#TALES OF UNDERWHELMING IRONY FROM THE AGE OF MAGIC AND IRON

[thebongomediaempire]

Ah, thhe days of being a disaffected youth... Sitting alone in my basement, reading stories of fantasy and adventure that, in real life, would kill all involved from Cholera or Tetanus in the ffirst chapter..!

[maripr]

So. Your favourite Dragon Age character(s) and ships! And why you like them (if you want). :D

Thank you! /o/This may be long… or not. Depending on my language skills at the moment (it’s 1AM here tho I don’t really wanna go to bed)Let me preface this by saying: I love everyone. There’s probably no companion I truly dislike, even if I have some problems with a few of them (like Alistair. Sorry, Alistair)Anyway, in no particular order:The entire cast of Dragon Age 2. I’m serious. This game grew immensely on me and, though I may still not call it my favorite of the saga (I would say Origins is), it certainly has my favorite story and characters. I don’t know wheter to include Hawke or not, cause they can be characterized however the player wants, but as an archetipe? I fucking love Hawke. Because they embody the tragic Hero of ancient Greece. They’re destined to fail, no matter what they do, because Fate it’s a force not even Gods can’t oppose.Ahem, sorry, my inner classicist geek is getting over me. But, all in all, DA2 has the plot of a greek tragedy.Anyway, back on characters, I would say I love Fenris the most, not only out of DA2 but out of the whole franchise. Something about his story resonated deeply with me and I love his possible recovery, it’s a powerful tale of a man, who was broken in all the ways possible, finding a new place in life and also people to connect with (my personal fav character development for him is him fighting alongside Hawke to defend mages, but I’m biased because the mage ending is my favorite).I repeat I really love everyone in this game, but I should also name Merrill and Anders. Merrill because I find her to be extremely strong despite what everyone (even the fandom, sometimes, thinks of her) and honestly, the fact that she keeps wanting the best for the people who actively antagonize her (Fenris, Anders, I’m looking at you guys) is the kind of ideal I aspire to, in terms of spirituality but also practical life (because grudges only make me feel like shit, lol).And, after some details about blood magic (which I’m an apologist of, because that thing saved my party numerous times in DAO, lmao) and Eluvians in Inquisition, I love the irony that… well, it’s actually debatable on who you ask, but I really think Merrill was right about everything, lol.So I wanna see her back in DA4, so she can see that Eluvians actually work and maybe flip off everyone who ever thought of her like an irresponsible child (she would never flip someone off, because she’s too much of a cutie for that).Now, Anders. Effing Anders. I actually despides him in Awakening, thinking he was only a watered down clone of Alistair, and I was neutral on him in DA2. But then he made the Chantry explode. An action I actually condemn.But that action and his whole reasoning behind it made me fall in love with him because… damn, what a fucking masterpiece of tragic (and he too may be considered tragic as Greek tragedy Tragic now that I think of it) character he is.I’m not keen on the “Anders did nothing wrong” interpretation a big part of the fandom has of him, and I even reblogs some critical meta on him from time to time. But I truly find him grandiose as a character, in a “God, what a beautiful failure of a human being he is” kind on way (no offense to his fans).I just wish his rival romance was better written, orz.Moving on the other games.From Origins, I love Zevran the most. Second fav in the saga. What resonated with him is similar to what made me fall for Fenris, I guess I’m big on Former Slave Discovers Freedom (you’ll also see this with my third fave).Zevran also has this thing of hiding his feelings under a smiley façade that... uugh i really love.From Origins, I also Love Leliana, but I actually think I love her more in Inquisition, because I adore her as the scarred spymaster.Loghain is also a big fav of mine. Guess I love assholes who really believe, in their own fucked up way, they’re doing the right thing (for the record, I dont’ condemn him on his decision of leaving the battle at Ostagar. I am, however, really not ok with him selling elves as slaves).And then there’s Sten, the original husbando. I was so disappotinted when I learned I could not romance him, lmao.From Inquisition, the two that get me the most are Iron Bull and Solas.Iron Bull, I would say, is the third out of my absolute favorites, but Solas at this point may come right after him.Iron Bull was actually the first thing I knew about Dragon Age, so I’ve always been fond of him, lol. Then playing and romancing him made me fall hard. You know, Former Slave, and also a big softie and very inteligent and with hidden depths. I’m so interested in his background as a spy. You usually imagine spies as being small people that don’t realy look interestin, and here’s a giant, bombastic man with a huge pair of horns and an eyepatch. I love it.Solas. Here’s another Tragic character, and another asshole who actually thinks he’s doing the right thing. Bonus points for fixing a huge mistake by making an even bigger mistake. You go, Solas.And also, I’m in love with the fact he’s basically Loki. Love the trickster archetype. Super interesting.Now, this actually got super long. And tumblr is being an idiot and won’t let me do a read more. Apologies to you guys’ dashes. I’ll try to be brief with the ships.So, before Dragon Age, I wasn’t big on OC/Canon characters ships, but DA being a fantasy dating sim, they are a big part of what I ship now. For each OC/Canon Character, I have headcanons that may not fit with the vision some other fan has of that particulas ship, and that’s super interesting to me, I love reading different interpretations. But my headcanons are for another post. Maybe.Anyway, my favorite ships with OCs areZevran/Warden, Leliana/Warden, Loghain/Warden (unromanceable characters never bothered me anyway), Anders/rival!Hawke (I actually found the actual rivalmance a bit underwhelming in terms of writing, so my headcanons about are different), Fenris/friend!Hawke (bonus if Hawke’s a mage, because, again, I’m biased), Merrill/Hawke, Isabela/Hawke, Sebastian/Male!Hawke (also completely based on headcanons), Iron Bull/Inquisitor (bonus if Adaar but also Cadash), Solas/Lavellan (because I’m cliché) and Dorian/Inquisitor.

For NPC/NPC ships my favorite at the moment is Merrill/Fenris and I’m so alone in this, lmao. Everyone out there shipping fenders, which I can’t see at all (no offense) and here I am in my small boat, thinking that Fenris and Merrill are actually somewhat similar and if the huge, HUGE, wall of bloodmagic being the highest on Fenris’ list of triggers for very obious and very reasonable reasons, somehow becomes less evident, Merrill is the one mage outside of mage!Hawke who Fenris could actually trust (y’know, Merrill never once called him a beast - like Anders did). I want to write all the tings but nobody to tell *sob*.Also, Fenris/Isabela. Also, Merrill/Isabela. Also Fenris/Isabela/Merrill. Also, the three of them are my actual “canon” polyship with my main Hawke.Sebastian/Anders I like because of the twisted, and badwrong potential. So is Meredith/Orsino.Cassandra/Varric is another favorite, because I adore how their relationship develops and they would be absolutely the cutest.Then there’s Morrigan/Alistais as sitcom enemies.And last but not least, Krem/Cole. With potential OT3 with Maryden. Phew, I think it’s all of them. Thanks again for asking.