#she doesn't have a good opinion of the grey wardens

[cha1nbreak]

@standbetween

"thom rainier," her voice is clear and bright as she peers at him from where calpernia has perched atop a rocky outcropping, "where are your compatriots?" the venatori are scattered across this expanse of sand and dust and calpernia need only raise her voice with a request upon her lips and more could be here at her side. sound does carry wonderfully across these barren expanses. "they must be nearby, or have you ventured out from your new stronghold all on your lonesome?" her weight leans against her stave, the end of it planted across the rock, and she smiles down at him. "that was very well done, even i must admit."

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

Me, when Sebastian joins my party for the first time: Okay, this time I'm not going to forget about you, Sebastian. I'm going to make an effort to use you a lot this playthrough so I can better understand you.

Also me, immediately forgetting about Sebastian while finishing Act 2 and making it halfway through Act 3 before I finally notice his Faith quest: ......................Oh. Right. My bad.

[shoutydwarf]

veilguard spoilers !

literally None of these characters are above b tier for me except davrin and that's carried by him being a grey warden that doesn't need me to therapy speak him into being fixed.

sorry to be a toxic origins bro on main but my favorite characters are always the ones that don't recognize me as the player character pressing the buttons. their development isn't contingent on me making choices for them. they have opinions i don't agree with and which i can't change their mind on, a la vivienne/anders. alistair is one of my top companions because he has LINES in the motherfucking SAND. he will be your brother and/or your lover for the entire game but if you don't put his vengeance above your duty to the wardens, he will leave, if not attempt to seize power and force his ends. same for most all other origins and 2 companions (and inquisition to a lesser degree) - A. the option EXISTS to fundamentally piss them off to the degree they will want to kill you, and B. some of them literally WILL try to kill you. that's how roleplaying games are supposed to work. i am supposed to be a person in this world surrounded by other people in this world and i expect it to feel like that. moreso, i know they CAN make it feel like that, because they DID that in all 3 previous games.

there is no way to fail loyalty missions in VG. characters are so lukewarm that the guild of looting, pirating thieves exercises ethical tomb raiding and does monologue you about it. not a single one has any opinion that beckons you to use your brain cells. these characters do not evoke any emotion from me. i could write whole think pieces on why vivienne has the disposition that she does, why she thinks she's right, why i fundamentally disagree with her but still greatly empathize with her and consider her the best option for divine (out of 2 other companions that are just as complex). i have NOTHING to say about the veilguard companions. there is NOTHING to talk about here.

every single one of their villains are entirely one dimensional and unforgivable. THAT is the true disney aspect of the game. loghain, meredith, samson, calpernia, bhelen, branka, the architect, celene and gaspard, even fucking HOWE all have nuances and complexities to them that, even if you still end up at the conclusion that they're awful, you still have some things to think about. there are reasons leading up to their descents into cruelty and madness beyond just "me wanted power :p for fun :p"

this is also part of why davrin is the only memorable character for me; his villain was someone i knew and, frankly, the only interesting one out of the entire lot but only because she had an entire book's worth of setup. harding's was also great but because of the larger issue with zero catharsis for the titans, i have to kick her down several tiers with the rest of Mid Town.

don't get me started on the hardening system and how it can literally only happen to a single companion as a consequence to a single choice in the entire game. and then that 'hardening' actually has no bearing on their loyalty missions or, in neve's case, their romance.

the game does not make me think at all. it is designed to be consumed but not digested. there is nothing beyond the curtains. there is nothing to discuss. there is no nuance, no spice, no complexity, no grey areas. all that exists to talk about here is "i liked this part" and "i didn't like this part".

it is, like too fucking much of modern media, brain rot soup. and it doesn't even taste good.

[cordsycords]

been thinking more about the info about the backgrounds that we've seen, regarding Rook's past, and I really hope we get some reactivity with our companions, especially ones that are in the same faction as us:

shadow dragons - okay, from the single line we get in the prologue from Neve, it doesn't seem like she's specifically heard of/worked with Rook before. This kind of makes me wonder if the Shadow Dragons are a much more decentralized faction than something like the Wardens or the Crows, with multiple cells that are all working together towards the same goal, but keep minimal communication with one another due to secrecy. Might be cool if we have a mission that's like "find the leader of the Shadow Dragons" because no one knows who it is*. The background info from the CC kind of supports this idea, Rook is specifically said to have been "brought to the attentions of the Venatori" and put in time out because of that.

As for reactivity, I guess it would be nice if you could mention that specific mission, and Neve could "oh right I heard of that. You did the right/wrong thing." and just give her opinion on it. I can actually imagine Neve not being really keen on it, as a private investigator she needs a certain amount of discretion to be able to do her job properly, and might not appreciate Rook's brashness if it endangers the wider goal of the shadow dragons.

mournwatch - the mournwatch background is still driving me a little Insane, because what do you mean Rook was found as a baby in the Grand Necropolis. Anyways I kind of assume the Mournwatch is a much smaller faction, because they have a very specific focus, and they only operate in a specific part of Thedas. Since the info specifically says Rook was "raised by necromancers" it would be super cool to see if Rook and Emmrich had a Mentor/Student relationship at one point. Would also be interesting if Emmrich specifically was the one to tell Rook to travel after the incident with the War of the Banners. It would be great to see his response to Rook coming back and suddenly being in charge of this little rebellion, they just can't stop themselves from getting into trouble.

Also Mournwatch!Rook taught Manfred to play rock-paper-scissors. That's my headcanon and you can't take it away from me.

antivan crows - So it seems like Rook is a relatively new antivan crow, and from the little I've gleaned about Lucanis' recruitment mission, it looks like he might have been thought to be dead for the last year or so? Would be cool if Rook has heard a bunch of stories about Lucanis and has some hero worship going on. Would also be funny if we told him all that we had heard, only for him to shoot all the more fantastical elements of those tales down.

grey wardens - This one is also a little up in the air regarding whether Davrin and Rook knew each other before the events of Veilguard. Rook's faction backstory mentions them being in a group along with other Grey Wardens, so it would be nice if Davrin was also on the mission. I would also be really interested to see how Davrin got Assan, and maybe Rook played a hand in that somehow as well. Did Davrin literally find Assan in the middle of nowhere, and maybe Rook was there? Or were the eggs all found and then distributed among the Grey Wardens that were in high favour? Was Rook passed over for a griffon? I do remember one of Davrin's missions from an IGN previwe being specifically about saving the griffons, so it's probably the case that Assan is the only one actively around right now.

Either way, it would be cute to see an encounter where Rook remarks on how much Assan has grown/changed since they've seen them last, if they even know about Assan at all pre-Veilguard

lords of fortune - I think the relationship between taash and a LoF!Rook would be a good case for a slightly more antagonistic relationship. As an organisation of treasure hunters, probably focused more on profit and glory than anything else, it would be cool if Rook got in the way of taash's scores or jobs. Maybe Taash has moved up in the faction since Rook was forced to peace out, and wants to lord her achievements over Rook in an attempt to make them jealous. It could be pretty fun.

veil jumpers - I imagine Bellara and a jumper!Rook would probably be pretty aligned with one another. Reading the background info on Rook in the Veil Jumpers, i can imagine Bellara would probably approve of what Rook had done, while also being just a tiny bit disappointed that the map was lost. It would be cool to see a scene where they traded notes with one another, recounting all the weird things that they've seen in Arlathan, and then maybe trying to figure out why certain anomalies occur, or how they work. Just a bunch of co-nerding out with one another

anyways, I am definitely thinking way too much about this, but there's still 6 weeks to go, so it's not like there's much else for me to do :shrugs:

* it would be equally cool if that leader is a previous char from inquisition. I'm kind of banking on Dorian, or the inquisitor themselves considering the clothing we see them wear in that single shot of them in the CC is shadow dragons casual wear (i believe)

[kitterkat100]

My thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard

So, I finished datv yesterday and now have time to sit and think about it. Now, obviously this is just my subjective opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. I am going to start with the good and go into the bad and then finish with more good (that teacher training coming in). Also, I learned how to do a read more for this.

I am going to start with the combat. I have made another post about this, but that was like 3 hours into my first playthrough. Veilguard has the best combat in the series. Usually Dragon Age games have combat that is a slog to get through, so much so that many people in the fandom say they don't play the games for combat but for the story. I have never been a fan of the real-time with tactical pause, I find it a little boring. I am not a big fan of turn-based, to begin with ( that is one of the reasons I still have not finished Baulder's Gate). In the past, if I wanted to play a good story game with fun combat, I would play Mass Effect. But I have fun just fighting enemies, if DAI's combat was this fun I would replay it more often.

Next the art direction. Now, I am no artist and I know next to nothing about anything. But I really like the art. I think the environments are beautiful. I like the character models. I know people were complaining about the models having small heads in the lead-up to the release, but I think it was because the game doesn't use heroic proportions. And you don't notice in-game at all, at least I didn't. Also the brought back some reused assets from the Inquisition, and some of the paintings that have been around since Origins.

Okay the companions. I might write a longer post for each companion later on. I am going in alphabetical order.

Bellara: I romanced her, and I love her so much. She has some strong Tali vibes with a strong dose of ADHD. I am a little sad that we did not even kiss until after the final battle, but I just read that as her being ace or demi (like me!).

Davrin: He is such a bro. I love him and Assan so much. His banter with Emmrich is so funny. The ending to his story line is a little weak, but I will talk about that in his own post.

Emmrich: I think Emmrich is one of the best companions in the whole series, flat out. I love this man, he going to be my next romance (Female Qunari Grey Warden).

Harding: Harding is great. I really liked all of the Titan stuff in her storyline. I did get her killed, so I am not sure what her ending is like. I did think her romance with Taash was cute.

Lucanis: I'm going to say it. I think Lucanis is the weakest of the companions, I don't dislike him. I don't if I missed a lot of content because I saved Minrathous instead of Treviso or if it was because his writer got canned during development. And what he did have felt bare bones. I thought we would be dealing with Spite a lot more. I will say his recruitment mission is a blast.

Neve: I played a Shadow Dragon so my character had a lot of in common with Neve. I like her, but I don't have any strong feelings towards her one or another. Her romance with Lucanis is a thing that happens. I might change my mind when I get around to romancing her.

Taash: I am cis, so take this with a grain of salt. But I think their storyline about being non-binary was oddly paced. I did like everything past that, I think it was much better paced. I do like them a lot. Also, they are really cute with Harding. I do wish there was more of a reaction to me getting Harding killed on Tearstone Island, but that is a writing complaint.

Speaking of the writing. It is really a mixed bag. Some of it is great and then some of it was giving slop comics from the mid-00s. The first several hours are story slog, some of that is because of all the lore dumps, and some of it is because it is oddly paced. The writing gets progressively better throughout the game. From the point of no return to the credits it is the strongest writing, maybe not in the whole series but definitely since the last third of DAI. That after-credit scene was a choice. I will probably talk about that more after I figure out how I feel about it. I think Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nan are the strongest villains since Loghain, it really helps that they are present throughout the game. There are definitely moments where you feel that Rook is HR, but not a lot, but enough that I understand why that made it into some reviews. I don't think it is any more quippy or Marvel-like than any other Dragon Age game, "Swooping is bad" comes to mind.

Finally, some random thoughts. I think this game really nailed the horror of the Blight, I can't get the image of Bellara wrapped in Blight tentacles during the final section out of my head.

I played a non-mage elf shadow dragon, and there was a lot of reactivity for the shadow dragon part, less the elf part. I know I missed a conversation with Tarquin about it, but still. It's like no one even noticed the pointy ears.

That's it for now. I might add more as think about it.

8/10, I had a blast.

[professorsparklepants]

welcome to fanfic I won't write fridays, where I talk about fanfic I won't write

happy dragon age 4 to those who celebrate it's time to put all my "pevensie siblings isekai'd into dragon age pcs" thoughts in one post

peter is the inquisitor; i considered lucy for this but she's more what the inquisition wants you to appear to be (a divine prophet protecting the people) rather than what you actually are (the head of a military organization with fingers in politics and heavy religious propaganda

edmund is the champion of kirkwall; the entire point of da2 is that everything is in shades of grey and there are no right answers, and edmund is painted as the most familiar with moral ambiguity and the most forgiving of it

lucy is the grey warden originally through process of elimitation but being dropped in a dying world, told there's a near futile mission to hold back the decay that's eating the continent, and not only facing it whole heartedly but succeeding so well you have time to run off and try to cure it yourself with no backup is EXTREMELY lucy behavior

susan is "sir not appearing in this film (until dragon age 4 comes out)"

all four of them land around the same time. lucy gets wrapped up in the origins plot immediately, and da2 happens mostly simultaneously iirc so so is edmund. peter is biding time doing the qunari mercenary backstory until da:i starts. susan is also biding her time but by clawing her way up the local social hierarchy.

DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS

lucy is a mage with the spirit healer specialization, but based on her canon weapon use i think also has traces of the arcane warrior.

duncan literally finds her by the side of the road and goes "hey kid you wanna fight darkspawn." lucy asks if they're evil and he says yes so she signs up immediately. a simple woman.

she absolutely makes the full party her bisexual polycule. yes even the unromancable ones. i have faith in her.

morrigan: i'm straight lucy: for now.

leliana is her favorite but don't tell anyone.

lucy adores mabari. absolutely nothing in thedas is more narnian than the mabari. when she meets her siblings again they are all going to be so fucking jealous that she has one.

lucy doesn't make alistair king because he seems like he's kind of bad at it and i think she can sniff that out. my sister is of the opinion that lucy would make him king and then marry him bc she knows she would do a good job. i think she only said this because she finds it funny.

however i do think lucy would convince alistair to do the ritual because she sees absolutely nothing wrong with him having sex with a woman he hates who turns into a giant spider sometimes.

lucy, has attended dozens of bacchanalia: who hasn't slept with someone they dislike while under the effects of magic? all her companions: where did you say you were from again?

she does absolutely kill loghain though because a. all the shit he did is deserving of an execution, b. edmund isn't here to stop her, and c. alistair threatens to quit if she doesn't and despite having a mabari he's her emotional support animal

DRAGON AGE 2

i couldn't decide if edmund was a mage or a warrior but i decided it would be funnier if he were both, because it has such hawke energy. you surpress his magic? he has a sword. you disarm him? he has a fireball!

i don't know what warrior specialization i would pick for him, but he's definitely a force mage

i think edmund literally falls out of a portal and saves bethany/carver's life so the hawkes just decide to adopt him. he's theirs now. leandra just full on lies and says he's her son. what the fuck is her brother gonna do about it.

edmund walks into the den of sin and darkness that is kirkwall, sighs, and rolls up his sleeves to get to work. he is going to make this city a better place one back alley brawl at a fucking time. try him.

edmund romances anders because he has "i only date disasters/i can fix him" vibes and i think it's funny for him to be a former sovereign whose boyfriend is a wanted terrorist.

but also the da2 polycule IS real edmund is just not dating everyone at once. he's busy and also i hc him as only into men. imagine what you want though this isn't a real fic.

sorry the image of edmund just pspspspspsps-ing all of his sad, angry, morally grey companions into being friends is so fucking funny to me. local man brainwashed by evil as a child is too full of love and the belief in second chances to say no to a blood mage, guy who is willingly possessed at all times, escaped slave who lives in a mansion full of rotting corpses, a cop, and a romance novelist who keeps stealing your life story.

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION

peter has the qunari mercenary backstory, and is absolutely a warrior build. probably champion build?

also i think he romances cassandra. i considered josephine but that's more a susan romance. if peter were into men that way he'd be all over iron bull and he says as much after a couple drinks.

peter, cornering cullen after their first war meeting: you haven no military experience do you. cullen: please don't tell anyone. i need this job.

he takes one look at solas and goes "oh this guy is not normal. idk what his deal is but this is some kind of oak god at least."

varric doesn't know edmund and peter are siblings until edmund shows up and he is INCREDIBLY offended by it. what do you MEAN i've been calling you hawke for years and it's not even your fucking name. the BETRAYAL.

edmund: my ex-boyfriend blew up the chantry and started the mage/templar war peter: HEY DORIAN, MY HONORABLE GOOD FRIEND WHO IS GAY, HAVE YOU MET MY VERY GAY BROTHER

"well his family owns slaves that's enough of a project for Edmund"

you know the table mission where the warden send you a letter? instead of that i think lucy just turns around and immediately heads back to thedas. THAT'S HER FUCKIN BROTHER!!!!!!!! she shows up after edmund does obviously for maximum "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!!" drama

[scene: all three pevensies are roaring drunk in skyhold and casting members of the inquisition as Narnian creatures] Peter: I think Solas is a centaur. He's wise, respectful, and vaguely condescending. Lucy: [sniggering bc she clocked Solas] I think he's a wolf. Edmund: I think he's a marshwiggle. [Peter and Lucy absolutely lose it]

Lucy, halfway through stumbling back to her room: WAIT. DORIAN IS A PEACOCK. Peter, three floors up: [ugly donkey noise]

DRAGON AGE: VEILGUARD

obviously there's nothing 2 say about this yet

however i will say for certain that if there's a noble human background i'll be giving it to susan

idc that she literally got portal fantasy'd into this world. she's pretty and socially dangerous she wormed her way in there. she's got those diplomatic social climber stats.

she's also a rogue, no question.

[dalishious]

hihi i was wondering how vesta gets along with the other companions??

Morrigan mentioned here.

Alistair and Vesta do not get along. Vesta initially distrusts him because of his past as a templar, though as he reveals he didn't actually want that life and is (for the most part) not like the templars she knows, this lessens. But Alistair's dislike of Morrigan starts to flood into Vesta too, since the two become so close, so fast. Then Vesta agrees to Jowan's ritual sacrifice of Isolde to save Connor, followed by becoming a blood mage herself, and this severely sours their relationship. Alistair is disgusted these choices, but there is a part of him that wonders if maybe he will be able to keep her from becoming an abomination, if he can only lead her away from what he considers a dark path. Because the thing is, Vesta has goodness in her, and that's something he didn't think blood mages were capable of having. Vesta, in turn, finds Alistair's fears annoying, but is too considerate to actually voice it (most of the time). So, they have this really unspoken unease, masked by polite banter.

Vesta enjoys Leliana's company, especially hearing her stories. Leliana finds Vesta to be a curious case; she's so used to being able to read everything about a person, but because Vesta had personhood denied from her so long, there's not much to read about her when they first meet. Like Alistair, she doesn't approve of a lot of the choices Vesta makes, but unlike Alistair, she is far more forgiving of these choices, believing that the good in Vesta outweighs the bad. And also unlike Alistair, she is far more gentle with voicing her opinions, so Vesta is a lot less annoyed.

Zevran and Vesta are best friends. She observes fairly early on that their upbringings had quite a lot in common, the only major difference being she was owned by the Chantry, and he the Crows. So, she sees a kindred spirit in him, someone to vent to, and listen to when he does the same. When Zevran talks about the nasty aspects of his time as an Antivan Crow, he is surprised with how compassionate Vesta remains, rather than either looking down at him. Zevran has always been dismissive of the tragedy he's experienced, but with Vesta, he slowly starts to allow himself to feel grief, especially for Rinna. She also helps him come to terms with having a future he can decide, seeing Vesta confronted with the same question for the first time, just like him. Zevran is one of the few in the party to always support Vesta's decisions, believing she has the right to live her own life. This kind of support means the world to Vesta. To sum it up, they help each other realize they deserve and want to live.

Wynne is a horrible reminder to Vesta of the life she wants to leave behind. She sees Wynne as someone she would have grown up into, had she not been recruited into the Grey Wardens, and that horrifies her. When Wynne tries to offer advice, Vesta usually does the exact opposite of whatever it is she says, and this frustrates Wynne greatly. When Wynne learns that Vesta has become a blood mage not long after joining the party, she is horrified. They fight about it constantly, because Wynne never quits bringing it up. And when Wynne eventually shares that she is hosting a spirit inside her, Vesta laughs in her face and calls her the biggest hypocrite she's ever known. They are bitter and hostile towards each other right to the end, only travelling together because Wynne refuses to see the warden's plight go unaided when she sees herself as a necessary part of stopping it.

Vesta pities Oghren, but every time she questions if there's more to him than she sees, he reminds her of what an inappropriate gross bastard he is.

Sten was not recruited. (Sorry, Sten fans - I usually do recruit him, but I didn't feel like it was in Vesta's character at the point of Lothering to go against the Chantry's wishes yet.)

I haven't really given thought to Shale, yet. It'll emerge when I recruit her, I guess.

[v-arbellanaris]

because im insane, im doing 2 playthroughs at the same time - one for hala de riva (nb qunari mage) and one for roisin thorne (f elven rogue), with marya "mrs solas fen'harel" lavellan and mommy isra trev respectively as inquisitor.

on the one hand, im having Difficulty differentiating rooks in terms of personality. rook is always very expressive and clear and visibly passionate and i feel like there's not a lot of difference between the different emotional options you can go with in responses. i get that rook has to be Nice but the emotional openness for a crow, for example, feels really weird. the consistent honest, gentle vulnerability for a grey warden feels incongruent. you can be kind, you can be good, you can even be nice, in different ways, and that's something im really failing to capture here. rook doesn't feel like a character to me in a lot of ways, and im having difficulty feeling like my character is responding in a way that makes sense for each of their motivations/contexts. i feel like there's maybe not a LOT of replay value here compared to let's say da2 or origins where the PC feels much stronger in terms of personality, and so there's reasons for multiple playthroughs beyond just "i wanna romance someone else this time". a lot of ppl have discussed this already, i think, so what i wanna talk abt instead is...

on the other hand, actually, even the inquisitor feels one dimensional. for both isra and marya, i picked the option where they disbanded the inq and chose to save solas. the only diff is that marya is romancing solas and isra is not - i wanted to see the difference in how that would play out. and idk who this is but it's not marya 😭 like. marya usually picked diplomatic/neutral response options - she was very aware she was a dalish elf with strange magic attached whose real opinions either didn't matter or would be ridiculed. bc of the lack of import options, the inquisitor has a set personality but that personality, quite simply, is NOT marya's in-game personality. and im frustrated bc i feel like it could have been so little to go there, like they could have taken decisions like: did your character choose leliana/josie/cullen most for war table missions (direct import option from the da keep even) or gone back to da2 style diplomatic/sarcastic/emotional/stoic/aggressive personality options or what flavour was the final dialogue chosen in trespasser when they kept disbanded the inquisition (since all the other choices are basically from trespasser anyway) and given us some kind of personality development based on that - like if you chose the angry options, are you more sombre/weary now, etc etc. most of the inq's dialogue fit things isra would say or do very easily but that's because isra WAS that kind of inquisitor, so the mismatch felt very obvious for marya, who is NOT. considering there were BARELY any variations in the inq's personality in the first place, i feel disheartened at the complete flattening of even a HINT of personality in the inquisitor - the inq who barely has any personality in-game as is. like idk! do they care about the inquisitor at all, or is it that they specifically only care about f!lavellan and ONLY in terms of how she can serve/her romantic, possibly redemptive, role in solas' narrative? feeling rly weird about the whole thing but idk how to describe why im uneasy yet

[fen--harel]

mini rant / thoughts

The first time I played dragon age origins was when I was 15 and visiting my dad for the summer. I had found Fenris online and I wanted to play 2 so badly and of course I was gonna start with origins.

I had romanced alistair the first time, and I remember when I first met anora I thought she was soo mean and snooty. and i had gotten so pissed when she had ratted me out to the guards when I told them I was there to save her.

Then at the Landsmeet I thought Caulthrien was insane and I killed her and then did not hesitate killing loghain and i thought riordan was fucking CRAZY for even suggesting that I spare them.

And now im not trying to say that no one has the right to their own opinion or that there's a right or wrong way to play this game and have your choices and feelings.

But I was replaying origins the same way I always do since the third time i had ever played it: romance zevran, marry anora and alistair, and spare loghain.

But I think back to like, angry teenage me who didn't see signs ? That were blatantly there.

Anora TELLS you not to fucking rat her out because she could be killed. So of course when you tell Cauthrien you're there to rescue her she's gonna throw you under the bus. Anora has lead Ferelden with as much duty as her duty-sworn father. She married Cailan and was a good Queen and arguably ran the country herself while giving her husband the spotlight. When you tell her to marry Alistair she doesn't throw a fit or argue because she can see why having a Theirin on the throne would be good for Ferelden.

Alistair (I love him so much) is not King material. He is an emotional person, which isn't wrong to be. Lord knows im a ridiculously emotional person. But being a fellow emotional person I know how hard it is to make choices based on your brain or your heart. Especially as King you HAVE to make sacrifices. I think a good ruler actually SERVES their country and Alistair who is emotional (which is fine) deserves to find his happiness with the Grey Wardens where yes he'll still make sacrifices but not that of a King. And I think it's displayed too when Riordan says that we should spare Loghain because it would be good for the Wardens gets so emotional about it and is like "ill be king if that means he gets to die" Kind of dealio.

(Also another thing I blame on Bioware is that I truly didn't feel Alistair's like- closeness with Duncan. I think it's understandable and should be there but poorly executed where I got so confused like why he was so sad about Duncan in the first place because I didn't really see the bond he and him had. But that could also be a me problem) AND THEN SER CAUTHRIEN OHMYGOD. The way that she begs you for Loghain's life and like, how much he means to her and Ferelden was so sad this time around. And you can tell from her that she also has a huge amount of respect for Loghain. Even Eamon talks about Loghain in a good light.

And I hadn't read Stolen Throne until much later after my first ever playthrough but I think there's so many instances of DA trying to hint at you like - Loghain was a good person. And he is just paranoid about something happening to Ferelden, the country he protected and served all his life. The country he taught his daughter to also protect and serve all her life.

And then it makes me sad to see people not realize that ? And have this like - hatred towards Loghain and Anora. (Although Anora too I think it's just lowkey misogyny but that's...for another time)

But even one of my best friends romances and loves Alistair but even she can see the complexities of Loghain and likes him as well. Of course she still kills him in the end because for Alistair but she likes Loghain.

And I just think about teenage me missing all these signs that Anora isn't awful and neither is Loghain and im like what...and then (It's not really in the height of it now bc the fandom has been sleeping til veilguard p much) I see people who also hate them and im like...why ???

like i said though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I don't like Halsin from BG3 LOL. And he seems like a wonderful character, just not my cup of tea and I can understand why so many people do like him.

just getting my thoughts out

[ayebibs]

I just finished Veilguard. I have so many thoughts. Very raw and unpolished under the cut. I have no one to talk about this with so my dash must suffer. Probably will ramble on more later too.

Tldr; I am highly critical but I had a fun enough time and still love dragon age.

Definitely felt the loss of my world state choices. Especially if this is a soft relaunch and I may never have my characters or thedas mentioned ever again.

Hot take, I don't care for Morrigan that much. She's fine and I like her, but I love Varric more and would much rather have seen other past companions. Someone give me back fenris and merrill. Also, why is Isabela in basically every game. I like her but? I cannot determine the reason. Am I missing lore?

Speaking of Varric, I clocked his death immediately (no one but rook ever spoke to him?) His death felt cheapened by the poorly executed twist for me. Disappointing and annoying to me.

So much good lore (and much of it wasted). Why did everything feel so surface level except in the crossroads? That part of the narrative was so much tighter. So much could have been done with the Titans, in my opinion, and I think so little of that was explored.

Such a satisfying ending, but the rest of the game could be such a slog sometimes? Like, the ending lowkey reminded me of Origins and fighting the darkspawn and archdemon with the help of the people you built relationships with along the way, which was very cool. But I felt like all of those faction relationships were very shallow. Maybe we should have been able to talk to more people (with menus and branching dialogue) in the factions and do more sidequests to feel more attached?

So much marketing about the focus on companions but the romance was less of a focus than it has ever been and I didn't feel connected to, like, anyone except for Davrin and Assan. I didn't feel a single ounce of regret with my choices (I'm sorry, I don't get the hype around Harding... she was fine in inquisition but really didn't stand out to me. She had little depth imo as well...). We barely got to talk to them and learn their history and likes outside of caracitures of who they were. Yes, I get it Neve is a noir detective, Lucas is coffee man and spite is coffee demon, bellara is quirky and autistic coded. And none of those things make well-rounded characters.

Really wished I had romanced anyone but Lucanis because I thought he was bland (sue me) and Zevran doesn't exist for whatever is going on in that revisionist take on the crows. Also, I hate the sleeping together before the final battle trope. So much of that build up and romance should have happened earlier. The romance simply felt new to me and I didn't feel invested at all.

Speaking of revisionist history, how the hell was the enslavement of elves in tevinter barely mentioned? Or racism? I saw an excuse about someone having to write that and like... bffr. You can't just ignore hard topics. That is where the depth and nuance in dragon age comes from (not nuance in slavery mind you, but think fenris' opinion on mages because of his history). As the inquisitor, my lavellan constantly experienced racism and I loved it because I am female minority and have experience with those issues. Working around it or plowing though sometimes was gratifying and fun. I don't people see racism in a video game and automatically think "oh no bioware is racist?" If that's the issue.

Davrin was my favorite companion and i really wished I had romanced him. Might replay as a grey warden man and do that because I think that would be very cool plot wise. I think I also got what I wanted out of his companion quests. Like, they answered what I wanted and had a satisfying ending.

Also, I liked Bellara so much more than I thought I would, especially because I chose her at the very end and she becomes blighted. Her dialogue is very rough though and not appropriate for the tone of this game 97% of the time.

Still cannot get over how bad the dialogue was. Truly egregious. Very anachronistic and took me out of the story nearly every time some characters opened their mouths. The main offender being my Rook who could literally only be nice and very "go team." She sounded like my manager trying to convince me that our job is made of one big, happy family no matter what dialogue I chose. Also, I wanted to throw my controller at my monitor every time Neve said "the job."

Taash's storyline really could have been something great because there were glimmers when I really loved them, but the anachronistic phrases and lack of skill with their storyline really killed it for me. I have a lot of thoughts on this because I really think it was EXTREMELY lazy and showed a real lack of care for either nonbinary rep (which can still happen with own voices) or simply writing for a piece of existing media. I could think of many easy ways to improve it. Some glimmers are even in the game. Like when the spirit addresses Taash as cousin instead of sister? Why not more of this? Also what was with the push ups for misgendering and then immediately being like, oh saying sorry a bunch makes it more for the person who fucked up? Like... the pushups are different?? And definitely don't draw more attention to an insulting or dysphoric moment?

All that aside, I was decently happy as a solalavellan girlie. I can 100% see why people don't like Solas and might have chosen endings that end badly for him, but I feel strongly that he was the best written character in he last two games.

Had a fun enough time. Happy the game finally got made. Ending really saved this from being a 5/10 for me. Would rank around 7/10 rounded up.

Don't think the game needs a dlc, but there is always a part of me that wants to play through rebuilding in the aftermath of a near world ending fight that destroyed everything. Like, take me to Ferelden. Is my husband, the king, okay?

Desperately, desperately hoping that there is another game that is a true return to form to the first three games (yes, even 2 because the characters are so, so well loved) and more like the ending of veilguard. Also that we get a return of world states meaning something. Hate to be that bitch, but genuinely hoping Baldur's Gate raised expectations for story-based, rpg games and Bioware survives to bring back my favorite game series to what I loved so much.

Fingers crossed the next one (is made at all) doesn't take 10 years.

[broodwolf221]

since idk how many blorbos i'm gonna do this for yet, i'm gonna start by just linking to the question post -> here <- and when i'm done i'll link all the posts to that :')

so for now... halcor brosca:

your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor's opinion on Orlais?

indifferent, kinda? he never understood orzammar's high society, he sure doesn't understand orlais'.

are they skilled in The Grand Game?

lmao. hell no.

opinion on blood magic?

initially very wary, then more or less ambivalent. all magic is freaky, but he gets close with morrigan and realizes that she has control over her magic, so his opinion shifts substantially. he's also naturally inclined to question authority/conventional wisdom, so that is an aspect of this

attitude towards Andrastianism?

indifferent. it's a faith. he doesn't get it. some of its practitioners are assholes, some are nice, all of them are people.

attitude towards the Chantry?

early on: indifferent. as time progresses, though, he becomes more wary about it. he's... not Big on controlling sociocultural mechanisms in general.

attitude towards the Qun?

at first, very, very ignorant, with only fanciful stories to give any context. after meeting sten and hearing a bit more about the culture itself, his opinion becomes more grounded and more critical. overall, he's not a fan.

if they had to choose one person most important to them, who would that be?

rica and morrigan are pretty well tied, actually.

who do they hate the most, and do they have an arch-nemesis?

um… hm. he’s not really one for hate? the way he is, being casteless and all, he grew up expecting to get the short end of the stick, and he grew accustomed to that. I think he was very angry for a while growing up, but then that anger began to poison him and he worked - hard! for a long time! - on letting it go. now it’s like… are you going to be angry at the cliff because you fell down it? that’s kinda how he views things now. because of that, people being genuine, trustworthy, and kind freaks him out a bit. he keeps waiting for the betrayal. the point where keeping him in their good graces costs more than it’s worth. it’s part of why he gravitates towards morrigan - her anger and condemnation are open, obvious, transparent. so when it stops being directed at him, he actually trusts that.

that all said… probably leske. because that was a betrayal, a real betrayal, one that cut deep.

what is their love language? 

hm. don’t rly buy into love languages, but he’s pretty open with his feelings. less “i love you” and more “i think you’re glorious” all starry-eyed

are they good horse riders?

ehhhh… it takes a bit to get used to, but he gets there in the end!

what are their religious beliefs, if any?

none. if he prays - usually before a battle and out of desperation - it’s to the stone, although sometimes he casts a wider net “the maker, andraste, elven gods if you’re listening, whoever the qunari worship-” kinda thing

attitude towards Mabari?

okay so they are Big Dogs and he’s not used to dogs and they freaked him out at first!!!! but then he saved that mabari and now he loves them.

their thoughts on the Grey Warden order?

little opinion on it prior to joining; after joining, very “wtf, this is it?” because it should NOT have been just him and alistair for so long

who are they closest to from their family?

rica! 100%

preferred weapon of choice?

two daggers

do they get sentimental about their weapons or armour?

nope, although he appreciates having nice gear and he maintains it very well.

what were they like as a child?

angrier, bitter. tried hard to reach his mother. 

do they have any irrational fears?

falling into the sky is still sorta-kinda there. he prefers forests or mountainous areas; flat areas freak him out

are they afraid of death?

no

where would they like to be buried?

doesn’t think about it. probably doesn’t want to be buried at all though. burned, maybe.

what is their biggest regret?

not being able to help rica more. he feels like he abandoned her to run off with the grey wardens.

have they ever been to Tevinter?

nope

do they have, or want to have, children?

kieran is his son, although he hadn’t ever thought about having children before. he ends up wishing he could be a father to him, but of course morrigan goes her own way and he does not pursue her; he respects her choice, even if he disagrees with it. he thinks about kieran often, though

what languages can they speak?

common

what did they plan for their life to look like before the events of the game happened?

nothing good. surviving until he was killed.

do they get a happy ending?

not… really? he finds happiness, but it’s always fleeting. still, it matters.

[cityandking]

Astrology, Kione, Moon, Quaestor for Lira, Minah, and Dai

thanks!! // ask my oc stuff

Astrology: What astrological sign are they?

LIRA — her birthday is 7 guardian, which means fenrir is her thedas zodiac. I think that makes her an aquarius, but she's more of a capricorn tbh MINAH — her birthday is 24 bloomingtide (may 24) so fervenial is her thedas zodiac, and she's a gemini DAICHI — he's a virgo

Kione: Their thoughts on winter?

LIRA — like any good dog lord, she's proud to weather ferelden's grey, wet, inhospitable winter. however. she wouldn't entirely mind a few more sunny days (that's what she thinks, anyway—when she visits antiva, she melts) MINAH — lovely to look at through a window or enjoy for an afternoon. not pleasant to travel through. fortunately the troupe usually wintered in antiva where it wasn't so bad DAICHI — genuinely enjoys it. unfortunately he's from an extreme wintry mountain biome

Moon: Do they have complicated relationships with anyone? If so who and why?

LIRA — her relationship with fergus gets a little complicated after the events of origins. it's not either of their faults (well, it's probably a little bit lira's fault), it's just that they both had this immense loss and neither was quite able to bridge that emptiness. then there's her relationship with alistair, all the desire and denial and demand and guilt between them, which is just. I mean. yeah. MINAH — her most complicated relationship is with herself, truth be told. she doesn't hold on to anyone else long enough for relationships to get complicated; either things stay simple or the relationship ends. great way to avoid complication: run away DAICHI — yeah, lots of people. currently his father's estranged family, who were really not expecting him to show up in the astral sea with some friends in tow

Quaestor: How are they with authority?

LIRA — good. she was raised into it; she knows how to respond to authority she respects and authority she disrespects and how to wield it herself. the only thing stopping her from running all of ferelden like she was raised to do is her duty to the wardens, which she shackles herself to out of grief and guilt and fear MINAH — it entirely depends on the authority. she's a little flippant but she'll buck up and fall in line when it's someone she respects, like alesso or even the wardens. but the chantry or the law or political authority? fuck that shit she's out. DAICHI — not as good as he used to be. he was raised among it and spent his formative years never questioning it, but then he got yeeted on a journey through the universe and met a bunch of authorities he didn't like and/or weren't doing a good job and got some ideals and opinions of his own. he's more stubborn and combative these days

[curiouslavellan]

Hiya! If you`re still taking asks, how bout betrayal and desire for both Hawkes? c:<

I'm always taking asks lol, ty!

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

Ariel, not so much, because they're slow to trust in general. Exactly how or when someone like Bartrand or Sebastian will eventually turn on them might have been a surprise, but they're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Honestly they're probably more shocked Aveline never did than anything else. If anyone, I'd say Isabela when she ran off with the Tome of Koslun, but that was more like being offended she didn't seem to believe them when they said she could have it. They absolutely did betray Sebastian, because I usually hc that Ariel helped with the Chantry bombing or at the very least knew about it in advance, but they don't feel bad about it. In their opinion, it was foolish of him to trust them in the first place.

Laurel, in contrast, did feel betrayed by the Chantry bombing, she never believed Anders could have taken it that far. I think she also felt betrayed on a more personal level when Fenris left after their first night together, in the sense that she had made herself very vulnerable and then they were just supposed to pretend that never happened. Insert ironic metaphor about Fenris tearing hearts out here. I guess you could consider her becoming a maleficar a betrayal in return, and that would probably count for several other people in the main group, especially Sebastian who is one of her best friends.

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

Ariel wanted children very badly and never said a single thing about it until they ended up with kids by accident. Partially because their life was super dangerous for like ten different reasons, partially because Anders was a Grey Warden and not likely to have biological kids, partially because they didn't even know if Anders would want kids. In Ariel's mind, everything else in their life was a good enough trade off that they could probably get over it. Then they ended up adopting a bunch of kids after the Circles fell because the little apprentices didn't always have somewhere to go, so that worked out better than expected lol

Laurel wants safety and, especially in her early years in Kirkwall, did some really bad things to get that. Laurel sided with the templars for almost half the game because she wanted to be on their good side and to direct any suspicion away from herself. She's... kind of open about this? Definitely about wanting it, but more circumspect about being willing to kill or condemn other mages to the Circles to avoid the same fates herself. She knows she's a hypocrite. It doesn't stop her.

[musamultaaaa]

Opinions on DA:O companions.

Alistair: Helena adores Alistair. Of all those she could have survived Ostagar with, she's glad it was him. She enjoys his gentle heart and his attempts at jokes, defends him when others call him dumb or mock him. Whether she romances him or not, Helena quickly considers Alistair her best friend.

Dog (Bear): How can you not like Dog? She spoils her mabari, named Bear, to death and always makes sure he's presentable! Bear stays with her for his whole life as she travels post-Origins. Though, he was being kept elsewhere in Awakenings.

Leliana: They may not always have the same thoughts and ideas, but Helena appreciates what Leliana brings to the group. Unfortunately, they have very different takes on both religion and fashion as the former-Circle-Mage-turned-Grey-Warden loses what faith she did have in the Maker steadily.

Morrigan: Truthfully, Helena doesn't dislike Morrigan in the slightest. They get along fairly well. Helena doesn't share the witch's 'everyone for themselves' mentality, but she's very good about trying to understand Morrigan's reasonings for all she says and does. The main point of contention, however, is Alistair and how Helena defends him from Morrigan.

Oghren: Helena doesn't dislike Oghren, but she's not particularly fond of him, either. He's crass, crude, drunken... she doesn't like these aspects of him. Still, she's thankful for his help and kind to him, but he's not someone she would ever choose to spend time with.

Shale: Truthfully, Helena doesn't have much of an opinion on Shale. The golem just never particularly swayed her one way or another, bringing an equal balance of good and bad. Lena does take great amusement in Shale's hatred of birds, though.

Sten: Another person Helena has no strong opinion on. The parts she doesn't like about Sten aren't things she blames him for. After all, she would feel wrong to judge him based on cultural differences. She does her best to sway him towards understanding that women and mages are just as good as warrior men.

Wynne: Wynne is mom. Or grandma. Whatever she is, she is someone Helena looks up to. She's someone Helena goes to for advice or when she's upset. Wynne is an important figure in Helena's life.

Zevran: Though Zevran can share some of those crass traits like Oghren, he's smoother about it all, making it easier to stomach. Helena still doesn't appreciate a number of things that come out of Zevran's mouth, but she likes the assassin well enough. Once comfortable, she might even banter with him.

Loghain: Never a companion. In her main verse, she spares him and manages to calm Alistair about it by reaffirming that Loghain has been spared to fix his own problems and that the man will never be a companion of theirs.

[shivunin]

For the character impression ask game: Oghren, and also Alistair 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Have a lovely day!!

Hello and thank you for asking!!

I hope you have a lovely day as well 💗

(Character Ask thing)

Alistair

First impression: I had a vague idea of who he is by the time I played Origins (I played Origins last), but my first impression was something like, "Aww he's just a funny lil guy."

Impression now: I don't think the first impression was inaccurate, but I do think he does a really good job of playing dumb (and I definitely bought it at first). I think it (and the joking) are a defense mechanism that worked well in templar training, so he's carried on doing it. He likes to be underestimated (especially when he does not want to be in charge!) and jokes are only one way he manages others' perceptions of him. It makes me extremely sad to think about how he's been searching for a family all his life, thinks he's found it in the Grey Wardens, and then loses it utterly.

Favorite moment: I really like the conversation that goes with his mother's medallion. Also the eulogy he gives if the HoF dies (I uh...played a Cousland once, they got engaged, and then she died 😬) but it's a really lovely speech.

Idea for a story: I have a loose outline for it, but I have plans for rewriting/writing around the hardening conversation (because I don't think it should happen in just one conversation). I think telling him to stand up for himself shouldn't sound like "get ahold of yourself." Also he and Wen going into the fight with Loghain, which is a scene I've been fiddling with for a while.

Unpopular opinion: If not for Inquisition, I would let him be a Warden. I think he'd be happier. Despite my dislike of Anora, she is a competent ruler. Alistair could absolutely be good at it, too, but I think life with the Wardens would be less isolating.

Favorite relationship: I mean! Wen and Alistair for life. Their friendship means so much to me. But as far as canon dynamics go, I like he and Zev a lot.

Favorite headcanon: I do not believe that Alistair is straight or cis. Not a very detailed headcanon, but there it is.

Oh, also, I like to pretend that he and Fiona get to meet eventually. In my head, that has happened. He deserves to know at least one family member and why their role in his life went down the way it did

Oghren

First impression: Oh cool, dwarf companion! Now I can finally get rid of all this booze I've been carrying for the whole game.

Impression now: Ahh man. Oghren. Could've been such a cool character. Could've supported the themes about being used up and discarded by people in power when you are no longer useful. Unfortunately, the constant sexual harassment is so off-putting that I cannot see past it. I think he's really interesting in theory, but like...his writers were on some nonsense when they put together his dialogue.

Also...the fact that without the gifts in the DLC packs, the only way you can befriend the alcoholic is to give him alcohol...doesn't feel great.

Favorite moment: I think his introduction in the Awakenings DLC is really funny

Idea for a story: Errr well! Wen almost kills him once. On account of the sexual harassment (and the fact that the particular brand of comments he makes really strongly remind her of Vaughan). Also her looming out of the corner of his eye whenever he's running late to visit his kid. He will be a good father or he will pay the price, and that is a threat.

Unpopular opinion: Idk! I think he is definitely a product of his time, so to speak, and the "edgy" tone they were going for accommodated this particular type of toxic masculinity. It's a shame, because I think a frank discussion of addiction and rehabilitation would have been really impactful, but...what can you do?

Favorite relationship: Having just read all of his dialogue with every companion, I am going to have to go with Shale. I think they have some interesting conversations about golems and dwarves.

Favorite headcanon: That he gets clean sometime in the course of Awakening and pulls it together for his family.

[heniareth]

Oooo for npc opinions, how about some Aeducan-Brosca family dynamics?

Does Sulri have any opinions about Rica, and does Khêd have any about Bhelen? And though we never meet him in-game, do either of them have anything to say about their mutual nephew?

Ohohohohohoho, complex family dynamics, count me in!!! 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 Bit of a disclaimer tho, I'm not so solid on Brosca and Aeducan canon and gameplay experiences, as I've never done a gameplay as either other than of their origins. If I got something wrong about the canon, that's why, and I apologize. But I can give a general anwer ^^

So, first, Khêd, because I know more about the guy. Khêd doesn't trust people. Khêd especially doesn't trust rich people. Khêd very so much expecially does not trust Bhelen, not as far as he can throw him (which is far. This scrawny dwarf packs a punch and gravity does the rest for him if he were to throw Bhelen over the ramparts of the diamond quarter). Khêd's heard Sulri's story by the point they hit the diamond quarter I think, and whatever his opinion of Sulri might be at that point, Bhelen's power grab is just... ugh. And this guy's got Rica. Khêd is telling Rica she can leave with him and live a good life if she wants to as soon as he sees her. It's good Khêd trusts his sister to handle her own problems, otherwise Bhelen might be in for a nasty surprise. His attitude towards the Casteless doesn't really help Bhelen; Khêd is neither an optimist nor a forgiving person, and Bhelen's idea to let the Casteless in on "normal" society after they've served a time in the Deep Roads sounds just like a ploy to get a personal army. No thanks. Unkindly fuck off (@Bhelen)

The nephew however is Rica's little boy, as far as Khêd's concerned. He knows a thing or two about shitty family, and it's not this boy's fault who his father is. Khêd's gonna love that little feller like he was his own son, because he does not trust nor want Bhelen to step up and play father. It's a bit difficult to be present in the boy's life, what with being a Grey Warden and all that. But he tries; every leave he gets, he visits Rica, and the offer to leave Orzammar and live at Amaranthine is never taken off the table. Khêd does hope he can at least be to the boy what the stories Rica told him of his father were to him: an example to look up to and a push to do better.

As for Sulri (and here we're veering into maybe headcanon territory as I've never done a playthrough as either Aeducan or Brosca): as she is wont to do, I think she wouldn't have paid much attention to Rica. Sure, Rica would command some respect from her from the first moment on for trying to catch Bhelen and managing it! Some of that is personal pride; it can't have been just any woman who was able to seduce an Aeducan. She does, however, severely underestimate Rica and continues to do so during the Orzammar questline. She's got a lot of prejudices and biases to work through, which is what allowed Bhelen to betray her in the first place. But as the years go by, Sulri has to acknowledge Rica's strength as she not only survives among the noble caste she wasn't born into, but thrives. I think Rica has a good head on her shoulder, and plenty of practice navigating big egos and bigger coin pouches to her advantage, so I really think she'd do very well for herself and her new noble house.

As for her nephew, I don't know how fond Sulri is of children in general XD XD XD XD I can definitely see her running calculations in the back of her mind for when that kid is going to be a threat, only to then remember that she is no longer heir to house Aeducan. Old habits die hard. But I think the kid will grow on her as he... grows XD XD XD They never have as much of a relationship as he does with Khêd, but she makes absolutely sure this kid doesn't fall prey to any sort of power machinations like she did. He is her nephew, after all.

Thanks for the ask!!!This was a fun bit to think about, and I love these kinds of asks bc I get to develope both characters and take them for a spin through my brain. Fun times XD XD XD XD Hope you're having a lovely day!!