#i still think leliana will probably end up being my fave

[winchesternova-k]

31 Days of Dragon Age - Day 2

favourite origins romance

[picrew by @/elena-illustration]

leliana’s romance has been my favourite so far and i ended up writing a ficlet about her relationship with havella

leliana and havella were friends before things became romantic.

havella was intrigued by her from the start, and had a bit of a crush, but they were always friends first and foremost - and by the time they actually get together, havella would say leliana is her best friend. she finds leliana’s dream about the blight and the tale about the rose fascinating, and sees no reason to argue whether it’s a sign from the maker. she hasn’t mixed her religious beliefs yet (but is open to doing so), but sees no reason why the maker couldn’t send a sign to its believers while the stone sends signs to its. they discuss theology a lot early on, and it’s a breath of fresh air for havella after hearing some of the more awful chantry beliefs at ostagar and in lothering. leliana does not and is not trying to convert her, which havella appreciates, they both just enjoy swapping their opinions and beliefs back and forth.

there’s also mutual respect and admiration from the moment they first meet. havella appreciates her for stepping in at the tavern in lothering, and admires her for sticking so strongly to her beliefs and moral code. she is also but a humble lesbian, and leliana looked beautiful with her knives.

they become fast friends after that, and havella is surprised when leliana calls her pretty. hardly anyone had ever complimented her before. even more rarely had they been sincere or without ulterior motive, and almost never had it been a woman. she’d never had a girlfriend before (though she had kissed a handful of other girls when she was a bit younger), and she’d had no idea that her feelings for leliana might have been mutual. their flirting is a bit awkward at first, but very earnest, and havella feels very vulnerable. leliana never breaks her trust or makes her feel like she’s made a mistake for trying to come closer.

soon, she’s spending more and more time with leliana, both for romantic and platonic reasons. leliana compliments her hair one night and before she knows it havella is asking her to do it for her. she’d never had much time to learn different styles and what she did have she spent on rica’s hair. she basks in the attention that leliana offers. leliana talks to her about orlesian fashion, and havella listens eagerly. she’d similarly never had the money to bother with orzammar’s trends and she enjoys listening to leliana’s tales and her voice. she’s never had much interest in fashion, or the resources to have the interest, but she has the time now to decide if she might. if nothing else, she enjoys learning more about the surface and it’s cultures, and laughing with leliana.

it doesn’t take long for her crush to grow into real romantic feelings. and those feelings only grow stronger when leliana tells her the truth about her past. she feels oddly relieved when she does. they’d already been together for a little while at that point, but it made her feel like they were on even ground somehow. she’d always known that leliana wasn’t judging her for her past, but hearing that they had so much in common and so many of the same feelings just hammered it home. leliana is also eager to become a better person and make amends for her past, and their pasts are so similar it makes havella feel more fully understood than she ever has with anyone else. it makes her want more than ever to be better. and it makes her feel like she won’t always be trying to live up to the image leliana had been projecting. that she won’t always be trying. maybe someday she’ll just be good. maybe they both will. but for now, they can be equal at least.

the night leliana tells her she loves her is the happiest she’s ever been. havella had been in love with her for a while by that point, but she’d been too afraid to tell her. she knew that leliana would never be cruel to her, but she was worried that if leliana didn’t feel the same, or wasn’t looking for a serious relationship (at least with her), she would ruin the relationship they had, both platonic and romantic. she’d never had a real relationship with anyone before, and she already knew that if leliana would let her, she’d spend the rest of her life with her. and when leliana told her she felt the same, they decided then and there that they would never be parted.

[republictrooper]

Finally did Tresspasser on my angry gay elf. Basic thoughts:

-Did the Sympathetic to Solas conversation path at the end and gdi why couldn’t I romance him? I mean, yes, technically he’s kind of genocidal and incredibly racist, but he, like. you know. I really feel like I can talk him down because he still has a lot of compassion and kindness and he thinks the WORLD of me and ugh ugh ugh is this it? is Solas my problematic fave? Oh gosh... SOLAS I’M GOING TO SAVE YOU SOLAS MY BEAUTIFUL PROBLEMATIC EGGHEAD BELOVED

-Speaking of Romance, seriously, tho could at least give us gays one of the nice romance scenes??? Dorian makes the relationship long-distance without your input, and the main Iron Bull hangout scene is primarily non-romantic (at least in my always-save-the-chargers playthrough), with Bull only really showing interest in you if you talk sex toys. SOLAS WOULD HAVE AT LEAST PRETENDED TO LIKE MY TALK ON FERELDEN NOBILITY, BULL. GOSH. I mean, at least you got in some nice in-party banter, but STILL. Cmon. This is why I want Bioware to stop being cowardly and let me romance one of the soft boys on my dude characters, ugh. His ending slide even implied he did the Long Distance Relationship thing to lead the Chargers to, but at least he was by my side when I was vowing to save Solas.

-Speaking of Romances that get a nice scene in Trespasser: Sera. I heard she kinda 180′d on the elf stuff in Trespasser, but I didn’t see it? The best I saw was “ok, well, I still hate elf culture but I’m not gonna be such an ass about it I GUESS.” Of course, maybe I didn’t have enough friendship with her to get the real big scenes for that, we never even got to the cookies on the rooftop stage in the main game because I refused to give ground on the Elfy thing. But, nah. Still don’t feel like Sera redeemed herself.

-Gosh it felt SO GOOD to use the angry options in the exalted council and with my advisors to tell all the shem assholes to FRICK. OFF. I mean, as much as I love Cullen, Josie, and Leliana, they were all often bull-headedly pro-Chantry and didn’t always seem to be listening or respectful of the differences I bought to the table as a Dalish Elf, so having that epic rant near the end and having all of them seem... slightly guilty about it was almost cathartic? also, telling off the nobles while waving around their precious writ? Hell. yes. 

-Ok, like, we had to stop the Dragon’s Breath because it obviously would have killed more than the nobles AND the Qun would not ultimately be great for a lot of people, especially mages such as my angry gay lavellan, so I have no regrets about stopping it.... But also, could we kill more of the nobles? 

-I disbanded the Inquistion because no way was my Elf getting forced even deeper into bowing and scraping to Andraste, but I admit I hesitated a little. Leliana seemed to be genuinely on the path to making the Chantry a better place, but... let’s be real, in DA4, she’s probably gonna be deposed or fighting a losing battle against the traditionalists, and anyway, I strongly believe, as does my Angry Gay Lavellan, that you probably gotta throw the whole thing out because you can’t truly reform a burning building.

Still, Leliana is doing better than I thought. Canticle of Shartan and all.

Also, I wish I could get bee proc weapons in the main game cuz that was FUN.

Also, while I don’t feel quite as connected to my Inquisitors overall as I do my Hawkes and Wardens, I still kinda hope they get to come back in DA4 because, A, Dagna could probably make them a really cool replacement hand with magic attachments and stuff, and B, The reunion with Solas and the tearful attempts to redeem him would be AMAZING and won’t feel half as good with a new protagonist that only knows him as that one guy who wants to kill us all.

But more than that, they better bring back Merril. SHE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE ELUVIANS AND SHE DESERVES TO BE THE NEXT GAME’S ELUVIAN EXPERT DAMMIT.

Also, Varric’s end slide says he took care of Kirkwall “with the help of his friend Hawke.” I thought Hawke was still caught up in the Grey Wardens Civil War, but I will take this ending gladly! Let Hawke retire to Kirkwall!

[shannaraisles]

OKAY: every even number from that dragon age protagonist questionnaire

~laughs~ Buckle in, this is going to be long! Thank you, my lovely! That said, 6 & 12 have already been answered here, so it won’t be as long.

2. What would your Hawke generally think of your warden and your Inquisitor?

Jo is in awe of Dermot Cousland. He’s the hero of her homeland, and she even met him briefly at Ostagar. The ideal of him is what she aspires to, without knowing any of the squishy, uncomfortable bits. She’s not wholly sure what to make of Eralen - the Dalish mage does her job, and does it well, but Jo is a little judgy when it comes to the distance she thinks Eralen keeps between herself and her companions.

4. What would they think about each other’s love interests (if they romanced someone of course)

Dermot would, I think, understand Jo and Varric’s relationship better than she does, and, well, Eralen’s in love with his little brother, so that’s all well and good. Jo’s met Zevran - she thinks he’s a harmless flirt; Bryland, on the other hand, strikes her as being a little too gung-ho to be a good match for Eralen. And Eralen loves Zevran almost as much as she loves Dermot, both of them treating her like a little sister, though Zevran definitely prefers to tease her; Varric, she considers one of her closest friends, even if Jo can’t quite see it. 

8. What would your inquisitor and warden think of what happened in Kirkwall? Would they have supported Hawke’s decisions?

Wow, that one is complicated for Dermot. He was the one who conscripted Anders, and he made friends with Justice as well. In Jo’s place, he would have worked harder to understand and mitigate his friends’ feelings on the matter, and if necessary, remove Anders/Justice from the city entirely for their own safety. As it stands, he knows Jo did everything she felt was right, and in the end, that is all anyone can do. Eralen falls naturally into a position of support for Jo’s decision to defend the mages, being a mage herself and having a natural terror of Templars; she would definitely have supported Jo, had she been there.

10. Do your protagonists share the same opinions on the Chantry?

Dermot still respects the Chantry, for all its faults and flaws. His faith is a huge part of him, and he finds it difficult to separate his faith from the institution that guided him throughout his childhood and youth. He doesn’t always approve of the higher ups in the Chantry, but he does have a great deal of respect for the priests lower down who minister to their parishes as best they can. Jo despises the Chantry with a passion, because it’s the Chantry’s teachings that have had her on the run for most of her life, first to protect her father and sister, and then to prevent an entire city being made to suffer for her actions. As for Eralen, she’s indifferent. She views the Chantry as a bogeyman that is losing power and respect, a monster under the bed from her childhood, and a looming presence that makes her life a delicate balance between doing what needs to be done and keeping herself safe. She honestly doesn’t care what happens to the Chantry, so long as it doesn’t hurt the people who rely on it.

14. If they’d been in each other’s places would they have made the same or different choices? And who would they have romanced, if anyone?

I think they would have made the same choices as each other, for all that they approach decision making in their own unique ways. Romances, now, that would be an interesting exercise. ~grins~ Let’s see ... Dermot would probably have romanced Merrill, despite his opinions on blood magic, and it’s a toss up between Dorian and Cassandra for him in Inquisition. It would all depend on how big an impression those first meetings made on him. Jo would have tripped and fallen into a romance with Leliana trying not to upset the boys in Origins, and even though he isn’t romanceable again, she would have romanced Varric in Inquisition. Eralen ... Hmmm. I don’t think she would have romanced anyone in Origins, but Fenris would have to work very hard not to be wooed by her in 2.

16. Would your protagonists have the same Hogwarts house?

I had to take a test for this! And the results are kind of fascinating - Dermot came out Hufflepuff, which wasn’t a surprise; Jo is a Gryffindor; and Eralen, to my amazement, revealed herself to be a closet Slytherin!

18. What is the biggest similarity between your protagonists?

Their sense of morality - what is right and what is wrong, and how authority doesn’t always understand the difference between illegal and immoral. They’re very similar in that regard.

20. Who handles responsibility the best? And who handles it the worst?

This should come as a surprise to no one, but Dermot is definitely the best at handling responsibility. He steps up and takes responsibility without being prompted to. And of course Jo is the worst. She’s a Hawke. It’s a wonder she remembers to put her knickers on in the morning without help.

22. Would you ever ship any of them together?

No, I don’t think I would. I mean, I could, but it would feel forced.

24. How do each of your protagonists handle loss?

Dermot tends to absorb it and keep it in his heart, as his motivation to keep going when he has nothing else left. Jo goes numb and then never speaks of the people she’s lost ever again. Eralen reacts with anger, even if it was an expected death. She considers death her enemy.

26. Do any of your protagonists marry and/or have children?

Dermot never gets married to Zevran, but he does have a son with Morrigan, Kieran, who is in the unique position of having one mother and two fathers, because both Dermot and Zevran make a point of being involved in the boy’s upbringing. Jo does eventually marry Varric (if she lives), but they never conceive a child. Instead, they adopt a fair number of orphans in Kirkwall. Eralen does marry Bryland Cousland, and they do have children together. The number and identities of those children have yet to be decided.

28. What is their favorite location within their own game and what would be their favorite in each others?

You know, Dermot really liked the Temple of Ashes. I think, in 2, he would have liked Sundermount, and he would have loved the Storm Coast in Inquisition. Jo’s a townie, so her faves would be Denerim, Lowtown, and Val Royeaux. Eralen would, strangely enough, have loved the Mage Tower in Origins, and probably Hightown in 2. Her heart rests with the Emerald Graves, though.

30. Out of your Warden, Hawke, and Inquisitor, who is your favorite?

Oooh, that’s such a hard question! ~laughs~ I love them all, but I know Dermot best. So, for now, Dermot is my favorite.

[30 Questions about your Dragon Age Protagonists - Ask Me!]

[red-wardens]

DA Questions

Tagged by: @goblin-deity and @gothkimmyschmidt -- thank you :)

Tagging: @jaffa-keksi @chillyrose @dickeybbqpit @mocha-writes @the-dread-doggo @heraldofwho @keeperscompanionsdai @space-vashoth (if you guys haven’t done it already. if you have, tag me so i can see!)

–---------

01) Favorite game of the series?

Dragon Age 2. I love the bisexual disaster companions and how they have friends/relationships/lives outside of you. And I love Hawke and their tragic story. I also like having years passing with the same protagonist/companions instead of “my new companions and I had one crazy year together”. Plus fighting mechanics were my favorite in this game. 

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

I saw gifs of Morrigan on tumblr years ago (back when DA2 was still new) and thought, “holy shit, she’s pretty I should play that”, and just never got around to it till a couple years later till when I saw a lot of gifs of default Marian Hawke and thought “she’s gorgeous and funny and I would die for her” (I still can’t believe I used to think I was straight...) and then found out she’s not till the second game so I hurried up and bought Origins to play first. Then got hooked, Origins has such a great story.

03) How many times you’ve played the games?

I’m on my 4th and 5th (playing simultaneously) playthroughs of Origins, I’ve played DA2 either 6 or 7 times. Inquisition I’ve only played once and I skipped most of the side missions because that game is so long.

04) Favorite race to play as?

Elf. I love dwarves a lot though and if they could do magic they’d easily be the fave. 

05) Favorite class?

Mage. I like healing and not having to get close to enemies. 

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time?

I try to play differently each time and role play hard (ex: certain mage OC’s are only allowed to have skills in certain fields of magic even if it’s inconvenient for me, my traumatized-by-Carver’s-death Hawke who is triggered by seeing ogres can only “hold position” when one appears and I can only fight as the companions because she’s having a panic attack). In Origins I like to put someone different on the throne each time, side with mages once and templars the next, and have companions love/hate me according to my OC’s personality (and not cheat by using the Feast Day gifts). In DA2 I have a different personality Hawke each time and they make varying choices but in the end I have never sided with templars. I think in my 2nd Inquisition playthrough I’ll side with templars though out of curiosity. 

07) Go-to adventuring group?

Always depends on who is the love interest and who are the closest friends of my protagonist. Even if the team comp is terrible. 

08) Which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

Blue Surana was my first character ever so she’s had the longest time of me adding/subtracting/updating her and her story. That being said I like to think I’ve put a lot of thought into my Mahariel and Amell as well. Out of my Hawkes, Claira is the most developed. 

09) Favorite romance?

Fenris. 

10) Have you read any of the comics/books?

I've read all the comics and I’ve read “The Calling” and “The Last Flight” I plan to read the other books soon hopefully. 

11) If you read them, which was your favorite book?

I really recommend The Last Flight if you’re a die hard Grey Wardens fan like me. The main character inspired the name for my Mahariel. 

12) Favorite DLCs?

 I genuinely forgot Awakening is DLC since it came with my game but, yeah. I love all the companions in Awakening and I wish it were longer. “The Exiled Prince” is also another fave since I genuinely like Sebastian Vael and he’s a kickass squadmate. 

13) Things that annoy you.

The white-washing, what happened to Orsino, the way Inquisition doesn’t take into account Hawke could have been a blood mage, no healing as an Inquisition mage, the fucking Requisition Officer, the way you can’t be nicer to Sera, no dwarf romances, and how the Inquisitor can’t call Cullen out on certain things (Cassandra too, honestly, though I love her she can be really insensitive to other cultures). That’s just in the games, don’t even get me started on some of the fandom. 

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Frozen Dog Lovers > Snooty Elf Oppressors, any day 

15) Templars or mages?

Mages, no contest.

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

I have 3 worldstates that I have playthroughs for, and a Multi-Warden AU

Worldstate 1 - Arcane Warrior/Battlemage/Fire Mage, mutual-pining-for-Sten, grey-sexual Blue Surana + Spirit Healer/Ice Mage, Fenris Romance, gay Akono Hawke

Worldstate 2 - Ranger/Assasin Archer, Zevran Romance, straight Isseya Mahariel + Blood Mage/Earth Mage, Sebastian rivalmance, panromantic/ace Henley Hawke

Worldstate 3 - Blood Mage/Spirit Healer/Entropy Mage, Leliana Romance, bisexual Alyss Amell (dies) + Shadow/Dual-Blade Rogue, Anders Romance, bisexual Claira Hawke

Multi-Warden AU: Blue Surana is main warden and recruits the others after Ostagar forming what I call the “Warden Squad”. Most thought-out world, that I have the most writing for but will probably never get around to writing the actual fic. We will see. Also, I need to make some Inquisitors for all these worldstates....they’re planned out I just need to force myself to actually play them. 

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

Mabari’s: Rabbit (Blue Surana), Dog (Isseya Mahariel), Teddy (Alyss Amell), Tor (Akono Hawke),  Better Carver “BC” (Henley Hawke), Bear (Claira Hawke). Isseya Mahariel numbers her wolf and bear summons A-# for wolves and B-# for bears. 

18) Have you installed any mods?

I play on xbox so nah, sadly. 

19) Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Blue Surana didn’t want to leave the Circle and Isseya Mahariel didn’t want to give up searching for Tamlen so “no” for both of them, but they both were amazing at it. Alyss Amell, as much as it terrified her to leave to fight things, wanted to be free of Kinloch Hold. 

20) Hawke’s personality?

Akono is almost exclusively Purple though he has rare Blue moments when speaking to Carver or sometimes Fenris. 

Henley is solidly Red except maybe once or twice chose purple banter for talking to her only friend, Varric. 

Claira is the most varied in that she’s split 60-40 between Blue and Red, meaning well and wanting to be all good/peaceful, but having a wild, passionate temper when defending mages and her friends/family. I also headcanon she has the foulest mouth of my Hawkes though she actively tries to stop cursing it’s an unbreakable habit. She’s also a shameless flirt and hits that heart button almost every single time it comes up (I wouldn’t consider her Purple at all though since she isn’t sarcastic and is the type to laugh at jokes rather than make her own).  

21) Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

I made Cole and I matching outfits because I love him ._.

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

This could get long if I listed everyone so, Blue Surana regrets not telling Sten how she felt sooner, though she doubts it would have changed anything. Isseya Mahariel wishes Tamlen could have been found sooner so the Joining could have saved him. 

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

My entire Multi-Warden AU is a big “fuck you” to canon because all those potential wardens deserve to live dammit.

24) Who did you leave in the Fade?

In this house we do not leave Hawkes in the Fade. So, sorry Loghain :(

25) Favorite mount?

I legit forgot I had a mount 90% of the time. At least I got to hear more dialogue I guess. 

[theharellan]

dragon age positivity meme | accepting

i’m going to be answering these in one post for the sake of simplicity and cutting down ooc posts!

✾ your favourite da:o main quest | sent by @cuervocanto

my actual favourite quest is paragon of her kind, but i talked about why i love that one here. and yes, i don’t even rly mind the deep roads.

my second favourite is probably the landsmeet, especially taking into account that it has some sub-main quests that are grouped together under the umbrella of preparing for the landsmeet. such as resucing anora, breaking out of fort drakon, and solving the unrest in the alienage. i find returning to the alienage as tabris second to aeducan returning to orzammar, but it’s still very interesting coming back to a place where you grew up with no power, suddenly having power. and regardless of origin the worldbuilding is good, immediately the fact that you’re barred from the alienage upon initially entering denerim tells you a lot about the state of elves in ferelden. the choice at the end isn’t particularly difficult, “slavery is bad” isn’t a controversial opinion even in ferelden and so even the warden i created with the intention of being That Kind of Human couldn’t choose that option, BUT it does make for an emotional choice when playing tabris

as for rescuing anora and breaking out of drakon, i just love the humour in the quest. i never have my warden break out themselves just so i can have the companions bullshit their way in. my personal favourite combination is zevran and oghren, although i do enjoy morrigan-leliana and sten-dog, as well. i think my fave thing about oghren and zev tho is that iirc they’re one of the most successful combinations.

as for the landsmeet itself, it’s not particularly challenging, but i enjoy the variety of options you get and how it changes the game going forward. like, in every game anora is queen for me in some capacity, but beyond that i’ve had a bitter king alistair working with a warden who recruited loghain, loghain and the warden alone, etc. i enjoy the politicking and making an alliance with anora. it’s enjoyable even on replays.

❄ your favourite da:i personal quest | sent by @pentaghasted

my actual favourite personal quest is cole’s, which i talked about here. instead i’ll talk about iron bull’s b/c i’m glad they committed to what they started in trespasser and i also appreciate how the choice is set up. most of us save the chargers b/c the lot of them stole our hearts in the two scenes they were in, but unlike some other choices in the series choosing the sadder/arguably worse option doesn’t require you to be roleplaying as an evil bastard to choose it.

so like, most games i save the chargers, but my playthrough where i’m playing a practical trevelyan-- she goes with the qunari dreadnought. the chargers were assets, but a qunari alliance could have been more beneficial in the long term. heck, even my inquisitor who saves the chargers feels a lot of guilt about it-- because even if she didn’t know the people on the dreadnought, there were a whole lot of them, and her decision got them killed. she needed to show she cared for her own people first, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t matter.

which contrasts this personal quest for something like... say, fenris’s third one, which don’t get me wrong, is very emotional. but i cannot fathom why a hawke how kept fenris around for all that time and clearly spent time talking to him would just say “yeah you can take him” its just kinda over-the-top cruel. so i am glad when i can roleplay the alternate decisions i ordinarily wouldn’t make.

and i love seeing the quest’s differing effect on bull. he adjusts either way, but one puts him on a path where he’s going to be facing you, one way or another. and he pays the price for that.

♦ your favourite piece of lore | sent by @felandaristhorns & @sephirajo

i’ve answered this before the last time i reblogged this meme and answered the dalish mage lore from da:i and rivain just. as a whole. i’m going with the lore regarding elvhenan, though, b/c i think the games do a good job of subverting what we were told in da:o and da2 while also explaining how those misconceptions happened. i love going back to the previous games and seeing new angles to the lore and the places where they were building up to it. i love seeing the foreshadowing within inquisition itself.

and i just love how elvhenan is characterised, as a hyper-magic society where reality and dreams aren’t necessarily different things. and where feelings are just as physical as every other aspect of a person. it explains so much about the fade, spirits, solas, it makes even comments like merrill’s-- someone with a pretty nuanced view of spirits-- kind of sad. she calls the fade “another people’s land” not knowing that it was her land, and her people.

while i’m on that spirits in general make me sad. how perception screws with them, and how i think that just further isolates mages. for once i don’t think this is a plot by the chantry, i don’t think they’re lying about how they think spirits are, they’re just wrong to characterise them as they do. but at the same time i don’t think they’d disapprove of the effect is has on mages. it’s cutting them off from potential friendships, and not only that but friendships the templars would have 0 way of regulating given they could potential happen in dreams.

but i’m off-topic. the point is i find the worldbuilding surrounding elvhenan, to be some of bioware’s best. it makes sense, it’s nuanced and varied and doesn’t make elvhen characters wear one single hat. clearly it was a heavily flawed place, but it had a lot of merits and you can see why solas misses it or why cole, upon learning that the veil was never meant to be, feels validated by the idea that he was never wrong to want to be a part of both worlds.

♬ your favourite part of the da:i soundtrack | sent by @daggersandpoison

da:i has the best soundtrack in the series and i don’t think this is a controversial opinion. i do love inon sur’s work, and i was a little worried when i heard morris was composing inquisition b/c i found me3′s soundtrack to be overall a step down from me2′s (it lost a lot of what made the mass effect series unique). BUT with inquisition he managed to keep dragon age’s unique sound while also improving upon it. the inquisition theme gives me chills when i start up the game and even while i’m walking around in the field and a few chords play while i’m picking up my 100th elfroot.

but it’s always hard to choose my favourite. it’s honestly a tie between journey to skyhold and the dark solas theme. both of these give me specific solas feelings, the former b/c you have solas entrusting a lot of hope and faith in the inquisitor (it’s esp poignant if by that point you have a burgeoning friendship with him). and b/c it comes off one of the strongest moments in the dragon age series, aka the battle of haven and encounter w/ corypheus. also i love the dawn will come, fite me. and from my inquisitor’s perspective, esp my main inquisitor, thora, this is probably the first time she’s felt like she was worth all this herald talk. even if she doesn’t believe it, the song beginning with a soft, unsure sound and rising to a triumphant end when skyhold is unveiled encapsulates what i love about the inquisitor’s story and my inquisitor’s personal feelings.

dark solas theme i love b/c it conveys so much of the sadness and loneliness of his character. i would talk more about it b/c it makes me so sad i literally can’t listen to it unless i’m writing post-trespasser solas and even then it’s risky. it’s just a good track ok. and it caps off my favourite dlc.

ღ your favourite da:i banter | sent by @renaudtrevelyan

i talked about some banter i love here between bull and solas. i have to admit i have a hard time choosing my favourite in da:i b/c i just love so much of the banter in this game. i always tell myself not to choose solas banter, and i’m going to... choose one solas and one non-solas.

Solas: I do not understand you, Sera. You have no end goal for your organization. Sera: Nobles get rattled, and people get payback. I play in the middle. Solas: Why not go all the way? You see injustice, and you have organized a group to fight it. Don't you want to replace it with something better? Sera: What, just lop off the top? What's that do, except make a new top to frig it all up? Solas: I...forgive me. You are right. You are fine as you are. Sera: You hurt my head sometimes, Solas. Solas: Yes, I have been known to do that.

this banter is great to me (and all the banter leading up to it) b/c it informs so much about both of their characters. solas is trying to help sera, in this string of banter. he’s trying to give advice so that the red jennies could potentially become an organisation that does more than makes little people’s lives better with pranks or the occasional knife in someone’s back. it’s a conversation between two characters who are, in different ways, absolutely sick of the system and have different ways of dealing with it.

solas wants change. sweeping, societal change. sera isn’t sure change will help any, and would prefer the relative stability of a pre-breach world where she knows which way’s up. neither is wrong to deal with it the ways they are, and solas just has to look at the top he lopped off to see that, yes, they grow back just as bad. idk i just love solas and sera a lot and i love seeing what they have in common and how they handle their frustrations differently.

Sera: I don't get it. If you want to change, just change. Why this "fake Warden" rubbish? Blackwall: For one, people wanted me dead. Being someone else kept me breathing. Blackwall: And then, knowing that people thought I was good made it easier. Sera: (Laughs.) You needed them to think you could, so you could think you could! Sera: You're smart, but you're sort of stupid.

i’m picking another sera banter b/c i love her. i love sera b/c she’s smarter than ppl give her credit for, she cuts through why rainier did what he did the same way cole does. their relationship on the whole is very sweet and it was hard choosing one banter. but i appreciate her ability to both love and support thom while also calling him out on his bullshit. the two of them are good for each other and im so glad they’re friends. my only regret is i’ve never seen thom as sera’s best man in wedding art. or sera as blackwall’s for that matter. their friendship needs more love-- actually, sera just needs more love period.

☄ your favourite da:i codex entry | sent by @chantrysworn

i love this codex entry, describing wisdom (solas’s spirit friend):

When the summoning ritual was complete, the spirit appeared. Both spirits and demons have no gender as we understand it, but this one, much like the rare and dangerous desire demon, presented as female. Although its form was not threatening, the spirit carried itself with a confidence, an awareness, I suppose, that I have seen only in the most powerful of demons.

This spirit of wisdom was polite and courteous. It answered our questions about the Fade, even acknowledging the difficulty when we could not understand what it meant. There was none of the bargaining one normally associates with a summoned creature, save that the spirit sometimes asked us questions as well. Heras shared a mathematical formula he had recently proven, while Etrenne explained her study on magical themes in the Chant of Light, and young Rhys talked a little about his mother.

When we were finished, the spirit thanked us for the conversation and then vanished, although none of us had dismissed it. We soon discovered that the summoning ritual we had devised was critically flawed. The spirit had been under no compulsion to come or remain. All the time it had talked with us, it had stayed of its own volition. Heras was greatly concerned that such a powerful spirit remained free, and has updated the ritual to correct for the weakness in the binding enchantment. I understand his caution, but I also confess that I quite enjoyed the conversation. I am not certain the spirit would have talked so freely had it been shackled at the time.

—An excerpt from Spirits of the Spire by Senior Enchanter Francois

you can see so much of why they were friends in this codex. the politeness, answering and asking questions, no bargaining just a nice conversation where both parties learn things. and then you find out it never had to show up in the first place, it just wanted to-- and likely would not have been as accommodating had it not been free.

it’s great for informing us on a character we tragically don’t know all that well. and also? it’s incredibly sad when you think about what happens to it, it almost makes you wonder if the mages who ultimately bound and killed it would have had better luck simply asking for its protection. solas says something along those lines, but he also says it prefers remaining in the fade (interesting in itself, given that the chantry pushes the agenda that all spirits want beyond it. contradicted by multiple spirits we’ve met tbh, including cole, who actually quite likes the fade).

this codex is also interesting b/c it tells you some about what mages study and do with their time. and it goes back to what i mentioned previously, w/ chantry attitudes depriving spirits and mages of one another’s company.

anyway i love wisdom and it deserved better.

[eggoreviews]

My Top 10 Games of All Time

Just so I’m not talking about Smash Bros for once, here’s my top 10 games of all time that I will always think are perfect and never accept that they have flaws! Enjoy and I hope one of your faves is in here!

Probably spoilers for the games I mention under the cut

10. Kingdom Hearts II (2005)

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Kingdom Hearts is a big weird crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy. I played this game as a kid and it was mostly exploring the Disney worlds and the really good combat system that kept me interested (I had literally no clue what was happening in the story and still kind of don’t) and I never really lost that sense of nostalgia that became attached to this game for me. And yeah I’m definitely getting Kingdom Hearts 3.

9. Life Is Strange (2015)

Life Is Strange is an emotional, cheesily written episodic series that I got into totally by accident about a teenage girl called Max who does some high school stuff and also has superpowers. What really made this game so memorable for me was the sheer emotion behind a lot of the plot and I will admit I cried several points during, which is what made the game stick with me. Plus this has one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in a game so yeah. Go play it (and everything on this list).

8. Until Dawn (2015)

This game probably doesn’t belong here but I love it. Until Dawn follows 8 teenagers who go back to a snowy cabin where some shit went down the year before and u have to keep them all alive by making the right choices n stuff. The horror factor is good in this game, but it’s mostly the characters and how strangely attached I was to them by the end (I know they’re all tropes but I still love them). I’ve honestly lost count of the amount of times I’ve replayed this. Still probably gonna do it again.

7. Mass Effect 2 (2010)

The sequel to what is basically the space version of Dragon Age is shamefully my only exposure to the Mass Effect series, but the gameplay and characters left enough of a mark on me to give it a comfortable spot in this list. Mass Effect 2 follows Commander Shepard, overly macho space guy/gal who is a terrible flirt as he attempts to rid the universe of some massive insects. Along the way, you run into a huge cast of memorable, unique characters (and then Jacob as well) and explore a wealth of interesting and varying locations. But what really made the game stick out were the genuine lasting consequences of the frankly huge final mission; if you don’t make the right choices and buy the right upgrades, a lot of your faves are going to die.

6. Dishonored (2012)

This entry in my list is a bit cheaty, as it includes all dlc expansions from the first game as well as Dishonored 2, because all of these are just as good as each other. Dishonored puts you in the shoes of self-righteous arsehole Corvo Attano (I’m kidding btw, he’s only an arse if you make him kill everyone) as he gets framed for the murder of his lover who also happens to be the Empress, as well as the kidnap of his daughter who also happens to be the Empress’ daughter. So kind of a big deal. But all joking aside, Dishonored is one of the finest examples of the first person stealth genre, with arguably its only flaw being that it gives you a sprawling variety of fun and interesting ways to kill people and then makes you feel like a monster at the end of the game for doing it. I played this game and its sequels to death, and became especially invested in the character of Daud (who was totally butchered in Death of the Outsider. Yeah, I really wasn’t a fan of that game. Like, I love Billie Lurk and everything but what the hell were they thinking doing THAT to the Outsider?? Sorry I’m rambling)

5. Dragon Age: Origins (2009)

And now to one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played, Dragon Age is fucking amazing from start to finish. A gripping storyline, characters and companions that are impossible to forget and a combat system that’s fairly easy to get to grips with but becomes a bit of an arse later in the game. As much as I liked Inquisition (despite the fact it butchered Leliana. That’s just my hot take I don’t think anyone else thinks this, she just kind of lost that sense of fun and badassery that made her my fave in Origins. Rambling again), none of the other games in the series really matched up to the original for me.

4. Medievil Resurrection (2005)

I’ve been reliably informed that I am Bad And Naughty for loving this version of the game because it’s apparently rubbish compared to the PS1 version. But I loved this game so much as a kid that I played it to DEATH. Like more than Dishonored. The levels aren’t quite open world, but you get so immersed in them that you think they are. Honestly, I’ve never played a game with such a creative concept behind it, with humour that’s surprisingly meta for an RPG of the time, not to mention the fact that there’s a whole level devoted to carnival minigames. Are you not convinced yet? Well, you should be because Tom Baker is a voice in it and it’s coming out as a remaster for the PS4 at some point (I hope it’s soon. It’s gone eerily quiet)

3. Undertale (2015)

I know this is high for such a recent game, but it really has justified its place. I don’t care how much this game or its following has been ruined by the internet, I still hold it in the same regard I did when I first played it (and then bought all the subsequent ports because I’m a Capitalist Sheep). With an amazing narrative, some spicy retro-era graphics, memorable characters and possibly the best soundtrack I’ve ever heard in a game, there’s no way I’m ever getting sick of Undertale.

2. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (2009)

What sets this game apart from the other RPGs on this list was that not only did it have everything I look for in a game (amazing narrative, characters, soundtrack, game design, combat and open world) but it carried it all out with a sense of emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Every single character, every single detail seemed to be something else you immediately became attached to and it all comes together to make a game so immersive I didn’t put it down for a solid 3 years, even after I’d completed it. Basically, if you own a DS, you NEED to play this. Like you will cry many times throughout this game. Sometimes happy crying (I think I just get a bit too invested in these things tbh)

Before I ramble on incessantly about my number 1 pick, here’s some of the best bois I’ve played that didn’t quite make the list:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) - I’m loving this game to bits so far. I’m only a recent Switch owner so I’m catching up on what I’ve missed and if this game carries on the way it is, it’s going to have to be in my top 10.

Rayman Legends (2013) - Fun, unique and memorable platformer that especially shines in couch co-op. I’ve played this one countless times and I won’t stop until Rayman gets in Smash.

The Walking Dead series (2012-2018) - One of the best sets of decision based games on the market and perfect if you’re looking for a game that tears your heart out and stomps on it!

Fallout 4 (2015) - Amazing open world, characters and combat. Well-designed, genuinely terrifying monsters. The ability to name your weapons ridiculous things. Heck yeah it’s going on this list.

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (2006) - A cute lil card based RPG that was a Final Fantasy spin-off no one seemed to like. But hey, I loved it and I’ll never say it’s anything other than perfect because childhood.

1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)

Oh my god. Ohhh my god. Where do I even begin with this one? Yes, Skyrim was amazing, but Oblivion just beats it due to a combination of a storyline I prefer (oops sorry), nostalgic attachment and a lovely set of glitches and exploits that to me make the game all the more lovable. There’s nothing I’ve played since Oblivion that’s matched the experience of wandering through a forest or one of the cities with THAT MUSIC in the background. And don’t even get me started on the quests. And that Shivering Isles DLC? Big yes. I knew this segment wouldn’t make much sense but I love the game so much that I can’t even begin to tell you all the things that make it my favourite.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far! It was just me rambling about games really but I appreciate u a lot if you made it this far. Have a good day and if you get the time, pick up one or two of the titles on this list! You bigly won’t regret it.

[cwnannwn]

For the headcanon ask game: carmilla, laura, leliana, and sera

So, I took forever to answer this, and it ended up being way too big. It was very good to write tho, I love thinking about headcanons for my fave characters!

For this Headcanons post.

Carmilla

Headcanon A: what I think realistically: As much as canon likes to ignore its own lore, Carmilla is a very powerful vampire. It’s not an easy thing, living for more than 3 centuries, especially with a creator like Lilita around. I headcanon each of the dean’s children developed a particular ability more than others, and for Carmilla, that is shape-shifting. Her panther form is her favorite, but turning into mist has proven advantageous more than once. That last one is an exercise in self-control, becoming another state of matter entirely is glaring proof of how well Carmilla has mastered her abilities.

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious: Talking about that panther form, it’s terrifying. Far larger than a normal leopard, with teeth and claws that are sharper than scalpels. And she acts like the laziest house cat around Laura. Sleeping away the day on Laura’s bed, leaving a veritable heap of cat hair, purring louder than a truck when Laura scratches between her ears, and of course, sitting in front of Laura’s computer when she wants attention (and to be a little shit). Laura’s favorite is when she can cuddle with the giant black cat, who’s far warmer than an undead creature of the night should be.

Headcanon C: what is heart-crushing and awful but fun to inflict on friends: Against the dean’s advice/orders, and under a bit of well-intentioned mockery from Mattie, Carmilla kept an eye on her mortal family through the ages. Most of them perished the same night Carmilla died, but one of her younger brothers had been sent for fosterage with some relatives. The servants under her power reported he grew up to be a kind man, very different from their father. To the Carmilla of those early years, reveling in bloodlust and excess, it shouldn’t have mattered at all. But somehow, it did. So the years passed, and she kept tabs his descendants. His daughter was smart, his son excellent with a blade, and so on. The coffin put an end to it, as it did to many things. After she got back in contact with Mattie, she learned the last of her kin, a boy no older than 17, disappeared in the Carpathians during one of the many disastrous offensives of Austria in the first world war. It shouldn’t matter, but that severing of the last real connection she had to mortal life hurt more than she could have expected.

Headcanon D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway: This is actually a bunch of headcanons rolled into one, but Carmilla was well aware of the various confronts Mattie and the Dean had. In fact, Mattie asked Carmilla to join her in at least a few of them (both because she truly trusts Carmilla, and because, as said on headcanon A, Carmilla is no weakling). She never accepted the offer, first because she was too taken with the lavish life style Lilita offered, and later because she did not want to be interred again. The important thing is, tho both her and Mattie would desperately like to believe the Dean was dead, they would both know she is very very hard to kill, and would realize she was still around about, oh, five minutes into Mattie’s appearance in s2. Laura would have noticed the many glaring signs pointing to that too, and this all leads to many headcanons where s2 went completely different and so did s3.

For a shorter headcanon, Carmilla continues to be a vampire, and she and Mattie actually get to have revenge against Lilita over her literal millennia of abuse.

Laura

Headcanon A: what I think realistically: Whether Laura becomes a journalist or a professor, she never loses her knack for getting into supernatural trouble. One year she unveils a trafficking scheme focused on bringing fresh blood to vampires in Paris, in another a group of werecats shows up on her and Carmilla’s doorstep, asking Laura to investigate a rival colony and their recruitment methods, and so on. By this point, Carmilla just sees Laura off with a kiss and a promise to call if she needs any help.

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious: More cute than hilarious, but Laura is really ticklish around her ribs. Carmilla takes every opportunity to use this to her advantage, including to get Laura’s attention. It doesn’t annoy Laura, because the smile on Carmilla’s face whenever she hears Laura laugh is a beautiful thing indeed.

Headcanon C: what is heart-crushing and awful but fun to inflict on friends: Laura has suffered enough, so I don’t like thinking about more bad stuff happening to her. That said, among the few headcanons I have about who Laura’s other parent would have been, I have one that fits here. Laura’s mother left her and her father when Laura was around 12 years old. No real explanation given. One day she was there, and the next her wardrobe was empty, her car gone, and only a note saying she was done left behind. Neither Laura nor her dad recuperated from that entirely. She never told anyone about her mother leaving. So when Carmilla left in s2, that brought back a lot of bad memories that were never really put to rest, only buried. In the library, in the dark and with Laura’s conscience eating away at her for all the mistakes she’d made, she told Carmilla about it. Carmilla listened to her, quiet and attentive, offering silent support. It didn't make everything better, but it was a start.

Headcanon D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway: Laura is wolfblooded. Either a werewolf or something close to it. She’s the kind that is born a lycanthrope, but her father isn’t one. Thus, one more reason for him being so overprotective of her. Laura doesn’t know much, or anything at all really, about her heritage. She only knows that once every week, she has to run around as a wolf, and it’s best she doesn’t let anyone see her. When she arrives at Silas, the woods around the campus prove perfect for that purpose. Strangely, she keeps catching glimpses of some kind of big cat walking around the forest too.

Leliana

Headcanon A: what I think realistically: Leliana will be remembered as a pivotal historical figure, whether she’s Divine or not. She will be know as a skilled bard, a formidable warrior, and one of the main fighters for the better treatment of elves and mages. She’ll have an amazing legacy even by herself, but when the tales tell of her adventures with her lady Warden, both during the Blight and after, it’s the kind of stuff that legends are made of.

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious: Whenever she and Zevran were on guard duty together, they’d pass the time by telling every dirty joke in their native languages they could think of. Even tho Leliana took a little while to trust him, these nights made a strong friendship begin between them.

Headcanon C: what is heart-crushing and awful but fun to inflict on friends: Nope, canon has fucked Leliana over more than enough, as far as I’m concerned, she’s living happily with her lovely warden and their army of nug children.

Headcanon D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway: It would totally work with canon, but Bioware would never do it. One of Leliana’s parents, probably her mother, was an elf. Both she and Alistair can see ridiculously well in the dark, for a human, and this gives Zevran and an elf Warden pause. My Tabris brings it up during one of their shared nights on guard, and Leliana confirms it to her. After they get together, and after the Blight is dealt with, Tabris takes Leliana to the Alienage often, and there Leliana learns more about a side of her family she would never have really know otherwise.

Sera

Headcanon A: what I think realistically: Sera and Leliana have an informal archery contest going on. Whenever Leliana has some free time, and is in the mood to train her archery skills, Sera finds her and they get to shooting some targets together. They both give pointers and advice to the other, and that’s how their friendship starts. I really like the idea of Leliana and Sera becoming friends.

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious: I can’t beat Sera and her bees here, but I like the headcanon she sometimes joins forces with Leliana to prank everyone in Skyhold. They are an unbeatable team together, as Cullen learns after he asks his creepy questions about a mage warden to Leliana. Sera doesn’t feel sorry for him at all.

Headcanon C: what is heart-crushing and awful but fun to inflict on friends: I feel bad even thinking about it, cause Sera deserves nothing more than good things in her life. If a romanced Inquisitor dies because of the Anchor, Sera goes into a spiral that’s very hard to come back from. It’s only her desire for vengeance on Solas that keeps her going after it.

Headcanon D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway: Again, this should be canon. Sera and the Inquisitor have the best fucking wedding ever. None of that crappy, half-assed cutscene we got. It’s a big party, where many of the companions helped make the food and preparations, Blackwall was the best man for Sera, Cassandra and Iron Bull cried, Vivienne has an amused, is also somewhat bittersweet, smile through it all, Dorian was ridiculously proud and happy for both of them, Varric though it was the best kind of wedding he’d ever seen, Cole couldn’t stop smiling because he was overwhelmed with all the love he could feel from Sera and the Inquisitor, and even Solas had to agree it was a very nice party. Leliana and Josephine helped with the planning, and honestly both cried a lot during it too. There was food laid out in big dining tables, everyone could take as much as they wanted, and no one was made to serve anyone else. There were so many red jennys there, and the family of the Inquisitor, whatever their background, came in full force. It was one of the best days in both of their lives.

[maripr]

So. Your favourite Dragon Age character(s) and ships! And why you like them (if you want). :D

Thank you! /o/This may be long… or not. Depending on my language skills at the moment (it’s 1AM here tho I don’t really wanna go to bed)Let me preface this by saying: I love everyone. There’s probably no companion I truly dislike, even if I have some problems with a few of them (like Alistair. Sorry, Alistair)Anyway, in no particular order:The entire cast of Dragon Age 2. I’m serious. This game grew immensely on me and, though I may still not call it my favorite of the saga (I would say Origins is), it certainly has my favorite story and characters. I don’t know wheter to include Hawke or not, cause they can be characterized however the player wants, but as an archetipe? I fucking love Hawke. Because they embody the tragic Hero of ancient Greece. They’re destined to fail, no matter what they do, because Fate it’s a force not even Gods can’t oppose.Ahem, sorry, my inner classicist geek is getting over me. But, all in all, DA2 has the plot of a greek tragedy.Anyway, back on characters, I would say I love Fenris the most, not only out of DA2 but out of the whole franchise. Something about his story resonated deeply with me and I love his possible recovery, it’s a powerful tale of a man, who was broken in all the ways possible, finding a new place in life and also people to connect with (my personal fav character development for him is him fighting alongside Hawke to defend mages, but I’m biased because the mage ending is my favorite).I repeat I really love everyone in this game, but I should also name Merrill and Anders. Merrill because I find her to be extremely strong despite what everyone (even the fandom, sometimes, thinks of her) and honestly, the fact that she keeps wanting the best for the people who actively antagonize her (Fenris, Anders, I’m looking at you guys) is the kind of ideal I aspire to, in terms of spirituality but also practical life (because grudges only make me feel like shit, lol).And, after some details about blood magic (which I’m an apologist of, because that thing saved my party numerous times in DAO, lmao) and Eluvians in Inquisition, I love the irony that… well, it’s actually debatable on who you ask, but I really think Merrill was right about everything, lol.So I wanna see her back in DA4, so she can see that Eluvians actually work and maybe flip off everyone who ever thought of her like an irresponsible child (she would never flip someone off, because she’s too much of a cutie for that).Now, Anders. Effing Anders. I actually despides him in Awakening, thinking he was only a watered down clone of Alistair, and I was neutral on him in DA2. But then he made the Chantry explode. An action I actually condemn.But that action and his whole reasoning behind it made me fall in love with him because… damn, what a fucking masterpiece of tragic (and he too may be considered tragic as Greek tragedy Tragic now that I think of it) character he is.I’m not keen on the “Anders did nothing wrong” interpretation a big part of the fandom has of him, and I even reblogs some critical meta on him from time to time. But I truly find him grandiose as a character, in a “God, what a beautiful failure of a human being he is” kind on way (no offense to his fans).I just wish his rival romance was better written, orz.Moving on the other games.From Origins, I love Zevran the most. Second fav in the saga. What resonated with him is similar to what made me fall for Fenris, I guess I’m big on Former Slave Discovers Freedom (you’ll also see this with my third fave).Zevran also has this thing of hiding his feelings under a smiley façade that... uugh i really love.From Origins, I also Love Leliana, but I actually think I love her more in Inquisition, because I adore her as the scarred spymaster.Loghain is also a big fav of mine. Guess I love assholes who really believe, in their own fucked up way, they’re doing the right thing (for the record, I dont’ condemn him on his decision of leaving the battle at Ostagar. I am, however, really not ok with him selling elves as slaves).And then there’s Sten, the original husbando. I was so disappotinted when I learned I could not romance him, lmao.From Inquisition, the two that get me the most are Iron Bull and Solas.Iron Bull, I would say, is the third out of my absolute favorites, but Solas at this point may come right after him.Iron Bull was actually the first thing I knew about Dragon Age, so I’ve always been fond of him, lol. Then playing and romancing him made me fall hard. You know, Former Slave, and also a big softie and very inteligent and with hidden depths. I’m so interested in his background as a spy. You usually imagine spies as being small people that don’t realy look interestin, and here’s a giant, bombastic man with a huge pair of horns and an eyepatch. I love it.Solas. Here’s another Tragic character, and another asshole who actually thinks he’s doing the right thing. Bonus points for fixing a huge mistake by making an even bigger mistake. You go, Solas.And also, I’m in love with the fact he’s basically Loki. Love the trickster archetype. Super interesting.Now, this actually got super long. And tumblr is being an idiot and won’t let me do a read more. Apologies to you guys’ dashes. I’ll try to be brief with the ships.So, before Dragon Age, I wasn’t big on OC/Canon characters ships, but DA being a fantasy dating sim, they are a big part of what I ship now. For each OC/Canon Character, I have headcanons that may not fit with the vision some other fan has of that particulas ship, and that’s super interesting to me, I love reading different interpretations. But my headcanons are for another post. Maybe.Anyway, my favorite ships with OCs areZevran/Warden, Leliana/Warden, Loghain/Warden (unromanceable characters never bothered me anyway), Anders/rival!Hawke (I actually found the actual rivalmance a bit underwhelming in terms of writing, so my headcanons about are different), Fenris/friend!Hawke (bonus if Hawke’s a mage, because, again, I’m biased), Merrill/Hawke, Isabela/Hawke, Sebastian/Male!Hawke (also completely based on headcanons), Iron Bull/Inquisitor (bonus if Adaar but also Cadash), Solas/Lavellan (because I’m cliché) and Dorian/Inquisitor.

For NPC/NPC ships my favorite at the moment is Merrill/Fenris and I’m so alone in this, lmao. Everyone out there shipping fenders, which I can’t see at all (no offense) and here I am in my small boat, thinking that Fenris and Merrill are actually somewhat similar and if the huge, HUGE, wall of bloodmagic being the highest on Fenris’ list of triggers for very obious and very reasonable reasons, somehow becomes less evident, Merrill is the one mage outside of mage!Hawke who Fenris could actually trust (y’know, Merrill never once called him a beast - like Anders did). I want to write all the tings but nobody to tell *sob*.Also, Fenris/Isabela. Also, Merrill/Isabela. Also Fenris/Isabela/Merrill. Also, the three of them are my actual “canon” polyship with my main Hawke.Sebastian/Anders I like because of the twisted, and badwrong potential. So is Meredith/Orsino.Cassandra/Varric is another favorite, because I adore how their relationship develops and they would be absolutely the cutest.Then there’s Morrigan/Alistais as sitcom enemies.And last but not least, Krem/Cole. With potential OT3 with Maryden. Phew, I think it’s all of them. Thanks again for asking.

[airshipcity]

everything but 7 for animorphs

came back to bite me in the ass, as i knew it would 

name ur politically correct ship that no one ever questionsuh. oh boy. cake?? not a strong advocate but their moments of butterflies and happiness brings me joy 

now name ur trash shipratmance. this should come as a surprise to exactly no one 

and ur really trashy im-going-to-hell shipdavid/taylor, honestly, because they could fucking wreck shop if they collaborated against the animorphs (or anything) and actually MANAGED to work together, but i absolutely LOVE the idea of their dynamic being “quickly figure out exactly how to rile each other up and push all the right and wrong buttons, to the point that their alliance becomes a weakness in and of itself for the animorphs to exploit” 

who is your cinnamon roll fave who everyone lovescassie, because i like to pretend no one ever posts cassie hate and never have and never will. i live in a world where cassie is appreciated and loved and critizised for her actual mistakes and misjudgments but not vilified for being wrong sometimes or having a moral compass 

who is your sinnamon roll fave who everyone loves to hate/hates to loverachel, possibly?? maybe marco?? they’re both good but definitely more sinnamon than cinnamon, possibly even burnt and bitter cinnamon rolls who have been through far too much 

who is your trash fave who is so problematic they probably have hate tumblrs dedicated to them if i saw a dedicated david hate blog i would clap like a hungry seal and promptly follow them and then i would immediately link it to you so we could be deeply amused together 

what is the fic you want to write/read but can’t because it is too full of Sinremember back in the day, years ago, when i wanted to make an entire zombiemorphs au??? centered on ratmance????? That One

what is the most sinful fic you have ever read/writteni’m not saying it’s the one where jake and cassie do the do and morph a lot in the process, but it’s probably that one (read, that is. i absolutely did not write that one, i only write unprompted silliness and far-too-serious au junk in this fandom) 

what is the worst thing you want to become canon (character death, trash-ship etc)david returning properly, which INDUBITABLY counts as a worst thing but i want this so bad that i’m literally writing it myself just to scratch my own self-indulgent itch 

what is your most sinful headcanonmarco and david made out on exactly one occasion, and they’ve both sworn each other to holy silence on the matter. it was horrible and they both know it. both blame each other for the taste of unclean teeth and eggy breakfast. 

what is your cutest headcanontobias made off with a bag of his old clothes in his talons to bring to rachel’s place, for emergency purposes (and so rachel doesn’t start every human-tobias-requiring mission with shopping new brand clothes for him). rachel sometimes puts one of tobias’ messy old t-shirts on a mannequin she’s got. then she pretend-dances with it and has random conversations with it when she’s cleaning her room etc. tobias caught her once while she was hugging it and burying her head in the mannequin’s shoulder and decided to give her an hour of space before finally flying over to her window and asking her out on a nice burger date where they could maybe hold hands and lean on each other 

what is your heart-breakingist head canonthe same t-shirt was curled into a nice, soft pile by where rachel slept the last few nights before the big showdown. clearly used as a kind of makeshift teddybear to hold onto. cassie cries when she finds it, and tobias just flies off because he can’t stand to think about how he should’ve found the time to give her a proper last hug 

what is ur crackiest crack shipi mean, this is probably still david/taylor. or erek/marco. i’m going for erek/marco actually 

what is ur marginally less cracky crack shipdavid/marco, re: the marco impersonation thing that resulted from david committing Mysterious Shenanigans that left marco tied up in a closet iirc?? i rest my goddamn case 

what is ur favourite ridiculous audragon age inquisition au, where they’re ALL inquisitors w marks due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but they’re a complete band of apostate misfits who accidentally keep finding these rifts and have to fight demons and demon possession so they can close them. except they have to be covert about it so visser three corypheus doesn’t hunt them down to end them. (david is a rogue, but the shitty kind who knows how to make traps but is shit at setting them up bc he never warns his team so they all walk into them and david just laughs and calls them idiots. he’s easily goaded by visser three corypheus into traps as well though. also he keeps offering to help pick locks but he’s shit at that too, he just likes to show off that he’s Different and Better even though he absolutely, evidently, isn’t.) also taylor in the role of calpernia. cassie’s a spirit healer and mostly does buffing and only fights offensively when she must but marco is somehow almost always the first to fall in battle. cassie spends so many revive spells on marco every week. rachel bonds DEEPLY with leliana over clothes and fashion and comes along to orlais all the time, and insists on having morrigan teach her how to become a bear. rachel bereskarn is a terrifying sight to behold 

[captain-ezri-dax]

allll the warden asks either nadia orrr ur fave dwarf warden of yours

Zevran
**1. How did your Warden react to Zevran’s failed attempt on their life? Were they amused? Angry**? - amused but in a "did u actually think that would work" kinda angry way, was v close to killing him 
2. **Did your Warden match Zevran’s lighthearted attitude or were they more serious? What sort of relationship did they have?** - started out lighthearted when they first met but she grew more serious as her depression started 
3. **What did your Warden know of the Crows before meeting Zevran? What did they think of the Crows afterward?** - I'd bet she'd never even heard of them before meeting them, she wasn't rly into textbook studying about history or... anything. Probably doesn't have much of an opinion on them after since he's like the only one she ever meets
4. **Did Zevran betray your Warden? How did they feel in the aftermath of Zevran’s decision?** - I think he did when I played her? Don't think it's canon tho
5. **How well did your Warden keep in contact with Zevran after the Blight? Did they ever see him again?** - probably not very well, they were good friends but not exceptionally close? They'd keep in contact sure but not very often Alistair
1. **What sort of attachment did your Warden form with Alistair, if any at all? Were they close due to their shared experiences as Grey Wardens?** - tbh i imagine she's super uneasy around Alistair for the majority of the blight bc of his Templar past & supportiveness and his comments during the broken circle. Honestly the only reason she'd wanna speak to him is about warden experiences 
2. **Did Alistair’s parentage surprise your Warden? How did your Warden’s feelings on the nobility affect their relationship with Alistair?** Surprise? Ye. Also piss her off? Very ye. She was stressed enough without having to lead a king's bastard
3. **Was Alistair reunited with his sister, Goldanna? What did your Warden think of her? Did they relate to Alistair with their own familial struggles?** She probably took him to Goldanna's house but stayed outside or quiet the whole time, agreed w/ her that him coming back expecting a happy reunion was too much
4. **How did your Warden respond to Alistair’s dislike of Loghain? Did they share Alistair’s sentiments or disagree?** - one of the few things she'd find herself agreeing with him on
5. **What became of Alistair after the Landsmeet? How did your Warden feel about their decision of Alistair’s future?** - left him as a warden cause the queen who's name has completely escaped my head is better than him in every way when it comes to ruling. Plus, in her opinion, a guy who can't choose his own life shouldn't choose for the life of an entire country Wynne
1. **What did your Warden think of Wynne’s views on the Circle? Did they have different experiences regarding the Circle?** - I// uh/// don't know Wynne's views on the circle//// I
2. **How did your Warden respond to Wynne’s comments if your Warden romanced someone? Did they tell her it was love or that the relationship was purely physical? ** - well Nadia is aromantic so
3. **How did your Warden feel about the Spirit of Faith within Wynne? Did they see it as possession?** - creeped her out a little but Wynne seemed in control, so it didn't bother her too much. Plus I imagine, in Nadia's mind, possession is when the spirit takes control of the Mage 
4. **Did your Warden go with Wynne to meet Aneirin, her one-time apprentice? What did they think of the encounter?** - okay I gotta be honest I never get enough friendship from Wynne & I have no idea what an Aneirin is
5. **What did Wynne choose to do after the Blight was ended? Did your Warden stay in touch with her?** - who even knows what Wynne did, but isn't likely they stayed in touchLeliana
1. **What was your Warden’s position on the Chantry? Were they wary of Leliana due to their religious beliefs or lack thereof?** - of the chantry itself? Very very wary if not actively disliking it. Of Leliana bc of her beliefs? A little, the whole vision from the maker think made her a little apprehensive
2. **Was your Warden curious about bards? If they had the opportunity, would they choose to become one?** - no to both tbh, but did enjoy listening to her stories 
3. **If your Warden received Leliana’s personal quest, what did they choose to do with Marjolaine and why?** - probably killed her tbh, she came to care for Leliana at least a little & she knew that Marjolaine might not leave her alone after so
4. **Did your Warden believe that Leliana was telling the truth about her vision from the Maker or were they skeptical? ** - v v v skeptical lmao, especially since most of what she's heard of the maker and andraste for most of her life is "we're gonna lock u away permanently bc of what u were born as bc they told us to in our religious books"
5. **How well did your Warden get along with Leliana? What was their relationship like?** - well enough in the end, listening to Leliana talk & tell stories was probably pretty nice & it turns out they agreed with a lot about how the chantry functions, tho not everything Sten
1. **Had your Warden ever met a Qunari before Sten? What did they expect?** - definitely not tbh? I'm not sure she'd ever even met a dwarf before either, idk if dwarves visit circles a lot or if lyrium trade is done outside a circle 
2. **What did your Warden think of Sten’s beliefs that people’s roles are determined at birth? Did they agree?** - reminded her a lot of how the circle told her she should live her life so. Did not agree in the slightest, but didn't argue cause it's an entirely different culture 
3. **Did your Warden retrieve Sten’s sword? Did your Warden’s choice to give it to him or withhold it affect their relationship with Sten at all?** - probably returned it to him, didn't rly see a reason not to especially when it wasn't hard to get
4. **How did your Warden speak to Sten? Did they fight with him often or were they more humorous in their responses?** - probably wouldn't wanna fight with him, so was either just curious or more humorous 
5. **Was your Warden amused by Sten’s love of cookies?** EhOghren
1. **What did your Warden think of Orzammer? Were they impressed or did they become disillusioned with the city, like Oghren did?** - probably a little disillusioned, likely not a fan of how badly the casteless are treated but impressed otherwise 
2. **What were your Warden’s feelings on berserkers? Were they frightened of them? Were they a berserker themselves?** - I don't actually imagine she had much of an opinion?
3. **What was the fate of Branka? If she was killed, was your Warden regretful? How did they act around Oghren afterwards?** - definitely killed her tbh, but wasn't very regretful. Was no fan of having to take lives to make golems. Probably didn't change around Oghren, he creeps her out still
4. **What was the relationship between your Warden and Oghren? Were they friendly or merely reluctant companions?** - reluctant companions honestly, she doesn't like his casual alcoholism or the creepy comments and looks he gives morrigan (& maybe Leliana? Idk)
5. **Did your Warden stay on good terms with Oghren after the Blight? If Oghren got back together with Felsi, did your Warden ever go to meet Oghren’s child, who was named after the Warden?** - definitely did not stay on good terms but was willing to work with him when he came to join the wardens. Might've gotten him back together with Felsi but never met the kid Morrigan
1. **What was your Warden’s first impression of Morrigan? Did they trust her or were they cautious around her?** This closeted & unawakened bisexual definitely thought morrigan was extremely hot, no doubt about it. But did trust her simply cause, as per her logic, if morrigan wanted them dead she'd have been able to do it far sooner than they'd met, but was a little cautious for the sake of her companions
2. **Did your Warden agree to help Morrigan kill Flemeth? Why or why not?** - agreed to help but didn't actually do it maybe? Or maybe she did do it but apprehensively, simply because she'd never heard of or maybe even didn't believed in magic that could let one human possess another 
3. **How close was your Warden to Morrigan? Did your Warden respect her abilities as a witch of the wilds?** - not sure if they were close, but she definitely liked Morrigan for sure & respected her, tho their views on helping people were totally different. Learnt shape-shifting from her
4. **Did your Warden attempt to find Morrigan after the Blight? Did they ever succeed in meeting her again?** - probably didn't try to actively look until she heard rumours about someone matching Morrigan's appearance being seen around, then she was curious. Probably found her at the mirror ye
5. **Was Morrigan’s ritual completed? What persuaded your Warden to go through with it or what caused them to refuse it?** - probably, if only to save her own skin. Like I said she was never super fond of Alistair but she doesn't think he deserves to die either? Plus preserving the soul of the old god sounded pretty interesting Loghain 
1. **Did your Warden respect Loghain’s experience as a warrior, if not as a ruler?** - she hated every part of him with a passion lmao & lost any respect she might've had for his warrior abilities after she beat him in 1v1 combat. Like a warden just a year outside the circle with only that year's worth of combat experience beating a supposed "hero" and Great Warrior??
2. **How did your Warden react to Loghain’s fierce love for his daughter? Did they share a strong sense of loyalty to their own family?** - by the end of the landsmeet she probably didn't even think he loved Anora, just wanted to use her to usurp the throne. Especially because he locked anora up & had her tortured for getting her out
3. **What did your Warden think of Loghain’s suspicion and dislike of Orlesians? Did they consider it to be ill-founded or accurate? ** - didn't give a single flying shit about it. She'd never met an Orelesian & in not sure she was alive during the occupation, so she just saw it as him showing off and using them as scapegoats 
4. **What was your Warden’s opinion on Loghain’s decision to abandon King Cailan and the Grey Wardens at Ostagar? What did they think of Loghain afterwards?** Honestly do I need to answer this one at this point lmao 
5. **Did Loghain survive the Landsmeet? If he did, why did your Warden choose to let him live?** - nooooooooope. Considered letting him join the wardens but changed her mind pretty quickly Shale (N/A if The Stone Prisoner DLC was not played)
1. **Was your Warden interested in golems upon meeting Shale? Did they think of golems as weapons or sentient beings?** - wasn't rly interested in golems as things but was interested in Shale. Shale was v likely her first experience with golems so thought of them as living things
2. **Did the realization that Shale was once a living dwarf surprise your Warden? How did that change their views on golems?** - definitely did surprise her, was the whole reason she destroyed the Anvil tbh. Never wanted to touch a control rod again
3. **Did your Warden aid Branka or Caridin? Did their choice affect their relationship with Shale?** - Caridin 100% of the way, was v pleased when Shale was happy with the choice
4. **How did your Warden’s relationship with Shale change during the Blight? Was their relationship maintained after the Blight?** - honestly if Corliss wasn't around, Shale very much may have been Nadia's closest friend during the blight. Was definitely maintained after the blight, tho I think Shale goes to Tevinter to try to regain her dwarf body? So they lose contact for a good long while & Nadia misses them
5. **What did your Warden make of Shale’s “bird issues”? ** "Same dude they'd shit all over the tower!!! And they're loud and ate the crops from our small garden, they're the worst"Dog
**1. Who’s a good boy?!** - Mutt is a good boy!!!!! She's sorry she named him Mutt

[eggoreviews]

My Top 25 Games Advent Day 11 - Dragon Age: Origins (#15)

​​“Let’s show them our hearts, and then show them theirs.”​​

Origins, the first in the incredible tactical RPG series Dragon Age, represents a time in Bioware’s life when they were at the top of their game. Origins is also a brilliantly weird example of how a game can age like cheese in some areas, but other aspects are still masterclasses in video game developing. In a way, Origins shaped my interest in gaming when I was younger and gave me a truly unforgettable experience. So below the cut, I’ll be reviewing this game ten years on, with the least amount of bias I can manage. No promises though.

My first experience with what I feel is one of the best fantasy RPG series ever made was watching my dad play it when it first released, which I probably definitely shouldn’t have been doing (I have an oddly overriding memory of my dad forcing me to put a cushion in front of my eyes when Morrigan got a lil nakey). But the reason I watched everytime he played was because of how easily invested I became in the story, the characters, the setting. And that only amplified once I got to play it myself.  Everything was so well thought out and executed, for a game in 2009, this is literal perfection. But it’s not 2009 anymore. So how much of that still holds out?​​

​​As I just mentioned, the story, characters and overall world-building in this game is phenomenal. From start to end, Origins weaves an excellent story of the disgraced order of the Grey Wardens, who are tasked with besting the Darkspawn uprising, despite the world’s hatred of them due to the wrongful blame of the king’s death. Your own customisable character also has an interchangeable race and background, giving you a multitude of options for kicking off your adventure in plenty of unique ways, which all converge in you joining the fabled Grey Wardens before everything goes to shit. On your journey to unite a divided world in fighting with you and eventually taking on the Archdemon, you encounter a band of lovable, subtly developed and most importantly real characters that enhance the experience far beyond what I expected. I know everyone stans Dorian and Iron Bull these days, but honestly, nothing surpasses this original cast for me. Alistair, your fellow Grey Warden trainee (and in the end, rightful king of Ferelden) is an absolute blast of a character, seamlessly blending scathing humour that never fails to get a laugh whilst also being a deeply emotional and damaged character. Morrigan, the cynical, sarcastic witch who can turn into a bear, while a series mainstay at this point, I absolutely love her in this game in particular. Later on, Leliana, the Orlesian bard with a wicked sense of humour and a good heart, is still one of my absolute favourite video game characters, as well as the stoic Qunari Sten, the motherly mage Wynne, the golem who’s fed up of everyone’s shit: Shale, the heavily drunk/emotional dwarf Oghren and my favourite big ol gay cheeky rogue Zevran. There’s a cast here to rival the Fellowship of the Ring, and they really do come alive in their random conversations with each other and each of their growing individual relationships with your character. On top of this, each character and each race you convince to join your cause all have a genuine impact on how your final battle plays out, making your climactic encounter with the Archdemon all the more unforgettable. And the world of Ferelden itself from the Dwarven city of Orzammar to the forests of the Dalish Elves, are all vibrant, well-established settings and everything feels unique. The amazing thing about the world of Ferelden is that the developers acknowleged they didn’t have enough to fill an entire open world, so they didn’t make one. They didn’t waste the player’s time with pointless, empty space just to pretend that they’ve given you an open world, which is a lesson some developers today still need to learn: just because you’ve given your player an open space, your game can still be empty if you don’t fill it with life.​​

​​However, now I have to put my heavily tinted nostalgia goggles aside and acknowledge that one of my favourite fantasy games has, in fact, not aged brilliantly in some aspects. I still maintain that the characters, narrative content and world you explore are absolutely incredible, but coming back to this game ten years on didn’t yield great results in other areas. While the world itself doesn’t waste your time, random encounters with Darkspawn between areas become a little bit of a ballache after a while and were clearly intended as repetitive padding. And while I love the sheer scale of the amount of spells and abilities you can equip each character with, the combat as a whole feels properly, properly stunted these days. For a tactical RPG, it all just feels so janky and slow, but I maintain that this was great for the time it released. And because combat is one of the main gameplay elements, it makes playing through the game today a lot more wobbly than I remember.​​

​​So there you go, it’s clear that the series, as well as gaming as a whole, has come along leaps and bounds since Dragon Age’s first entry. In the years following, Inquisition has swept the series up from its drop in quality in Dragon Age II, yet again creating a memorable cast of characters and a great fantasy adventure, now updated with much better graphics and combat mechanics. But here’s the thing, I still high-key prefer Origins. No disrespect to Inquistion, I think it was great, but there’s just something about this fresh, original adventure that blew me away when I first played it and I never quite felt the same way about Inquisition or the characters it created. For every Dorian and Sera, there was also a Blackwall and a Solas, giving an unfortunate mix of great characters and not so great ones. Put on top of this a villain I literally gave zero shits about and the fact that they absolutely butchered my favourite character Leliana by making her lose all her charm and character in favour of yet another grumpy, stoic warrior person, Inquisition did not reach the same heights as the first entry, at least in my eyes. And I get the feeling that the impact this game left on me still informs a lot of my game choices today, as well as inadvertently some of my own creations. I really don’t think it’s a stretch to call this gaming’s Lord of the Rings.​​

​​Standout Moment Award: Predictably, the finale. The culmination of every party member, every army you’ve recruited along the way makes an ending that’s epic, satisfying and terrifying in equal measure.​​

Standout Character Award: Leliana. The strong yet playful, cheeky yet unwaveringly just bard quickly became my favourite character and this incarnation of her is still one of my faves to date.

​​Tomorrow: No. 14; A heartfelt coming-of-age story, with the minor addition of a murderous legion of elves.