#i wish you could mod inquisition as well as you can mod origins because i would absolutely commit myself to remaking awakening in dai

[danielnelsen]

sometimes it really does feel like awakening walked so inquisition could crawl

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Dragon Age Question Meme

thanks for the tag @bitchesofostwick! too fun not to do! :)

tagging @solverne-02  @bearly-tolerable @aurianavaloria @laraslandlockedblues @ladymdc @galadrieljones @thevikingwoman @idrelle-miocovani 

01) favorite game of the series? I think Origins is the best in terms of gaming while 2 has the best story.I’m most attached to Inquisition and Origins equally when you boil down to it, I played both a lot and both were huge comforts.

02) how did you discover Dragon Age? All the way in 2009 the game came out to glowing reviews and my interest piqued. During Valentines day 2010 my dad got me a game stop gift card and I bought it. (my parents rock lol.) anyway I played it but it went horribly, I missed leliana and sten in lothering...accidentally killed Irving so sided with the templars...zev betrayed me...it was a mess. It wasn’t until a third play through that I began to love the game.

03) how many times you’ve played the games? Origins: gosh I’ve gotten to the end at least 5 times, but made a lot of characters. 2: probably 3 times with a female hawke and once with a male (for some reason that’s the only game I’ve played as a male as to the end...he romanced merrill.) Inquisition: once again, at least 5.

04) favorite race to play as? Just so happens to turn out my favorite backstories and origins are the human ones, though I tried to make elves. I just couldn’t come up with a character I gravitated toward.

05) favorite class? Story wise: mage, fun to play as and personal enjoyment: rogue.

06) do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time? Make the same decisions because it feels weird if I don’t, lol. Especially with romances...I get so loyal I can’t romance anyone else. I do though sometimes change up classes for variety.

07) go-to adventuring group? I tend to shuffle a lot, but my most common groups are in DAO: Alistair, Leliana/Zev and Morrigan/Wynne but I love them all and tend to shuffle. DA2: Fenris, Anders, Varric and in DAI: Sera, Vivienne, Cassandra (though again I do a lot of shuffling for variety.)

08) which of your characters did you put the most thought into? Lydia Trevelyan, no question. I wanted to write her story and romance, so I did. :3 

09) favorite romance? DAO: Alistair, DA2: Fenris. DAI and overall: Cullen. 

10) have you read any of the comics/books? Nope.

11) if you read them, which was your favorite book? honestly I have no plans to read any *sorry.*

12) favorite DLCs? Hmmm...The Stone Prisoner in Origins, and Jaws of Hakkon! Of course Tresspasser too.

13) things that annoy you. Most are fandom related...not going to lie. But in game I wish Inquisition had more ambient music as you explored, and that missions actually meant something to the war effort other than racking in points. I wish Cullen’s trauma at the winter palace was treated more thoughtfully, and I hate, hate, hate how the inquisitor has to kneel down and loot because it takes FOREVER. I also wish DA2 had a longer development cycle because the game could have been so much more.

Oh I also wish vital story info wasn’t in books/DLCs.

14) Orlais or Ferelden? Aesthetically I like elements of Orlais, I have to pick Ferelden though.

15) templars or mages? Much like bitchesofostwick, all my OCs have, when the games pit one against the other, sided with the mages, but I think the chantry is so bad both groups need reform. (Circles need to function like schools rather than prisons, templars need to know magical defense but serve as protectors and move away from the chantry.) 

That being said Lydia is actually kind of pro templar, more than one may think anyway...in the sense that she thinks they can do better.

16) if you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?In Origins I played through different origins for variety, but I can’t make multiple characters for one game, lol. I find making OCs so fun but time consuming and I love doting all the attention to select few, lol.

17) what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc) Miranda Cousland’s mabari is Hal after a prince in a book. Rhine Hawke? honestly never given much thought, lol. Probably something simple like Spot (Carver would point out constantly he has no spots and she would say something witty back, ha.) Lydia’s horse is named Pepper. Her and cullen’s mabari is named Cleo.

18) have you installed any mods? i bought inquisition on PC just to use mods and I havent figured it out yet, lol.

19) did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden? NO! In fact she resented it big time because she saw her duty as taking revenge, and Duncan basically gave her a death sentence in her eye. Eventually she kind of succumbs to her duty but if she had things her way, she would never have become a warden. 

20) hawke’s personality? she started off a good purple/blue. In Inquisition she became red.

21) did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition? No but maybe I should, lol.

22) if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?  Miranda would make sure Howe never did what he did. Rhine would stop Meredith sooner. Lydia would make sure (SPOILER) her ex boyfriend Asher never became a red templar.

23) do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?Miranda meets Lydia at Skyhold and is the Warden contact. there’s a big party at skyhold and lydia makes an epic speech. this is a big one: Rhine loves Fenris, but he leaves like he always does, and she knows Anders loves her to death so she gets with him. Ultimately though they have a mutual break up, and she goes back to fenris a month later. (they’re endgame) this makes her feel extra responsible for the chantry explosion. (She approves of sending the message...just not that way lol.)

24) are any of your character(s) based on someone? Well Lydia is the most like me, but the more time I have spent with her the less I find us identical. I made Mira/Rhine as different as I could, but none are really based on anyone. Maybe parts of Lydia are based on Lauren Bacall/Vivien Leigh, more old hollywood ladies <3 

25) who did you leave in the Fade? In game always Stroud. Or sometimes Hawke. In my story it’s Hawke :( sorry all i thrived on the drama.

26) favorite mount? the war nug!

[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. 

[impossible-rat-babies]

DA 20 questions!

I was tagged by @acepavus! Thank you darling!

I’m gonna tag: @apostatetabris, @dirthara-mama, @wicked-eyes-and-wicked-hearts, @star--nymph, @red-wardens, @vvakarians, @trans-aloth, and anyone else who wants to do this! Sorry if I’ve double tagged you all!

--

01) Favourite game of the series?

I gotta go with Inquisition. I love all the maps and the characters I’ve gotten to make through the games. It’s a beautiful game.

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

I saw art of Dorian around and figured out he was from dragon age and that he was gay and I was instantly hooked on wanting to play the game. I hadn’t ever seen a video game before with a gay man in it and I was desperate for LGBT content and validation. Dorian has been immensely important to me in helping me realize my identity.

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

I’ve played origins all the way through four times I think. I’ve played da2 three times, twice with my main Hawke and then another Hawke. I’ve played inquisition at least six times with Darva and I’m playing Dimitri for the fourth time. I’ve played that one the most by far.

04) Favourite race to play as?

Elves! I love the elves of dragon age so much

05) Favourite class?

Dual wielding rogue by far along with archers. Rogues are one my favorite classes ever. I do have a soft spot for mages and warriors thought

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

I try to make little sorts of different choices. I’ve both allied/conscripted the templars and mages before on different little games and I’ve both banished and kept the grey wardens. I’ve never put Gaspard on the throne himself, but I’ve done all the other ways Halamshiral can end up. I’ve only ever not drank from the well once and the was because I was playing a human. I try to mix it up a little each play through for variety sake. Plus I love Calperia’s story so much more than Sampson, so I do side with the templars on occasion. But I am a mage loving gay.

07) Go-to adventuring group?

My Origins go to gang for Eth is Shale, Wyne and Alistair and Slivayn is usually Wyne, Shale, and Zevran. DA2 is a whole grab bag of people, but I usually have one mage, one warrior and a rogue + my mage Hawke.  My crew for inquisition depends on who I’m playing. Darva mainly roles with Cassandra, Vivienne and Dorian while Dimitri runs with Iron Bull, Sera and Solas.

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

Dimitri and Darva are at a big ole tie with Eth coming in second place. Dimitri is my ever evolving kiddo mainly bc I play a TTRPG with him as my PC, but Darva is like that comfort character where I truly see myself in. Eth is my precious little complicated warden child who I revisit on occasion because I forget how much I do enjoy origins.

09) Favourite romance?

Oooo it’s a hard tie between Bull and Dorian. Dorian was really like that gateway--along with dragon age in general--into me making gay characters explicitly and having them represent me. He made me feel okay with who I am and seeing that blatant love between men was something I had never seen. It was kinda the same with Bull, but he was also like that shattering of men having to preform to a certain degree of manliness to be seen as valid. Bull is manly af, but he loves the color pink. Masculinity doesn’t have to be as society defines it.

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

I have read the Magekiller comic, but that was about it. I wanna read the books, but having the energy to do it. Does reading the TTRPG book count? Or the World of Thedas books? lolol

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

I haven’t read any of the main book tbh

12) Favourite DLCs?

I loved the Return to Ostagar DLC. That one was full of a great atmosphere and just generally quite sad. I liked Mark of the Assassin best out of the DA2 DLCs because it was humorous as well as having good drama going on. A very fun time even though it was a bit of a pain. Trespasser is probably my favorite DLC for Inquisition mainly because of the run through the elvhen ruins at the end of the DLC to get to Solas. It’s throwing everything you have because this is the end at the enemy and I love that.

13) Things that annoy you.

Ehhh most of my annoyance come from the lack of mlm romance options in the game and the treatment of characters like Sera and Sandal who are coded as neutroatypical. But, most of my qualms come from fandom and the rampant homophobia, transphobia, racism and white-washing everyone does. Ya shitty fandom.

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Ferelden, personally.

15) Templars or mages?

Mages as always.

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

I have multiple characters across two world states, my canon one being Eth Tabris, my dual wielding rogue warden who romanced Alistair, Bryn Hawke, my force/blood mage, who romanced Fenris and Darva Lavellan, my dual wielding rogue who romanced Dorian. I also have other Lavellan's that go along with Darva like Fisk and Livonah. Then I have an alternative world state with Slivayn Mahariel, an archer rogue who romanced Zevran, then Farlan Hawke, my two handed warrior who romanced Anders, and then Dimitri Enallasani, my mage elf who romanced Bull. Dimitri only has Daniel as his other sort of important character.

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

Eth named her Mabari, Witt, after her brother who was sent to the Circle when she was 16. I cannot remember for the life of my what Bryn named his Mabari, rip. Darva ends up with a Mabari in Kirkwall just named Da’len. Slivayn named his Mabari Tamlen after his clanmate and lover. I can’t remember what Farlan named his Mabari, RIP. Dimitri has an Anderfels Hart he raises later on named Ghilan after his Keeper’s old Hart and he has a great horned owl named Falon who he rescued.

18) Have you installed any mods?

Nope! I play all my games on console, so no mods for me. I do want to get a good gaming computer after I graduate from college so I can indulge in some mods for Dimitri and Darva and learn fly cam. I would really like to have Dimitri’s vallaslin in the game and more dalish outfits for my kiddos. Alas, I am stuck with what I have for now.

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

Wanting to become a Grey Warden wasn’t something Eth thought about wanting or not wanting. She was ready to die for having saved Shianni and that would have been enough. She kept her safe and that was her duty. Duncan thought she was worth the risk and she accepted that if this was going to be her new duty, it was going to be her new duty.

Slivayn didn’t want to be a Warden at all. Duncan had to conscript him and even then he hated Duncan for a long, long time. He didn’t get to see if he could save Tamlen at all so he was intensely grieving and he was torn from the only home he had ever known. Ostagar was his first experience with humans who weren’t out to kill him and his family.

20) Hawke’s personality?

Bryn is firmly in the Purple Hawke camp, but strays into Blue on occasion. Farlan is a firm divide between Red and Purple.

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

Yes, omg yes. My quizzies have their own color palettes I work off of. Darva alternates between Bear Fur + Plush Fustian Velvet + Infused Vyrantium Samite + Blue Vitriol and Great Bear Fur + Darkened Samite + Silk Brocade + Blue Vitriol. Dimitri’s changes from Snoufleur Skin + Drakestone + Darkened Samite + Higher Weave to Great Bear Fur + Darkened Samite + Dragon Scale. aka, Darva wears a lot of deep browns, blues and greens and Dimitri is a lot of reds, blacks and oranges.

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

Eth wishes she would have done more to keep Shianni safe along with the rest of the Alienage. Her biggest regret is that she allowed what happened to happen.

Bryn wishes he could’ve saved his family. He covers up a lot of his grief with humor and deflection, but he hurts a lot for what he did. Part of him wishes he had done better with his mother, but he wouldn't admit it.

Darva wishes he could’ve saved his father; he knows he was only fourteen and that he would have gotten himself killed, but at times he thought that a better fate than having to deal with his mother and her all encompassing, smothering grief. 

Dimitri wishes he could’ve saved his clan. He goes over what happened as much as he can, trying to piece together what he could've done to save his family. It’s his life’s biggest regret.

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

Oooo could Darva being trans be one? Idk, that's a headcanon that doesn’t much go again canon. Biggest one for him would be him leaving the clan at 18 and traveling around Thedas. 

Dimitri’s whole origins and magical usage is a big middle finger at the canon for the dalish inquisitor considering he is sort of his own sect of elves who are drastically different than their southern counterparts.

24) Who did you leave in the Fade?

Ooo Darva leaves Alistair in the Fade because I can’t bear to leave Bryn behind, rip. But Dimitri ends up leaving Loghain in the Fade. I can’t give up my Hawkes.....

25) Favourite mount?

Me personally? I love the Pride of Arlathan mount. Darva mainly uses that mount and it’s his favorite. Dimitri loves his horse, the Amaranthine Charger. But, later on he gets his Anderfels Hart--which is a sandy colored breed of Hart that is larger and tougher than others of it’s breed. They bond with only one rider in their lifetime and will stand their ground, full of as much conviction as the elves who originally bred them.

[lavellane]

DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS

tagged by: @nordxz​ thanks so much !!! *heart emoji* 

favourite game of the series?

origins! although inquisition is very close as well.  inquisition was my favourite for a very time, but like midway through last year i replayed origins and it just felt.....so good. i really struggled with enjoying dao because of the clunky fighting system but an amazing mutual introduced me to a mod that lets u skip fights basically lol, so i was just able to focus on the story/characters/exploration of the game, which just....made me realize how immensely beautiful the game actually is, and i fell in love all over again aaaaa

how did you discover dragon age?

i was a huge mass effect fan ! mass effect was the game that motivated me to make this blog, actually, and obviously through following people i saw a lot of posts from the da community as well. so i bought origins and inquisition (i had NO idea there was a da2 until half way through awakening lmao) and tried to play origins but HATED it gtrhutgrhugtr and then eventually gave it another try like a month later and completely loved it and now here we are

how many times you’ve played the games?

not as many times as some people on here have - i would say origins maybe four times, da2 maybe twice, inquisition three times. but that also doesnt count all the timesw ive created new games and then abandoned them lol bc theres too many to count 

favourite race to play as?

love me some elf booty ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

favourite class?

at first it was rogue dual wielder ! i played as a rogue in every single first-time playthrough and idk i felt that class has always been the easiest/most op. but in the last maybe 2 years it’s changed to mage. ive always been super intimidated by magic classes in every game i play but i LOVE inquisition’s mage classes/specializations and i can never go back now

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

im so so so bad and i usually end up making very similar choices, but usually bc i just......replay the same characters every time hgtuhgtruhgtrui. i REALLY need to make more da ocs to explore more choices but....i dont want to lol i already have to many. i still havent sided with the templars in a playthrough like i just cant do it 

go-to adventuring group?

i always bring my characters love interest with them no matter what, just bc its cute, but usually i try to evenly cycle the other characters around that. i always try to have a warrior/rogue/mage in every party. but sometimes i’ll go warrior/warrior/mage/mage especially if i need to focus on straight damage and a LOT of healing lol

my favourite parties would probably be:

dao - alistair + zevran + wynne (wholesome and also funny)

da2 - anders + fenris + merrill (SO much chaotic energy)

dai - solas + cassandra + cole (i just love them ok)

which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

ashara lavellan, my canon inquisitor who was never supposed to be canon tghtgurhtrg. my original canon inq was a trevelyan rogue, who was super nice and good. i made ashara so that i could actually play as an evil/mean character without feeling bad lol, oh and i also wanted to see what the deal with solas was bc i had heard his romance was good ;;;;) anyway that backfired and i ended up completely falling in love with her, and i STILL couldnt make the tough choices with her so i was like ok maybe she isnt THAT evil and now shes just..... the way she is now i guess lmao

favourite romance?

trhhtruih okay u guys KNOW its solas. u know. i dont even have to say anythiing about it bc...u fucking know

(alistair’s is very close tho)

have you read any of the comics/books?

i havent :(((( im such a bad fan but i cannot deal with ordering online and thats the only place ive been able to find them. im planning on reading asunder and the masked empire as soon as i get the chance (and the money) tho !!

if you read them, which was your favourite book?

nope

favourite DLCs?

trespasser ! its pretty simple and very plot-driven like u didnt have to worry about side missions as much as u would with other dlcs so idk that was... refreshing. but obviously i loved it just bc it was so beautiful and intense and sad (since my chara romanced solas obviously) and that music score????? unbelievable i’ll never be over it

things that annoy you.

can i say the fandom trghuitgrhutrhui

mostly the thing that pisses me off the most is the grey morality. writers trying to make everything deep and Thought Provoking like..... no jerry, slavery IS bad theres no alternative viewpoint lol??????? also the fucking whitewashing makes me see red. 

orlais or ferelden?

ferelden!!!!! (*blows a kiss* for highever)

templars or mages?

mages <3 

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

i only have like 3 protag da characters and they’re all canon, although emeraude is an au. so ella is my canon warden and ashara is my canon inquisitor, but emeraude does exist in that universe, bc i hc she befriended the warden and alistair when they visited the alienage, and she was very outspokenly angry and didn’t really give a shit that alistair was going to be heir. which alistair really,,, appreciated i guess? so emeraude is made his official elven adviser after his coronation but she also kinda helps out as a royal protector because she’s one of the only people in court they both trust completely lol. also she is....stronk. 

and the only other characters i have for da are obviously side characters who are related to my canon protags so. they’re all canon as well lol

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

ella named her dog ser bark gthutgrhutghruihtr she thought it was cute ok

emeraude just went with barkspawn since alistair came up with the idea as a joke but she thought the joke was so bad she made them keep it as punishment vjhuightui

i dont really have a hawke oc but.....he named his dog shepard in my playthrough ! like from mass effect ;;;;)))

have you installed any mods?

origins is modded to hell and back and i genuinely couldn’t play the game without mods at this point. inquisition is slightly modded but im in the process of removing them all, and only keeping a few because my game runs pretty terribly with them installed 

did your warden want to become a grey warden?

ella did ! but it was kind of,, a naive childhood dream, she had a really romanticized view of the wardens and she wanted a life of excitement and bravery and adventure, not really taking into consider all the bad things about it (and obviously not knowing the full truth about what it means to be a warden)

emeraude did NOT want to be a warden. she basically had to be dragged out of the alienage because she wanted to stay and protect her community. she never really enjoyed being a warden, although her friendship with alistair was its one redeeming quality 

hawke’s personality?

uh i cant remember the colour/personality thing but he was a combo of funny/ethical. mostly there for memes tho. 

did you make matching armor for your companions in inquisition?

for origins i do ! i always make sure alistair and ella wear the grey warden armour, as well as every warden in awakening. thats like, all theyre allowed to wear lmao.

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

ella would obviously change her family’s murder lol, and emeraude would at least try and change what happened at her wedding, to prevent shianni and the others from being hurt. 

ashara would change romancing solas :((( she was so angry at herself after discovering who he was, and she felt weak and foolish which she HATES more than any other feeling, so she definitely wishes she had never met him for a long time. after she kind of processes it though, and learns to deal with her anger, her answer would be that she wishes she had saved the chargers. it’s the one move she made that actually keeps her up at night sometimes. 

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

ghuitrhuigtrhugtr so many. canon? dont know her. 

the biggest example would be that i hc king!alistair was at the winter palace during the wicked hearts level. because uh..... celene and the fereldan monarchs had been corrosponding for over 10 years, trying to build up rapport, of COURSE the king would be there to see who the potential ruler/s of orlais would be and whether or not he ought to be worried. like. im sorry but alistair was there lol you can’t change my mind. i also hc he helps ashara with information about the grey wardens during this chapter, because ???? it just makes sense??? im so angry i wish this was canon

are any of your characters based on someone?

ok it was unintentional but ashara reminds me of an english teacher i had in highschool who was very scary but also....really cool and i loved her. it was an accident but,, still counts. 

who did you leave in the fade?

gtiturghtugh okay at the risk of pissing off EVERYBODY who reads this, i left hawke in the fade, even though it was a toss up between hawke and stroud. it was ashara’s fault tho !!! she would have 100% prioritzed an alliance with the grey wardens over like,, some guy. it broke my heart but yeah That happened. 

favourite mount?

i like all the elk mounts mostly ! but i never use them bc they sound ugly af

tagging : @trvelyans​ @f3nharel​ @allisondraste​ @ensevens​ @tethraas​ @talizorah​ @fereldun​ if u are up to it <3 and whoever else wants to do this ! 

[rpgwrites]

Dragon Age Questions

Thank you for the tag @natsora !!

I’m not sure if all of you are into Dragon Age. If you’re not, feel free to ignore this. Tagging: @obvidalous , @starsandskies , @naromoreau , and @inquartata30 , with no obligations. Only if you want to do this.

01) favorite game of the series?

Dragon Age 2. I simply love Hawke’s background story.

02) how did you discover Dragon Age?

It was my first year of University. My one friend kept telling me about these two amazing game series namely Mass Effect and Dragon Age. So the one day when we talked she told me about Dragon Age 2 and then I realized my brother has that game. So I played it, and I loved it!

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

Yeah, I don’t have an exact amount. I’ve played it many many times. I’m actually currently doing an Origins playthrough. xD

04) favorite race to play as?

Dragon Age: Origins- Human. Specifically, Cousland because I fell in love with her background and it’s my favourite background from all the other backgrounds in Origins.

Dragon Age 2- Human.

Dragon Age: Inquisition- Either human or an elf.

05) favorite class?

Mage except for Dragon Age: Origins. I don’t enjoy playing as a mage there. I also love playing as a Rogue. Love the moves of the Rogue.

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

I try. But many times I make the same choices.

07) go-to adventuring group?

Not really. I usually stick with the same people.

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

Well, I don’t really have a Dragon Age OC. But I can’t help to think a lot about my Cousland. She always looks pretty much the same and there’s some stuff to explore there.

09) favorite romance?

I don’t really have a favourite romance, though I haven’t done all the romances. But I think I like the Alistair romance the most. I like the dialogue.

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

Nope, just Fanfiction.

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

/

12) favorite DLCs?

Trespasser without a doubt. There’s so much to explore there. Anyone have any Tresspaser or post-Tresspaser fics they can recommend?

13) things that annoy you?

I want better men to romance. Don’t get me wrong. The Dragon Age characters are really awesome. But I want other men to romance. And I really wish the warden could have worn the Grey Warden’s armor. I know there are mods, but I can’t use them. 

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Orlias. Just love the idea of it.

15) Templars or Mages?

Mages without a question.

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

Probably the same universe. I haven’t written any Dragon Age fics. I sometimes fancy the idea of doing something but I’m not sure if I’ll ever do it.

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

Mabari different names. Sam. Honey. I’m not sure what I called him this time. Don’t judge me. I’m very bad at picking names.

18) have you installed any mods?

No, can’t. I play on Xbox, I’d love to give the mods a try though.

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

At first yes. But when Howe’s men massacred her house she didn’t want to leave her mother and father to die. She blames herself for it and wants revenge. She might have some stuff that needs to be resolved.

20) Hawke’s personality?

She’s sarcastic.

Lol, I always love to pick the sarcastic dialogue when I play Dragon Age 2.

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

Not on purpose. I ran out of the other material in my last playthrough.

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

Cousland thought something was off when she overheard a conversation her father and Howe had. And when she talked to him her suspicions grew. But Howe would never betray them, would he? She wished she listened to her gut. How things would’ve turned out so different.

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

Don’t think so. Though this meme is giving me ideas. Ask me again in a few months.

24) are any of your character(s) based on someone?

No.

25) who did you leave in the Fade?

Stroud in most of my playthrough’s. But if Alistair was there I would’ve left him. Sorry Cousland, but I can’t leave Hawke.

26) favorite mount?

I don’t really have one. Maybe horse?

[valerie-royeaux]

Tagged by the lovely @enchantment1385​! Thank you so much, I love these tags! And I’ll do all of them, believe me!

1. Favourite game of the series? Dragon Age: Origins, by far. In every aspect, in every category I can think of. The characters are better, the story is better, the origins themselves are mind blowing, the companions are unique... The only thing I think Origins does worst than the others is Character Design. Leliana and Morrigan are obviously made to please the BroGamerTM, whereas Sera, Cassandra and Josie are muuuuuuch better designed. 

2. How did you discover 🐉 Age? Pure luck. My wife got me a bunch of games she bought in a bundle, and DA:O was among them. It was 2010, and ever since then, the quantity of games I play dropped *significantly* because DA:O became the bar by which I measure other games. Bioware ruined gaming for me.

3. How many times have you’ve played the games? To quote the wise words of @enchantment1385​:

Ahahahahaha… Umm… I don’t know..? 

So many multiples times since 2010 I honestly have no idea.

4. Favourite race to play as? Given my OCs, I’ve played humans and dwarves. I can’t say I have a favorite. Wait, I can: dwarves.

5. Favourite class? Sword & Shield warrior. I’m the tank, and will always be!

6. Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time? Quoting @enchantment1385​:

I kinda vary it, but not as much as I sometimes want to. I’ve never done a pure ‘asshole’ playthrough, even though sometimes I would like to see how it ends up. I blame Bioware for making the NPC’s likeable.

That being said, I do have two OCs already lined up for DA4. And one will be a slave-owning, selfish bastard mage.

7. Go-to adventuring group? In DAO, battle dictates the group. I play on PC with friendly fire on. So I can’t carry companions just because I like them. The party to go is John, as sword & shield warrior, Leliana for Ranged Damage, Morrigan for Crowd Control, and Wynne as Support.

DA2: Meh. Not Varric, Not Isabella.

DAI: Unless I’m out for dragon killing, I take those that have to do with the story. So, for instance, Blackwall will tag along with Crestwood and Adamant. Bull and Sera will never go to Halamshiral. And so on. But for Dragon Hunting, Junia as a dual wielding Rogue for a lot of damage, Cassandra as the tank, Cole for even more damage, and Solas for Support,.

8. Which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

I’d say both of them saw the same amount of effort. John’s and Junia’s stories are intertwined from almost the very beginning. And it shall remain thus!

9. Favourite romance? Sera and Morrigan. Simply for the sheer amount of content and cutscenes, which is more than the other romances. 

10. Have you read any of the comics/📚? Nope. o.O I don’t like most comics.

11. If you read them, which was your favourite 📓? N/A

12. Favourite DLCs? Awakening. I wish it had romance, but I still it’s awesome. 

13. Things that annoy you? Varric’s book cover art, or anything he opens his mouth about the publishing industry, really. It breaks immersion for me in a way I can barely deal with.

14. Orlais or Ferelden? 

Wise words again:

Who in the shit picks Orlais? For Ferelden!!

15. Templar's or Mages? Templars. I know when it boils down to it, it’s abuse. But when you boil down to it, if left free, the mages will rule. It’s either them of us, unfortunately.

16. If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one? The same one. John and Junia are interwined, as I said. I never managed to bond to a Hawke, though. So my Hawke is a parallel universe version of my wife’s Hawke.

17. What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc.) John had Thorand, Maker rest his soul. Junia never had a Mabari.

18. Have you installed any mods? Only for DA:O. None for Inquisition. I love the ones that enhance the romance with Leliana.

19. Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?     Not. Really.

He was forced to do so because his twin sister had been conscripted - not only Gwen had more chances of restoring the Couslands if not bound to the Wardens. He also had to protect her - give his life, so she wouldn’t have to give hers. And he broke his promises to Junia in doing so - spelling the end of their relationship for many years to come. It’s complicated. More details here.

20. Hawke’s personality? None. I don’t have a Hawke. I use my wive’s who’s 3/4 Purple. 1/4 red.

21. Did you make matching armour for your companions in Inquisition? Not really. I don’t think I got the question.

22. If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change? John would change everything. He regrets the most having joined the Wardens, despite carrying his duty as a Warden loyally. That one decision, he thinks, doomed him and Junia to a good deal of suffering that could have been avoided if only the told Duncan to go to hell, and not have nor him nor Gwen.

Junia wishes he hadn’t given her son to the care of her mothers. The convent where they lived was sacked - and she never saw her child again.

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

24. Are any of your character(s) based on someone? John is a shameless self insert. Junia came to life all on her own. She’s this... thing, that exists, that came to life in a way I could not fathom... And I am in love with her.

25. Who did you leave in the Fade? No one. This Inktober sketch shows well what happened with the Nightmare:

26. Favourite mount? Junia, given her height, prefers Harts. John, knight to the bone, horses.

[wolgrahas]

tagged by: @falkreathh thank you!!  sorry for doing this so much later u_u’ tagging: whoever wants to!! (◡‿◡✿) 1. favourite game in the series ok... i don’t know if you already figured it out but my total fave is dao. why? maybe is the nostalgic feelings this game gives me or... i played it so many mcfucking times that i just get this hollow feeling inside my chest when i haven’t played it for weeks... idk. the trespasser dlc was spectacular too and gave my lavellan a lot of personality (what i thought the dai base game lacked, bc it made me feel like my inquisitor was an empty shell with no personality, solas’ romance save the dai base game to me tbqh). but... you can create such complex personalities in dao for your warden, and the relationships are so so realistic. i think (dao) is neat lmao. 

2. how did you discover dragon age? before being a dragon age fan i was a dark souls fan; i breath dark souls, i read dark souls, i ate dark souls, i was quite obsessed with dark souls, and before dark souls i was an obsessed skyrim fan (oNLY SKYRIM, not the previous games ashdgjasdgh) and with skyrim that was the first time i made video game oc's, like... they had such complex personalities and i cannot make complex character now... aNYWAY i'm getting carried away: i knew dragon age bc dai was being lunched and ALL the people i followed reblogged stuff about dai, and then i bought dao and loved it!! 

3. how many times have you played the games? hfgsdjfhsjfshd fffUCKKKK SHITT... alright... many mANY TIMES, but how many times i haven't finished my game?? countless times!! i think i finished fINISHED dao maybe... pls don't laugh at me... 10+ times. yes they are so so so many times, shame on me! shame on my cow! blah blah, but i lOVE dao. da2 maybe.... 3-4 times? and dai 6 times?? it's funny bc i played dao and da2 in many different ways but dai... m8, always the same, fuck you solas sdhfjdshjsdf 4. favourite race to play? qUNARIIIII!!! i lOVE tieflings so.. i obviously love the qunari too, but in the dai the first race i chose was qunari but then i talked to solas and i was like... bITCHHHHH i'm gonna create an elf to romance this egg, and then... my canon inky became an elf lol. and last favourite race are humans... ok don't hate me, it's not bc they are """boring""" or shit like that, it's bc they are the upper-class of thedas and i LOVE the "from zero to hero" trope... so... yeah agfshsdfhj 5. favourite class? mages!! bc i love the lore behind this class, it's fantastic, precisely blood magic. but if i didn't care about this, i would choose archer, tho in the first games it sucked but in dai is pretty cool :^) 6. do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time? as i've said before i have made many different decisions in dao and da2 but in dai are always the same lol 7. go-to adventuring group? origins: alistair/sten, morrigan, zev/leliana da2: aveline, anders, isabela/varric dai: solas, cassandra, cole/sera 8. which of your characters did you put the most thought into? i think prim/anika??(they're the same but one is a human and the other an elf lmaoo), she was my first da oc, and obviously the one i put most thought into bc i uSED to have a lot of creativity some years ago, what a pity my brain is useless now lmao 9. favourite romance? pfffff... solas, alistair, leli and cass!! i think?? idk i gotta play again dai bc i'm not sure :/ 10. have you read any of the comics/books? i've read aLL the books but not the comics :/, i want to read the comics but idk where i could read them online and free (sorry i'm poor lol), so... mi gozo en un pozo lmao 11. if you read them, which was your favourite book? my fav book was "the masked empire"!! patrick weekes is a good writer and i loved the orlesian politics, and i adored seeing these characters in dai! (tho briala was whitewashed lmao) 12. favourite DLCs? obviously: awakening and trespasser. these two dlc's were mcfUCKING AMAZING. i mean, with dao i expected the same quality of the base game, but trespasser was such an excelent and good experience, it gave a lot of insight to our inquisitors and also: sOOULASSSSS, so yep! i mainly lOVED trespasser and i hope weekes guides the team to make a game at least as good as this dlc! (tho, if ea is a greedy bintch this time [as always lol] it doesn't matter how many times the bioware time tries, ea will force them to do a shitty game :/) 13. things that annoy you how viv, anders and sera are written, i mean, i loved anders the first time i played da2 but his personality is obviously written to annoy the fuck outta you, tho i loved how he expressed his ideals freely (tho sometimes he even seemed too traidtional to me about topics like blood magic :/), but sera and viv were a lil harder to befriend and like, and i still don't like much viv, but i love her as a character, y'kno 14. orlais or ferelden? tbh, if i gotta live in one of those two places i would choose ferelden by fAR. but, now, if we're talking about which is more interesting; orlais. 15. templars or mages? like @/blckwall said: all templars are bastards :). i would love if thedas had independent magic schools, that there were no higher representatives or charges, that every village or city had its own magic school, and the crown would be the responsable of manage its needs. i haven't thought much about this so my thoughts are quite vague :/ 16. if you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one? they're from different universes, tho i'd love the idea of all of them being in the same universe, but some worlds states are incompatible with others. 17. what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc) in dao: barkspawn (i'm extremelly predictable, sorry u_u') 18. have you installed any mods? all my dragon age games are modded as fUCK. i mean, i think dao is the most heavy modded game i have?? (mainly bc i cannot install many mods in skyrim lol) but when i have my gaming computer again i will mod the shit out of dai >:) 19. did your warden want to become a grey warden? prim had been working in the circle her entire live to be in the higher ranks, and then she saw how all her work was lost made her really conflicted: she didn't wanted to leave bc she yearned to be more powerful and make the circle a better place for mages (yep, she's deeply anti-circle bc of her traumatic past), and she was going to die if she refused duncan's offer. even so, she was never sorry for supporting jowan. and, she became the king of ferelden's mistress; she loved him obv, but she could also take some advantage of his power to make the mages and marginalize people's situation better, and gain fortune by that; alistair was well aware about her plans by prim's words herself, but he never objected. altho the main cause prim made alistair king is bc she wanted him to have a good life and not waste it as a grey warden, so... anyway, i got acrried away... this is long af ghdjsdgf 20. hawke’s personality? red mostly, tho he used to be purple/red in the first and begining of the second act :/ 21. did you make matching armor for your companions in inquisition? yes i did!! i lOVED to be fashionable in dragon age instyle!! 22. if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change? prim : she would have tried to convince jowan and wait some months until she could convince him. also: sometimes she wishes she didn't make alistair king, mostly bc of her daughter (her daughter is the only heir to the throne of ferelden, and basically she doesn't even know that prim is her real mother, mostly bc anora adopted her bc alistair and she couldn't have children), sometimes, in her alone saddest times, thinks how things would have been if alistair was still a grey warden, they would have a happy family and wouldn't even had to hide inofensive stuff like a cheek kiss. but anyway, her duties as a grey warden are more important and doesn't have time to think about it. garrett hawke: he regrets not defending carver, he would have prefered to sacrifice himself instead of any of his siblings. he also regrets going to the deep roads with bethany, letting the grey wardens make her one of them (obv he doesn't know that if he didn't she would have joined the circle lmao). and obv her mother's death... if he had been there, with her mother, he could have done something... :'/ maia: she regrets not being strong enough when that shem tried to hurt her when she was a litte girl, that made her mother kill him to save her bc she was too defenseless, she should have been stronger, that caused her mother and she part ways, because now maia's mother was a criminal and she had more proabilities of getting caught, so maia should go on her way and find the next village, but she found the lavellan clan. she deeply regrets not going after her mother. she also think she was too stupid to not found out the true identity of solas and try to convince him that this world has meaning :'/ 23. do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon? mmmm... no? :/, i like my decisions to have consequences?? 24. are any of your characters based on someone? sahgdashsd pls don't make fun of me but in the first stage of prim's/anika's 'personality creation' was inspired by mother gothel, then she was inspired by...... mikasa ackerman dsfgdjsdf, i'm still inspired by that character tHO i know that shingeki no kyojin is nazi propaganda and i no longer watch that anime lmao. maia is inspired by... a mix of me and rapunzel (from tangled)?? she's basically a shy rapunzel :') 25. who did you leave in the fade? some of you will hate me bc i had to choose between hawke and stroud but i still chose hawke dsfgsdf. m8, hawke is just a 'figure' who isn't widely recognized in thedas, while the grey warden are 394789x more useful, idk i always put myself in the shoes of my characters even if their decisions hurt me (tho, tbqh, i'm not tHAT attached to hawke so this choice was easy lol) 26. favourite mount? royal sixteen!! she's so pretty!! ♡♡♡ thanks for tagging me!! ♡♡

[kindabraveandlittlestupid]

Fantasy Vacations

I took some time to think about the fictional places I love to visit; either to go to school, drink, dance, party, read books, swing a sword or simply just explore the local culture. Below you will find 47 of the best must-visit fictional locations (according to me) and some reasons why I would love to go there. Don’t take this to serious it's all written for shits and giggles. Let me know if I made any mistakes or if you have any late additions and thanks for reading.

Regards, Michael California

Alpha The City of a Thousand Planets

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets did not do well in the theaters, to say the least, it was poor casting choices that sunk it. However, the opening of the movie with ‘Alpha’ growing in mass starting off as the original International Space Station and adding alien visitors over time before becoming a massive city in space was a pretty cool concept and scene to watch to the music of David Bowie. With 3,236 unique species on board, there is a real chance you could live there your whole life and still not meet every kind of alien life form. Who wouldn't want to live in a hub of alien cross-cultural?

Arrakis

The “Spice Must Flow” and “Fear Is The Mind Killer”. Arrakis and the book Dune, which is celebrated in Scifi much the same way Tolkien is celebrated in Fantasy, is a sand world with giant worms, a scarcity in water and a world in the center of political conflict all in the name of Spice, a mind/body-altering drug that extends life and allows space travel. Arakis is hardly a place you would want to go on holiday but you go to a place like this for cultural depth of the Fremen people and if you’re lucky, ride on the back of a Sandworm. Which frankly is good enough for me. Please note consumption of spice may turn your eyes blue.

Asgard

A city of gold floating in the heavens and home to literal gods? Asgard has a lot to offer in the way Norse Culture and would be my kind of place to visit. It’s one of a few vacation spots on this list that might be considered a utopia even if you're under a Mythical Monarchy; a balance between a combat culture, art, music, literature, rowdy partying and it also happens to be the center of the Nine Realms giving you access to the other worlds to explore. I suppose the greatest feature (despite the golden architecture) is the flat slab that holds itself in space and defying science and reason. This is about the only place Flat-Earthers would be correct (save the Disc World which is another flat earth on the backs of elephants on the back of a planet-sized turtle which makes about as much sense as Flat-Earth Science). 

Atlantis

I had to make a tough choice between the DC Atlantis and the Stargate Atlantis. Considering I can't breathe underwater and I already have the Themyscira from Wonder Woman and Rapture from Bioshock I opted for Atlantis from Stargate. This vacation spot is at best a weekend trip with mostly the same alien architecture to see but with the Stargate being in the middle of the facility it perhaps opens THE most options for day trips to various alien worlds across the universe, even more so then Asgard with the nine realms. So it makes it onto my list.

Bay City

Only once I started writing this list did I find that there is a lot of sci-fi love for New York City and San Francisco (I imagine Tokyo would also make the top 5). The show Altered Carbon takes place in a city called Bay City which is San Francisco unless someone else built another Golden Gate Bridge and covered it with shipping container apartments (cool concept). This city is all about vice and digital pleasures much the same way Future LA is in Blade Runner. Despite having its gritty side this place no doubt has a lot to offer in regards to a nightlife and what I hope is a great selection of food. Just let me pull on my long black leather trench coat with neon trim.

Canto Bight

A clever ‘twist’ the Tattooine trope from Star Wars is Canto Bight. Basically suggesting crime doesn't always start from the bottom up but sometimes the top down. While this whole part of the story was literally pointless to plot and outcome of the Last Jedi, I can appreciate another location being added to the vast universe (had it not been cut back by the idiots at Disney). Point is it’s a lavish location with gambling and ritzy living so long as you don't peel back the finish and realize it is basically built on slave labor. Oh, Capitalism.

Castle Black

While Castle Black is basically filled with bastards, volunteers, and criminals it makes a pretty good metaphor for aimless people joining the military. Only your enlistment is forever, you're stationed next to an ice wall and on the other side of that wall is ice hillbillies and nightmares. I do actually like some seclusion for some holidays and this works well if I take a bunch of books and mead and spend 3 months reading by a fire while doing some sword practice in the yard with the Crows. Sounds kind of peaceful and I might get to pee off the wall.

Citadel

Yet another superstructure in space shared by multiple species. The Citadel caught many gamers imagination both being a massive space city but also the seat of power between the various sentient species in Mass Effect. The Citadel (like most future cities) has its extreme highs (wealth and luxury) and deep lows (poverty and criminal underworlds). Granted its criminal world is nowhere near Omega’s level of corruption but if Canto Bight showed us anything is corruption can start from the top. The real reason to go here is to party the nights away and drink a bunch, kind of like Singapore and like Singapore, after a week you pretty much hit all the hot spots and ready to move on.

Cloud City

Cloud City for me isn't THAT exciting to go by myself but with my significant other for either honeymoon or weekend getaway? It perhaps can a nice place to relax, stay in a comfortable room, go on long walks, enjoy nice meals and take cloud tours flying around the gas giant and seeing the massive vapor plumes. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

Columbia

Columbia is a proper steampunk sky city which is nothing short of elegant, beautiful and a marvel in itself. I always wondered how people breathed so high up but that's far from the only concern if you visit a city like this. Behind the vale of beauty is a hyper-religious society, fascism, and racism all hanging in the heavens like some sort of GOP paradise where anyone non-white is kinda screwed. If we managed to cut out the lingering problems of Conservatism in Columbia, this place would be a paradise! Just watch your step its a long way down and railings are only hip high.

Coruscant Jedi Temple

The Jedi Temple, Hogwarts, Highland Mountain, and Kamar Taj all represent a kind of school/academy. An I might make another list of fictional educational institutes we all wish we could sign up for later but as of right now we are on vacation and the Coruscant Jedi Temple has much the same appeal as Castle Black with books to read and swordplay in the afternoon and peeing off one of the spires (preferably off the middle one where the Jedi Council convenes). Naturally, I have also the whole planet to explore but spending time with mystical philosophical laser sword wielding space mages sounds like a pretty unforgettable encounter.

Diagon Alley

Presently the shortest visit on the list, Diagon Alley is pretty much a long street of shops for people to get their magic on. I do enjoy some window shopping and strange old things but really we are here to get spells and wands no? I can't imagine being here more than a few hours but I can see Diagon needing multiple visits because you are bound to miss something and need to make a second trip to fucking find it. 

Diamond City

I was split between Diamond City and Megaton as two fallout locations to add to my list. Ultimately living next to a nuclear bomb drove me away from Megaton and living in a baseball field turned fortress appealed to me. I love the care put into the creation of this city by Bethesda, I know I give them a hard time for their multiplayer and money grabbing for mods but the effort put into Diamond City makes it seem like a viable and logical settlement in the Fallout Universe... hell I am thinking about playing that game now after writing this. Oh, what is there to do here? Not much save eat and drink and pee off one of the front walls on some Super Mutants.

L.A. 2049

Where Bay City was full of sexy holograms, L.A. 2049 is full of sexy synthetics. Really though this setting really established the idea of Cyberpunk for a lot of people and have one of the early images of vast American cities being pushed closer together and then reaching towards the sky. Like so many other settings it's overcrowded and has its dark side but dark sided cities tend to have some interesting nightlife and like Bay City you can probably do a lot with your time and money assuming you have a lot of both.

Gotham City

You can probably get more out of Future LA or Bay City then you could from Gotham which is why I won't be trying to sell you on the city. I hear they have a big crime problem and lots of people dressing up as bats. Don’t get me started on this Police zeppelins humming around and shining a spotlight through your window at 2 AM. No, you went to go to the Ice Berg Lounge for some late night Jazz, catch Haly’s Circus when it comes through town, and visit the various museums across the city. Just don’t take any shortcuts and if at all possible pay for a driver to take you around the city, the locals know which areas are safe.

Highland Mountain

I imagine many of you are thinking “What is Highland Mountain?” and I am glad you asked inquisitive Tumblrs. Highland Mountian is the secret location for the Spartan-II program on the Planet Reach. In other words, this is where Master Chief had his survival training and general training to become a Spartan. If you’re still not with me it's from the video game Halo. Like the Jedi Temple it is more fun to be trained here but as a vacation option, I like camping with some Spartans and roughing it on the frosty mountains in some power armor playing war games. It’s like paintball with soldiers if the soldiers were 7 feet tall and flip over a tank with their bare hands.

Hogsmeade

A cozy little-frozen town in Britain called Hogsmeade is basically the main settlement of non-muggles beyond Hogwarts or so Wikipedia tells me. It’s a magical town and has lots to offer in the way of shopping much like Diagon Alley. The benefit of this community is that it is a community; bars, library, shops, restaurants, and more can be found here. Good for a romantic getaway or even raising your kids and making Snowmen during the winter. What else is there to say?

Hogwarts

Say what you will but I imagine Hogwarts might take one of the top 5 places people would love to see. It’s magical, hidden, filled with secrets and a rich history to get emerged into. Despite being just the right age when these books first came out (I was like 12 or 13), I still have not read them (I know... I deserve your ire). Truth is we all kinda wish we could go to school there, personally, I can see myself just reading all the time and experimenting with magic 24/7. I can only imagine how much trouble I might get in with spells/potions going wrong.

Jurassic Park

Not exactly a good track record for Jurassic Park but quite honestly the people overseeing this parks (in regards to the movies) despite being the most brilliant minds in their fields appear to be inept over and over again, as bad as the Sticky Bandits from Home Alone. Beyond that point, a day vacation with the family to Jurassic Park would be amazing and perhaps something we would indulge in every couple of years. Easy to imagine the kids losing their fucking mind over Dinosaurs but then again so would I.

Kaer Morhen

Hard stretch to call Kaer Morhen a school mostly because the students are all old men already trained to kill monsters. This is less about vacationing at this castle and more about living there and fixing up the place. Really, I feel like its the perfect little slice of Scandinavian land to build a long-term residence at. If I was to stay here as vacation spot pretty much reach Castle Black again and repeat without the wall and white walkers.

Kamar Taj

Another school of magic where Dr. Strange learned his abilities along with many other students of magic. I appreciate the seclusion of it. Kind of a Castle Black feels with a pinch of Hogwarts. Like the Jedi Academy, the ‘students’ here are very much adults and there is an appeal to that considering I am 32 now.

King’s Landing

Really though King’s Landing pretty much only works as a vacation spot if you are A) staying at the Red Keep and B) having a bachelor party to enjoy the brothels. Not that any of us would do that sort of thing...

Labyrinth

You can either assume this trip will take a few days or a few months. I like the Labyrinth for the same reasons I love Myst and Wonderland. A strange world and I love a good puzzle. Not sure how I feel about the Goblin King and his junk in spandex... I mean I don’t want to rain on his parade but I think I might do the maze in reverse instead of seeing him do his “Dance Magic Dance” in his castle with his junk in my face. No issues here if you’re a gay guy or straight girl that would love King Bowie to do that to you.

Mother’s Cradle

In a world where machines have taken over and humanity had been regressed to primitive tribes, Mother’s Cradle is a secluded valley of protection and nature. If you ever played Horizon Zero Dawn, you can see how peaceful that place is and could easily imagine building a home there and living off the land. I enjoy city living the most but even I can't resist Mother’s Cradle and the community that lives there.

Myst

Who doesn't love a good puzzle? Like the Labyrinth, this place is all about sharpening your wits and solving the puzzles in the world of Myst. I would suggest above all other things take a notebook with you because some things need to be written down. Did I mention it has multiple words you teleport too by opening a book.

New New York

I always wondered why the waterline in New New York in the Fifth Element is so low, really wish someone would explain that to me. Anyways it's better than Waterworld and its good to see the big apple become so large that it absorbed New Jersey. Like most big cities the nightlife would be awesome but why I really want to go here is for the fast food and flights to other planets. I won't lie the uniforms in the future are all about dressing to impress the customers and that's kinda hot. Looking at you McDonalds Girls from 2263AD

New Vegas

It’s like the Wild West with gambling, mutants, robots, and atomic weapons. You already know Fallout from Diamond city but New Vegas brings its own charm with the gambling scene. I imagine the Sin City is still very sinful and perhaps more violent. You can get into a lot of fun trouble here and who wouldn't want too. It’s Vegas!

Omega

If you were to combine the Citadel with New Vegas then Omega would be the outcome. This mining colony/way station is where crime comes to make a name for itself. The various Mass Effect species can be found within and most of them fight for territories inside its walls. It’s the sins you come from for like gambling, drinking, dancing, fucking, and fighting that make Omega so great. Don’t worry do you don't need to indulge in them all.

Pandora

Camping may not be an option in Pandora for humans but with some extra suspension of belief that you can either breath the air without it being toxic or perhaps have a Na’vi body waiting for you. The wildness of Pandora appeals to the hiker in me. I would want to climb the trees and the floating mountains, fly a wild beast or ride a wild horse in this world. The bioluminescence of the world draws me to explore it at night even with the predators lurking about.

Rapture

From my understanding, Rapture throws a hell of a New Years party. Such a crazy party that it turned into a revolution but that's a different issue altogether. The city under the sea makes my list as a more desirable alternative to that of Atlantis with me lacking gill and all that. Like Tomorrowland, this city is driven by progress and is a libertarians wet dream that is until you realize there are always people looking to take power and that being a Libertarian Society is a fantasy.

Risa

This might be the #1 vacation spot on this list because the whole damn world is about fulfilling desires and vacationing. Want to hide away and read a book? Go for it. Massages all day? No problem. Walk out into the ocean and find a boat serving sushi? Apparently, that's a thing from a Star Trek episode. It’s paradise and with their weather controls, there is never a cloudy day at their beaches. Doesn't hurt Risa women are all basically supermodels.

Rivendell

Rivendell, yet another peaceful refuge away from the harsh world. I can imagine this place having comfortable rooms and library somewhere to read. Granted I can't read elvish so I hope they have some proper English books among their shelves. If I do get bored I imagine hiking/climbing the surrounding cliffs and forest might be an option. I am sure I will piss of some elves exploring their hideaway.

San Fransokyo

Not the first movie to combine cities into something new. I admit I do love the like the new look of San Francisco and how it makes the world of big hero six feel. I think what makes me want to see this city so much is their altered architecture and more importantly the food that comes with this deep blend of Western/Asian culture. The sushi, the Kobe burgers, and literally everything else is gonna be leaps and bounds better then either city did on their own.

Skellige

There is no party like Skellige Party! Not true Asgard might throw down hard with this Nordic Pirate/Fishing community of the northern islands. Basically, the number one reason to go here is to drink or go to a royal party where you feast, fight, fuck, and drink some more. Don’t think that men have a run at the place, Skellige woman can fuck you up if you don't treat them right. Consider this a helpful PSA.

Skyrim

Truth be told if Skyrim (was to scale) of the real world, it's not a very big province or even plot of land. Think about how fast you can run from one side of the map to the other? What 15? 20 minutes at the most? That's why I kept this location as a broad vacation spot because the keeps aren't THAT big but each one has enough charm that it justifies you visiting them all and get a taste for each unique area. Like Kaer Morhen this place is all about settling down and making a life for yourself. Hell, you could pick flowers all day and sell that to shop and make that your living. Not saying you should make that your career but you could.

Starfleet

The third and final nod to San Francisco on this list (told you they got a lot of love). I always found it interesting that Gene Roddenberry would establish the federation in San Francisco. I might look that up but with the options of London, New York, Washington, and other locations making just as much since he still settled on SF as the home base for Star Fleet. Anyways I wanna go to school here because you know... space travel, alien babes, seeing new worlds and all that jazz.

Stark Tower

There is no doubt the Stark Tower has a stocked fridge, great food, killer view of the city, and a fully automated AI to improve your day (even if she is watching you shower). The fun of Stark Tower requires one thing and that is for you to invite people to come to a killer party on these top floors. I think we can all agree once you have the party rolling that it will likely go to the break of dawn.

Stormwind

I have no strong Allegiance Alliance or Horde one way or the other. Truth be told I play Warcraft 3 and then stopped never getting into WoW. I suppose the draw of fantasy species pulls me here much the same way it pulls me towards Lord of the Rings. I imagine if you find the might pub you can have a good time but the places of magic will have good books. I suppose I could wander into the forest and bath in a Moonwell and hope for a chance encounter with the Night Elves.

The Shire

It doesn't take much to imagine that food-based holidays are a big hit with hobbits. So if I was to vacation here Thanksgiving (assuming they celebrated it) or something like it would be the time to visit. Eating, dancing, drinking, and fireworks. Yes, I realize I would be a giant among them and hit my head but I am ok all the same staying in their small community.

Themyscira

Clearly, a theme in some of these hypothetical visits is to meet hot girls. On one hand, I should know better than to post such things because admitting anything like that on Tumblr is slightly sacrilege but you know what fuck that I want to go to an island full of beautiful strong independent women dammit. I don’t mind strong woman, I don't mind a matriarchy society and I don't mind admitting that I like looking at a beautiful woman and I wouldn't mind making love to Amazonian beauties on their beaches. So sue me! I fucking love women.

Thessia

Read the Themyscira post above. Same thing. Only they are a blue alien woman named Asari and apparently they can do something like a “Vulcan Mind Meld” in the bedroom. Sexy.

Tomorrowland

As someone who’s always wondered what society MIGHT be like without religion and uninhibited society focused on knowledge over profit and power, Tomorrowland is an expression of that or at least what I hope it would be like. This is the sort of place you to be impressed by the technology and the marvels of invention. I can imagine flying around a jetpack, experiencing new depths to virtual reality, zero gravity chambers, teleportation and pretty much every other sci-fi invention you can dream up will likely be found here. Hell, I don’t want to visit the world of Tomorrow I want to live there.

New Tristram

Probably the worst place to visit on my list with all the undead and demons and all that. I can't help but find Tristram a little enchanting with the Gothic Ruins and struggle that is found there. Diablo (the game) has a habit of having building look small on the outside big on the inside which is fine. I personally would like to wander into the layers below and crawl through those dungeons and collect loot. I am not sure if this is still a vacation or some sort of video game fantasy I like to live out.

Tron City

Tron City pretty much feels like nighttime 24/7 but with the arena combat, the races, and the high rise clubs. Its hard not admit there is something exciting about being on the grid. I personally love to derezz myself and spend a few weeks in the world of Tron and maybe bring back Siren or two.

Wakanda

Birnin Zana is the capital of Wakanda and that is what you see in the picture just in case you didn't know that fun fact. The city itself draws me with lots of things; food, music, culture, technology, and architecture. I medium of all things I imagine my stay could be a week or two before I seen everything I care to see. I can imagine (while not really suggested in the movie) that there is a great nightlife here and very engaged community.

Winterfell

Yet another getaway to swing swords, practice archery, read books and ride horses. Winterfell (despite being apparently the middle of nowhere) is the kind of keep I would love to live in. Not by myself mind you but with a community of people upkeeping the keep. Its a good balance of community and seclusion to read my books. Sansa Stark can keep me company under the animal skins. 

Wonderland

Wonderland, you go for the Tea Parties and you stay for the Mushrooms. Pretty much a long acid trip, Wonderland gives you the excuse to bend your mind and alter your perception on reality while encountering a variety of strange and wonderful... um... people. I wouldn't mind making this trip with Alice herself (or the White Queen) but I can make do with going with my friends and ‘feed’ our heads.

[kierarutherford]

10 Questions Ask Meme

Rules:Answer 10 questions and then come up with another 10 questions for the people you tag!

Was tagged by @princessvicky01​ so let’s keep this rolling

Favorite small town? Real or fictional. - I live in a small town, and have lived in many but none have ever been a favorite. SO I suppose I would love to check out the small town of Honnleath (pre-darkaspawn)

Video game or DLC you’re most looking forward to right now? (sans DA4) - I have yet to purchase it and it haunts my dreams. I am aiming to get my hands on the Witcher DLCs. 

Favorite fictional world? (i.e.: Middle Earth, Thedas, etc.) Why? - to be fair I have two. One would have to be Thedas as I it holds my OCs and a special Commander. The second would have to be Witcher’s world (don’t remember what the whole place is called. TOO many city/towns to name.) Great, indepth lore and creatures.

Where/what was the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s the best meal you’ve ever head? - Best cup, uh... I have never had a “best” cup of coffee anywhere out but the morning back home after my daughter was born. The first sip of freshly brewed coffee brought to me, while holding my little girl. That may be the best sip ever.

Where/when do you do your best daydreaming?   When I lay in bed. I daydream myself to sleep. Putting myself in the shoes of my OCs and trying to figure out how they would react. There is a tiny piece of me in each of them. 

Favorite TV show right now? I don’t really watch a lot of tv. Right now I’m addicted to Live PD (probably only in countries with A&E)

Is your canon Inquisitor reluctant about their power, or do they embrace it full-force, or something in-between? Kiera takes the reigns as she was a First to her clan and much was always expected of her. It is simply a tool to aid those in need. Diana- she hated it. Her personal “night light” she called it many times. Trying to deflect the horror and personal irritation. Hyacinth - she was unsure of it but as long as she can heal and help, she makes due.

What’s the best purchase you’ve ever made? I shop on bargains all the time. So I really can’t pin point that one awesome score. I would say my proudest was netting a $45 sweater for my daughter (in-store) for $4.99. I do love hunting through clearance racks.

Favorite or go-to clothing brand/designer/store? I am not loyal to any brand per say. I sale hunt. I prefer to hunt at Old Navy currently but the winds may change.

Are there any popular TV or video game character arcs that really bother you? How would you change them, if you could? - The one that stuck with me over the years was the ending arc of Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. There was SOO much room to do something there and they did a hack ending (in my opinion.) Played it multiple times and it always stuck with me. (Also my first -he should have totally gotten the girl- grumble fest) 

@fereldenpeach questions

If you could trade places with a fictional character for a day, who would you pick and why? - Diana Trevelyan. She’s tough, quick witted and scandalous. She knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to do whatever she has to to get it. Her relationship with Cullen is deep and runs on lewd at times. I envy her free spirit and openness.

What’s your favorite vacation memory? - Too many. We always made a trek to visit my grandparents as a child and those moments (while colourful) always stuck with me. 

What’s your go-to alcoholic beverage? Don’t drink? What’s your favorite smoothie or milkshake? If I drink (I do enjoy a good drink- perhaps too often) I like coolers or my mix. Ginger ale, grapefruit juice and Canada Club whiskey. Extra ice. I’m an ice chewer

When did you have your first kiss? I was fourteen, he was my first boyfriend and it just happened. I do remember it being a wondrous moment. All teeth, tongues and lips. He was more experienced than I, and it was grand. 

Who was your first fictional crush and why? lol so totally nerdy! I was in love with Link from Legend of Zelda and Carth Onasi from Knights of the Old Republic. I wrote a HUGE fanfic (printed in a book in my closet today). It has never seen the light of day lol 

What’s your favorite Dragon Age mod that you use? Don’t use mods? What’s your favorite outfit from the game’s options? - I have to admit I love the Spoils of the Qunari, wrap thing. lol I made my own in several colours down in the Undercroft.

What (or who) was the gateway to joining the DA fandom on Tumblr? I don’t really know? I was creeping around the internet, dying for more Cullen things when I stumbled upon @khirsahle​ amazing fic and I believe there was a mention somewhere of a tumblr. So I boldly decided I wanted to write, and get on this tumblr and find my like minded Cullenites and bask in the delicious man. 

Name three things you absolutely can’t live without and tell us why. ah hard one. I am a travel light person. 1 - my phone, it is my day planner, alarm, watch, contacts to my parents, camera, etc. 2- Comfy runners. I have terribly sensitive feet and wear shoes all the time. Without them I’d have horridly sore feet. 3 -caffeine. I drink anywhere from half a pot of coffee to a full pot of tea a day. My tea pot is a 12 cup size lol. I’m a mom of 3. I NEED caffeine.  

When did you first start playing Dragon Age? Which game did you start with and have you played all of them?  I have been here since the beginning in Dragon Age addictive hell. I played the first, it’s dlc, then Awakening, then 2, it’s DLC and now Inquisition and it’s DLC. I actually had to create room on my xbox to play Origins because I had over 38 saved characters. Wiped them all out and repeated that 3 more times. lol Of those play throughs I only romanced Zevran once. All others were Alistair.

What’s a project you’re really proud of? Where Flowers Dare to Bloom. It has hurt me and healed me in so many places. It has been a personal healing tool and the next couple chapters are currently cleansing my soul.

Here are @princessvicky01​ 10 :

1) What was your first pet? If you’ve never had one is their one you would like? My first pet. He was a terrier/poodle/rescue thing. Benji. Loved him till he passed of old age when I was 9. Amazingly well tempered and awesome dog.

2) If you could only replay one game forever, what game would it be? lol that is my life. I literally play games to their disk death. If I was cursed to a single game. I’m picking Dragon Age Inquisition. To forever romance and marry Cullen, please. 

3) What was/is your favourite subject at school?Why? History. I loved it. Especially ancient history. Eqyptian history, medieval history. All of it. Myths and legends. I adored it all.  

4) Do you prefer to be too hot or too cold? I can’t handle heat, so I’d have to say I’d rather be too cold. 

5) Do you have any hobbies? If not is there any you want to try? This is kinda a hobby I suppose. I am a terrible starter to things that I never finish. It is a horrid habit that I do way too often. I crotchet, I knit, I sing (lol fairly well too), I used to play in photoshop, games, play baseball.. I’m everywhere and no where.

6) Whats your favourite restaurant/eat out food - Italian, Chinese, Mexican ect I love Italian. Pasta. I am addicted to pasta. Fetticine Alfredo, spaghetti and marinara sauce. Yes please.

7) Mages or Templars? Why? Mages. To be sent away from family at such young ages, forced into a stone prison. It’s heart breaking. All because they are different. Never nullified the Circle in any play throughs. I can’t kill children just because they can hold fire in their palms. Teach them, let them live and let them help!  

8) Favourite film/movie genre? I’m not a film person really. I do watch the occasional movie but again I’m all over the place. Favourite of all time; Robin Hood- Men in Tights. A Mel Brooke’s picture. 

9)  Whats your spirit animal/daemon aka the one that represents your personality? A bear. Quite literally lol. Loyal to family, extremely protective and I’ll rip your arms off and feed you to my kids if you mess with them. 

10)  Cullen Rutherford shows up at your house. What do you say/do? Seriously... depending on the situation, I have no idea. I mean, I think we all know what we dream about but reality wise... I honestly don’t know. 

After a mile of questions. Here are mine now lol:

1- Drink lyrium become a Templar or grip a staff and become a Mage. Once you pick you cannot go back. Choice and why?

2- If you could meet anyone of your followers/readers/people you follow, who and why?

3- Dream Cullen date, go!

4- Do you believe readers should comment on your writings? Or are likes/kudos enough?

5- If you had an hour to sit with your favourite character creator from any game, how would you use that time?

6- If you could cosplay one character, who and why?

7- When you sit to write, what is your must haves to work? Coffee/tea, a song, tv in background, what’s your must have thing?

8-Do you follow any of the prominent writters out there? Steven King? R.R Martin? J.K. Rowling? If so, who and why? If not, who would you love to sit and chat with?

9- What time do you feel is the best for your writing? How long do you write for?

10- If you could make one wish come true, but for only one full day, what would you wish for?

Tagging @daisytje @angyvalentine @dorianofminrathous @omnipotentoverlord @queenmelisende @ma-sulevin

[a-friend-of-red-jenny]

i think an indication of the light (i.e. the talented writers.......) leaving the da series is that like origins is, in a lot of ways, a type of game i’m not usually into. i hate the way everything looks, i hate a lot of the mechanics, i have adhd and the idea of reading all that warden dialogue makes me want to take a nap and usually would really break illusion for me but i loved the game and i got so attached to my surana...i played through it twice with her to explore different options and romance leliana and zevran, and then when i got it on pc i made the same character, because i couldn’t think of playing it without her tbh, and modded the game to romance morrigan like i’d always dreamed of lmao. bioware made me create and live through this character and go through an expirience that for me, always culminated in a dramatic, fitting, emotional sacrifice. i am still touched by the story of my surana, who finally went out into the world and really got to know it and make friends in it for a short time, and then ultimately made the decision to die protecting it. nowadays i dont remember like..anything abt it except for the characters, but thats msotly because it got way overshadowed in my heart by 2

dragon age 2 is a rushed and broken piece of shti with half its story missing. i’ve probably played it all the way through about 9 or 10 times?? i made a bunch of different characters this time because i wanted to explore all the options (in a game where you explore the same caves 800 times and have the same argument through the entire storyline lol). i cared more about that game than i maybe ever have about a game? it made me love the series, somehow, even though i hated so much stuff about the da world bc its boring as hell tbh, because of the life in the characters. i romanced them all at least twice. i did everything i could other than side with the templars, and i like tried, multiple times, but i couldnt. the game made me feel strongly enough about it that i couldn’t bring myself to /pretend/ to agree with a socio-political stance in the game world because it went too strongly against my morals. a lot of the ‘choices’ you make in biowares are illusions of choice that mean nothing, but in da2 i feel like they were the best at both 1)hiding that, and 2)making some choices matter if only because YOU know what YOU did, even if it doesn’t effect anything.

and the kicker is like, this is dorky as hell lol but in my mind’s eye i picture my surana in a relationship with zevran, leliana, and morrigan, because they were all characters i got invested in and stuck with me and i feel they made an impression on the character i created and put into the story to an extent that it would feel wrong picturing that character without any of them. she’s best friends with sten. she wishes her and wynne could get along better, as fellow mages. she...wishes the best for alistair. hawke is the same deal; the four og romances were each affecting and important enough to me that i end up deciding ‘my hawke’ is just dating everyone lol. i like all the characters too much to choose. i’ve thought so so so much about the hawke i finally settled on. about her relationships with her family and their past, things she feels guilty about, how she handles and expresses that guilt, how she feels deep down about every important character and plot point.

when i first got inquisition it was the most hyped i’d ever gotten about something. i would gush at my brother about the lore of the world for literal actual hours at a time in the months before the game came out. i borrowed money to buy it the second it came out. I played through the whole thing, like, 99% completion, the only achievements i was missing were ones that required a second play through or specific story choices i didn’t know about. I freaked out at my friends not to spoil anything because they’d finished the game before I’d gotten to the winter palace. I never finished a second playthrough. I started several other characters but I know on a few of them i never even got to the fight at haven (or past the pride demon, but that was as a mage on expert mode which i’m pretty sure is actually just not possible so rip i guess) I don’t really have a ‘canon’ inquisitor? I don’t really feel anything about the one I finished the game with. Even as excited as I was I spent the whole game annoyed that the inquisitor didn’t seem to have personality at all, let alone the choice of a personality that you could make with your warden or with hawke. I romanced sera.....and I actually felt bad about myself because of how they wrote everyone else to treat her. It actually made me feel unwanted and wrong as a young lesbian. I cried when sera was confirmed pre-release as a for sure, specifically Lesbian love interest. I loved her before the game even came out. It made me feel accepted in a time and place where I very actively was not, and when I was struggling, within finding myself as a Gay Youth in general, with the idea that being a lesbian, specifically, was a bad thing that I should choose not to be in lieu of a better, more progressive form of Gay. Cue a proud and unapologetic lesbian character, the first in the series, that everyone fucking hates and that you can kick out of the game at any time with little consequence. With a romantic story line that seemed like an afterthought, and to have less care and attention put into it than two straight options that actually WERE afterthoughts, because they weren’t even going to be in the game until mid-development. A lesbian with an opening quest for her romance arc that is basically just you running around to every other companion and listening to them list everything they hate about her, at worst telling you you’re making a mistake in associating with her bc shes stupid and disgusting and at best giving an obvious “well....whatever you think is best....hope that works out for you..........OUO;;;.....” That quest, if you keep romancing her, culminates in what is supposed to be both of you deciding “fuck what all of society thinks, we’re all we need” because, lesbians, right? thats the lesbian narrative? except homophobia doesnt exist in this world so we had to make everyone hate sera Herself in order to fit it in and that doesnt have any implications at all. and then you have sex; sera’s very sexual, because,,,,,,,,,,not because men think lesbians are hot umm........its because........uhhh........its empowerment!!! but i digress like i love sera despite bioware lol. and i tried to spend time daydreaming and fleshing out my inquisitor and her and their relationship and lives with each other and shit but all the thinking i did on it was forced. unlike my surana and my hawke, my inquisitor isn’t poly w/ everyone because i couldn’t bare to choose between characters i loved. i didn’t even romance most of them. i don’t even have a specific character in mind as ‘my’ inquisitor. the characters i liked the most, that felt the most well-written and fleshed out, were established characters from pre-existing da content. and the game even fucked up my hawke that i cared about and loved because they wanted to capitalize on how much people love hawke, and love Their hawke, but put in a weird hawke-puppet that had none of Any of the personalities you could give them, and that just said dull bullshit about how theyve seen what the corruption of blood magic can do, etc. etc. etc. like.....................................the magic is gone and their left with good characters they don’t know how to write and i mostly boring world with some interesting aspects they decide never to touch on.

[the-elenari]

Hey !! for the 101 Dragon Age Questions, 1, 2, 6, 14, 42, 44, 58,

1. How did you get into Dragon Age? Video games have been a serious hobby of mine since I was a kid. Around the time Dragon Age: Origins was being teased/talked about, I was playing Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I love any fantasy-type video game, so my partner at the time mentioned Dragon Age and how it looked interesting. So I got it on release day, along with the hardcover guide and I remember the opening music instantly captivated me. My very first character was a Dalish Elf Rogue. I’ve been obsessed ever since, and get every new game on release date. 2. Have you finished all three games? Yes, multiple times. I started out on consoles (Xbox 360/PS3 then PS4). Then about a year and a half ago, I got a gaming laptop, so I started playing them all on PC, modded, just for fun. 

6. First Inquisitor (gender/class/race/personality)? My first and main Inquisitor is Isara who is seen mostly on this blog. She’s a female Dalish Elf mage (Rift Mage). She’s an INFJ and her alignment is neutral good. Isara is introverted and reserved, but quite polite. She’s open-minded, free-spirited, introspective, and very kind. She balances pragmatism with theoretical ideas very well, and logic and emotion very well. She loves nature and animals. 

Where character creation in video games is involved, I usually base my first character’s appearance and personality on my own. It makes the playthrough more immersive in my opinion because then I can make choices based on how I’d make them if I was really that character. In Isara’s case, I did base her appearance and personality on myself. 14. Favorite DA:O party combo? As a rogue: Alistair, Wynne, and Leliana. As a mage: Alistair, Leliana, and then I usually rotate that last two for banter. But I usually always bring Wynne because I love her so much. I will focus on offense and let her heal. My favorite for banter is Alistair and Morrigan, because their hate for each other is hilarious. 

42. Who do you wish you could romance that you can’t? In DA:O, I always wished I could romance Sten just to see what it would be like. At the time, not much about the Qunari was known yet and I found his personality, as well as his culture, very interesting. I don’t think I was aware that they don’t do romance (usually), but since he warms up to you as a friend, I wondered what he’d be like as a lover. In DA2, the Arishok for similar reasons. Also Varric and Briala. But my ultimate wish-I-could-romance characters are Cole and Abelas. I was very fond of Cole in Inquisition. I didn’t really agree with the concept of him being a child, but respect those that do. And Abelas… he’s just so interesting even though there’s so little known about him. I have so many ideas and theories about his personality, background etc. 

44. One romance you just can’t stand/doesn’t make sense/etc? Isabela. I just never really clicked with her. Anders was kind of weird at the beginning because he acts like there’s something there literally 2 seconds after meeting him. So that part didn’t make sense to me, but I really liked the romance beyond that. That’s really all I can think of for now. I have only romanced Solas, Blackwall, and Sera in Inquisition and I really need to romance everyone else.  

58. Who has the best character arc overall? Solas, hands down. Though this is hard to answer because I also feel like Cole and Flemeth deserve mention. Thank you for asking! :) 

[pixelonline]

(I am so sorry, mobile users. This is really long.)

My Mass Effect Andromeda thoughts:

1. I was gonna stream the trial, but proceeded to use almost all 10 hours at once because I couldn’t stop playing. I suppose this is a good thing. I’m definitely streaming it once it’s actually out.

2. I hate the character customization. Mass Effect has always been ugly as fuck when it comes to making characters, but my dudes it is 2017 what is going on here.

2a. Side note but I laughed for like 15 minutes that there is only one “White People” face and it is honestly the ugliest thing. Cool feature (sorta not but I’m viewing it as a positive) is that there are designated skin tones with each face set. Speaking of sets, all facial features are stuck to a specific preset face. You can slightly move them, but there’s no changing. I’m hoping this is just for the trial, as other things in the game were locked off until it’s official release.

2b. so many pony tails. no undercut. despite reports saying that hairstyles would be less militaristic as you’re not a soldier, they’re more or less the same. let me be the woman i want to be dammit. There were braids, but only one style. Still double the representation compared to previously I guess? I have very much so white people hair so I don’t feel comfortable having an opinion on that subject. I will say that the braids are exclusive to fem!Ryder and m!Ryder gets 2 different textured styles. I, personally, cannot wait for the beautiful mod community to fix this hair travesty, both with representation variation and all these fucking ponytails. Maybe they can make something happen with the faces, but I hold little hope. They had “alt” hair colors, so it’s already way better than ME Original Trilogy. My Ryder has blue hair, because of course she does. There’s not much shade difference in the colors available, and some of the unnatural colors were, in fact, so unnatural looking that it was hard to accept as a hair color. dyed hair doesn’t reflect light the way it did in game and it didn’t look like much shade variation between the strands so it occasionally looked like the hair hadn’t actually finished rendering. The color selection suggested a more soft ombre look than was actually present.

3. I like that you can customize your twin also, but limits on the CC still drives me crazy. Male hair diversity isn’t super, like I said before, but it just felt like more than the female counterpart. I just really, really hate ponytails you guys.

3a. In your CC options, you can pick story bits. The only options that connect to the previous games is a selection between your Shepard having been male or female. I suppose that’s so pronouns are correct later on.

4. Prologue: I feel it takes too long, the tutorial is honestly not that great. SAM, your AI, is down for most of it, so you have no idea what anything is. It was fine at first, adding to the worldbuilding and urgency and whatnot but it got irritating by the 30th “unknown” enemy.

5. The Omni-Scanner is a neat addition, but it felt sort of...forced at times. More on that later.

6. The prologue story is okay. The ending of it, and the beginning of the actual game, was actually pretty dramatic and I didn’t expect it given the hype around certain characters that Bioware has tried to generate.

6a. Dad Ryder seemed really one dimensional with his kid. Like, never referred to them affectionately even at the last bit. This is sort of explained when you go to his room later, but it felt really hollow to me as a whole. Cool dad fact: CC of your Ryder and their twin decides what Dad looks like. Mine had obscenely blue eyes but grey hair.

6b. Evil dude looked really sad during his introduction and I wanted to be friends with him. This feels like a failed attempt at showing off the ominous silent bad guy, as I immediately started rooting for him. You go, evil dude, touch the stuff and let your dreams be true.

7. I hate the weapon interface. Inventory functions like ME1, allowing you to see the items you’ve picked up (both upgrades and actual weapons) but you cannot equip them. I couldn’t until the first mission after getting my ship. Which is terrible, as I got a sniper rifle I wanted to use and couldn’t for the prologue portion.

8. The Hyperion’s travel system is awful. There’s very little instruction about it. The tram looks as if it’s a one way thing, from the ark to the new citadel-like port, but in actuality you use it to travel around the ark itself too. Didn’t notice until my camera turned slightly to the right and another thing on the board was selectable.

8a. Not travel related, but you do get more info about the ending of the prologue and a new ongoing mission on the Hyperion. It felt like a bit of a slap. It’s all “Here’s this cool new power and a friend BUT ALSO FUCK YOU JON SNOW YOU KNOW NOTHING and you’ll never find out until you go look for these things randomly around. But not around here! Fuck you twice!” It was clearly created to push the story more later on, which is all fine and good, it just ticked me off at this moment.

9. The new Citadel is a goddamn mess. I’m not a huge fan of it right now, though what I’m 100% sure will happen is that as you make more homesteads, the place gets nicer until you’re at endgame and have a fully functional hub. I’ll like it more once it starts changing. It looks like it has really good potential. I hope it functions more than the keep in DA:I, and your choices really DO have an effect on what is opened up and how the society there builds itself.

9a. The Original Trilogy made each race very distinct, with their own speech patterns and everything. I didn’t really get that from this game’s other races. The Salarians didn’t speak in fast bursts with lots of words jammed together, and the Turians more often than not didn’t have that robotic twinge to their speech, and weren’t all that hostile. It seems unlikely to me that there wouldn’t be any left over anger as they left for Andromeda seeing as it’s possible some actually fought in the first contact war. It is about 30 years apart. It was something constantly prevalent in the previous trilogy, which every NPC lived during (at least ME1)

9b. I do, however, love super not Krogan Krogan lady. She’s perfect and I wish I could romance her. You do talk about the genophage. Sucks that she and her clan have no idea that there’s been a cure for over 500 years now.

10. The ship, Tempest, is really nice. I always felt like Normandy was very irritating to navigate around. ME1 especially, but 3 wasn’t so hot either. This one isn’t as large, but it has a really nice flow that I liked. Pathfinder quarters were way better than Shepard’s.

10a. It has a system like the Dragon Age: Inquisition war table where you have timed missions that NPC complete for materials, items, and intel. Seems interesting, but I didn’t see one to completion. They’re still running.

10b. the R&D table is interesting, and I like the separation between the two, but it didn’t feel like a huge asset so early in the game.

11. The traveling system is beautiful. Visually it gets 100% approval. However, it’s extremely slow paced. any selection of a new planet or system takes you back to where you were originally, lets you stare at it a moment, then flies you to the next place where you zoom in for another moment before zooming out and then FINALLY getting information about it. It’s nice, but by the 12th time I was incredibly tired of it.

12. Your Salarian pilot is cool. Not especially Salarian-like, but still I liked him. Cannot kiss. I tried.

13. Material gathering is kind of limited. You scan a whole system, and you have the option to scan planets, but there’s not much point to it as SAM tells you if there’s something worth scanning there. Usually it’s a single deposit of a mineral.

14. I hated the MAKO in ME1, but this one isn’t so bad. I think it helps knowing that I can customize it later.

15. Speaking of customization, you can change the colors of your casual clothes and your armor. It’s the same color selection tool as in CC, so it’s awful. The dial to change the color overlaps with the bubble to select the actual shade so there’s a lot of trial and error involved. Once again, no indication that [SPACE] is necessary to confirm your color choices. I hate the whole design of it.

16. You do meet some companions that you’ll pick up, but you barely interact with them. Good intros though. Really gave them personality right off the bat.

17. ROMANCE: Being fem!Ryder is rough at the start.

17a. Gil is one of the ship’s crew. He’s one of the few genuinely attractive males in all of Mass Effect’s history. As a woman, you can flirt with him, but he turns you down solidly. He’s kind, but firm. He states that he’s interested in men. Which is awesome, because now I have a reason to play a male Ryder after my first play through is done. Female Ryder apologizes, nothing is weird (unlike other interactions) and it actually made me like him more as a character.

17b. Liam kind of blows off your advances but it definitely felt like a rejection. As he wasn’t very clear, I don’t know if he’s a bi character that you have to develop a friendship with first, or if he’s gay and just doesn’t want to come out to your Ryder. I didn’t like the wishy-washiness of the interaction but we’ll just have to see what’s what when the full game is out.

17c. Doc. I forgot her name, so now she’s Doc. I knew this interaction wouldn’t go well, as I’ve read articles about it. She definitely turns you down because you’re a patient. I’ve read that she has a crush on the Krogan that joins you, so is he not a patient too? Either way, she’s very professional about it and as with Gil it made me appreciate her character. Knowing that it’s Natalie Dormer and I’ll never hear her tell me she loves me hurts me deep in my soul though. Why does the world hate me like this???

17d. Blonde biotic woman with the goddamn hair that I want on my Ryder. Cora. I don’t like her. You have the option to hit on her early on, and her reaction felt really awful to me. She gets kind of hostile and all “I already told [person you never met] that I’m not interested in women and I’m telling you too.” Like, ok. Damn. You aren’t my type anyways. I just wanted to see the option play out. 0/10 poor way to handle the interaction. I’m not super fond of the Asari commando thing either. Jack was a kickass biotic too and she was treated like a monster. This woman gets to take part in something very culturally specific like it’s nbd? jnasdlfknasdivhbna, not a fan of her. She looks somewhere between confused and murderous all the time. Also, she walks like Stretch Armstrong. It makes me laugh.

17e. Vetra. The only individual that actually reacts positively to fem!Ryder flirting with her. Even then she really only takes it like a compliment. But, as I love Vetra and much like Garrus I would die for her from first glance, I’ll take it. I think it’ll be a beautiful relationship. She’s also really tall. And pretty. One thing I thought was strange with her is that it always looks like she’s posing when she’s just standing around. One hip is thrust out and her arms are crossed. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they rigged her to always be in mysterious seductress pose.

17f. I couldn’t flirt with the pilot. Let me kiss the Salarian, damn you Bioware. Also, our nice Scottish friend Suvi can’t be flirted with, but she sounds really soothing to talk to. I’m def a fan of all these non-American, thicker than previously heard, accents on the ship. The Original Trilogy was full of light British accents or full on American. Sort of hard to believe the Alliance was multinational when everyone spoke like they were from the US.

18. Combat: I mostly use the sniper rifle and the pistol. Pistol was nice. I love the sniper rifle in this game. Other ME games it was hard for me to confirm headshots but this one was a clean and clear animation. Very nice. The companion AI was strange at times, as they’d just use their abilities but in odd places so the skills would get stuck in corners or just go off to nowhere. There was combat stutter on the first planet you can visit but I think that’s more my graphics card. The update refuses to finish so I’m stuck 2 updates behind where I should be.

I have, like, an hour I think left so I’m gonna try to rush through a male Ryder play and see how companion reactions differ. I’m really only in this for the romance, you know.

[discomfort-food]

Mass Effect Andromeda review/notes/whatever

So I just finished the main quest of MEA, the latest installment in my number one favorite game series of all time. Whew. There’s a lot being flung around the internet about it, and I know this probably will be little more than a drop in an ocean, but whatevs. My thoughts. 

There are spoilers, so don’t read this if you don’t want to be spoiled (duh).

First off, I played it on a PS4, so I can’t comment on performance on other systems. It ran fine, only had one crash/freeze, and that was right after I started playing and it was still installing stuff. There was some frame stuttering in heavy combat zones and in some areas, but I’m not picky about that stuff on consoles, plus it will likely get patched.

Also note, I am a huge BioWare fan, so my review will definitely be biased towards those who have played the Mass Effect and/or Dragon Age series. I have greatly enjoyed all the entries in these series, although I am aware of the many flaws in all of them. Also I’ll let you in on a probably unpopular opinion: my least favorite ME game is 2. Despite having my absolute favorite opening to a game, the rest of the plot just didn’t make much sense within the trilogy. Take that info and do what you want with it. I like 1 for the story, 2 for the character quests (that’s all the game is though) and 3 for the combat.

Okay! Finally to my thoughts on Andromeda. I broke them up into good stuff, bad stuff, and other stuff/random observations.

The Good!

- The scale and sense of exploration! I love space. I love the sense of exploration into the unknown. When I heard they were planning on taking the planet exploration concept from 1 and make it good, I was ecstatic. There aren’t nearly as many planets to explore as in 1, but they’re all interesting worlds with quests and things to explore, not just empty husks (ha). I do wish there were some more worlds that I was actually the first to discover and not have to worry about raiders or abandoned prefabs over the next hill.

- The characters! Characters are BioWare’s bread and butter, and Andromeda is no exception. All of my squad and crew are interesting and believable, and although I have my favorites, there wasn’t one of them that I found myself never wanting to take into combat. I’ll get into my thoughts on each of them later. I see people complaining about how there’s “only” six companions and compare it to 2′s hundred million. Well, sorry, but at least a third of 2′s companions were boring or unnecessary. Ryder’s squad all had excellent chemistry together, and constantly surprised me with their banter dialogue or conversations around the ship. Which brings me to my next point:

- The ship! The Tempest is beautiful, inside and out. There’s lots of nooks and crannies to explore and appreciate. Although it’s not as big as the Normandy SR-2, it doesn’t have any annoying, impossibly long elevators to take between decks. Your crew actually move around the ship and have conversations with each other from other rooms or over the comms. I do love that your quarters are absolutely bonkers compared to the five beds and a couch shared between the rest of your squad.

- Ryder, Ryder, Ryder.Ryder is a solid protagonist. The dialogue mechanic is much more natural than Shepard's paragon/renegade business, and I felt like I could put more of myself into her. Also, you don't have to worry about putting enough points into certain types of dialogue to get access to certain objects. Lexi keeps tabs on your general conversational tone, and other characters will react differently to you depending on how you have talked to them in the past. Plus, Ryder swears a lot more than Shepard, so that's pretty fucking cool.

- The combat! I’ll be honest; I play most video games for the story. I don’t mind combat in most games, but I rarely if ever bump the difficulty up past normal. The combat in Andromeda was quick and responsive. The last game I played was Witcher 3. Fucking amazing game, but I swear Geralt was drunk half the game due to how many times he got stuck in the landscape or stumbled or didn’t move in the way I expected. I’m not going to get much into it, pretty much the only universal positive point most reviews have about the game is its combat, go read one of those.

- Peebee. just. heart eyes. my beautiful blue gf. everything about her. swoon. Her and my smartass Ryder better tear up the galaxy in the sequel or I’ll riot.

- The actual cutscene animations. I’m talking about the full body motion capture shots, not the facial animations, I’ll get to those in a minute. They’re nicely done, and I didn’t really notice anything that stuck out or was reused like a lot of shots in the OT. There weren’t things like awkward hand waving during dialogue or the ol’ BioWare Turn And Walk Out of Frame.

- The armor design/clothing options. I really liked the way most of the armor looked on Ryder, definite improvement over the OT (no boob cups, yay!) Being able to choose the color was pretty neat too. Here’s my soft butch Ryder rocking NASA-levels of orange.

- my bro! I love him. It’s always neat when you have family members in an rpg and you aren’t conveniently an orphan. I freaked out when I got to play as him in that scene near the end! I hope our sibling will be on our ship with us in the sequel.

- post-ending content - you can do most of the stuff after the main quest is over without worrying about being locked out. Plus, your squad actually acknowledges that the main quest is over and don’t give you the silent treatment.

- Remnant design. Love it. It’s got that huge, unfathomable-ness to it. The first vault you unlock on Eos, wow. That’s the sci-fi I like.

The Bad

- The facial animations. Let’s just get this over with. They’re bad. Well, the upper half is bad. The bottom half of the faces are usually passable, and the teeth detail is actually pretty good. But the eyes. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and I just don’t understand why they are so lifeless. It’s not even like BioWare doesn’t know how to make eyes, they were fine in Inquisition. I don’t see why they couldn’t just port over those eye textures/shader? Everyone’s whites are blindingly bright, and their irises don’t reflect any light, making them look unnatural as fuck. The eyes are the first thing humans instinctively look at, and I don’t see why they didn’t prioritize that over other things. 

- The character creation. Yup, another one everyone knows about. So bad. I honestly don’t know what the fuck they were thinking. Inquisition’s CC was solid. Guys, nobody would have complained if you had just copied and pasted it. At least, not as many as there are now. Also, DON’T USE SARA’S DEFAULT FACE. Holy shit. Like, anatomically, her face is fine, but for whatever reason, they baked a small smile into her “resting face,” so she just looks fucking stupid in a serious scene. You all know that one. And what’s the point of having a default face anyhow if all the other faces are facescans anyway? Literally the only good thing I can say about the CC is if you want to play as a non-white Ryder, you actually have realistic-looking options this time.

- The kett. Boring. Cliche. Absolutely predictable. I figured the main grunt soldiers were Angaran pretty early on, their face shape and eyes are the same. I’m down with despicably evil characters, as long as they have some sort of motivation or charisma. Not the kett or the Archon. Just pure “I will eradicate your species because we are better” Typical antagonist who’s unhealthily obsessed with the protagonist to the point of his underlings pointing it out to him. I guess the only ok factor about the kett is their physical design? I hate their technology design though, it looks like something from a 90′s scifi show.

- Attack of the Asari Clones. Whyyyyyy do all of the asari, sans Peebee, have the same face??? It’s infuriating because you would think it’s such a simple thing. They have a fucking human face, they didn’t seem to have a problem making different human faces??? I also take issue with the other species not being different enough, (although this was a problem in the OT too, I guess Saren had a facial deformity for turians). They did brag about being able to have a higher variation in alien species in one of those boring “previews” of the devs sitting at their computers, so what happened??? All the Krogan have three facial models: female, wrex, or wrex with chin spikes (I guess Grunt had a facial deformity too).

- The rest of the romances? I enjoyed Peebee’s romance but from what I read about the rest of them, unfortunately I think she got the “default sex appeal romance” treatment that Liara had in the OT; an unequal amount of scenes/effort into her romance because that’s who straight men will go for.

- dialogue constantly cutting out/ending because of another dialogue line.  Oh sweet, I’m getting some good party bant-HEY PATHFINDER IT’S A LITTLE BIT WARM OUTSIDE ON THIS DESERT PLANET, THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW. hopefully this gets patched.

- the inventory. There’s no sorting of anything, just alphabetically. It would be awesome if my crafting materials were in one section and my weapons, armor, mods, etc, were in their own. nope. also there’s no storage locker anywhere so have fun carrying all of that.

The Other

- There are a lot of unsolved/open-ended plot lines. The origin/rest of the Kett, the Remnant/Jardann and the Angara, Ryder’s mom, the Benefactor and Jien Garson’s murder. The Quarian ark mentioned in the epilogue will probably be DLC. I’m hoping this means a sequel is definite, but we’ll have to see how the negative press affects sales.

- I’m kind of neutral on the angara. Jaal is awesome, but the rest of the angara are just kind of boring. I like their whole family dynamic thing, but meh. I also don’t really dig the female designs, I think it’s the eyebrow ridge thing? They’re too different from the males.

- I wish there was more “first contact” stuff. During the marketing of the game, they emphasized how much the Milky Way species were the aliens. It didn’t feel much that way to me. The first meeting between Ryder and the Angara was cool, with them all crowding around to see. It sounded like this was the first time they had known about us? But immediately after Aya suddenly there are angara everywhere and integrating with our society?

- They tried going straight for the Citadel DLC tone without having three full games to back it up. I like joking around and lightheartedness, and I can definitely understand going for a lighter tone than the original trilogy, but I really feel like they saw the positive reception of Citadel, and just tried to force the mood to be the same way. We had the whole trilogy to build up relationships with the crew before we could unwind in Citadel, and they missed that. It’s like eating dessert first.

- Whyyy did they ruin Allegra Clarke’s awesome voice on Kesh? 

- Gay turians are pretty cool

- Why did I have to specify Shepard’s gender? All the Shepard references I found (do the SAM memories questline) didn’t mention Shepard’s gender. Unless I missed something?

- Can I wear my under-armor(?) around non-combat zones outside the Tempest?

Seriously, nobody would walk around Kadara in a hoodie and sweats or a fashionable scarf. As far as I know I only get to wear this during the final mission.

The Squad (most to least favorite)

Peebee. My love. Write off anyone who says she’s just Sera from Inquisition. I don’t think they played either game. And her dad’s an Elcor??? I need to know more. I liked how they didn’t even try to make her a Liara clone.

Vetra Oh my god. First time in a Bioware game I actually had trouble deciding who to romance. She’s just so… competent. I will climb that tree next playthrough for sure. She’s the team’s Cool Mom.

Jaal I honestly thought he would be way different. Angsty like Thane or arrogant like Javik, but nah, he was such a bro. His voice and dry humor quickly took him off my shit list. I guess he gets together with Peebee if you don’t romance either of them, and I’m ok with that.

Kallo pure cinnamon roll, too good, too pure.

Lexi even though she broke my Ryder’s heart, I still love her. Mostly because I love Natalie Dormer. I hope she comes back if there’s a sequel.

Suvi Her banter with Kallo was good. And the first time you can flirt with her as Sara was absolute gold. As soon as she brought up religion though, I peaced out.

Drack Guys, he’s old. And he’s a krogan. Did we mention that he’s really old? He’s funny, because he’s a krogan. Krogan just like to shoot stuff. Drack does too, but he’s old so he’s really good at it. I didn’t not like Drack, and he honestly has some of the funniest dialogue, but he’s basically Wrex if people constantly mentioned how old he was. Also I guess I was supposed to know he has a bunch of prosthetics? He’s literally cocooned in armor 24/7 so that plot point didn’t have as much impact as I think they were going for. I hope if they ever make another Krogan squadmate in the future they’ll try to make a new character.

Cora oh my god girl shut up about the Asari. She’s the team’s Awkward Mom. Basically Cassandra. Totally reads Fifty Shades of Grey.

Liam His loyalty mission was actually one of my favorites, but I just didn’t like his character. For a crisis specialist, he wasn’t very good in a crisis. Probably my favorite Generic Starter Male Human squadmate though.

Gil I’m sorry that he’s the only option gay male players get.

The End

Shit, that went on way longer than I’d intended. In conclusion, I would rate Andromeda a 7.5 out of 10. It needed a lot more polish before release, and I don’t understand the reasoning behind giving your most popular franchise to a team that has yet to make a full game. Still, it’s got good bones, and it was a nice clean break from the baggage of the OT. Hopefully they release some good patches and quality DLC, then I could see me bumping my score up to an 8. I hope the game will be looked back on like DA2 is now, people have realized it’s a decent game despite it’s serious flaws.

[shadyb00ts]

Horizon: Zero Dawn - A Review

Right, gimme a moment to compose myself after the INCREDIBLE RIDE that was this fucking game.

Okay. So. Picture it: E3 2015. There I was, minding my own business, completely PS4-less and only scoping out upcoming PC titles since at the time I was a proud PC gamer. Deep down I was always bitter that I probably would never get a PS4, though, so I usually knowingly avoided any footage of PS4 games like inFamous: Second Son, Uncharted 4, etc. I’ve always been a naturally jealous person, so seeing footage from those games at the time sorta stirred up some jealousy there.

But regardless of that, I still end up seeing the original gameplay trailer anyways. And holy fuckballs, I was so pissed. There in front of me was footage of a game that was literally MADE for me, I swear to god. It had all the elements that I loved in a game. Let’s list them, shall we?

Lush open world with gorgeous vibrant landscapes and incredible graphics: check and check

Female protagonist that looks badass and is voiced by ASHLY FUCKING BURCH: check, check and check

Bow and arrow combat: check

Stealth: check

RPG elements like side quests, skill trees, dialogue trees, etc: checkcheckcheckcheck

Intriguing and mysterious story: check

Platforming and climbing mechanics a la Tomb Raider & Uncharted: check

Honestly, I could go on and on but you get the idea. I never thought I’d see the day where a game could so perfectly fit the criteria of everything I like. So 2-Years-Ago-Me was completely heartbroken since at the time I was convinced that I’d never own a PS4. It was up there with Kingdom Hearts III as the games I thought I’d never get to experience.

Flash forward to now, having been a PS4 owner for about several months. This game was pretty much top priority on what to get, so as soon as it was available for preorder, I clicked that shit so fast I almost broke my mouse. So naturally, when the game finally became playable, I completely immersed myself in it.

This may be a bold statement, but I think Horizon is going to be one of my favorite games of all time. For real.

So all those elements I listed up there were true, but there were also additional elements I love that I had no clue were even in it, prior to playing. Like for example, I had no idea just how deep into the RPG category it was going to go. This game was so freaking immersive. I was immediately in Aloy’s shoes and experienced the world through her eyes, starting from childhood. And then what a pleasant surprise it was when I discovered that the game presents you with moral choices, too! At that moment I knew that the game was going to exceed my already extremely high expectations.

There are also dialogue trees in which you can exhaust a lot of dialogue from, and I of course took every chance I got to choose all the options. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this intricate world Guerrilla Games has built and encountering its inhabitants. I loved finding out more about all the different tribes and their own unique traditions and religious beliefs, as well as their relationships with each other. It also helps that their outfits are all so fucking rad. In addition to all that, there are collectibles called “datapoints” where you could find various text, audio and holographic documents from the world of the “ancient ones”, and there’s so many interesting tidbits you can discover from these files. Guerrilla really has fleshed out this world as fully as they could. And let’s quickly touch on the diversity this game has. Man oh man, there were so many people of all different races throughout this game. Lots of strong female characters who weren’t one-dimensional, and I even stumbled upon a gay character during one of the side quests. The diversity showcased doesn’t feel contrived or there to appease the masses, it feels natural and well represented.

I was a bit worried about the story at first, since Guerrilla were definitely shrouding it in mystery and being extra vague every chance they got, which I guess a part of me did like, since it made me not know what to expect and heightened my sense of discovery while playing. But these devs have crafted a really amazing story with a likable cast of characters, including the star of the show Aloy herself. I’m a little biased about her though, since she’s voiced by Ashly Burch who I adore to pieces, but even regardless of that she was simply a wonderfully written character. I just loved watching the story unfold, finding out more and more about what happened to the world and witnessing Aloy finding out the truth about who she really is. The lowest expectation I had initially about this game was probably the story, but it didn’t disappoint at all. I was thoroughly hooked and craved to know more. I won’t spoil anything, since I want those of you who are going to play the game to be more engrossed by it as you have your own experience through it.

Those of you who have seen screenshots and/or gameplay know that this game is a visual masterpiece. The environments are lush and full of life despite the post-apocalyptic nature of it. Originally I had thought the Last of Us had the most gorgeous post-apoc landscapes of all time, but Horizon definitely takes the cake for this one, no question about it. There’s a photo mode available, and because the game itself is so beautiful, it’s probably impossible to take a bad shot. Even without using the filters provided, the graphics have that gorgeous pinkish glow that I always love in games, very reminiscent of Dragon Age: Inquisition I think. The screenshots in this review were some snaps I took using the photo mode feature, and it’s really fun to play around with. You could probably spend hours with it taking scenic shots and action shots to your heart’s content.

Now let’s talk combat. A game automatically has me sold when it has archery. My love of this developed through the 2013 Tomb Raider remake, which I’m sure I reviewed on here a long while back. It grew when I played the sequel to that remake, Rise of the Tomb Raider. This game takes that style of combat and amps it up to a hundred, adding a bunch of various unique and craftable arrow types, as well as multitudes of elemental traps and explosives. Most unique out of these is probably the Ropecaster, which allows you to tie down enemies to leave them immobilized. These are extremely useful for the flying machines that you’ll encounter later on in the game, since they can be pretty tricky. The combat relies heavily on weakpoint takedowns, so you’ve definitely gotta have real good aim in order to slay them robots, especially the bigger ones. Unlike most action games, you can’t just go in guns blazing and continuously shoot arrows at random spots on the machines’ bodies. Focusing on their weakpoints is key, as that’s where all the real damage lies. Most of the robots are also weak to specific element types, so exposing those weaknesses gives you an even bigger advantage. Some enemies you could even strip off their ranged weapons and use it against them, which I thought was fucking radical. I did it more than a few times and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

There’s also melee combat in this game, although I rarely ever used it to be quite honest. The only use I found for melee are the silent takedowns during stealth, but in battle I would say ranged is the way to go. Battles with the machines are very exhilarating and intense, since they are clearly much more stronger than you, even the weaker ones. There are also human enemies like bandits and cultists, but they’re pretty easy to pick off since all it takes are headshots, basically. The machines are the real challenge. I played on Easy since I’m a scrub, and have always had no shame in playing games on easy difficulties anyways since, unlike most gamers, I’m not much of a fan of challenge. Basically for me, Easy is my Normal. That’s just how I roll. But even easy mode was a bit of a challenge at times, at least for me. I had some trouble with the huge, stronger machines. Then again, I pretty much spent the entirety of the game doing nothing but side stuff and power-leveling, so by the last few main quests I was already at max level. But even at max level and wearing arguably the best outfit in the game, the final boss was a lot to handle.

I’ve spent the majority of this review gushing about this game, but was there anything I disliked? In all honesty, not really all that much. Most of my negatives are pretty much small nitpicks. I thought the climbing mechanics could’ve been a little bit better, since unlike Tomb Raider or Uncharted, most of the platforming can be done just by pushing the left stick and only pressing the jump button once in a while. I would’ve liked it better if the jump button was more frequently used during platforming, basically. You also can’t filter between icons on the map, and the map interface can get pretty hectic as a result since there’s so much stuff cluttered in it. Not sure why they didn’t add the option to filter between machine sites, collectibles, etc. Would’ve made for an easier time navigating.

Another negative is probably how I wish the outfits were more customizable. As it stands, each outfit is already one full set, and the only modifications you can make are by using two or three slots where you can insert mods to increase certain effects like elemental resistances, stealth, etc. I wish it was a little more in-depth in that you could get different pieces for each body part, like most RPGs, and maybe be able to insert modifications to each individual armor piece. Actually, the modification system in general, for both outfits and weapons, is a bit too simplified for my taste. You can’t really upgrade them, it’s as simple as just inserting a mod or two and you’re done. This may be ideal for more action-oriented players, but since I’m an RPG enthusiast, I find it to leave much to be desired. There are some other small nitpicks I have with the game that hold it back from being absolute perfection, but honestly they’re all pretty much easy to ignore. The positives crush the negatives.

So yeah, overall I’m extremely overjoyed with how this game turned out. It’s everything I had been hoping for and then some. It literally just came out a few days ago and already I’m aching for a story DLC or, hell, even a sequel. This game better branch out into a franchise; there’s so much Guerrilla can explore with this world that they’ve created.

I give Horizon a 9.75/10. 9.5 seemed a little too low and 10 seemed a little bit too high, so I thought fuck it, 9.75 it is. This game is near perfection, and if you have a PS4 or are going to own a PS4 in the future, then I swear to you that you won’t regret having Horizon in your game library. It’s a mishmash of various elements in open world, action-RPG gaming all rolled into an impeccable, beautiful package. And for all you trophy hunters out there, it’s pretty easy to platinum too.

Man, do I love this game. Jesus. Looks like I’ve found something new to unhealthily obsess over.

[atalentea]

Dragon Age Questions

01) favorite game of the series? This is actually a tough question! Both in terms of game play and story, DA2 is the most fun for me to play, and probably the one I have played the most. However, DAO and DAI have my favorite OCs, and are the ones I spend the most time on when I play.

02) how did you discover Dragon Age? I played Mass Effect on a whim after seeing it on tumblr once, which led me to all the other Bioware games!

03) how many times you’ve played the games? DA:O – 6 times, every Origin except for city elf. DA2: – Approximately 10 times DA:I – 5 times, with 1 or 2 aborted play throughs

04) favorite race to play as? Oh man, I don’t even have a favorite. As long as I have a story that resonates with me, I truly enjoy playing. The only race I haven’t played is a dwarf in DAI.  

05) favorite class? Sword and shield warrior in DAO and DAI, and a rogue in DA2.

06) do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time. It really depends. The only choices I change are role playing decisions in DAO, based on the story that my OC has going on. For example, conversation decisions about the Chantry, racial issues, or attitude. Actual story decisions rarely change in that game. In DA2, I almost always support the mages, but the degree to which I do so changes based on the character. Only once did my character change at the end and support the templars due to the death of her mother at the hand of the blood mage. DAI is where I change the most based on my character’s goals, which is likely because you can do so without being an evil bastard.

07) go-to adventuring group? DAO: Morrigan, Leliana, and Oghren/Zevran. The sass group!

DA2: This usually depends on my character, but usually Merrill, Fenris, and Varric.

DA:I: This is probably the game where I change the most based on who is best for the quest. Usually my romance, Cassandra/Blackwall, and Sera.

08) which of your characters did you put the most thought into? Definitely Lydia Cousland. Her story just came to me so quickly, and I just couldn’t stop writing. Whenever I want to pick up the game, I can jump into her story and just feel right at home.

09) favorite romance? I really have one per game, I couldn’t choose between them. Leliana is such a beautiful romance with fantastic pay off and just relevant enough to the story to keep you thinking about it the whole game long. Fenris from DA2 narrowly beats out Isabela, but I love them both for the same reason. The way that they change over the course of the game, and how devoted they get to you by the end is truly romantic. In DAI, I suppose it would have to be Solas. Sera’s was a BLAST, but Solas beats her out because I love heartbreak.

10) have you read any of the comics/books? I’ve read some of them, and I’m actually getting into them more now. They are rather simple, but I love the way they open up new stories and avenues for your characters behind the scenes.

11) if you read them, which was your favorite book? The Masked Empire. I love Celene and Briala so damn much.

12) favorite DLCs? Oh man, that’s tough. Probably Jaws of Hakkon and Trespasser.

13) things that annoy you? I don’t believe these games are perfect in any way, but the things I often see people complaining  about are things that I acknowledge but they don’t actively bother me. The most frustrating things for me are the ‘‘subverting’‘ of stereotypes by making butch-coded characters straight, the dearth of gay male options, the lack of dwarven lore related to the end-games, some of the racial coding, and probably the way people treat DA2.

14) Orlais or Ferelden? Depends! I love how different they attempted to make the human civilizations, and I hope you can eventually make characters who are from different countries as well as different races.

15) Templars or Mages? I can truly appreciate the way the games went back and tried to make us understand the hardships of the templars, so much so that I actually made a templar character. However, no matter how much they try to make the situations equal, they just aren’t. Mages.

16) if you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one? Separate! Definitely. I cannot possibly play in a world knowing one of my own is out there somewhere but I can’t see them.

17) what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc) So many names... Ragnor and Crixus are my favorites though!

18) have you installed any mods? Only recently have I started using mods, and as much as they have helped me make my vision for my characters truly come to life, I could get rid of them in a second. They are helpful, but they aren’t necessary to my enjoyment.

19) did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden? Clarissa Surana did, as well as Nadia Brosca.

Lydia Cousland only did it originally for revenge on Arl Howe, M Aeducan did it to get back to his homeland one day, and Marika Mahariel wanted to survive.

20) Hawke’s personality? I generally play as a purple Hawke, because it is such a unique experience to DA2. I can play a Blue or Red character in the other games no problem, so why would I miss out on a chance to be so much fun! A couple of my boys are Red, but my rogue ladies are all Purple.

21) did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition? NOT

22) if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change? Lydia Cousland is confident she did everything she could in her life, but if there was any way AT ALL she could have saved her family, she would have done it.

Adrian Hawke would have never gone into the Deep Roads.

Lanaya Lavellan is feeling very guilty that she hasn’t stood up for her people, instead playing at war with the nations of Thedas, but that’s all going to change.

23) do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon? All the time!

Lydia Cousland is a widow. Clarissa Surana is originally a Dalish elf whose mother ran away from the clan with a human man who had been turned into a werewolf.

Arden got her tattoo after she was caught stealing in Lothering as a teenager. Her and Isabela stay together after the events of the game, and it is Arden who leaves Isabela in the dead of night on her ship to go to Skyhold. Isabela is PISSED.

Nala Adaar was raised in a remote human town and educated there. Even Trevelyan was a templar at the Conclave. Mira Trevelya was an active member of the Mage rebellion, and went to the Conclave as a spy for the mages.

24) are any of your character(s) based on someone? I start all my characters based on characters that already exist, before I flesh them out. I am not quite that creative to come up with characters from scratch. Lydia is based on the character from Shadowhunters, Adrian Hawke is based on Agron from Spartacus, Lanaya Lavellan is based on Lanaya from the Dalish camp in DAO, and so on.

25) who did you leave in the Fade? This changes all the time. I tend to leave Hawke in the fade if I feel like he or she has a strong tie to the guilt they feel about Corypheus being alive, or let Stroud die if my Inquisitor needs the Wardens to be redeemed in their eyes, as I don’t really like to banish them.

26) favorite mount? I rarely use horses, but I’m using one of the big creatures with antlers right now, and it’s pretty fucking cool. Just wish it was faster!