#the FUCKING DEEP ROADS

[seaglassmelody]

I managed to avoid it for so long but now I'm afraid I have no choice

I have to return...to Orzammar.

[telumendils]

you wouldn't last a day in the asylum where they raised me

[butchvamp]

other people have already said it but it’s really soooo lame how Flat elgar’nan and ghilan’nain are. especially when you compare them to solas and mythal. elgar’nan was literally mythal’s husband, they had children together, surely he wasn’t just pure evil the entire time? why don’t we get to see any of their regrets in the literal regret prison that was originally intended for them? (because theyre just evil, of course!) why couldn’t what happened with the titans have been an unintended tragedy born from them just desiring bodies, unknowing that it would hurt and anger the titans, with those consequences spiraling into a brutal and bloody war between them… and then we could have actually seen more of what happened during this war, the impact it had on the titans and dwarves, and the desperation to end it that led to the death of the titans and solas’s regret and the eventual twisting of the evanuris into godhood… but nah. they’re just pure evil.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

OH MY GOD

OH MY GOD AFTER AROUND SEVEN YEARS

I FINALLY UNDERSTOOD

I FINALLY UNDERSTOOD THE "WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD" JOKE

[gravedigg]

He looked so cute when I was playing earlier I had to paint him <3

[fedoraspooky]

Holy shit you guys

So we were on the way home from an escape room when we suddenly hit a bad storm. All at once we started getting emergency alerts on our phones: "TORNADO WARNING: SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY."

We were on a twisty rural road with nowhere to pull off, and thats when the hail started hitting. It was raining so hard we couldn't even see out the windows.

A long trip of navigating rain, hail, dangerously high winds, fallen trees and downed powerlines later, we made it back to mom's house. A tree had fallen and blocked the front door, miraculously no windows are broken.

We're without power and water, but thankfully we're all safe. I'll probably have to turn my phone off to conserve battery in case of emergencies, but with any luck the power lines will be fixed tomorrow.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

You ever think about how in spite of knowing their exact locations, the game never gives any indication that templar Carver has reported his mage sibling, Merril (a blood mage) or Anders (an abomination) to his superiors?

I do think about that a lot, even though I tend to ignore the Templar Carver route because I know Warden Carver to be true in my heart and soul... but I totally get the appeal of Templar Carver within DA2's narrative, y'know?

It's so fascinating, really. I've never played a run with Templar Carver, I just can't bring myself to do it, so I know I'm missing out on smaller details of it. From what I do know, this drives me crazy in the best way possible.

Deciding whether to bring him or not to the Deep Roads is such an important choice, not only because it affects his fate, but how it affects his relationship to Hawke. He tells you that he wants to go, he makes it very clear that it's important to him that he goes, too... and Hawke can just leave him behind and it hurts him. I don't think that registers enough with some people just because of how Carver is, like it doesn't matter what Hawke's motivations are [staying behind for his safety, not wanting to bring him, thinking someone should stay with Leandra, etc] it still hurts him because it tells him that Hawke doesn't need him, and Carver wants to be needed.

And yes, there are other contributing factors to why he joins the templars, but it doesn't matter what your relationship is to him, it doesn't change the fact that he doesn't turn Hawke or his companions in.

Sure, the meta reason is it's a video game and you're playing the main character. You're never in any actual danger of being captured by templars, and you're not going to lose your companions to them that easy.

But if we look at it through the narrative and Carver's character, that's when it gets interesting. You can max out his rivalry and be an utter asshole to him [there's a point where you can call him a brat and mock him for being stuck in your shadow, like Hawke can be real cruel about it] but it doesn't matter, you're still his sibling. He even makes a remark about how you might not know what that means [referring to leaving him behind] but he does. He refuses to kill Hawke in the end when Meredith makes the order, too.

Which can I just point out that Hawke has the option to let Bethany die in the end if she's with the circle and they side with the templars? Just saying, Carver NEVER does that no matter what, but Hawke has the option to betray Bethany like that and it's fucked and interesting and it makes me want to eat my chair-

As for Merrill and Anders, I think he knows that if he turns either of them in, then the chances of Hawke being brought in as well skyrocket. They're all friends, they're in the same group... bring one in, and you'll probably get the other two.

I also think Carver just genuinely likes Merrill. Yes, I'm a Carver/Merrill shipper, so I have a bias, but even if you remove anything romantic from their dynamic I believe that's true. Of all the companions, Merrill is the only one who doesn't make fun of him, or find him annoying, in party banters. He never snaps back at her, like he's never defensive with her, he's just a little awkward and nice.

Like, HE'S SO NICE TO HER! He tries to find common ground with her! She asks him about "swording" and he's taken aback by her saying he's good at it, but you KNOW that if someone like Anders asked him the same question, he's be all, "shut up, you're stupid, stop talking to me >:["

Think back to that banter Carver can have with Aveline post-act 1 where they're talking about how the guard wasn't the right place for him [hard disagree with you there, Aveline] and Carver says he was a bit of a tit, wasn't he.... and every companion will agree except Merrill. She doesn't say anything, whereas other companions like Anders will be like "ugh maker YES" and if you have a purple Hawke, they'll go on to other ways Carver was a tit like?? I think Carver and Merrill got along and he doesn't want to turn her in because she was nice to him! And she's a blood mage! He knows what will happen to her if the templars get ahold of her! He doesn't want to see her made tranquil or killed!

At that point, he's witnessed what bad blood mages can do, assuming you've brought him along for those quests, but even so. He knows Merrill isn't like that and he likes her, so of course he's not going to turn her in despite that being his literal duty.

Then there's Anders who Carver doesn't like. If you're in a romance with him, Carver will tell him that's why he doesn't turn him in but c'mon Carver, you know that's not the only reason. My theory is Carver may not like Anders and he knows the man's got a spirit of justice inside of him... but Anders also runs a free clinic. If he's ever taken in by templars, then so many people [including a LOT of Fereldan refugees] will be without free health care and will suffer for it. I think in Carver's eyes, Anders might be irritating but he doesn't more good than harm. Carver knows first hand how shitty refugees and poorer people are treated in Kirkwall. Anders' clinic is the one place they can go for help and actually get it, and he's not going to be the one to take that away because the templars say "magic bad."

So yeah, I'm not as informed about the Templar Carver route, but I do think about how if I did do that route, he wouldn't betray Hawke or their companions no matter what and what that says about him.

[attractthecrows]

kicking my feet like a schoolgirl. wouldn't it be fucked up if the Architect found the HoF when they went to the deep roads on their Calling. wouldn't it be fucked up if they fought their way as deep as they could go until they're too blighted and injured to go on and the Architect picked them up on the verge of death and kept them alive and experimented on them with darkspawn & archdemon & his own blood until they're corrupted and immortal like him

[vigilskeep]

why does everyone in the stolen throne and the calling have sex in the deep roads. that’s so nasty

[saetoru]

my confession is that irl if rich boy gojo in a college au existed i think i would genuinely hate him right off the bat enough to never give him a chance

[pisswizard420]

[lavellane]

i dont like the idea of everything being linked to the fade or the elves and mages etc etc and i think ive said that several times atp. but yknow what i DO want linked to everything? the deep roads actually. and im being serious abt that

[a-gay-bloodmage]

Just experienced the most incredible moment in Dragon Age Origins

I was in the temple of the Urn of Sacred Ashes doing the god forsaken floating tile puzzle, and when I clicked on Alistair, he just went my love?

And while a simpler man may acknowledge this as a glitch, I, for one, elect to fully embrace this as canon

Orest, in the middle of a floating, magical bridge, just calling out to Alistair to ask him to move to the next spot, and Alistair responding with my love? and Orest's jaw just dropping as he tries to fight laughter and responding next tile, my love?

Alistair realizing what he said and the inside of his helmet starting to heat to a hundred degrees while Orest just keels over laughing, Alistair threatening to mess up the puzzle and let him drop, all while Leliana and Wynne look on, half in amusement and half in horror at the fact that this is happening in the Temple of the Urn of Sacred Ashes.

[silverhalla]

people are always hating on the hinterlands but I am here with a hot take: the storm coast sucks SO much worse

[mermermaid]

absolutely crazy how i finished dao, and yes, there's so much heartbreak and tragedy, especially near the endgame. but since then!!! i cannot stop thinking about this guy!!!!

when you get to the fade portion of the circle, you meet this man. he doesn't accompany you, but he tells you about the fade, sloth demon, and how he and some other mages tried to fight against the blood mages, but was put into the fade instead. you notice how hopeless and pessimistic he was, and rightfully so, because the sloth demon was using his life to power its realm. so your warden starts going through the fade, getting the different forms, and you can show him your progress. and, maybe it's just me, but every time i check on him, he seems much more hopeful than before. and don't get me started on how the warden themselves feels. it would probably be one of the first times they were fighting all alone without their usual companions and against so many enemies, and to have another lost soul in the fade with you as you journey through it just.. makes it so much more... tender?

niall: "you're... so much braver than i am. i was so sure it was impossible to get anywhere..."

at the end of the quest, after you defeat the sloth demon, you talk to niall again. but this time he says you need to find the litany on his body, and explains that he's dying and can't return to you. andddd what the fuck that shit made me cry actual tears ahaha. you are hearing this dying man's last words and thoughts. he's dying and all he can think about are his regrets and his mistakes of not saving the circle. but, he did! through the warden! by guiding them through the fade and being their only company in this very strange and twisted place.

and there's this one dialogue tree that really pulled on those feelings:

niall: i'm not... a hero. perhaps trying to be one was foolish. warden: ordinary people can do great things when they have to. niall: dark times, greater acts of heroism, eh? you may be right. before i was taken to the circle, my mother said i was meant for greatness, that i would be more than my ancestors could have ever dreamed. i hope i haven't disappointed her. niall really just tears me up inside. he was such a small character in the grand scheme of things. people will speak and remember the warden-- the hero of ferelden and how they stopped the fifth blight. but will they think of niall? that side character in the circle quest? your sole companion in the fade? will they think of the ordinary people who stepped up during those dark times and may not live to see peace?

maybe they won't, maybe they will. but, at least, i hope the warden will.