelming terror, and he pulls away.

The beginning of the romance (the date + almost kiss) reads to me as if Lucanis was trying to forget the Ossuary, letting himself flirt and feel attraction and just simply live again as if nothing happened, believing if he didn't think about his trauma and forcefully moved forward then it would stay buried, and then the Ossuary unexpectedly caught up to him, because you don't just bury things like that, it always comes back up at some point if you make no effort to actually process what happened.

And then there's nothing again for a long while. I can imagine Rook leaving space for Lucanis because they're considerate of his feelings and they can see something is deeply wrong, but still, something big and awkward happened between them! Not even one conversation where they try to gently broach the subject and Lucanis immediately clams up? What about some mentions of how awkward things suddenly are between the two? Even through party banter? We got plenty about Hawke and Fenris' situationship in DA2 after Fenris pulls away. The other companions comment on their breakup and how it's painfully obvious they're in love still, no matter what happened, and there are a few banters between Hawke and Fenris themselves. Surely things are a little tense and awkward between Rook and Lucanis as well at that point, and their friends would notice? They don't spend as much time together as they used to, Lucanis doesn't talk directly to Rook much anymore unless he has to, can't quite look them in the eye, doesn't want to stay alone in a room with them. He is still protective of them because he obviously cares very much, but can't bring himself to have an honest talk about his feelings and fears because he's still completely locked in his mind prison and would rather deal with his problems by stabbing his enemies.

Rook being lost because they haven't been inside his head yet and they're not sure if it's because of what Lucanis has been through, or if they did something wrong to get them rejected, and they're stuck because Lucanis completely refuses to open up. There are so many little things that could have been implemented to actually serve as the little steps for the slow burn. You're telling me even Emmrich or Neve, perceptive as they are, wouldn't have noticed their two friends suddenly being awkward and sad and not try to talk to Rook about it at the very least?

And then there's the mind prison where Rook gets all Lucanis' fears and insecurities explicitly told to them. Immediately followed by the scene where you lock in the relationship as he makes them dessert.

Were they in a relationship?? When did they get together? Do they get together right there in the kitchen by the sheer power of cake (ok, relatable)? You don't know! They almost kiss, things are theoretically painfully awkward between them for a while, Rook discovers the substance of his trauma, and poof. They're a couple. Yes, I know that Lucanis' love language is acts of service, but did they communicate at all at any point about what's going on between them? Surely even if Rook helping him out of his head puts him on the road to eventual recovery, it didn't suddenly erase all of Lucanis' trauma and fears and doubts.

I liked Rook calling out the subtext of what Lucanis says in that scene (“it's nothing, or not enough”/”it is, and you are”), I did think it was sweet and perceptive of them. But still, we go from attraction to pulling away to suddenly committing to a relationship with never actually discussing exactly what goes on between them. Never outright deciding they want to try something serious. There wouldn't have been much actual flirting or sincere conversations between them after the almost-kiss, for obvious reasons, so how does Lucanis know Rook hasn't moved on/isn't angry at him after all this time, considering how they didn't communicate at all afterwards and he's not exactly the best at feelings and self-confidence? He just talks as if it's a given they're attracted to him still, and only worries about not being good enough for them. I wanted crumbs of reassurance from Rook, more than what we got, because Lucanis' probable guilt is never actually tackled in any way – he had perfectly valid reasons to pull away, of course, but considering how much he blames himself for anything and everything, I'm pretty sure he would also blame himself for hurting Rook's feelings, even if they're understanding and not actually angry with him at all.

Idk. I have a lot of thoughts, especially about the middle of his romance. The last big scene we get is one of my favorites through all dragon age games, it was so sweet, but I still felt like the entire middle part of the romance lacked a lot of slow burn crumbs, and I was still hungry when I got to the end.

[loquaciousquark]

Hello! Not a question just wanted to drop in and say I loved watching your playthrough of Veilguard. I’ve been a long time lurker reading and enjoying practically every fic of yours so it was really fun to hear your process of developing Kata’s personality and motivations.

Most days I’d have it on while I was at work but I finished it on Friday so now I don’t know what I’m gonna do to make the workday go faster haha. Anyway just wanted to say thank you for sharing it! The DA fandom can be cranky to say the least so seeing you genuinely enjoy the game was like a breath of fresh air (not to mention a lot of your reactions to characters and lore drops were very similar to mine)!

Hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

Ahh, I'm so glad! I had a blast with this game, start to finish, & I'm very close to starting a fresh Nightmare runthrough which I do intend to stream. I have such a better idea of who Kata is now, and I want to take her through the game again and get her narrative really right, especially as regards the timing & story structure. Plus, I want to figure out exactly where the Lucanis romance beats fall for her; I don't think that kiss at the end is their actual first kiss, but I don't know where it actually is!

Plus, I found that combat honestly so fun, and I want to enjoy the early levels again where it's no powers, all skill. I want to feel rewarded for my perfect parry timing & my headshots!! I want to go back to the fundamentals!!

Yeah, I've heard the game had its controversy, but I've done what I can to stay away from that, ahaha. I went into this game prepared to be pleased and with very low expectations, and keeping the mindset of "this game development was restarted twice & it's a miracle it exists at all" helped a lot. It also helped that my immediate circle of DA fans (who played well before I did) really loved the game as well, which I'm sure colored my opinion.

Plus, I think my total detachment from Veilguard's development period honestly was a huge boon. Because Inquisition didn't land for me the first time I played it, I didn't touch that sandbox at all! I didn't spend ten years thinking about Veilguard's possible storylines or Solas's outcomes or writing speculative meta about the Veil; I stayed firmly in my very Kirkwallian DA2 playground & was happy there. I think I wrote Solas's name in fic literally once. If I'd been invested at all in his story back then, if I'd had a decade to think about what I wanted from VG and for Solas and my Lavellan, I think I would have gotten super invested in certain ideas and concepts and possibilities and been inevitably disappointed.

(This segues into a half-thought I've been tossing around—I was quite shocked when a friend told me some people were sad there wasn't an option to side with Solas & complete the ritual, which had literally never once occurred to me as a desirable thing in all my DAI/VG playtime. I wonder if that's because I spent so many millions of words & thousands of hours in DA2's very Veiled-Off universe; to destroy or remake that world would feel like its own death to me, and a death of the future I wanted for Hawke & Fenris. Maybe that's why I felt so strongly against it the whole time. Food for thought!)

Anyway, not having an Inquisitor I loved until about five months ago I think really benefited my experience, as did not having to wait before playing the game. I'd never read a Solavellan fic in my life! I'd never had one iota of investment in his outcome! I'd spent ten years watching tragic fanart float over my dash and sadly shaking my head at those woeful Solas girlies! While the reversal of my own investment was an absolute slap in the face, it did mean I was able to go into VG with the emptiest head & the lowest romance expectations, which meant I was super easy to please from the start, hahahah.

It also helped that the stuff VG got right for me was way more important than the stuff I didn't like as much. The Solas material, Rook, the combat system, the Inquisitor they built, the companions, the back third of the Lucanis romance—those were great. I loved those. I left those events with a huge smile on my face. Those things were infinitely more important to me than the stuff I struggled with (some vocabulary/world tonal mismatches, the middle third of the Lucanis romance, some storylines/quest beats I thought were pretty heavyhanded). It's not a perfect game in any sense, but it did so many things I loved that to dwell on the misses doesn't seem productive.

I mean, I have a million words of DA2 on AO3. I lived in that world for like fourteen years, and boy does that world have holes. Plot, mechanics, combat, characters, even the non-brown-ness of the graphics—it was a complete break from so many of the Origins systems. I remember the huge outcry when that game was released. I remember seeing posts of people shredding their DA2 discs and burning the case inserts. I remember people absolutely railing against Anders' characterization and getting in huge arguments on the kink meme about the Arishok & Elthina & Isabela's pants. There've always been huge jumps in world implementation from game to game, and with the super long dev time, I figured VG would be the same. I guess I just tried to keep that in mind as I moved forward.

(I think it also helps that while I loved my Inquisitor and grew very fond of Solas over my replay, I still don't think DAI is a very good game. I do not like the map design, the combat system, or some choices they made with some of the companions; I think the inventory & UI systems are criminally clumsy. Those are really important aspects of modern gaming to me [I was much more tolerant the first time I played DA2, sue me], and for VG to polish those so well significantly improved my enjoyment of actually playing the thing.)

(Another side thought: I do wonder how some of VG would have been received had it released eight years ago instead of right before the election last year. The world was different then, and I wonder if some material would have seemed less graceless at that time, and if some voices would have been less virulent.)

Anyway, this reply has completely gotten away from me; if nothing else, thanks for giving me a place to finally get down some of these thoughts! Like I said, I'm really eager to get back into the game & Kata's story, & I'll post here when those streams start. Thank you so much! <3 <3

[spoilertheydied]

ugh I hate to be negative about things that I love but seriously DAV only referencing inquisition’s events (and even then only 3 choices) has hurt my excitement for the new game so much.

Even within the choices they give us it feels geared towards a sollavelan inky - I romanced Cassandra but she became divine and ended the relationship: none of that is going to be reflected in the game because the divine decision isn’t imported.

None of the characters who may have died in the other games can have cameos now (Isabela, Zevran, Fenris) no matter how much sense it would make for them to be in nothern Thedas - and even if they do what they did with Leliana no potential romance or history with previous characters can be acknowledged.

Even for the DAI characters - most of them could have left the Inquisition through DAI so any cameos from those characters are either cut off, or wouldn’t truly make sense (mainly thinking about Dorian here because he’s in Tevinter regardless but also could have left the Inquisition if he had low approval in DAI).

The two characters from DAO/DA2 that we have confirmed will feature in the game (Morrigan, Varric) won’t be able to reference any potential past with previous characters - I romanced Morrigan but didn’t do the ritual so Kieran was not an old god in my run and my warden died + Hawke was left in the fade - none of which can be mentioned because it isn’t imported - despite how critical both of those events were to Morrigan/Varric.

DAI was my least favourite of the 3 games and while I was interested in Solas as a character I wasn’t invested enough to truly care about whether I wanted to kill or redeem him - and yet the only choices that will have any impact on my game will be Solas related?

idk I want to be so excited for DAV - I’ve had other problems with things we’ve seen in previews but its never been serious enough for me to lose the optimism I had for the game - but I was *so* excited for the small cameos and even one off dialogue lines or codex entries referencing previous world events (and I knew they were going to be slightly more limited without the keep but I was still expecting something at least).

I don’t want to say the game won’t be *good* without them because I haven’t played it so I just don’t know - but I’m almost convinced at this point that any callbacks to previous games will only be fulfilling if i say I romanced Solas in DAI.

[andarans]

a love letter to dragon age.

i’ve been trying to cope with the news that all the dragon age devs have been laid off or reassigned these past two days, and i just…. it’s hard. it might sound silly to say but i’ve barely been able to do anything because i feel as if i’ve lost a family member. took today to have a good cry. dragon age was such a formative series for me. i joke all the time i got into it for the romances and stayed for the lore but really everything about it i love, dearly. i love that each companion and side character had stories that moved me and made me cry, stories i could relate to even in a world with magic and dragons. i love how the lore is presented, including the brilliance that is the codex—that you’re never quite sure who to believe, that discovering the truth requires you to be an archaeologist. i love how my choices always mattered, that decision i made in origins affected my playthrough in inquisition. i loved the message dragon age as a series sent, about corruption, about power, about propaganda. dragon age influenced so much of my fantasy tastes and own writing and art. it left such a huge mark on my artistic inspirations and work. hell, my first ever dnd character was a tiefling that pretty much looks like a qunari with having a backstory that affected the world she was in, reminiscent of the depiction of elves in dragon age (still one of my favorite and nuanced takes on elves in fantasy, btw). even with the dnd campaign and world i’m writing now, i see dragon age in nooks and crannies. i wrote so much fanfic and drew so much fanart and made so many theories and anxiously followed every bit of news for the development cycle of veilguard. i’d watch the game awards every year with my friend hoping for dragon age news. speaking of friends, god i made so many friends because of dragon age. that common interest sparked so many fun conversations and ideas. i even was a writer for an anders focused dragon age charity zine.

above all i loved the community around dragon age. sure, fandoms all have its moments and toxicity, but by and large my experience with the DA community was wonderful. i love getting to see people’s OCs and world states because i also obsess over my DA OCs and world states. i love getting to see people write theses about dragon age’s themes and masters worthy character studies. the communal love for this world and its characters is so, so profoundly inspiring.

i’ve spent so much time moping but i do want to highlight what i loved about each game and my favorite characters.

DAO: my first intro to the series. by god the gameplay was so slow but the story and characters and lore and writing made it SO worth it. made me appreciate CRPGs too. alistair ended up becoming my favorite character, i remember actually gasping and blushing at the rose moment in his romance. the landsmeet is still one of my favorite quests, i love fantasy political intrigue. morrigan also was my best friend, when she called my warden a sister i cried.

DA2: one of the most underrated games by far. i loved the smaller scale, i loved how personal hawke’s story felt, i loved every single companion and this found family. fenris was my first romance and one of my favorites, he is so complex and misunderstood and secretly has the best sense of humor. i think anders ended up becoming my favorite though—god, anders. i could speak about him for hours but i appreciate the DA devs for what they did for him and letting us romance him. anders made me appreciate his character archetype so much; he is such a tragic man transformed by bitterness and vengeance and rage. “ten years from now, a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no templars to tear them apart.” i love you anders.

DAI: i love the inquisitor. i love how tragic of a character the inquisitor is, ripped from their life and forced to become an idol for a movement they might not even believe in. a lot of people criticize DAI for being “the chosen one” cliché, but it’s not. it’s a critique of that very trope and how it destroys a person. the inquisitor is forced to become an idea, and it does not matter who they actually are; they have all autonomy taken from them, and that is horrifying. cullen ended up ruining my life for a good amount of time, his romance is my favorite in all the series and god he got such a good redemption and ending. (i even bought cullen themed soap from a local convention, lol. i’m telling you i was obsessed). and in my replay solas’ romance absolutely destroyed me, turning him from my dearly detested to my dearly beloved. god trick weekes i will miss you so much, thank you for writing solas.

DAV: i know how contentious veilguard is. believe me i have many of my own criticisms. but i still love it anyway. i love the companions, all of them, i love how act 3 absolutely fucking gutted me and made me cry twice. i loved the amazing visuals and character creator and ost and environments. i love the QOL improvements. i loved seeing the cameos and my inquisitor again. there’s so much to love in veilguard and i’d rather talk about how much i love it than what i didn’t. lucanis was my first romance and while there wasn’t as much content as i was hoping for, i sincerely appreciate what we did get. i love how ride or die he is, how his love language is acts of service, how he’s afraid to hurt rook. i love his facial animations in his romance, i love zach mendez’s performance. i’m hoping to play emmrich and davrin’s next, and i’m sure i’ll love them too.

it’s hard to accept the fact that dragon age is probably over. it makes me sad knowing we’ll never find out about certain lore questions or know what DA5 could’ve looked like. and i’m still so angry for the developers and how they’re so callously treated and thrown away by EA/bioware. sometimes i wonder if the same thing would’ve happened if veilguard sold more. but it’s not helpful to dwell on these what-ifs, because we’ve seen how the industry treats both successful games and what they deem as failures: layoffs and no remorse. i hope the team finds work soon. i hope they realize how loved their work is. i hope someday the game industry is completely, wholly unionized. i’m glad at least we got veilguard to answer the biggest questions we’ve had.

thank you, DA devs, for everything. thank you for answering our silly questions about your characters favorite coffee flavors and perfect date nights. thank you for bringing them to life. i won’t stop playing the games or making art or fic. i won’t stop being inspired. dragon age lives on in my creations, in my dnd characters, in everything. i hope to be back in thedas soon, one day. dareth shiral.