#edit: take a shot every time i say 'like' for rapid onset alcohol poisoning

[shift-shaping]

Playing the magi origin in DAO again is interesting

One of the first things you realize is that there are few, if any, reliable sources of information. Everyone is lying to you at least a little bit. Even Duncan refuses to give you details on what Irving and Greagoir were discussing with him before you walked into the room.

It's also hilarious how bad Cullen's character design is. Like, yes, in general this game really sucks at making men not look 40+, but Cullen looks really awful. It's a joke in the fandom that he looks younger at 29-ish (Inquisition) than he did at 19 (Origins) but he looks as old as Duncan. Like it's BAD. But it makes me wonder what the plan was for his character during development. I'm aware that his writer thought he was a creep before she passed him off to someone else, but his character design is also pretty creepy. It's fascinating that they made this character look like he does, allegedly intended him to be creepy, and still gave you the option to fully reciprocate his affections. Like yes, he obviously has a crush on Amell/Surana that everyone knows about, but she has to come on to him to make it unambiguous.

And the tower is a prison. Full-stop. There is no privacy, even for senior enchanters, though I haven't seen Irving's quarters yet. There are no doors to individual mage quarters, not even to the bathrooms, and most of the beds are in full view of the hallway. Amell/Surana is confirmed to have been at the Circle from a young age. What does that do to you? The constant surveillance, the feeling that you are always being watched and judged? I mean, I was raised catholic so I have some idea.

There are, however, very few templars relative to the number of mages within the tower, and magic is practiced in somewhat controlled settings without templar supervision as long as a senior mage is present.

This isn't necessarily a good thing. You can talk to a mage praying in the chapel who is absolutely tortured by the propaganda she's been fed about who she is. The threat of tranquility is tangible and ever-present, but some mages (Owain, for example) choose tranquility because they believe it is what they need to protect others. You don't need as many templars when the mages have been convinced to police themselves.

Finally, if you play as Surana, you can directly contradict Cullen's later statement to Lavellan about there not really being different treatment for elves and humans at Kinloch. Duncan asks what it's like to be an elf at the tower, and you can say something like "it's hard. All the time." The only possible evidence to contradict this is that one of the enchanters in charge of supplies is an elf, but there don't seem to be many elves present at Kinloch in-general.

(sidenote: mages are not allowed to have children, and those children that are born of mage mothers are taken by the chantry. But elves can't be part of the chantry. What happens to elven children of mages?)