#the companions in are not my favs as I am through and through a da2 Stan but it’s funny sometimes to watch the fights

[coolbeanstrees]

I love making the most out of pocket party combos. I live for the drama. My current one in my DAI play through as a male mage Lavellan romancing Dorian, is Dorian, Blackwall and Cole.

It’s just me and Cole watching Blackwall and Dorian fight and bicker, as we cross the exalted marches. I headcannon that Dorian asks for Blackwall to be in the party because he simply loves the drama.

My other go to if I’ve run out of party banter is Cassandra, Varric and Vivienne. Dramatic little fuckers.

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @ciellajess  |  AO3: CiellaJess

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Interview with CiellaJess

CiellaJess and Dema talk Good Clean Solavellan Fun, favorite romances, and Veilguard plans

Dema: You're my first artist interview, and I am excited to talk shop. What inspires you to make art of Dragon Age?

CiellaJess: I just love the world and the characters. It's one of those things that just gets in my head and I can't let go of it. Every now and then I pull out a game, and get sucked back in all over again.

Dema: When you first played, did you start making DA art right away? Or did it percolate for a while?

CiellaJess: So I started DAO and DA2 multiple times back when they came out. I'm a giant RPG nerd and have a lifelong dragon obsession, but for some reason they didn't grab me and I always moved on to something else. But for some reason, when I tried Inquisition, it was just the right time or place I guess and I was hooked. I started art for that right away. Then I went back and plowed through the other games, no problem. I still mostly do Inquisition art, but I also love drawing my Warden too. Plus all the great companions.

Dema: Would you say you're primarily a character-artist?

CiellaJess: Completely. I wish I were better at landscapes and architecture, the ones in the game are fantastic, but it's never been my strong suit.

Dema: Mmmm yes. I deeply feel that, lol. The eternal struggle 😅What was your first piece of Inquisition art?

CiellaJess: A little two panel comic. I'd just beaten Vinsomer, shortly after the breakup scene with Solas. Dorian and Bull had gone down and it was just my Rogue Inquisitor and Solas managed to eke out a win. I had this little vision in my head of them happy and triumphant and looking at each other. The remembering that they were broken up. I had planned a whole comic, but only got around to the two panels. Them ecstatic and them remembering.

Dema: OOF

CiellaJess: Still probably the formative story for my whole Solavellan romance 😂

Dema: Solavellans sure know how to have fun! I'm trying to think how many times Solas has broken up with my characters....

CiellaJess: It's fun to have your heart broken over and over again, right??

Dema: Like, here I am again, crying into my popcorn. Do you have more than one OC for Inquisition, or are you fully devoted to the Saddest Elf?

CiellaJess: I've started a bunch. I keep trying to do an 'evil' playthrough, with a Trevelyan warrior that wanted to be a Templar. He even features in a fic I'm working on. But usually, some time after I get to Skyhold, I always  wanna go back to my Lavellan. I'm definitely a lil polyamorous when it comes to DA, but I have my favs for sure.

Dema: What are your top 5 romances?

CiellaJess: Solas, Zevran, Alistair, Isabela, Fenris. And Adoribull for bonus points. I've also been playing with the idea of [REDACTED], which is why I'm excited for the fic I got 😁

Dema: I am gunna redact that, but YEAH!!!!! I am excited for you! Related to collaboration: have you done a Big Bang before?

CiellaJess: Nope, this is my first one!

Dema: Welcome! What made you decide to join?

CiellaJess: I've done a few DA fic exchanges and they're always a blast. With DAV coming out, I was on the lookout for something like that. This seemed perfect!

Dema: We have gotten so lucky with the timing. Are you watching all the DAV news closely or are you enforcing some boundaries, haha? I'm personally vacillating back and forth between not wanting to see anything and going absolutely batshit over the tiniest crumb of a detail.

CiellaJess: Constant vigilance! 

Dema: Hahaha! What part has you most excited?

CiellaJess: I love the factions. Especially since it seems like they'll actually be addressed by the companions. Trying to figure out which I'm gonna try first has been hard.

Dema: Are you feeling equally split between them or are you between two or 3?

CiellaJess: Right now I'm leaning towards Shadow Dragons. My initial thought was Veil Jumper, but I tend to do elven rogue, and that felt like doing another version of Bellara. Then I read an interview that mentioned that Solas sees himself in Rook, and now I think that a former elven  slave that's working with the Shadow Dragons to try and rebel against Tevinter felt very much like young Solas. I'm really feeling that dynamic. Of course, that could all go out the window as soon as I get my hands on the game.

Dema: Haha, yeah, but it is so fun to think about!

CiellaJess: Definitely!! And I don't wanna miss out on the others either. Helpfully, my husband will probably go Mortalitassi, so I can watch him play that 😂

Dema: Brilliant strategy. Divide and Conquer. Thank you so much for your time today, it has been great interviewing you! I am excited to see your piece in a few months!CiellaJess: Yay! I'm so excited! Good luck with the rest of them!

[empresstress13]

Dragon Age Questions

I was tagged by the wonderful @dirthara-mama ! 

01) Favourite game of the series?

So, as @wardsarefunctioning, I am terrible at answering “favourite” questions. XD In all honesty, I really don’t have a favourite though. I think all 3 games have different strengths and weaknesses, but I enjoy playing them all. 

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

My close friend had been telling me about it for awhile, and then while I was staying over at her house after a party she had me play a bit of DAO on her console. Now, something you have to understand: I am pretty shit at playing on consoles. I enjoy it, but I’m terrible at it. I adored the game either way. As soon as I got home I bought it for my PC.

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

I’ve played DAO about 7 times (not including the 100+ hours I LOST), DA2 4 times in full and have a couple partial runs, and DAI 6 full runes and several partial as well. . . 

04) Favourite race to play as?

I’ve already mentioned my favourite issue y’all. I do have a huge soft spot for elves. . . but I seriously love all my OC children. 

05) Favourite class?

I lean towards rogue or mage usually, but it depends on my mood! Sometimes you just really want to swing a giant two-handed weapon, you know? 

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

Some things I’ve done differently, but other things I’ve done very similarly each time. There are certain choices I always make, and in general I can’t do true “jerk” runs. .  .because I start feeling horrible 5 minutes in. XD That’s not to say that I never say any of the disagreeable options. . . just not often, and usually nothing really mean? I do romance different characters though, and there are choices and options that change depending on who I’m playing. I do try and stick to a bit of character-driven rp? Which is interesting, because sometimes even if I arrive at the “same” choice for two characters, their reasoning would be worlds apart? Or alternatively sometimes they’ll have similar feelings on an issue, but their “solutions” differ. 

07) Go-to adventuring group?

I try to change it up pretty regularly? I’m not sure if I have a consistent group.

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

I have something like 20 DA OCs (I have a problem. I know.). . . .but there are some that are more developed than others for sure. I’d say that the ones that I know the best in my head are: Nehnara Surana, Kyria Cousland, Beatrix Tabris, Elraen Mahariel, Evangeline Hawke, Mirabel Hawke, Svetlana Cadash, Adhlea Lavellan, Revasulahn Lavellan, Lilith Trevelyan, Esther Trevlyan, and Innanis Adaar. 

09) Favourite romance?

hmmm. . . . so this is difficult because I could take this as “the one that makes me the happiest” or “the one that I find most intriguing”. . .which are somewhat different. In DAO I really loved both Leliana and Zevran’s romances. I loved Fenris, Merrill, and Isabela in DA2. My favs in DAI were Solas and Josie. Merrill is hands down my absolute favorite romanceable character; I absolutely adore her. However. . .the Solas romance is probably the one that’s taken up the most of my thoughts/ fan discussion. Probably because it’s such a frustrating romance. XD (My former girlfriend said it was because I have a voice kink, like intelligence, and am emotionally masochistic. . . which I won’t comment on. Instead I’ll think of Merrill and happy things.)  

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

I’ve read some of them, but I’ve been horrible about order! 

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

Oof. . .  .there’s a lot of things in Masked Empire that I find hugely frustrating. . . but it also has Felassan. I adore Felassan. I wish I could have had more Felassan in my life. So. There is that.

12) Favourite DLCs?

Oof. . . .hmmm, I really enjoyed Return to Ostagar? Is that weird? And the one with the castle in DAO. I don’t remember the name right now. I have lots of feelings about Trespasser of course, and Jaws of Hakkon is another one I really liked.

13) Things that annoy you.

It’s hard for me to separate “things that annoy me and could be different” and “things that annoy me but are limitations of the medium”? Like. . . I always want more choices, but they really can only offer a limited number of possibilities in a video game? Specifically speaking about dialogue choices: I wish that there were more options to disagree with characters without being a complete asshole to them? There are plenty of times were you can, but that’s what has stuck out the most to me when I’m like “I really want to say something else here” is usually when I’m being forced between “agree” or “disagree in the nastiest way possible” (and “no comment”). Those times are probably less than I’m thinking but they always stick out to me? 

There are things within the lore that are odd to me, and I probably choice to ignore or skate around. 

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

FERELDEN (for the dogs if nothing else) 

15) Templars or mages?

Mages (and Delrin Barris. He can stay.)

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

They are mostly in the same universe. . . and mostly still alive. Or that’s at least true for my wardens and my inquisitors. I have a “canon” setup for DAO more or less (Nehnara Surana is my main HoF, but Beatrix Tabris, Syndis Brosca, and Elraen Mahariel all are alive and important to varying degrees. Kyria Coulsand died during the sacking of Highever :( . . .and Alyn Amell is . . .probably alive and in the Tower?). I’m not decided on my “canon” Hawke. 

I’m also not decided on my “canon” inquisitor, but I know that a lot of them are all around. My Trevelyan family is very, very large. . . 

I also have some non-player character OCs that I don’t talk about as much but know things about? 

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

Uuuuhh. . . I have too many. XD The first time I played DAO, I named the mabari Huan, because I’m a huge nerd. 

Nehnara named her mabari after her late father, and Beatrix named hers Blossom. 

18) Have you installed any mods?

I did for DAI with a lot of help from @thema-sal-shiral, but it was difficult as all hell for me and I’m scared to mess with it at all. Ever again. 

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

Nehnara greatly preferred it to the alternative. 

20) Hawke’s personality?

Mirabel- Purple-ish; Evangeline - Blue-ish ; Kelda - a hot mess ; Leah - Red/Purple

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

No?

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

Uhhhh. . . .someone asked something similar for Nehnara Surana recently and here was my issue for answering for her: she’s really, really, super suspicious about this as an offer. There are things she want to change in the depths of her heart, but who is offering? Why? What do they get out of it? Are there consequences? There are always consequences or a price of some sort. . . 

Lilith Trevelyan. . . would really like to find a way to save her two best friends from her days as an apprentice. 

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

Yup! Look above to see my weird warden mess. I also tend to ignore certain parts of lore so. . . .

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

A lot of my characters are based on parts of different people I know or have seen in real life, but not in full? 

25) Who did you leave in the Fade?

I haven’t always left the same person. .  .but it is usually Stroud. DX I’m sorry. 

26) Favourite mount?

. . . .I have the perverse urge to say Bog Unicorn. Because I can.  

tagging: @ellstersmash , @katalyna-rose , @lycheejellytea , @saphyremelodies , @thevikingwoman , @bearly-tolerable , @solverne-02 , @nordxz , @befooled , @elevanetheirin , @wardsarefunctioning

As always:  Feel free to ignore! Only do this if you have the time and/or inclination.♥ Love y’all!

[sothe]

Ok it’s 1:34 am but I just finished the Trespasser DLC for Dragon Age Inquisition and now that I’m DONE DONE with the game I wanna share my final thoughts...

So my main party was Blackwall, Dorian, and Vivienne for the longest time until I switched Blackwall out for Iron Bull maybe 2/3 of the way through the main storyline. I like those four companions the best. I don’t particularly hate any of the companions...Sera was super annoying but I don’t hate her. 

Since this ‘final’ run was actually my second full playthrough I was spoiled during the time between the two playthroughs that a certain party member was a traitor to the Inquisition, so during my second playthrough I held some animosity towards them until the end of Trespasser. While I still don’t love them as a character the DLC made them MUCH more interesting to me. 

Speaking of animosity, why the hell is there such a divide on who likes Vivienne and who hates her guts??? I found her and Dorian to be my absolute fav characters of this game. Their connections and political know-how were super interesting?? Vivienne wasn’t always the nicest person but she was super goal oriented and during my second run I was trying my HARDEST to make her Divine. In the end I’m glad she didn’t end up as the Divine, her epilogue of breaking from the Mage College or whatever to form a new Circle is so much better for her imo. She was always talking about change and cleaning up messes so for her to just make her own Circle and try her ideology out is really cool for her. Leliana turned out to be a better Divine than I thought and her ties to the Inquisition make my decision to follow her to try and convince the traitor to not follow through with their plans a lot easier. I got a little off track with this paragraph but what I’m trying to say is VIVIENNE IS A GOOD CHARACTER YOU’RE JUST TOO JUDGMENTAL. Like Sera annoys the shit out of me but I can recognize her as an interesting character, I really don’t understand the divide on Viv. 

I married Dorian during both runs I couldn’t help it. He’s amazing. I love the epilogue implications that we call each other and the Inquisitor comes to Tevinter to ‘secretly’ help Dorian reform his corrupt nation. As a nitpick though, if Dorian returns in DA4.........I hope they don’t keep the long hair he had in the epilogue....I’m not a fan. I liked his short hair. As a romance option, his route was really cool although a litttlllee cliche at some parts. But the message was something any LGBT+ person could identify with and I appreciated they way they treated the issues. I loved his intereactions with Viv. I sensed a friendship that I hope they expand on in DA4 since they very heavily implied a journey to Tevinter.

I’ve been talking a lot about my favorite characters lmao, but as for gameplay I was a Rouge. The rouge options were Sera, Varric, and Cole and tbh I don’t particularly love any of them. And dual blades are sick so my Inquisitor had to be cool. Although I did a LOT of damage, I died a lot. I think that’s just part of the class, high dmg and low defenses. Dorian and Viv BOTH had the revive spells just for my dead ass lol. 

My favorite areas in the game have to be The Exalted Plains, Crestwood, The Emerald Graves, Frostback Basin, and the Elven towers in the Trespasser DLC. My favorite specific area was that place in the veryyy back of the Hinterlands called the Grand Forest Villa. I loved the lore for that place. A married man built a huge Villa for his secret gay lover and his wife was cool with it?? lmao I’m a sucker for anything gay, feel bad for the wife though she was prob married to him through connections more than love. That’s the feeling I got. 

The DLC was imo better than the main story. The main story had it highs like the attack and relocation of your army to Skyhold.  My favorite chapter was the political one where you have to investigate stuff while maintaining approval with the dignitaries and Empress. 

I hope DA4 is good. I finally understand what “The Dread Wolf rises” means now lol. And the Inquisitor basically said that in order to take down the Dread Wolf they’re gonna need to scrap the whole companion party and find new ones since they’ve all been compromised by working directly with the traitor for so long. That will be interesting. I hope the companions make cameos in the next game, but since I think the only DA2 character that wasn’t directly in the plot of this game to make a cameo was Hawke, I doubt it. Dorian seems the most likely since Tevinter is heavily implied to be a location in the next game. I’m super excited for the next game. I’ve heard about the writers leaving Bioware, but I’m still slightly optimistic they can pull it together..........but who knows.......

[worthyfate]

// Dragon Age Questions

Tagged by: @dalathin Tagging: idk man come take it

01) Favourite game of the series? i am ATTACHED to da2, but dai has jumping and man i love that so much

02) How did you discover Dragon Age? uh.... no idea honestly. i think i bought my ps3 and then just grabbed a handful of games, and dao was one, and then i just. i was hooked. 

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

dai way more than i should, but i’ve only finished dao twice, da2 once, and dai like. several (ive been on a dai finish quest for alllll endings)

04) Favourite race to play as? 

elves because... elves.

05) Favorited class? it was mages at the v beginning but dual wielding rogues? my new fav

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time? i generally make the same choices, but sometimes i just go ‘fuck it’ to see what happens -- one of my most recent playthrus, my inquisitior was a dick. i mean i loved her, but she was truly a horrible person

07) Go-to adventuring group? mmm in dao it was alistair, wynne, zevran usually. in da2 it was typically fenris, anders, isabela. dai usually sees me with dorian, bull, and then the third one changes based on 1) who i’m romancing 2)what my class is and 3) who has the best weapons at the moment

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

definitely teren by far. he’s my baby and i feel everything he does on such a strong level. but ellie is now beginning to get the same amount of effort

09) Favourite romance? 

you can pull the dorian romance from my cold dead hands thanks. THAT BEING SAID i also adore encouraging bull/dorian, and if that means i need to romance someone else, then fine. cullen, too, is precious. i’m quite fond of zevran and anders’ romances. (i love fenris as a romance, but i feel like idk... there’s just more thought and angst in anders)

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

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

i should get on this, honestly

12) Favourite DLCs? trespasser is gold, but i ADORE jaws of hakkon. ameridan’s story is just. i love it. admittedly i haven’t actually... complete most of the dlcs for dao or da2

13) Things that annoy you. i mean nothing comes to mind? i guess the sort of inherent sympathy for mages? like the game kinda pushes you to that, and the templar route in dai is so fascinating and kind of? more developed? than the mages? but everyone chooses mages because, well, mages.

14) Orlais or Ferelden? ferelden on like.. principle, but orlais is hilarious.

15) Templars or mages? i always end up choosing the mages just because i feel like thats what the game wants, but i also really love the templars in dai

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one? well my player characters are generally in their own verses, but game canons are generally all lumped together. mostly its based individually though

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc) i only ever named my dog in dao, and that was rune. i think i named the one in da2 something similar. i don’t.... name things.

18) Have you installed any mods? 

i only JUST got into modding and well. that’s why i don’t do anything else anymore

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

aedan didn’t, aliana hadn’t considered it but was pretty happy about it

20) Hawke’s personality? sort of a sarcastic dick, honestly.

21) Did you make matching armour for your companions in Inquisition? not for all companions, but my quizzie and their LI always have matching armor (and if its bull/dorian, i give it to them too).

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change? teren would never go to the conclave, ellie wouldn’t have had her vallaslin removed, aedan would have tried harder to train, ali wouldn’t have changed much, warren probably would have tried harder to get along with carver. then there’s all the canon shit for the game canons

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon? idk how much of what my hcs are are for or against canon. my main thing is that fenris is not from seheron or whatever. also teren’s mark began acting up at least a month before the council, but he hid it from people. morrigan is not straight, but that’s mostly just for samarha. and also hawke isn’t just a mage. he’s actually more a rogue than anything.

24) Who did you leave in the Fade? 

i typically leave stroud where its an option. teren left loghain, and ellie leaves alistair because... i mean mostly because she didnt want to see varric sad. ive left hawke a few times though

25) Favourite mount?

i’m really fond of the frost elk