#yes i'm roasting anders' writing in-between the lines

[fangsandfeels]

Oct 11 - Favorite Awakenings scene/dialogue

All dialogues with Justice and Sigrun are my favorite as they reveal entirely new worlds and philosophies.

Justice shows the part of the Fade that few non-magi actually know: that it's not just a place of demons and horrors. It's also a place of spirits, who are genuinely sympathetic and curious, and kind. They reach out to mortals in their most horrible moments (Cole, Wynn), when these mortals are completely and utterly alone - and they stay with them. Or they will fight for the doomed and trapped souls because they can't stand seeing their pain and let them be hurt any longer. It's incredible, how powerful and yet, how innocent they are.

(this is also why I have always hated that "Justice becoming Vengeance = bad" in Dragon Age II. It's not that I'm opposed to the idea of spirits becoming more aggressive and getting corrupted by the influence of the mortal world, but making vengeance the scapegoat yet again and demonizing it. I feel like Justice becoming Judgement would be more fitting.)

Sigrun's story and interactions with the world show the perspective of a Legion of the Dead fighter. And, I sympathize with Legion of the Dead immensely. They're basically Grey Wardens, minus the darkspawn blood transformation and heroic aura around the name, but equally doomed - and they know it. What makes things even more tragic is that their work is necessary -- they are the ones standing between darkspawn, but also Orzammar and the rest of the world that couldn't give a shit unless a new Archdemon is awoken. However, at the same time, people like Sigrun end up being Legionnaires because their own homeplace wants nothing to do with them. It doesn't give them a chance because they were born castless, it punished them for getting forcefully drugged into crime or resorting to crime to feed themselves, and then it offered them ways to die - either by execution or joining the Legion of the Dead. Given that the Darkspawn are the main threat for Orzammar, Orzammar is shooting itself in the knee with that approach.

And, yes, Bernadette absolutely kept coming up with very important tasks for Sigrun, delaying her long walks over and over. And Sigrun amasses an ample collection of surface world trinkets, from books to plants to toy figurines - sometimes she jokes about Bernadette inheriting her collection once she is gone. Bernadette doesn't think it's funny, but plays along.

(Also Bernadette would have never told Anders to give up Sir Pounce-a-Lot. Are you fucking kidding me? Having a pet doesn't make you too soft, it keeps you sane - Bernadette would know she gave him the cat in the first place and in this essay I-)