#rip to Zevran I’m so sorry darling

[impossible-rat-babies]

I’m realizing now that my da world state is just. wow tragic romance huh

[enchantment1385]

🐉 Age Questions

I was tagged by the very lovely, @nerdierholler to give up some of my darkest gaming secrets... Yaaay! Thank you, darling XD 

1. Favourite game of the series? Wow... Not pulling any punches, are we? Honestly, they all have things I adore and all have things I dislike. I’ve played DAO more than the others, but that’s because it’s the oldest of them all. I love the camp mechanic and just how in depth Origins is, but the combat is... dated? Da2 has Hawke, which for me is a winner in itself.  And DAI has so many wonderful characters.  

2. How did you discover 🐉 Age? I honestly can not even remember at this point! I remember playing DAO when it was quite ‘new’. I remember dying, aaannnnd then i didn’t play it again until someone showed me how amazing DAI looked. So, I bought it and then got back into them all in a big way, and destroyed my life in doing so! 

3. How many times have you’ve played the games?  Ahahahahaha... Umm... I don’t know..?  Let’s put it this way, on my laptop alone (as in ALL my console hours, which is a whole lot, not counted.) I have clocked up over 1200 hours on DAO, 720 on DA2, and 1250 on DAI... So, yes. Now you all know how very sad I am... 

4. Favourite race to play as? Dwarfs, they hands down have the BEST and funniest dialog options.

5. Favourite class? DAO; Dual wield rogue  DAI & DA2; Mage. Oh, so many mages...

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

7. Go-to adventuring group? DAI: Alistair, Zevran, Shale. DA2: Varric, Fenris/Carver, Anders. DAI: Varric, Dorian, and random. My 3rd spot always changes so I can hear as much awesome dialog as possible. 

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

This poor sod...  Viridis - My DAO dalish elf is a close second, but she’s dead, so her struggle is over, and she went out a hero. Poor Faeron suffers every. single. day. And still finds some reason to try and smile. 

9. Favourite romance? Alistair. But that is helped hugely thanks to cute (and not so cute) mods.  This is actually hard because, Although I like to romance certain people more than others, that isn’t me saying that their romance is my favourite.  I mean, I freakin’ love Dorian, but out of all the romances I feel his was done really well, but... A little quick compared to others which had a nicer, spread over time, thing, going on. 

10. Have you read any of the comics/📚? I read one... But that was a long while ago now.  It was good! They’re just pretty pricey and very rarely on sale. 

11. If you read them, which was your favourite 📓? The one I read? 

12. Favourite DLCs? All are acceptable answers, bar trespasser. - I don’t care what you say, I know it was amazing. I know it was stunning. I know it answered a lot of questions and set up DA4 in a great way and such - BUT

This. This is too much. HE’S ALREADY LOST HIS LOVER - AND THEN THE AVERAGE, BALD, WOLF, WHO STOLE FAERON’S ARMOUR BTW, THEN RIPS HIS SODDING ARM OFF?! 

FUCK YOU, BIOWARE.

13. Things that annoy you? Invisible walls. Boundaries and made to be broken!  And doors in DAI. I am always getting stuck behind one instead of running through the doorway. Please tell me it’s not just me?! I miss the doors of DAO and DA2. I am willing to sacrifice immersion on that one small point, I just want to get through the doorway, please. 

14. Orlais or Ferelden? Who in the shit picks Orlais? For Ferelden!! 

15. Templar's or Mages? Mages. Especially as i’m playing one 95% of the time.

16. If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one? Depends.  Jereth, Xander, Tobias, and Faeron & Nico, are all from the same timeline, and my ‘canon’ run if you like. Xander also has a sister (other than Bethany) who is from the same time, but also has her own separate parallel play-through.  I mix and match backgrounds. 

17. What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc.) Jereth called his mabari, Captain blightballs, because he is forever 12, and thinks it’s funny. Xander’s mabari was named Wrex, as in Wrex from Mass Effect.  Faeron’s Halla is named Ghilas, which is elven for ‘to go’.  Nico’s horse (yes a horse and NOT a halla) is called stormy, which is a RP in joke.

18. Have you installed any mods? Oh hell yes! Many, many mods. Gods bless you mod makers! You guys make everything so much better! And I say this as someone who has played all the games, many times, totally un-modded.  Lots of better textures for CC, gameplay changes, cheats. You name it! It’s not like I don’t know the base game at this point. 

19. Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?       Yes, and no.  Did Jereth want to get out of the circle, and possibly being made tranquil? Oh yes! Yes indeed. However, did he want to drink blood cocktails, watch his bromies die, and actually have to do stuff?  Not so much. 

20. Hawke’s personality? Purple. They always all end up as purple... Or at least, varying degrees. I can’t not.  Xander is 100% purple, bar maybe 4 occasions in the whole game. 

21. Did you make matching armour for your companions in Inquisition? Heh... I have TWINS. I had to try and remember who was wearing what, and which parts were dyed, and then make two sets... Utter nightmare. 

22. If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change? Jereth wouldn’t change anything, because he isn’t that wise. Plus, in his mind he ended up coming out ahead.  Xander would have tried to save Bethany and paid more attention to his mother. He’d just try and be more responsible, I guess, but probably end up failing and just being the same smartass as ever.  Faeron... My poor boy... Faeron would do it all differently if he could. I think, if he could change one thing, he’d have let Morrigan drink from the pool. Having yet MORE voices in his head was the last thing he needed, not to mention a constant reminder of who Mythal really is...  Nico wouldn’t let Dorian get close enough to Faeron for the relationship to start in the first place. It was was a big enough thing for her to accept it in the first place... But when he decided to leave, and said Faeron couldn’t go with him... Nico didn’t take kindly to it. 

23. Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?  Twins? Someone dating Varric? The fact that Hawke, Amell & Alistair are all alive?? Sorry Stroud. (not sorry) Yeah... I substitute that bit... You know all those pictures of Hawke or Alistair’s LI waiting on them? Well, I just can’t ever kill Alistair and leave poor Jereth holding some wilting daisies, pouting. I mean... Who would put up with him full time?? Leliana?? I think not! 

24. Are any of your character(s) based on someone? Yeah, me. All of them. Well, mostly. Tobias for example is nothing like me in any sense. But Jereth, Xander (& his sister Lola), Faeron and Nico are all some part of me. Some of my other wardens and Hawke’s too. 

25. Who did you leave in the Fade? Sorry again Stroud. (Still really not sorry...) 

26. Favourite mount? Faeron on his Halla is definitely most epic... But the Hart sound... It’s like having PTSD, I’m forever on edge and thinking ‘Don’t stop suddenly... DON’T stop suddenly...’  I did get this awesome Dracolisk mod which made them look like Maleficent’s dragon, which was so good for my qunari mage. 

Tagging: @heraldofwho @tessa1972 @keeperscompanionsdai @ielmoe @shannaraisles @dreadhobo @gugle1980 @inquisitorsmabari @sassylavellen @dickeybbqpit @dalish-ish @john-cousland @long-liv-prairies

[queen-scribbles]

Tagged by @grumpy-jedi

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in any order), answer the questions and tag 10 people.

I tag nobody, or everybody. Whoever wants to do this.

My chosen 3 fandoms:

Critical Role

SWtOR

.Dragon Age

The first character you loved:

Percy (I’m sorry, “Some people have no sense of fucking honor!” just did it for me)

Corso(first toon was a f!Smuggler, so it took .3 seconds for me to fall in love with The Farm Boy) 

Alistair (He’s since been knocked out of my top five, but he’s just so snarky in that first cutscene, I couldn’t help it)

The character you never expected to love so much:

Grog. 

Elara. I knew I’d like her, but was wholly unprepared for how she was going to sweep in and become My Fave of Everything, love of my life, who deserves only good things ever

Zevran. I didn’t even use him until like my fourth or fifth playthorugh, just recruited him bc I’m completionist like that and left him at camp. Then I started using him bc I was writing him in a fic and needed to get a handle on his speech patterns, personality etc and now I love him.

The character you relate to most:

Probably Sherry(however you spell her name? Gilmore’s assistant)

Idk, maybe Yuon? We both love history and lose all track of time when working on stuff

Alistair. I too am snarky, don’t want to lead anything ever, and have like zero experience flirting. :D

The character you’d slap:

There have been several at various points for a variety of reasons.

Tol Braga, to smack some sense into him and make him rethink his incredibly naive plan.

Nope. I choose life (aka it’s a fandom darling)

Three favourite characters (in order of preference):

(going non-main group) Kashaw, Victor, and Tyriok

Elara, Corso, and... nnnnnn Master Sumalee

(argh, I should not have picked Dragon Age :| *sigh*) Jowan, Carver, and Sebastian

A character you liked at first but don’t anymore:

n/a

n/a

n/a

A character you did not like at first but do now:

Beau. I was super meh about her, bordering on disliking her, for the first ten or so episodes, and then in I think 12 or 13 she said some stuff and now I like her a lot :D

Mako. My first BH was male and I tried to follow her romance but felt like there were too many mixed signals, hot and cold type stuff and got frustrated. Then I played a f!BH and we became BFFs and I liked her significantly more

nobody, really

Three OTPs:

Perc’ahlia, Pikelan, and I don’t really have a third

Tel/Elara, Bry/Jonas, and Jaaide/Theron

Trinne/Harvey(yes they’re both PCs, fight me), Jowan/Leliana(I will go down with this ship), and.... SebAstrid(rip my feels)

[dalishious]

Everyone talks about how creepy oghren is hitting on people and it annoys me becuase nobody points out everyone else?? Like Zevran does that to Wynne, morrigan does it to sten, leliana does it to morrigan. And all I can help feeling is that becuase oghren isn't one of the conventionally attractive characters he gets a lot more shit in the fandom

Also, my point is slightly unrelated to the last ask, everyone talks about how the dalish are so oppressed, and the mages are so oppressed but the dwarves have it really bad? Sigrun says that elven cities look great compared to dust town and again I can't help but think becuase they aren't a conventionally attractive race everyone ignores them

The Dwarves are greatly ignored by both fandom and the devs, I agree. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that is part of it. I think it also has to do with the lack of Dwarven lore and whatnot all together, in comparison to the other races.

Re: Oghren - I think it has more to do with how it’s handled. Oghren harasses the women in the party and it’s played off as a drunk joke.

Zevran is the one who comes closest to the number of times Oghren does this, when he talks about Wynne’s “bosom” as a means to avoid/end a conversation he does not wish to have/is done with. This too is supposed to be ‘joking.’

Wynne: You must know that murder is wrong, I assume.Zevran: I'm sorry... are you speaking to me?Wynne: That is why you wish to leave your Crows. A crisis of conscience.Zevran: Yes, that is exactly it.Wynne: Joke if you wish, but I have the feeling that deep down you regret the life you have lived.Zevran: It's true. I regret it all.Wynne: Must you be such a child? Are you incapable of a single, serious conversation?Zevran: I know. I am terrible and it makes me sad. May I rest my head in your bosom? I wish to cry.Wynne: You can cry well away from my bosom, I'm certain.Zevran: Did I tell you I was an orphan? I never knew my mother.Wynne: Egad. I give up.

Wynne: Have you changed your mind yet? Are you willing to speak seriously?Zevran: Of your bosom? As you wish.Wynne: (exasperated) No, I do not wish to speak of my bosom.Zevran: But it is a marvelous bosom. I have seen women half your age who have not held up half so well. Perhaps it is a magical bosom?Wynne: Stop... talking about my bosom.Zevran: But I thought you wished to speak seriously?Wynne: I do. I thought, however foolishly, that you might be willing to speak of your past.Zevran: We could do that. There have been many bosoms in my past, though only few as fine as yours.Wynne: Enough. I am ending this conversation.

Zevran: So let us pretend that I do, indeed, believe that murder is wrong.Wynne: (coldly) We are not having this conversation.Zevran: Were I to believe such a thing, what would I do with it? Feeling guilt about things one can no longer change seems to very time-consuming with little hope for actual gain.Wynne: But you could change what you do in the future.Zevran: (Sigh) What would that require, exactly? It seems to me that feeling guilty would take up a great deal of my time as it is.Wynne: Perhaps you could save a life, instead? One for every life you have taken.Zevran: That is a great many lives to save and feel guilty as well. Perhaps I could do one or the other?Wynne: It is not a game, Zevran. You either know right from wrong or you do not.Zevran: I... I am so confused. I think I may cry. May I lay my head in your bosom?Wynne: (Cry of frustration) No! No! You may not!Zevran: You are so very cruel. How is it that you do not feel guilty?Wynne: I feel guilty for having ever spoken to you.

There is this one time, though:

Zevran: You have not asked my about my conscience for some time, my darling Wynne.Wynne: That is correct. And I am not your "darling."Zevran: (Sigh) So once again I am rejected, just as I am by the cruel, cruel fates. They are harsh mistresses to the elves.Wynne: Zevran, I am old enough to be your grandmother.Zevran: You say that like it's a bad thing.Wynne: And what would you do with me if you had me, hmm? This is a game you play, nothing more.Zevran: Ha, you are a cynical woman, Wynne.Zevran: Cynical and powerful. It drives me mad with desire.Wynne: ...Wynne: I am going to walk away now.

Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not good.

In defence of Morrigan, she only talks to Sten about sex after she catches him staring at her, and takes it as ‘teasing.’

Morrigan: So are you going to continue staring at me as if I am covered in eels?Sten: Eels would be something.Morrigan: Prudery! How charming. I expected paranoia. This is much better. I prefer to be stared at lustfully, if at all.Sten: Keep trying, then.Morrigan: Oh? Then shall I demonstrate an act or two? And you may tell me hot or cold?Sten: I'll save time. Cold.Morrigan: (Chuckles) You are a tease.

...The only thing I can see when looking at the banter between Morrigan and Leliana, is Leliana telling Morrigan she’s beautiful, and wants to go shopping with her.

Leliana: You are very beautiful Morrigan.Morrigan: Tell me something I do not know.Leliana: But you always dress in such rags. It suits you I suppose. A little tear here, a little rip there to show some skin. I understand.Morrigan: You understand I lived in a forest, I hope?Leliana: Maybe we could get you in a nice dress one day. Silk. No, maybe velvet. Velvet is heavier, better to guard against the cold in Ferelden. Dark red velvet, yes. With gold embroidery. It should be cut low in the front of course, we don't want to hide your features.Morrigan: Stop looking at my breasts like that. 'Tis most disturbing!Leliana: You don't think so? And if it's cut low in the front we must put your hair up to show off that lovely neck.Morrigan: You are insane. I would sooner let Alistair dress me.Leliana: It'll be fun, I promise! We'll get some shoes too! Ah, shoes! We could go shopping together!

There’s the part where Morrigan tells her to stop looking at her chest, which she seemingly does...

But the only one I’m not really at all bothered by is Leliana and Morrigan, only because it feels more like just attempted flirting to me, and Leliana does back off when Morrigan tells her to.

[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.