#i only have 1 worldstate for everything

[ryn-city]

I've been brainstorming my Rook for nearly a decade and was really set on playing her as a lesbian but everything were learning about Lucanis.... is. testing me..

[postcardsfromheapside]

Okay. Listen. I'm only going to engage with this in good faith once.

Veilguard was never going to be like BG3.

BG3 is a great game for what it is, but no DA game allows you to pick the evil ending, thus there is no reason to allow you to get rid of companions in VG like in BG3 or in previous DA games.

In prior games, you may have been able to eliminate other companions from your team, or not recruit them altogether, because they were not crucial to the overall goal, and all you would miss is story/lore. Nothing breaks in the story/game if those companions leave/are killed/don't get recruited, it merely pivots.

This is completely different in Veilguard, where Varric has taken knowledge and insight and started to develop a specific strike team to take down Solas.

Hold my hand.

There is not a world where the Veil comes down and things "continue". I know a lot of Solas fans think there is...but there isn't. A robust explanation of why the Veil should NOT come down can be found here.

If the Veil comes down, everything ends. Ignoring the real world happenings at EA, if your end worldstate in VG is "world drowned in demons," there's nothing to move on to. No reason to play another DA game, were we to ever have another. Your world state is "game over."

Rook therefore *must* be the cooperative kind of person who is ultimately working toward keeping the Veil up, whatever the cost. It would really help a LOT of you to stop thinking about Rook as a "hero", and start thinking of them more as a project manager.

Remember, Varric already had the goal of "stop Solas" and specifically recruited Rook because they had qualities best suited to help with that, and Rook agreed because "world drowned in demons" is bad. So when Rook inherits the management position from Varric, they come pre-loaded with 1) a goal, and 2) the mindset to get it the fuck done (because there really is no other option, it's succeed or die, a fact mentioned more than once in dialogue with NPC's).

What Rook builds by bringing on team members is a strike force in order to achieve this goal. And here's my point: if you do not have these necessary companions, you do not make it to end game. The way the story is set up, removing any of the companions before Tearstone Island effectively sets the team up to fail horribly. The story doesn't move forward. The world is blighted. End series. Rook is highly motivated to be cooperative with these companions and their factions.

This is why it's a poor excuse to say that it would "add narrative tension" if Rook were able to be mean to their companions and risk losing them. Nothing is added narratively by a companion leaving. If they leave, at some point shortly after The Leaving, the story will end abruptly in Blight.

Rook is therefore not going to do things to cause the companions to leave, because their goal is "stop Solas/stop the gods/stop the blight" and to do that, Rook needs these people. Now, you can make the choice not to do the faction or personal quests along the way toward that goal, and ultimately those companions might fall in the final battle, but the story is not going to let you remove those companions before then. Because the story is not about a choice between "Veil-falling/World-blighted, or Rook being a hero." The story is many things ON THE WAY to stopping the the Veil from falling, one way or another.

Now, I know a lot of these "I wish we could be meaner" comments 99.9% of the time come about because people do not like particular companions, so this was all probably a waste of typing. And my answer to "I just don't like this person" is "too fucking bad, I don't like all my coworkers either, try growing up" or "maybe you should try not being a bigot," depending on the way the "I don't like this person" is phrased. But I also think some of you just really do not understand how story/games structure works, and you're familiar with very specific kinds of media, and it's upsetting you to have to wrap your mind around something new.

If you REALLY want to explore a blighted world, that's what fanfiction is for. Go bug nuts. I don't think it's going to be a compelling story, but you might surprise me.

Also, while we're talking about "tension":

I'm begging you to consider that one of the greater sources of tension can arise because you, the player, are literally watching a tragedy unfold. You cannot stop it, you know what's going to happen, you know what choices you're going to have to make, and you have to make them anyway, and they're going to hurt you in some way or another, and you, the player/reader, know what the characters do not. The tension comes from watching the different permutations of grief unfold across the screen and inside of you. None of the companions have to be in conflict with each other in order for this to happen.

[barbwritesstuff]

1/?

Ashdhdhsg ok if you don’t mind my Chris obsession in your inbox, here’s some more!

Some disclaimers:

1) this is going to get. um. pretty granular.

2) I'm code diving for the sake of optimizing my Comparative Chris Studies.

3) My analysis going to be filtered through the lens of my own playthroughs and emotional reactions.

4) I will be asking lots of questions, mostly rhetorical - I am simply enchanted by the possibilities of the text. Please don’t answer any of them unless you really feel like it - I don’t want to bombard you!!

5) This is already pretty lengthy and I'm far from done -_-; I'm numbering these asks to avoid confusion.

Beginning from the beginning: Chris suing for everything is sooo awful I love them. The later reveal that they’re a lawyer is insane context for the first divorcee scene:

“there is no going back once there are lawyers involved. There is no hope for a reunion, or even an amiable end. Lawyers mean two things. Pain and paper. That's the only way this can end now. Pain and fucking paper.”

Jesus Christ mc, tell me how you really feel. The way this frames their perception of the entire relationship as doomed from the beginning, even if it's just subconscious? The way it frames their perception of Chris as a person? ouch.

Early Chris is so interesting from meta perspective. In these early scenes, your reading of their character changes pretty drastically with your assumptions about the relationship and the character/personality of your own mc. You can totally play as an mc who justifies this kind of treatment and is as uncommunicative, unreliable, and unable to let things go as Chris later accuses them of being and has imploded the relationship on the strength of their own bad behaviour, but if you interpret the relationship as ending more from mutually terrible communication skills and regular stressful life stuff? Going scorched earth like this can’t be seen as self protective in the same way - it’s so extreme. It's fun to ponder on Chris containing all of these messy and intricate possibilities regardless of worldstate. This is the kind of thing I love about interactive fiction as a medium, and you handle it so precisely and delicately here, leaving so much room for the player to build their own character while remaining grounded in the story.

The line that’s been stuck in my head since the first time I read it was this one:

“You got Spaghetti before you even met that lying arsehole.”

The mc is either accusing Chris of being a liar in general (which strikes me unlikely from the sense of the character that we get later) or of being a liar within this specific scenario, the divorce. So what did they lie about? Are they not honouring a prenup? or was there no prenup, only a verbal agreement to split things fairly and lovingly in the impossibly unlikely event of a divorce? Is the mc upset specifically about the breaking of marriage vows? Chris clearly has gotten their ducks in order before serving the mc with the divorce papers (another revealing fragment of character that I obsess over. what was up with that). Is it the fact that they must have been planning to break up for a while and instead of navigating it mutually decided instead to blindside the mc? How do you go from wanting to raise a child with someone to coming right out of the gate with a litigious divorce within a few months?

I want to live inside their walls. who said that.

Copy + Paste:

2/?

Side note 1: that waitress seems really sweet cool and genuinely concerned over the mc :(

Side note 2: vampires flush when sated 👀

Side note 3: 911 calls are generally recorded and can often be accessed after the fact with freedom of information requests. Could Chris have unearthed it during their later search for mc? How creepy, if they did. Heavy, panicked breathing, the crunch of broken glass, the call just disconnects. Confirmation of something awful but beyond understanding.

They way you get me immediately into full breakup mode with one line:

"Come back in the morning," Chris says in that slow, specific way, as if speaking to a very young, very stupid child.

IRL that would be an instant blind rage button for me lmao. How dare you speak to me that way. And again! From Chris’s perspective this is a pretty reasonable boundary! but they way they lay it out is so. IDK. Unbecoming. Unworthy of them. plain mean.

There’s this real sense I get from both sides of the relationship of “I’m not sure I ever even really knew this person” the love WAS there and it was real but in the fog of bitterness and anger they both lose sight of it and each other. There's a through line in this part of the game of the way high emotion can mess with your perception of reality and rational decision making.

“It wasn't all bad, was it? There were times you were happy together. Not that anyone would believe it, reading this.”

I interpret this line as the MC doubting Chris's fundamental intentions and affections. Coupled with Chris's lack of concern over the mc's disappearance (put a pin in it) it's just so INTERESTING to be the way that these two have come to see each other almost as strangers, which is really scary and alienating! Neither can give the other an inch of grace or benefit of the doubt. the cognitive dissonance is so compelling to me.

You've had all of these intimate moments, potentially a CHILD (a grandchild, a whole lifetime), with a person you now cannot recognize, who's actions you cannot understand. Of course Chris isn't going to let mc into their house, they could have been anywhere, doing anything, for two months now! the thought that it might not have been by anything but MC's own volition is anathema.

----------------------------------------------

I'm living for this Chris deep dive that landed in my inbox.

However, I really don't know if i can say anything without spoiling the game... so I'm sharing without comment. 💙

[antivanplumage]

worldstate questionaire by @fromthedaswithlove

part 3: the champion of kirkwall, moira hawke

Who did your protagonist romance and why? Do they have secondary choices?

moira romanced merrill. tbh she was kind of crafted in a lab to be merrill's butch. i lov her

Do they have any regrets?

letting carver die. leaving bethany behind when she goes to the deep roads. the worst thing she's done, though, is having to fight their way out of clan sabrae after marethari's death. it HURTS.

Do they have a family?

the hawkes/amells, ofc. bethany ends as a circle mage, and she's moira's lifeline and the reason she hangs onto her morals even when it'd be so much easier for a non-mage to give into what the chantry is selling. she also stays in contact with charade.

there's also eiluned amell, her second cousin who was made tranquil. talya and anders both tell her that eiluned would've liked her. i don't think it's true. there's a lot about eiluned that neither of them knew.

What is their Specialization? Is there a reason they chose it?

berserker/reaver. i mostly just unlocked reaver because i had a free spec point, but ever since i've read the hc about hawke inheriting reaver blood from malcolm, i've been curious...

as for berserker, there's a very simple reason! moira is motivated by love, but fueled almost entirely by rage!

Do they have a preferred weapon? Preferred armor set?

two-handed hawke's key + armor of the champion. the key makes her feel just a bit closer to both malcolm and carver.

Do they have a preferred skill that they use often? (example: spells from the spirit tree in Inquisition)

da2 warrior combat is mostly just vibes but rage is always active baybeee. (i recommend playing a 2h warrior hawke btw, it's the most fun i had with DA combat til veilguard which is basically another genre)

How does your Hawke feel about leaving Lothering?

moira truly believed lothering was a place where they could finally be safe. she developed roots in there. she made friends. she carved out a little name for herself. once it's over, though, she just feels stupid. of course she had to run again. they're always running.

Does your Hawke like living in Kirkwall? Do they hate it?

moira LOVES kirkwall.... in act 1. she's a country girl used to being on the run, and she hates living with gamlen but the rest is great. everything goes downhill once she becomes nobility. she hates being in the spotlight, she hates the politics, she doesn't care about the comforts it gives her.

How does your Hawke deal with losing Carver? Losing Bethany?

carver's loss CRUSHES her. that's her baby brother. she taught him how to fight. they went to ostagar, and made it out together. the guilt for practically leading him down that path eats her alive.

bethany is. a bit less painful, mostly because she's still alive, but moira is still eaten alive by the knowledge that she failed. she left bethany behind to protect her, but because she wasn't there, she got taken to the circle. which is what she's dedicated her entire life to trying to prevent.

it also makes her incredibly paranoid about merrill later on every time she leaves the mansion to work in the eluvian. she invited her to live here because she wanted to protect her, why won't she stay?

Who did your Hawke join (smugglers or mercenaries) and why?

smugglers, although i can't remember why. genuinely might've just been because i liked athenril more. i didn't think about it very hard

How did your Hawke initially feel about Varric’s offer to go to the Deep Roads?

"i like your funny words dwarf man." immediately charmed by varric and on board. maybe a little too trusting of him tbh but it worked out fine.

How does your Hawke deal with losing Leandra?

crashes the fuck OUT. she failed to protect everyone in her life and she loses her shit in a spiral of guilt. becomes way crueler and more violent. the only thing that pulls her back together is the attack on the qunari compound, but it's really only expectation pulling her together until meredith tells her: "this is your city as well as mine. defend it."

so moira finds something else to protect beyond her family: kirkwall itself. but i don't think this changes her for the better, it just gives her some sort of reason to keep going.

How does your Hawke feel about Uncle Gamlen?

hates him so much hates living with him hates what he did with the inheritance hates his sleazy comments about her friends hates him hates him HATES HIM. i have a very slightly more charitable view on him (still hate the guy even if i feel like his downfall was inevitable) but moira is cutting his ass out of the will.

Does your Hawke have an opinion of their companions?

love how this is phrased lol

fenris: friendly. somehow ended on friendly terms with him, but i mostly credit this to him not being around when she was running around helping every apostate in kirkwall. still, they respect each other a lot, and moira appreciates his point of view even if she disagrees.

aveline: low rivalry. feels tied to aveline because they came to kirkwall together, but they never develop a very close bond beyond that. aveline never quite figures out what to do with her.

isabela: friendly. admires isabela and her way of life greatly, but there's a barrier between the two that moira is never quite able to knock down.

merrill: friendly romance. she has never done anything wrong in her entire life, she's madly in love with her, she would follow her to hell and back she just wishes she'd stop going there

anders: friendly. admires anders for his kindness and also eggs him on quite a lot. moira has a lot of anger towards the templars and the circles because she was raised to protect bethany from them, so she understands him a lot more than the other companions who just brush him off.

varric: friendly. he's her best friend, her pal, her homeboy, her rotten soldier, her sweet cheese, her good time boy. their only major point of conflict is that she's so frustrated by his centrism.

bethany: friendly. moira was raised to protect bethany as soon as her magic came in, though, so their relationship is... complicated. moira bases a lot of her self-identity on being able to protect bethany to the point where it stifled her. once bethany went to the circle, she was finally able to realize that moira's overprotectiveness never truly let her blossom as a person.

sebastian: mid rivalry. i think something great could've went on between her and sebastian but he showed up too late for him to have an impact on me, the player

Who is your Hawke the closest to? Who are they the most distant with?

besides merrill, she's closest to anders, if only because moira is so worried for him that she deliberately tries to insert herself into his life any chance she gets. although varric is a very close second. she's most distant from aveline.

How does your Hawke feel about Merrill’s blood magic?

initially, just... cautious, and intrigued. she knows blood magic is bad, malcolm hammered that into her, but merrill seems capable and like she knows what she's doing, so she trusts her. initially, moira excuses her fascination with merrill, saying she just wants to keep an eye on her, but it's deeper than that. she is Gay.

moira is generally overprotective of her loved ones and feels responsibility for things going wrong, but merrill is the major exception. trusting that merrill knows best is a major leap of faith for her.

How does your Hawke feel about Anders/Justice being merged?

she doesn't really get it, and definitely never understands how closely intertwined the two are. she blames anders' deterioration (correctly) on conditions in kirkwall getting worse, though, not justice actively making him worse. she's just terrified for him the entire time.

How does your Hawke deal with Isabela’s involvement with the Qunari’s stolen tome? Does she come back?

i think she was starting to put the pieces together beforehand, honestly. she's pretty perceptive. but after leandra's death and moira backslides, it goes on the back burner. still, she's not exactly surprised or betrayed by the reveal because of this.

isabela does come back. (she almost doesn't. i went to act 3 before realizing she was supposed to come back and had to replay. but i only needed 5 friendship approval so i cheated it in. i deserved it)

Who did your Hawke align with (mages or templars)?

mages.

How did your Hawke feel about the Viscount?

spineless coward. pissed off at him for getting her involved with what she sees as interpersonal family problems. she didn't want the man dead but like. holy shit

How did your Hawke feel about the Qunari?

she holds a deep level of respect and curiosity for their beliefs, and will usually side with them even if she doesn't always agree. having to kill the arishok very much felt like a tragedy.

How did your Hawke feel about Meredith? Orsino? The Grand Cleric?

moira was on her guard from the beginning with meredith, but a lot of the things she said wormed her way into her brain anyways. she felt like she was being blackmailed by bethany being in the circle. but she hated that woman sooo much.

orsino was an interesting case. moira respected him a lot, but if she ever connected the dots that he was linked to her mother's murder, her opinion would've changed in a heartbeat. fortunately, she did not. (i didn't either! someone had to point it out to me afterwards.) anyways, i think he's alive, varric just lied lol

elthina was also a spineless coward and she's actively glad she's dead

How does Hawke react to Malcolm’s Will?

it was incredibly painful for moira to hear his voice again after all these years, and she also got newly furious over what the wardens made him do.

it's been a while since i played legacy, and wiki summaries of malcolm's will suck ass, so i'm sure i'll have more thoughts on this if i replay.

Did Hawke side with Larius or Janeka?

larius. look, she already thought the wardens were a scary blood mage cult because of talya (on accident,) then learned they forced her father to do blood magic as well, she wasn't about to listen to janeka

Did the companions stay with Hawke?

merrill does. so does anders, but he eventually goes his own way out of some selfless desire to protect the two of them from his reputation. they're both pissed, but he just disappears in the middle of the night and doesn't give them the chance to disagree.

What does Hawke get up to in the time between the end of DA2 and DAI?

moira escapes on isabela's boat along with anders and merrill, as well as talya (helped out with the fight and realized she needed an escape route as a blood mage) and zevran (tagged along with his stupid ass newly revealed as a blood mage wife.) talya and zevran leave first - they just needed a path back to antiva. which leaves those three.

when tensions start to dissipate in kirkwall, moira and merrill return to help clean up the mess. and also merrill wants that damn eluvian back.

Is your Hawke the one left in the Fade? If so, what is the reason for them staying?

she's not. alistair didn't give her the chance to think about it.

How do you think Hawke’s Love Interest reacts to them being in the Fade?

If it was possible, how would your Hawke get out of the Fade? Would they be rescued? Would they find an escape for themself?

How does your Hawke feel about the mage rebellion?

in full support of it, although she doesn't help them because she's sick of being a figurehead and doesn't want to become one again when she's not even a mage. she's heard how she talks about them. she can't do it again, and they don't need her.

What did they do about Anders?

she let him live.

Is there anything in Tale of the Champion that they might not agree with?

she hasn't read it. for her own health.

Does Hawke know that Cassandra is a fan?

not initially, but i think she picks up on it pretty quickly once she gets to skyhold and talks to her. has absolutely no clue what to do about it, though.

How does Hawke feel about Tale of the Champion?

honestly, it's kind of humiliating for her that varric aired out the most painful moments of her life to paint her as a hero. she knows he had good intentions, but ... eugh. leaves her with a bad taste in her mouth.

If your Hawke goes to Weisshaupt, what is it that they are doing there?

hawke doesn't go to weisshaupt lol her ass was lying. she goes to find anders

What is Hawke getting up to in Veilguard?

i would like to congratulate moira for being my only dragon age protagonist who escaped the narrative! she was fostering orphans with merrill in kirkwall. the time during veilguard itself is still up in the air, i still haven't decided how much i wanted to change what happened to the south.

[carriehobbs]

Hi ^^ I was reading your tags on the tina/verda finding out post and first of all, you are so right that not stopping verda's research is not the same as telling him.

I like that you mentioned the bobby finding out path, because that one *is* a choice we get to make, and it made me wonder: what is syd's reasoning for not wiping bobby's memory?

hi seren!! 💕💕

yeah, not stopping verda or tina from finding out =/= telling them directly!! and i think the detective should be allowed to have a variety of feelings about the fallout of tina and verda finding out (whether the detective told them directly or not), some of which may include retroactive self-blame for their situation, but it shouldn't be just written into the narrative like that (ex. if alina saw how poorly verda reacted to finding out about the supernatural and felt guilty because she could have stopped him from finding out and chose not to, that's a completely fair reaction. but it shouldn't be the only option, and it shouldn't be treated the same as if she told him explicitly).

but i digress

so, bobby (or douglas) does not find out about the supernatural in any of my detective's (current canon) worldstates. this is because all of my detectives are 1) people who take the stakes of their mission in b3 seriously and appreciate the opportunity to have backup and 2) are willing to set aside their feelings for rebecca (whatever they are) in order to get the backup they need to ensure their mission succeeds. however, as a player, i am very interested in having a subplot or character arc for bobby&douglas (depending on if the detective is on the bobby route or the douglas route. i'm going to use "bobby&douglas" as a shorthand to mean "whichever character's route the detective is on" for the rest of this post).

as wayhaven is still in development, i don't know yet if there will be alternative subplots or character arcs for bobby&douglas for detectives who did ally with rebecca at the auction (and so bobby&douglas didn't find out about the supernatural). if there aren't any further subplots/character arcs for bobby&douglas, i've seriously considered going back and having one/some of my detectives make different decisions at the auction, so at least one/some of my detectives have the opportunity to explore this subplot in their worldstates. as such, i've spent a lot of time thinking about 1) which decisions would each detective make about bobby&douglas? (lauren would wipe bobby's memories, alina would encourage douglas to work with the agency, syd would let bobby keep his memories, i waffle a bit on this but i think andy would let bobby keep her memories) and 2) which detective would, realistically, not ally with rebecca at the auction and actually unlock the supernatural subplot for bobby&douglas? all this is to say that, in syd's worldstate, bobby never learned about the supernatural, but if he had, she would have let him keep his memories.

the short answer to your question is: if bobby learned about the supernatural, syd would have let him keep his memories because she and bobby have a good relationship. the long answer is under the cut, since this is long enough as it is

(unless i'm suuuuuuper mistaken) wayhaven has 2 different stats for the detective's relationship with bobby: there's a past relationship stat, which you decide at the beginning of b1 and is on a scale of 1-4 (i don't know which numbers are which relationship off the top of my head, but let's say 1 is "everything's fine and there's no hard feelings" and 4 is "i want to hit them with my car"), and a current relationship stat, which takes into account your ongoing decisions through the books and involves adding value to your relationship stats with every decision. in terms of pure stats, syd's past relationship stat with bobby is a 2 (lauren's and alina's are at 4, andy's is at 3. bobby is the ex of all of my detectives) and her current relationship stat is fairly high (it's an invisible stat, so i don't know the numerical value).

syd's relationship with bobby is a little complicated. syd felt incredibly betrayed by the plagiarism incident and there was a lot of hurt between them after the breakup. they kind of fell out of each other's lives afterwards, during all of the messiness. however, syd managed to do something none of my other detectives have managed to do when it comes to their relationship with bobby: syd moved on. so while there is still lingering hurt and their relationship will never be quite what it was, syd doesn't hate bobby anymore an hasn't for a long time (this hurt is why their past relationship stat is a 2 and not a 1).

additionally, one thing about syd is that, if you have ever been someone important to her (even if you aren't close anymore), she will always care about you, at least a little bit. this significantly impacts her current relationship with bobby. when he comes to her and expresses concern about the murders in b1, she cares about him enough to try to assure and relate to him. when he comes by her house unexpectedly in b2, she's worried enough about his sudden and unexpected arrival that she lets him in and expresses concern for him. and, if you have a good relationship with bobby, he does express care and concern for the detective, in his own way (if you have a bad relationship with bobby, he's pretty unrepentant about fucking up your whole day; however, if you have a good relationship with him, there are moments where he does show he cares. i'd love to pull up exact lines, but i don't have any handy). syd doesn't have any lingering romantic feelings for bobby at all (she deliberately doesn't kiss bobby in b2), but she does still care about him. he's probably always going to be someone she has some kind of attachment to.

(i don't remember the exact lines here so excuse me for potentially incorrectly paraphrasing but) when bobby and syd talk at the agency after the auction, bobby says something about how he wouldn't want to lose the memories and knowledge he's just gained, and how he's wanted for a while to be able to be closer to her and hopes this will bring them closer together. at that moment, syd respects bobby's wishes regarding his autonomy and his desire to keep his memories and (perhaps inadvisably - we will see in b4!) genuinely thinks that he won't tell anyone about the supernatural (yes, he normally over-sensationalizes his papers and tends to report on anything that would make her life harder, but he might keep the knowledge of the supernatural under wraps because it's important to her, it can be a secret the two of them share, it can bring them closer, etc). ultimately, syd believes that their relationship has been positive enough after all this time that bobby won't turn around and betray her trust again. maybe this is (incredibly uncharacteristically) optimistic of her, but syd has always had a weak spot when it comes to the people she cares about, and syd does still care about bobby.

[blackjackkent]

Ramble time!

I've had a couple of new followers recently specifically because of my recent prompt fills regarding Jaheira and Khalid's relationship, so I figured it might be time for a bit of a welcome/summary post!

I have at this point started to develop a fairly extensive and specific mental canon for Jaheira (bc she is my favorite character in the series, and because @astreamofstars and @springagainafter indulge and facilitate my brainrot tremendously XD ), and the fills and fics that I write about her range pretty widely all over her timeline. For ease of reference, I've put together an anthology collection on AO3 which I'm going to continue updating indefinitely, consolidating all the loose writing that I do about her and her relationships with various other characters in the series! This includes her canon relationship with Khalid, my rarepair ship of her with Rasaad post-BG2, and various platonic friendships and familyships.

In the intro chapter of this collection, I also explain my specific Jaheira timeline/headcanons, and I'll recopy this here for anyone interested as well, but particularly for my recent followers who came for the Jaheira content. c:

-----

Hello and thank you so much for reading!

This work is an ongoing anthology collection of prompt fills, ficlets, and drabbles that I have written over on Tumblr about Jaheira (one of my favorite characters in Baldur's Gate) and her relationships with various other characters. You'll find a wide variety of subjects here - humor, drama, romance, platonic love and friendship, action, angst, and everything in between - but the central focus is always Jaheira and her complex relationship to others and to her own vulnerability, and how that evolved over time.

Worldstate Introduction

These ficlets are all set in the worldstate of my BG1/2 CHARNAME, Caden of Candlekeep, and my BG3 Tav, Hector Carlisle. In this worldstate, I've developed a combination of canon and headcanon for Jaheira's life, which centers around the rarepair premise that in addition to her marriage to Khalid, she also entered a relationship with Rasaad sometime after BG2 (as detailed in my fic "Open Your Eyes and It Will Blind You").

Being human, Rasaad is doomed to live a much shorter life than Jaheira, though as a monk, his Timeless Body feature keeps him physically fit and strong right up until his death. I also headcanon Jaheira's initial experiments with the Rite of Timeless Body were intended to bring his lifespan in line with hers, although she was only partially successful. All of this allows Rion to be her child with Rasaad, conceived accidentally very late in Rasaad's life.

Jaheira decides to go through with the pregnancy despite misgivings about her own fitness as a parent and the knowledge that she will ultimately be raising their child alone. And indeed, Rasaad dies when Rion is roughly five years old. After his death, Jaheira remained settled in Baldur's Gate to raise her daughter and began taking in other children in need as well, leading to the situation we see her in during Baldur's Gate 3.

Timeline

A general timeline overview of this worldstate:

1358 DR - Jaheira and Khalid meet when Khalid travels from Calimshan to Baldur's Gate to join the Harpers. 

1360 DR - Jaheira and Khalid married. 

1368 DR - (canon) Jaheira and Khalid meet Caden, Rasaad, and other members of the cast of BG1.

1369 DR - (canon) The events of BG2 take place. Khalid is killed by Jon Irenicus.

1374 DR - Open Your Eyes takes place. Jaheira and Rasaad enter a relationship. They begin a life of adventuring in Amn and the surrounding regions.

~1395 DR- Jaheira and Rasaad married.

~1400 DR - Jaheira and Rasaad return to the vicinity of Baldur's Gate. Jaheira reinducted into the Harpers.

~1420 DR - Jaheira and Rasaad purchase Elerrathin's Home to function as occasional lodging when they are needed in the city.

1444 DR - Jaheira becomes pregnant with Rion. She and Rasaad take up permanent residence in Elerrathin's Home.

1445 DR - Rion born.

1449 DR - Rasaad dies.

1456 DR - Jaheira begins taking in other young children in need of shelter.

1465 DR - The events of Fault Lines begin. Jaheira meets Astele ("Nine-Fingers") Keene, a child who comes to Elerrathin's Home for a meal. 

1486 DR - The events of Fault Lines conclude with a catastrophic falling-out between Jaheira and Astele.

1492 DR - (canon) The events of BG3 take place.

While all these fics follow this general timeline, the chapters in this collection are NOT chronologically ordered but instead bounce all over. I will try to note the general time period in the author notes of each chapter for clarity.

Chapter Ratings

This fic is overall marked as Not Rated because the vast majority of these ficlets are G-rated; however, a few are E-rated as part of my exploration of her relationships with Khalid and Rasaad. I will mark the rating of each chapter in the author notes so you can skip any which are not to your taste.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy my take on Jaheira and the important people in her life. If you'd like to say hi or have a fic request or suggestion, please drop me a message over on Tumblr at @blackjackkent; I'd love to hear from you! <3

[kirkwallguy]

I'm upset about the lack of choices and the likelihood that the solas romance is going to be pushed more but bringing up the new characters as something that could have been replaced by old ones is a pretty bad faith arguement imo. It's a new game, of course there's going to be new characters? The cameos were never the forefront or the cornerstone of my enjoyment. I mean if you hate the game and only play it in the hopes of getting scraps of your favorite characters from the previous games then ok but why torture yourself like this lol

i mean as long as they don't repeat the mistakes of inquisition and expect us to have read extra material to understand what's going on, i don't care about the new characters THAT much, i just think it's funny to act like they're actual cameos when most people don't know who they are. a charitable read would be that they're rewarding hardcore fans but likeeeee... they're trying to sell books lol

tbh cameos wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me normally, i can take them or leave them in da2 and obviously there are none in origins. but combined with everything else we know about the game i AM still on the fence about getting it... no worldstates means it's unlikely they'll bring up any of the plots i was interested in having resolved or explored further 😑 so it all comes down to the quality of the writing and plots they introduce, which is very hard to judge from the promo esp since apparently everything they're showing is from act 1

[fereldanwench]

started thinking about what worldstate i wanna create for my first run in veilguard because of course i have.

we can't import past saves and we won't be using the keep anymore, so I'm not sure how detailed we'll be able to get with it but I've got a few possibilities to play with:

the first and most likely is my mostly canon-compliant worldstate with these bbs:

lorelei cousland [rogue; double-wield] warden / queen of ferelden / li: king!alistair

daphne caron [rogue; double-wield] warden commander / ruler of vigil's keep / li: warden!bethany

ansley hawke [warrior; board & sword] champion of kirkwall / pirate / li: isabela

melisande trevelyan [rogue; archer] herald of andraste / inquisitor / li: cullen

rosalind hendry [mage; knight-enchanter] former chantry scholar / inquisition agent for leliana / li: blackwall

the second is my slightly less canon-compliant worldstate that i never brought into inquisition because i didn't want to have to choose between alistair and my favorite hawke in the fade lmao:

karina amell [mage; i do not remember her spec] warden-commander / li: warden!alistair

rhiannon hawke [force & elemental mage] champion of kirkwall / temp viscount of kirkwall / li: cullen or fenris*

*last summer i did replay da2 with an iteration of rhiannon that actually romanced fenris and i loved it and I've complicated shit for her, lmao. rhiannon x cullen were my goro x valerie of 2013-2014 and making her officially with someone else feels wrong bc i loved them together so much. but i just can't enjoy cullen anymore. so do i do i give rhiannon a boyfriend upgrade? do i make a whole 'nother hawke inspired by her? do i just let rhiannon x cullen and rhiannon x fenris exist in different AUs? i don't know!

and the third is kind of the opposite of the second one: a worldstate i made just for inquisition in the keep with some choices i had never made in the previous games. i don't even have the worldstate in the keep anymore so i don't remember everything but i think it was like this:

default f!mahariel [rogue; archer] no li / recruited loghain / made alistair marry anora

default m!hawke [mage] li: anders / sided with mages

keagan trevelyan [mage; knight-enchanter] herald of andraste / inquisitor / li: cullen (although i headcanoned a polycule with her, cullen, and josie)

one of my conundrums with all of these is, as i mentioned, i can't enjoy cullen anymore. he was obviously a big fave, i think his arc is fascinating especially in da2 and especially if you side with the templars and he has to contend with the shit he's done for meredith, and i enjoyed all the different shipping dynamics with all different kinds of ocs. but i can't separate him from his dipshit VA at this point. hearing his voice is just an instant NOPE for me now

i am 99% positive cullen will not be in veilguard for 2 reasons: 1) the writers said during inquisition that they were no longer trying to work in characters whose fates could be too varied depending on player choice and 2) that twitter shitstorm a few years seemed to guarantee ellis will never work with bioware again lmao

now i suppose there's a possibility that ellis could have recorded lines before that happened and somehow they would be able to be used despite all the changes that happened, but I'm trying to be an optimist here

nevertheless, all of the inquisitors i played were with him, and it sounds like we'll be able to engage with our inquisitors in some capacity in veilguard so do i even want to have a passing mention of cullen? idk. i mean, my disdain for his VA isn't so bad that this would ruin the game for me or anything, but i also feel like this is an opportunity to enjoy another character

between keagan and melisande, melisande was definitely my more developed OC, but i just loved playing as a knight-enchanter gameplay-wise so keagan is actually the only one of the two who did trespasser and jaws of hakkon. i never did the descent--the only DLC in all the games that i haven't played. I've been debating firing up my inquisitor!valerie game again to play that with her but i know the descent recommends a pretty high level and i can't remember how far i got in the story with her (I think i just reached skyhold that last time i played)

so anyway, i've got some decisions to make!

as for what i'm leaning towards playing in veilguard: at this point in time, i'm pretty sure my first rook will be a mage of some kind and lucanis sounds like he was made specifically for me lmao so odds are looking good that'll be my first ship

[miladydewintcr]

Ooh so excited to see you playing the Protagonist Swap Game, and I especially love a Dual Protagonist Situation, soooo what are Evie and Eleri up to in Inquisition for any selection of 1, 4, 5, and 6? (Also is one of them the Herald and the other the Inquisitor?) <3

Thank you so much for making this game!! It's so much fun omg

I answered um all 4 of them, for both girls, so I'm gonna put everything under a read-more because it got a little long rip

So usually, Eleri is the HoF. I've played around with Evangelina as the HoF on her own, but I think my favourite verse for her at least atm is that she's just a noble for most of DAO, who married Thomas Howe before the game started. She maybe? pops up in Denerim around the Landsmeet? And provides some Helpful Info for Eleri to use when she takes down Arl Howe (or maybe goes with her as an Extra Companion??) And then she's probably recruited to the Wardens during Awakening sometime since they're setting up base in her house.

Protagonist swap game !!

Backstory - Does your character fit into one of the potential backstories for the game they are now in? If not, how do they end up in the situation? Do they bring any key characters with them?

Evangelina's backstory fits in pretty well I think? The Couslands are pretty close to the Mac Tirs in my heart since they're the only two Teyrnirs left in Ferelden, so I can see Queen Anora sending her along to the Conclave as her representative. I was going to say I'd probably have her be unmarried in this AU, but then I realised I can have Thomas go with her and then Oop he dies at the Conclave. For extra drama >:)

For Eleri, I can't think of a reason for her to be around at the start of the game, BUT. I think she'd be all about the Red Jennies. And since Sera is from Denerim, too, I think it'd be fun to say they knew eachother already. Maybe Sera mentions her after she joins the Inquisition, and suggests they go pick her up too?

Of course, this means Evangelina is the only one there to get the mark and become the Herald. I do think, though, that once they pick Eleri up, she'd slide into the actual role of Inquisitor, even if not necessarily publicly. Eleri actually has the strategic sort of mind that works well in a position of power. Evangelina does not lmao. But to a lot of their allies and sponsors, Evangelina is going to look a lot better for the Inquisition than a city elf from Denerim.

Romance - Do you think they would find love among their new companions? If not, why not?

For Eleri, I kind of love the idea of a friends-to-lovers situation with Sera for her? It's like !!! The world is ending!!! I'm so grateful that I'm here with you, my best friend!!!! It could very easily slip into romance territory with a little nudge, I think.

Evangelina would be all over Cullen, and I think also Krem once they recruit the Chargers. I can only really see Krem being into it, however, and I don't think it would last post-game. Evangelina needs pushback in her romantic relationships, and she flirts by being as annoying as possible to get a reaction. She wants that reciprocated. I can't see Cullen putting up with it for very long tbh (I actually think he'd be convinced that she hates him), but Krem?? I can see being a bit taken aback at first (purely because she's?? the Herald of Andraste???) but once he cottons on he's like Okay. I can work with that. They'd be good for each-other I think tbh, and post-game it's a relationship they'll look back on fondly.

Choice - What in-game decision would have the most impact on your character? What would be the most dramatic change they would bring to the worldstate?

High-key Eleri is making all the major decisions. She's just steering Evangelina in the direction she wants her to go. That said, Evangelina is extremely thrilled that "she" got to choose the next Divine, and brags about it endlessly, to everyone, for the rest of her life.

For Eleri, there are 2 choices that stand out. The ruler of Orlais, ofc. I can see that whole questline really hitting home for her as a city elf, and being able to ensure Briala has the power to stand up for their people in Orlais going forwards would mean a great deal to her, I think.

I can also really see the Well of Sorrows being a big deal to her. Eleri grew up on stories about the Dalish. Despite being very real people, in her mind at the start of her journey, whatever game she's in, they feel almost like a fairy tale. In Origins, she names her dog Revas, mostly because of that. In being recruited, she was given a "freedom" in a sense. She names her dog accordingly, because in her mind, there is no-one more free than the Dalish.

So the Well of Sorrows would hit her hard, I think. And Morrigan, bless her heart, might have been raised by literal Mythal herself, but all Eleri is gonna see in that moment is another human trying to take a piece of their history (which breaks my HEART because Origins!Eleri would consider Morrigan her best friend)

Endings - Where do you think your character would end up at the end of their reassigned adventures?

Evangelina is 100% using her newfound influence to secure a good marriage for herself. My girl is not interested in marrying for love, she just wants a castle. Bye Krem! #sorrynotsorry (She will absolutely miss Krem later and regret this choice, despite what she will say if asked)

Eleri, I can see sticking around. She'd be on the Hunt Down Solas taskforce for sure. She isn't someone that likes to stop. If things need to be done, it might as well be her doing them. At least then she can make sure it's done right. I like the thought of her and Sera travelling with Harding and Varric for a spell and then splitting off before Veilguard starts.

[pikapeppa]

Hi!

Just finished re-reading Desert Blooms and Western Wind, and gearing up for Becoming Whole and wanted to remind you how awesome you are!

But my actual point, I stumbled across you during my AloyxDrakka phase and then you managed to suck me right in to Kotaloy…

And then I got in to BG3, which you were right behind with Kiss me on the Mouth & Someone Great. And I have to confess I wasn’t all too keen on exploring a Halsin ship, let alone a HalsinxAstarionxTav ship but you’ve sucked me right in to that too…

And while my brain festered away on Rolan, I stumbled across Catskarky’s Mass Effect comics which preemptively started my GarrusxShepard phase (and forced me out to buy the trilogy which I’m now just concluding). And so anyway, that got me thinking and I vaguely recalled that I’d seen you had previously dabbled in the ME fanfic space and I was right, and I’ve come to this conclusion:

You are the ultimate source of good games and great ships (ignoring your unfortunate Shakarian oversight lol). So please, please share your wisdom! Recommend anything and everything. I literally value no one’s opinion more in this!

HAHAHA OKAY BUT this made me laugh, both with delight that you've enjoyed so many of my beloved ships -- but also because Shakarian is my OG ship. Garrus Vakarian is my first-ever OG videogame boyfriend LMAOOO. The reason I haven't written any significant fic for him is that my Shepard picks the control ending, meaning that she sacrifices herself to save the geth and EDI and thus she essentially "dies" and leaves beloved Garrus alone... and I could never write that. I can write angsty-ending ships, but I just don't have the heart to write a ship where one member of the pairing literally dies. (And no, I've never considered doing a non-canon workaround because I really like the control ending as it is, which may be an unpopular opinion, but I'm sticking to it!)

I have written one (1) Shakarian oneshot, though!! It was shortly after MELE came out and one of my BFFs got into Shakarian, so I wanted to see if I could bring myself to write them, but this oneshot is as far as I got, sadly 😭❤

(more below the cut!)

As for other game recommendations: off the top of my head, Dragon Age and the Witcher come to mind -- specifically Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Witcher 3, which are both the third installments of their respective series. DA:I has historically been the greatest source of fic inspiration for me, and my Geralt/Reader series might actually be my favourite body of work. You can play both of these games without having played the previous two games -- this is what I did, and both games are among my top 5 favourites!

To prepare for playing these games, beloved friends had recommended some primer articles for me, which basically just introduce you to the lore and the worldstate so you can jump in. Those articles are here, if you decide to check out these games:

The Witcher worldstate for dummies

The Dragon age worldstate for dummies

As for the rest of the Witcher and Dragon Age games: I can't speak for The Witcher 1 and 2, since I haven't played them, sadly! I played the first Dragon Age game (Origins) once, and I... struggled a lot because the gameplay shows its age now. I'M SORRY TO EVERYONE WHO SWEARS BY IT, but I just didn't enjoy playing all of it. The storytelling is good and the companions are a treat, but I wouldn't be able to play it a second time.

I loved Dragon Age 2, and I adore the companion dynamics in DA2 even moreso than in Inquisition, but I actually have only played DA2 one and a half times, mainly because the gameplay is also dated now. It's definitely playable though, certainly moreso than DA:O in my humble opinion, so I would recommend it! And I will say this for DA2: Fenris is the canon romance that I fell the hardest for and have written the most for, of all my videogame LIs. Take that to mean what you will. 🤣

If you like anime, my top two favourite animes are ones that I've also written for: Samurai Champloo (which would be considered retro now 😭💀) and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Both of these anime made me cry for very different reasons, and I highly recommend them! You also don't need to have played Cyberpunk 2077 in order to follow and enjoy Edgerunners (I haven't played it), so don't worry about that!

In terms of other recommendations, you can check out my writing masterpost, which lists all the fandoms I've written for and the ships within them. This could help you decide on what you want to play (or watch) next! ❤

If you want any more recommendations (movies, shows, books etc), feel free to hit me up with another ask or a DM! NOT THAT I CONSIDER MYSELF ANY KIND OF AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING LMAOOOO, I'M JUST A POTATO SMUT WRITER, I swear I'd only offer this if someone asked first 🤣🤣🤣

Enjoy!!! And THANK YOU GENUINELY for the praise!! You don't know how much it thrill me when people tell me that they got started with one of my ships and trusted me enough to try ones that they'd not considered before. It means the world! 😭❤❤❤

-- much love from your friendly neighbourhood Pika! xoxo

[vigilskept]

gimme all the questions i asked for diya before but this time for the kirkwall worldstate!

a couple of them are kinda already covered here and here so i'm just gonna yap abt the ones i haven't talked about yet!

2. How would you describe the Warden's personality before and after the prologue? Did it change much or did they remain the same?

the main difference in this worldstate is that diya's harrowing happens 1 day too early, meaning jowan comes to diya before duncan has arrived. she knows she'd be shit out of luck trying to escape the templars now that her phylactery's in denerim, so she tells jowan she'll keep his confidence, but he's on his own...

... only to find out that irving already knows and wants her to involve herself to implicate lily. she really grapples with this, because jowan's her closest friend and she wants to see him to succeed, but with irving already on to him... she comes around on the idea of getting one over on the chantry if jowan's doomed anyway.

she has months to reflect on this after greagoir insists on imprisoning her for her involvement anyway.

irving manages to get her set free after the battle of ostagar by arguing she'd be another voice of reason against uldred given her loyalty to the tower. he's very, very wrong. she leaves that cell angrier than she’s ever been. that anger is probably what keeps her alive through the next few months which are no less hellish :)

putting the rest in the cut bc the next bit gets heavy to say the least! tw for broken circle & imprisonment at kinloch content :’)

9. If the Warden was trapped in a nightmare, what would it be like?

the childhood nightmares are no different, but the months between jowan’s escape & ylva’s arrival take up way more space in her nightmares here.

it gets better, over time, but it’s still not infrequently that she’ll find herself chained up in the basement at kinloch, relearning how to pray so she can plead with the maker that it’s one of the kinder templars this time, that greagoir finally sees reason or decides that she’s learned her lesson.

just as often, she’ll find herself in some memory of the horrors she witnessed after she did finally regain her freedom, familiar faces grown distorted, turned into abominations or else pale and hollow from the shade of death, templars bearing down on her intent to kill, the mass of blood and flesh that remained after she defended herself, the screaming night after night, the quiet that was no less horrifying for what it implied, the fade that was full to bursting with memories of the last moments of so many mages and templars and their fear and despair……..

honestly, for a few months after getting out of there, she genuinely envies qadir for his tranquillity. on one of the bad nights, she goes as far as asking alistair if he knows how the ritual is done. (he does not admit to knowing, and she doesn’t ask again)

11. How did the Warden react to the truth of the werewolf curse?

ylva recruited the werewolves………

this one’s so fucked because diya only gets recruited after everything’s already gone down and she doesn’t know about it for a long time. she puts it together after they revisit the brecilian forest and she sees what’s left of the dalish camp. she plies alistair for information… then subsequently regrets asking.

she does mostly believe it was just about putting the blight before anything, but it’s the first real point of tension between her and ylva, and part of what has her asserting herself into things in denerim. she draws the line and forces ylva to decide whether she’s willing to step over it & put her down like leliana

17. What was the Warden's reaction to seeing Jowan in the Temple of Sacred Ashes?

fucks her up bad!!!!!!!!! jowan was already executed by the time she made it out of the circle, so they never got real closure!

jowan tells her they each made their own mistakes and will have to make their peace with it, but is that jowan? the jowan she knows would’ve held onto a grudge until the bitter end. how can she know it isn’t a trick, and that he didn’t die hating her for what she did?

19. Who are the people in camp that the Warden is closest with and why?

ylva (but more on this later)

qadir she both is and isn’t close to. she’d die for him and defended him in that tower with her life, but she still feels so guilty over the tranquility situation. he was looking into blood magic because of her. he wasn’t using it. she didn’t admit to it and he didn’t throw her under the bus and now here they are. she’s constantly checking in on him and he’d find it insanely frustrating if he weren’t tranquil but as is he just finds it mildly uncomfortable. they’re not doing so great.

surprisingly? she’s pretty close to oghren. she can really empathise with having just had a group of strangers get an intimate look at your life as it completely falls apart around you, and the urge to numb yourself to the horrors. if she could be functional as a mage without being sober, she’d be coping similarly. she also spends a fair amount of time with him since he, ylva & alistair are the ones actually teaching her how to hold her own in a fight if she can’t cast. she relies on oghren the most though bc ylva is (1) busy (2) her gf who she does NOT want to embarrass herself in front of (more on alistair later). oghren will give her shit, but until she can stop getting knocked flat on her ass she needs that.

the others……. the thing is. pretty much everyone expresses some disapproval over ylva’s recruitment of diya, so she sees them as a potential danger to her place at ylva’s side for a while (especially morrigan!!! if she can’t be the only mage at her side, she needs to be The Favourite)

of course, you can probably guess what a somniari is going to do to try to find the chinks in their armour :))) sten she just can’t seem to find, but if alistair isn’t dreaming of the darkspawn, she’s probably reliving some variation of ostagar somewhere from the peripheries of his nightmares. digging deeper, she’s felt the oppressive silence of the monastery, she’s seen a young boy spend most of an afternoon and an entire evening trapped in a cage meant for a dog, red-faced shrugging off the concern, his fault, his clumsiness, its fine, relieved but devastated when they listen, turn away again. she’s seen a tiny apostate girl with her heart racing, leading templars deeper into the mire. she’s seen a mirror, gilded in gold, beautiful, bright, one the precious she’s ever owned, hands slippery with blood as she collects the shards, tries to put it back together in the night. she’s heard flemeth’s voice crack sharp as a whip, wrong, do it again, over and over till it’s perfect. she wouldn’t have pried under normal circumstances, but given how much they know of her and how little she knows of them…… she knowingly crosses that line.

morrigan doesn’t clock this immediately, but once she does???? she’s not well pleased to say the least. it takes a looooong while to build any kind of trust between them after that. they never really get past an uneasy sort of truce (massive fumble on diya’s part fr)

alistair has no idea though... she’s not necessarily out to use any of this against him (she even goes out of her way to pry him away from spirits of Fear & Shame & Guilt sometimes) but it’s still a fucked thing not to tell someone. he DOES find out about it post-feynriel related events and it’s uh. not great 👍

as far as their relationship during the blight goes though, it does make her more empathetic towards him….. but also Very Aware of the catastrophic crush he eventually develops on her. she can’t not be. u can give someone as much space as ur capable of, but if they’re unknowingly reaching for u thru the fade….. she mostly tries hard Not to think about it. she DOES tell ylva who thinks this is all hilarious & tries to make this situation Worse wherever possible.

21. Did the Warden romance anyone from their group? If so, what attracted them to their partner?

toxic yuri time let’s fucking goooooooooooo‼️

let’s be real what’s NOT to be attracted to in a hot dwarven milf who sees you doing crimes against humanity (Extremely Violent Blood Magic) and offers to give you your freedom, in exchange for your service. i honestly don’t think diya can be blamed for being down tremendously, immediately, especially not when the mage who advocates for her execution is stabbed unceremoniously :) a woman after a maleficar’s own heart fr. she was doomed from the start.

also, ylva was very nearly queen of orzammar & she absolutely still carries herself as though she wields that level of power. diya is soooooo susceptible to older authority figures who treat her like she’s Special and worth paying attention to.

this is made so, so much worse after Leliana’s murder, being compared to her in a positive light…… taking her place at ylva’s side……… it should be a massive red flag, but that kind of attention can be addicting and it VERY much is for diya.

this is a relationship that starts on Very unequal terms. it has leveled out a bit by the time ylva is warden commander as diya asserts herself more, but whether it would or could have leveled out further….. hard to say tbh! (i don't know if either of them would've wanted it to level out further tbh)

27. How does the Warden feel about what is happening in the Alienage? How do they feel about how elves are treated?

this isn’t too different from the other worldstate, except that ylva is willing to negotiate with the slavers.

again, this is just her pragmatism. the slavers' operation is over anyway, it just comes down to the life of 1 old man vs more power to help defeat the darkspawn. it’s a brutal, awful moment for diya, especially because valendrian is the one who gave anders up to the templars all those years ago when he hid out in the alienage (… and consequently got diya dragged away by templars too. at AGE FIVE. this is a long story tho.)

she has no love for the hahren, but it’s a matter of principle here. either she puts herself first, accepts that they cast her aside & sets herself apart from her community…. or she refuses to reject them back, and holds onto those ties instead.

she has Never openly disagreed with ylva on anything at this point either, and has no idea how that’s going to go given the leliana situation, but lays it all on the line anyway.

(and ylva folds!!! this is a Big turning point for them, far more then the next point of contention. it has her reevaluating a lot of things!)

28. During the Landsmeet, who did the Warden choose to rule Ferelden and why? How did they come to that decision?

ylva chooses anora which diya can understand pragmatically, though she thinks a political match between her and alistair would’ve been the better move (purely strategically!!!)

when anora calls for alistair’s execution and ylva agrees….. that part is not a strategic objection. she knows having him killed is the only way to prevent people organising a coup in his name. unfortunately…. she Cares.

she interjects to advocate for an exile, instead. ylva would’ve backed anora if she refused to accept those terms, but when she lets it go, she leaves it be. she’s not hellbent on having the kid executed or anything.

31. How does the Warden feel about being a Grey Warden and the sacrifices that entails?

she thinks it makes a lot of sense to do it once she finds out what the joining entails. the darkspawn have so many advantages against them, the ability to sense them (& the ability to undermine the archdemon’s immortality) makes it a worthwhile sacrifice.

32. If they could leave the Wardens, would they?

she wouldn’t have done it selfishly, that’s for sure. she’s completely at peace with her decision to sign her life over to ylva and the wardens. she owes anders way too much to let him get dragged off and executed by the templars though! if that means she has to desert, she’ll desert without hesitation!

whether she’ll return to the wardens is a significant point of tension and plot point in the kirkwall fic which i shan’t spoil for now. she IS thinking about it though!!!

33. Who killed the Archdemon and are they still alive?

loghain did! it was ylva’s call and it kind of worked perfectly in her favour (neither her nor diya have to die + his death will secure anora’s political position)

diya’s kind of intrigued by the whole old god baby thing but ultimately agrees with ylva that letting morrigan walk away with a Potential Heir (anora’s half-brother??) is a crazy political risk

35. How is the Warden's personality like after the events of DAO? Did they change or are they still the same?

da:o is a slow process of her remembering how to interact with people again (was not exaggerating the feral part of the feral blood mage with her. she’s been in a tower full of abominations for Months with only a tranquil mage for company) & then restoring some level of her own personhood again.

after the blight, this has kind of reached its conclusion where she has leveled out and is something closer to the old, more strategic diya than the one who has to immediately clamp down on a fear response at any provocation. this is a positive for her relationship w/ ylva as she’s less dependent on her & more able to engage with her on more equal terms.

unfortunately for ylva, this also means that she feels confident enough to stand on her own to leave the wardens when she gives anders up to the templars!

37. Is the Warden still in contact with anyone after the game's events? Are they still with their love interest, if they have one?

she wasn’t in contact with anyone, until getting to kirkwall. she finds out alistair’s there only after they’ve already arrived & tracks him to the hanged man through rumours.

by god does she stick to him & anders like glue after that though! she has no one & nothing else to cling to!!!!! anders unfortunately won’t leave kirkwall after Karl’s death, so this all forms a little chain shackling them all to that godforsaken city.

warden questions

[queen-scribbles]

1, 2, 4 & 12 for the Veilguard ask!

1.What was the first Dragon Age game you played?

Oh, I've been in this dumpster since DA:O. :P Watched the trailers and interviews and everything leading up to release and everything.

2. Which Dragon Age game is your favorite so far?

Can I count Awakening as a separate game from DA:O to say that? Or is that cheating bc it's an expansion? Bc that's my favorite.

4. What does your worldstate look like going into DAV?

Let's see here....

Canon is Warden Rahna Tabris, dual wielding rogue(duelist, ranger, shadow). She romanced Alistair, sided with the mages, defeated/banished the desire demon to free Connor, made peace between Dalish & Werewolves(/humans, bc the curse broke), destroyed the Anvil, and made Bhelen king. Worked her way up to getting kicked out of Herran and Wade's shop with various dragon armors. Let Anora keep the throne, turned down Morrigan's ritual aaaaand Alistair sacrificed himself killing the Archdemon. :) In Awakening, she recruited everybody, upgraded the Vigil so she protected Amaranthine and it was fine, killed the Architect.

Astrid Hawke, blue mage, Force magic specialization, Warden Carver, max friendship with everyone except Merrill and Sebastian. Rivalmance with Sebastian bc she thinks he can do more good ruling a city than sequestering in a church(it's HARD to rival Sebastian as a goody-two-shoes, y'all). Executed Anders bc she did not spend seven years as a living example that mages can be normal productive non-dangerous members of society just for him to quite literally blow it up in her face. :))) Sided with the Templars bc I wanted her to be Vicountess/Princess intending to do damage control, quickly realized that was maybe an oopsie bc of how far gone Meredith was but TOO LATE NOW. :)

Tighe Lavellan, mage, Necromancer, romanced Cassandra and besties with Sera and Cole. Did IHW and recruited the mages as allies, saved Celene and forced her/Gaspard/Briala into a YOU WORK FOR ME BITCHES truce >:3(everyone underestimates him bc he's a goofball. they should stop doing that. he's very. very smart) Hawke stayed in the Fade during HLtA(I still cry about this occasionally btw, but it's insanely in character for Astrid so I can't bring myself to change it), he allied with the Wardens. Only killed a few of the dragons, the ones that seemed a more pressing danger to the area. Softened Leliana became Divine. I'm 97% sure he went into the Exalted Council planning to disband the Inquisition but changed his mind and kept it when he found out about the qunari and Solas bc he feels like Thedas still needs them, they just need to be careful who they trust.

(If I missed anything anyone wants to know, just ask. there's a lot of little details I probably didn't think of xD)

12. What's one thing you're hoping we DON'T see in this next game?

Well, one of them I already know is there, soooo the seemingly endless spawning waves of enemies out of nowhere ala DA2 were a huge pain(the only part in DA:I that sort of did that was the Exalted Plains with the waves of undead on the fortifications) and I'd like to not have anything like that.

DA4 asks

[sapphim]

And who's your top 3 behated ones? >:]

not entirely sure to start with this one tbh. it feels less straightforward than beloved characters. like, what. companions I most dislike? villains that really work for me? villains that I think are just such a bag of wet farts? characters I enjoyed killing most? characters I'm most annoyed I didn't get to kill? characters that do nothing for me to the extent that I've deleted them from my worldstate? old ladies I'd fight in the street? (DA2 is the old ladies I'd fight in the street game of all time)

so I guess! here's what I would consider the one of all time for three different types of character behating

1. while everyone else is pondering whether loghain or meredith is the best villain in the series (we know it's not corypheus) my answer is—elthina, actually. the way in which she wields soft power and deflects blame is compelling to me. we're told that loghain and meredith were both very intelligent and tactical individuals, but then for the sake of hamming it up and going full villain mode—to ensure that the players are all on the same page—they are required to abandon all of that and go off the rails, and that's just not a satisfying villain for me. elthina represents the insidious corruption at the heart of the chantry that allows deep injustices to destroy a community so much more completely for me than anyone else. very cool of her to die in a fiery explosion. <3

2. the character that I would say I have the deepest distaste for on a metatextual level would be cullen. when it was announced that he was returning as not just a major character but as a softboy romantic lead I was filled with such dread lmao. his role in the series really is a perfect encapsulation of everything I find distasteful about how inquisition sacrificed the series' established approach to the setting for the sake of uwu grey morality at the expense of literally everything but the chantry. no thank you, I don't know this man.

3. the only companion I strictly refuse to recruit is oghren. I don't know this man. I don't care about any of his positive qualities. he means nothing to me.

[antivanplumage]

da worldstate questionnare by @fromthedaswithlove because i started chewing on a lot of these so hard that i decided i wanted to do it all

part 1: general

Do you have a favorite worldstate to play in? If so, what about it makes it your favorite?

i'm so new to DA (read: about a year in) that i only have the one worldstate fully fleshed out! it's my main one i'm always posting about - talya surana, moira hawke, jowan aka 'levyn keyes,' and nero de riva

i'm cooking another one though , it's a worldstate that's started by brosca + aeducan as joint wardens. probably inquisitor cadash too, that was my first inquisitor idea before jowan came in with the steel chair. i loooove dwarves i'm just a mage freak first and i had to pick a side.

Does your worldstate have a name? If so, why did you pick it?

'kinloch hold and its consequences.' which is, like, a joke name, but i'm a big fan

talya starts it and plants the seed of revolution in both anders and justice's mind (conclusions they would've drawn anyways, but they're a lot more motivated by her words in my worldstate.)

moira supports anders, of course, but the spectre of her once supposedly anti-chantry second cousin eiluned amell also hangs over their relationship the entire time.

jowan is then motivated by the memory of eiluned, the parting words of talya, and the stories of anders.

nero is far less connected to the three, but their life was still shaped by templars in ferelden even before they were born. and also like. they're talya's closest surviving blood relative yknow

Is your worldstate pro-mage or pro-templar? Is it mixed?

pro-mage all the way, baby. nero's so disconnected from their identity as a mage that they don't have much of an opinion, but when push comes to shove, they'd still end up pro-mage. even if it's mostly out of self preservation

What is one thing that you like the most about your worldstate?

i really like how everything i wrote about my mages naturally tied itself back into the narrative without having to change much.

What are some changes you made to your worldstate that you want to talk about the most?

lesbian sex dark ritual. also um. the entire existence of jowan as inquisitor?

Do you have a shared worldstate? What kind of adventures do your protagonists get up to?

not yet, but!! my tabris, my amell, and my mahariel all play roles in the main one. levia tabris is still alive, and is now a shadow dragon after following the captured alienage elves to tevinter. eiluned amell was made tranquil, but her tranquility sparks a lot of jowan and talya's worldview. (also she might come out of it. haven't decided yet.) arileth mahariel is dead, but merrill was deeply deeply deeply in love with her.

the rest of the questions are ones that can be answered for each protagonist, so it'll be in their individual posts

[brennacedria]

First one from general, 1 and 2 for Warden?l, 6 for Hawke, 12 for Inquisitor, and 17 for Rook :)

Ah! It took a week, but I got this one done! Everything's under the cut, because it obviously got LONG.

GENERAL

Do you have a favorite worldstate to play in? If so, what about it makes it your favorite? Almost everything I play is in the worldstate based around my canon Warden, Elissa Margaret Cousland. That includes her, a Queen Cousland Warden Commander; Ria Hawke, a purple, mage-loving rogue; Vrania Amell, a non-Warden apostate/former maleficar turned Inquisition agent; Mika Trevelyan, Inquisitor; Kaela Mercar, Rook; and Sofia de Riva, a non-Rook little sister to Viago, who functions as his liaison to the Lighthouse. The one unifying band around all of these girls is a fierce pro-mage, pro-freedom stance in pretty much all ways.

WARDEN

How did the first few days after Ostagar feel like? Numb. For all practical purposes, Elissa was numb from the moment she left Highever. In a sick way, she was grateful for the new senses she'd gained from the Joining, because they gave her something to focus on other than everything that happened--the attack, the Joining itself, and the betrayal. She doesn't break down for the first time until meeting Leandra in Lothering, when Leandra recognizes her as Eleanor's child.

How does the Warden feel about the Deep Roads? The Fade? The Deep Roads initially overwhelm her, as the call of the archdemon is so much stronger there than above ground. It's intoxicating in a way, and when they first witness the archdemon at Bownammar she's so drunk on it that she tries to attack then and there, and has to be stopped before she jumped over the edge of the chasm. The Fade… was literally a nightmare. She never had any experience with it outside of the one time in during the Blight, so breaking that hold is the only time she's familiar with it.

HAWKE

How does your Hawke deal with losing Leandra? Not well. In both Ria's canon and her alt versions, she closes herself off in ways, at least for a while. In canon, she continues to work but stops coming out socially for a while. Because they can see her and see how she seems to be, no one worries more than would be usual and they give her space to heal. For her alternate, though… that's the version of her where Bethany died in the Deep Roads, and once Leandra's gone Ria thinks she has NOTHING. She's the last Hawke. She shuts herself away entirely. Years before, when Bethany died, Elthina sent Sebastian to keep up with Leandra during the mourning period. Later, when Leandra passes and Sebastian has already gotten close to Hawke, he takes it on himself to do the same for Ria. She's so bad off that he ends up moving into a guest room to be nearby at all times, and stays there until well enough after the Arishok fight that people started to talk.

INQUISITOR

How does your Inquisitor feel about Blackwall’s reveal? Mika knows nothing of the Wardens, and had no reason to doubt him until everything came to light. She… wasn't HURT by the reveal, in that she didn't have an attachment to him or his story… but she did believe him, so there was still a feeling of betrayal in a professional sense. She ended up sentencing him to the Wardens, because everyone told her that was a thing she had the authority to do, and accepted him back on the condition that he turn himself in to the Order after the ordeal with Corypheus was over.

ROOK

If Rook could switch factions, which one would they join? What would their reason be? Kaela will probably eventually end up working with the Crows in one way or another, probably some sort of administrative thing. Maybe she'll become liaison from House Dellamorte to the other talons the same way Sofia already functions as Viago's liaison.

[blackjackkent]

Hector: 1

Karlach: 18

Jaheira: 3

Astarion: 17

All the faves, and Astarion for variety, haha.

(Headcanon Meme)

Excellent :D

1. Holiday headcanon for Hector

As I explored a bit in The Mystery of the Night, Selunite worship has a lot of rituals but don't really seem to have too much in the way of real celebratory holidays - and certainly not any that were celebrated with particular festivity in the monastery where Hector grew up. Karlach, conversely, grew up in the Outer City which had plenty of official holidays and probably lots of less official block parties and general celebration. They talk a lot about this during their time fighting the Absolute and afterwards in Avernus; Karlach always points up when it's a holiday back in the Gate, no matter where they happen to be, and finds some way to celebrate. Hector doesn't have many ideas in this regard but is always excited to help her with whatever she comes up with because it makes her so happy to think about.

18. Favorite possession headcanon for Karlach

Oh. This one has the potential to be sad, because anything Karlach considered a favorite possession prior to the Hells is lost to her now.

I'm gonna go with a fluffy idea instead though. Living in Avernus with Hector and Wyll is a pretty rough time sometimes, especially given the heat - Hector commented at one point that it makes cuddling with her feel like they're sitting in a blast furnace, and all of them spend basically every moment sweat-soaked and feeling gross.

However, they are also friends with one of the greatest evocation wizards of the Forgotten Realms. Sometime after the epilogue party, a courier comes along the tenuous supply line they manage to set up from the material plane, bearing a gift from Gale - an enchanted stone which can produce a liter of cold water and keep it chilled for an hour, or chill the air of a room for an hour, once per day. This immediately becomes the most treasured possession of their little guerilla hideout in the House of Hope; each person gets it for one day on a cycle, and Karlach only semi-jokingly states that she will go on a mad rampage if her turn is ever skipped.

3. Sleeping headcanon for Jaheira

"One day, I will sit down," Jaheira says occasionally in her ambient dialogue, and she's only half joking. She's a half-elf so her long rests are officially the full 8 hours but even on her best days she rarely gets more than six hours of sleep, and more often four to five. Her sleep is relatively peaceful - though occasionally plagued by brutal nightmares that seem to come out of nowhere and leave as rapidly as they came - but once she wakes, she can rarely get back to sleep. She and Astarion are often both up in the middle of the night as a result; he steers clear of her as a general rule but does watch her with a certain amount of curiosity when he thinks she isn't paying attention.

17. Soft spot headcanon for Astarion

Buddy the owlbear cub is Astarion's first actual experience of softness. (Certainly in Hector's worldstate he doesn't really get any from Hector until late Act 1 when Hector starts to feel more comfortable with everything.) At first, Astarion sees him as a potential meal, but the kibosh is put on that immediately when Hector makes it clear that the beast is staying as a pet. So Astarion mostly tries to avoid Buddy until he realizes that Buddy can help him hunt other animals to feed on, but even then he sees it as a more transactional partnership.

Buddy doesn't see it that way though. Buddy thinks they are friends! So Astarion starts waking up from his trances finding Buddy all fluffed up at his side or next to his head or under his leg. And he realizes that it's oddly comforting and reminds him of some pet he had in the life he has almost forgotten, before he knew the name Cazador.