#my fucking dalish boy like

[pinacoladamatata]

blink and you'll miss it moments around skyhold....

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Okay so. I've been sitting on my full first impressions of the game until after the gameplay reveal, cos I know shit can get twisted in marketing.

I was NOT a fan of the trailer. The vibe was off; I cringed a lot; it gave a off very bog-standard hero team saves the day kind of vibe which I inherently dislike because it seems like Dragon Age has just given up on giving you the freedom to be a bastard, or any kind of character that isn't on rails to be everyone's favourite boy. It also failed to bring any dark fantasy to the table. BUT I know from experience, namely the DA2 trailer (not the CGI one. the other one), that marketing is intent on making Dragon Age look like the goofiest shit possible to appeal to the dregs of society (normies). I watched it. Hated it. Moved on to life stuff.

Now with the gameplay reveal out of the way, I have some more solid takes on everything we now know about the game overall.

Things I liked:

The companions all look pretty cool; I've been excited for Devrin for years now, and seeing that he's a Dalish Elf as well as a Warden is quite exciting to see; everyone else are also not only well designed but don't feel like rehashes of our previous companions (apart from Harding)

The return of multiple weapon sets. Thank fucking god. This may even make archer a viable build again. Also I noted that you only have a set number of arrows which the UI tracks, which I'm a huge fan of

The look and style of Minrathous. I like that Bioware is showing their hard work in coming up with a unique area based entirely around magic-tech and I think the result looks great; I am really intrigued by the dark panopticon vibes and hope that becomes a major theme going forward

Different demon designs. I hope there's a bit more variation as the game progresses, but I liked little details like the Pride demons having some kind of armour aesthetic

Dialogue wheel. No notes; she's here, still the same comforting presence as ever. Praying with fingers crossed that it doesn't turn into a super bland protagonist situation like Inquisition

Choosing a faction in character creation that isn't locked to one's race; this one is a really cool idea and if origins don't come back it can be a decent alternative if the reactivity to your choice is the same as in the prologue

Things I didn't like:

Action wheel. Like. I'm a PC person, so I have no idea what the final UI will actually look like for me. But Bioware hasn't elaborated on their UI style at all and if Inquisition is anything to go by, I'm stuck with shitty console-centred UI for the whole game. I would rather just have the ability bar back, for my sanity.

The two-person companion limit. It automatically restricts people into a specific party build depending on their class and I hate that

The Mass Effect-style gameplay. Party tactics was a HUGE draw to the DA series for me, and is what got me into retro RPGs in the first place. Seeing it replaced completely to the point where we can no longer manually manage our party is a huge disappointment. I am willing to keep an open mind, just because I love Mass Effect that much, but it hurts knowing for a certainty I'm never gonna engage with Veilguard like I did with Origins or 2 as a result

The voice acting. Was this an out of date take, or did everyone sound super flat to anyone else? Especially Neve, who didn't seem to know what she was reacting to, just really wooden. It was disappointing, cos I love her voice overall. Wasn't a fan of Rook's voice but I don't plan to play a man anyway

The breaking pots method of looting. This is gonna feel like such a nitpick but I immediately pulled a face seeing that cos I could TELL some suit somewhere asked the Bioware team to "make it more like breath of the wild" and now for some reason it's not dynamic enough to just click on a crate and choose what loot to take; now Tevinters are storing exactly one (1) random health potion in decorative clay jars around the city (more likely than you think!)

The aesthetic of the veil and spirit stuff so far; it's just all a bit bright and noisy, doesn't really grab me as something fun to explore or fight (again, I'm an Origins girly so I'm biased)

Harding coming back. I know she's cool and everyone likes her and I like her too. In Inquisition. This is just a preference, but if I'm gonna start a new game as a new person I don't want to be inheriting pre-bought friends from the last protagonist ://

Things I HATE:

Why does everyone look like play-doh; it's disconcerting.

Like guys I know DA2 is having a renaissance but I don't think anyone was getting nostalgic over everyone's pudding faces.

Everything put out so far has basically crushed any hope I had for this becoming Dwarf age :/ No new dwarf characters, no mention of Kal-Sharok, Harding being the only dwarf companion basically confirms that dwarves will be unromanceable AGAIN. not a fan

TLDR: This is still definitely not a day-one buy for me. The series has just strayed completely from the genre and format that I loved about the previous games into a full action RPG derivative of games from four years ago. Without the focus on party tactics and the low-tech, dark and gritty worldbuilding from the first two games it just fails to excite me. It looks too much like other games for me to really register it as a Dragon Age game.

I love the story and the world of Dragon Age though, so I do still intend to buy it when it goes on sale, but this is definitely a "wait and see the reviews" situation for me, which is a first when it comes to this series :/

[crossdressingdeath]

Oh. Right. I'd forgotten about that fun little conversation where Cullen tells Cassandra to nominate a new commander and she refuses. And there's no opportunity to say "No, you don't get to make that call, you will nominate a new commander, that is an order". Genuinely, for all that Quiz is supposedly the most powerful person in Thedas it really does feel like they're trapped under the advisors' and Cassandra's control! This is my organization, Cullen is my commander (against my will, but even so); why the fuck does Cassandra get the final say on whether or not Meredith's right-hand-man currently going through withdrawal stays as commander?! Shouldn't that be the decision of... oh, I don't know, the Inquisitor?!

For once in his entire fucking life Cullen is putting someone else above himself. He looks at himself and his situation and says "No, this is not a position I should be in, it's not good for me or the Inquisition", and Bioware chooses this occasion to not let the player side with their special, special boy? The one time he's actually right? He's going through withdrawal. For five whole seconds it seems to actually be affecting him. He's not in any state to be leading armies and he knows it. And beyond that I reiterate my usual point of Meredith's second-in-command, leader of her death squads already being quite possibly the worst possible choice for a prominent member of the Inquisition if they want to appear even neutral in the mage/Templar conflict, which as a peacekeeping force they really should. He shouldn't be commander, and now he doesn't want to be commander, and if you like him it's also clear that it's getting increasingly unhealthy for him to be commander, so why can't Quiz just tell Cassandra that she doesn't get to just decide that their commander should be a high-ranking Templar going through withdrawal?! She should not have that power! She isn't even one of the Inquisitor's official advisors or seconds-in-command, much less the one in charge! It's not good for Cullen to be in such a high-stress position, it's not good for the Inquisition to have one of the leaders of the atrocities in Kirkwall in such a prominent role, and if your Inquisitor is a mage (or an elf, given the whole thing about Templars being sent in to harass and sometimes slaughter the Dalish for the local lord/the Chantry) it's not good for them to be forced to work so closely with someone who was part of the group largely responsible for oppressing them and who still clearly shares the beliefs of that group! He shouldn't be the commander for so many reasons, and many Inquisitors have good reason not to want him as the commander, so why does Cassandra get to unilaterally decide that he stays?

[kcwriter-blog]

WIP tag game <3

tagged by @broodwolf221 thank you <3 I actually have something to share :-)

@arlathvhenan @kierarhawke @rosieofcorona @freesidexjunkie

Varric eyed her over his tankard. "You had to go for the broody elf."

"I thought we weren't talking about that," Theneras said testily, running an index finger through the drops of wine she had spilled. 

"Fair enough." Varric held his hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't invite you here to re-open old wounds." 

Changing the subject he asked, "Have you heard anything from Dorian, lately?"

Theneras scoffed. "Two days ago, he sent me another interminable tome about the Veil, written by some long-dead and probably deluded Tevinter Magister.” She sighed in exasperation.

“By special messenger, I assume.” Varric was aware of the mage's predilection for playing matchmaker where she was concerned. 

She rolled her eyes. “If you mean a pretty boy in fashionable clothes with bedroom eyes, then, yes. I politely told him to take himself back to Tevinter." Her smile turned predatory. "Well, I might not have been quite so polite.”

“He means well," Varric said, shaking his head in amusement. "Solas never deserved you. It's time you realized that, found someone worthy of you. Someone not planning to remake the world. You have to get on with your life.”

“By taking someone else into my bed? Just like that?” She frowned in annoyance. “It's not that simple. Besides, all of Dorian's 'messengers' are humans.”

“Well, he can hardly send you elven slaves," Varric pointed out. "What do you have against humans, anyway?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Well, no. You are Dalish to the core." Varric set his tankard down, placed a gentle hand over hers. "But you've made some human friends. They could be more than friends, if you know what I mean. I’m pretty sure Cullen or Rainer would be more than happy to help you get over him."

She shuddered. “I have no problem with humans as friends. I just don’t want one in my bed.”

“Not even for the experience?”

“What experience?" she said, her tone mocking. "If I want to fuck a carpet, there’s a perfectly good rug in my sitting room.”

“Ouch. That’s harsh.” He ran a hand over his own magnificent pelt.

“Why?" she said irritably. "Just because humans think elven women are exotic doesn't mean we return the favor. In addition to an excess of body hair, their ears are all wrong.”

“Is that really a problem?”

“In the bedroom? She gave Varric a mischievous glance full of innuendo. "Absolutely.” 

[legoprime]

Was having thoughts earlier about how many people the Inquisitor meets who have direct connections with the HoF (Leliana, the Warden contact potentially, Morrigan) and had a moment realizing my boy Lorenn probably has no fucking idea who Loghain is.

Hawke's like "We need to go chat with Loghain" and Lorenn's like "sure okay" and it's not until halfway through Crestwood that one of his companions, probably Blackwall for maximum hilarity, is like, "Excuse me Inquisitor, did Hawke say Loghain? As in the Hero of River Dane? As in the traitor of Ostagar, the man who left King Cailan to die and started the Fereldan Civil War, who the Hero of Ferelden defeated in one-on-one combat and then conscripted into the Wardens? That Loghain??"

Lorenn: "..."

Blackwall: "Not the sort of story that interests the Dalish I'm guessing"

Lorenn: "No not really"

[jazzmckay]

oc tag meme!

tagged by @lyriumlullaby-ao3 to talk about an oc :>

here is one of my inquisitors from dai!

NAME: el of clan lavellan

NICKNAME: just el. el is already a shortened version of their given name because they're nonbinary and their given name has too strong of a gender vibe

GENDER: afab nonbinary

TAROT/ZODIAC: the knight of wands (upright: action, courage, energetic, rebellious, hot tempered. reversed: reckless, impatient, impulsive, volatile, domineering). and idk, aries?

HEIGHT: i never think about height idk whatevers average for elf

ORIENTATION: queer. in what way? wouldnt you like to know, weather boy

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: dalish elf

FAVORITE FRUIT: lemon

FAVORITE SEASON: autumn. they're more comfortable in cooler weather, but they also don't love how cold it gets in the south for winter

FAVORITE FLOWER: sorry to say el barely thinks twice about plants in general. they do NOT stop to smell the roses

FAVORITE SCENT: i may have picked the wrong character for this lol literally the one oc with the defined trait "dull sense of smell"

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: coffee. they like it bitter

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: at least 7, then five more minutes, and then lying about for a bit because if someone makes them move too fast they're gonna start biting

DOGS OR CATS: both are okay, but more of a dog person. they like the energy, the ability to have them as a combat companion, that sort of thing. cats tend to mind their own business though so el's cool with them

DREAM TRIP: regrettably, seheron. only place that both piques their interest and is worth exploring in their opinion, but of course. there is a war there, so

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: 2 max or they'll start to feel like theyre drowning in it

RANDOM FACT: when they're pissed off, they like to fuck or spar if they're willing to interact with other people, and if they don't want to deal with anyone, they go to the undercroft to make new weapons. harritt and dagna know to leave them alone unless they ask for something

---

tagging! @streganicha @thelaughingmagician @inscrutable-shadow and @broodwolf221 yes i know youve done it already but if youre up for round two, give us another :3

[da2supremacy]

You mentioned DA roleplaying and I have to ask, how is that done? Do you use your characters from games? Make up a less important oc? Self insert?

So back in the day I was on three different invionsfree forums that were more or less ran and populated by the same core of people. A couple people were on one that weren't on another but the main players were all present on each one. Honestly, I might still follow some of them on my main tumblr but it's been so many years and so many url changes that I do not know who any of them are anymore lmao. Shout out it's Dylvon here, ya'll.

Anyway the subject of the RP changed based on the forum. Picking up a canon character or Warden Origin was done with an application. It was generally first come first serve. To play an OC you just made the character and ran with it. The beauty of forums meant that many threads could be going on at once and simply placed in a time line. This could all be meticulously organized so it really ended up feeling like you were one of many moving pieces in a puzzle. You could have NPCs that weren't yet in the story actually playing out what we knew them to be doing at the time of XYZ event in the game. Like on Reckoning while the Warden group was in Redcliff we were playing out Uldred's rebellion in a thread called, so very cleverly, "Breaking Circle". The three forums were as follows.

Reckoning: A re imagining of Origins with every origin surviving and every character from the franchise somehow in Ferelden to stop the blight. It was a mix of OCs and canon characters. I played Neria Surana. There was also a Solona Amell. We split the origin between us. Neria was the one that ratted Jowan out to my boy Irving. Solona was the one that actually liked Jowan. I believe we had Solona go to Ostagar with Wynne while Neria was excused from her business with Jowan bc the timeline shifted it closer to Uldred's nonsense. I was around for the start of this one and while Tabris is and shall always be my main Warden Surana is close to my heart simply bc I enjoyed being *this* Surana. Somnium: An Au. I went to college around the time this one was starting so I actually don't remember it's premise very well. It had something to do with the fade. I was Lyna Mahariel for all of probably four posts.

I forgot what we called the forum for DA2, but it was a standard playthrough of DA2 + some OCs. I played an OC named Elain who was the inspiration for the Inquisitor that was the liveblog at the beginning to this blog . A dalish elf who was taken away from her clan by a group of handsome apostates who she quickly realized would be the death of her. Admittedly, I do not think Elain was my best work in retrospect. Inquisition improved what was a poor character to begin with. A lot of contrived paper thin justifications for why she shared my opinions about various things that by all means she should not have shared. I was also in the middle of my Conservative Deprogramming so the takes were not hot. I was the designated "unpleasant character enjoyer" and therefore the only one that could play Petrice and Marethari straight. I understand Petrice. She is abhorrent but I understand her. Defending Marethari as a fool but maybe not the devil incarnate prepared me for being a Solas enjoyer.

If I were to make one now the premise I'd probably go with is "Inquisition agents doing the war table missions" with the honored Canon character positions being Sutherland and his posse, any named Inquisition agent in a war table briefing and any given member of The Chargers. Special mentions for Rylen, Charter and whoever the hell ran the base you can take in the other Orlesian map.

As for how people RP DA NOW?

Fuck if I know man. This was all happening in 2011. I've been out of the creating things part of the fandom for years. If anyone still RPs in DA give me a call and the low down.

[sesshy380]

Your ask fed the brainworm soooo nice, so I'm returning the favor! No pressure if you don't want to answer all of them tho!

1, 2, 4-8, 12, 15, 28, 29, 41, 42, 49, 64, 101

Yay! Lot's of DA questions!

1- How did you get into Dragon Age?

I honestly don’t remember. I vaguely recall looking through the games section at Walmart and seeing it. Don’t remember if I’d heard about it before that, or if it just looked interesting so I decided to give it a go. I don’t even remember if I had it for PC or Xbox originally (though I have a feeling it was for PC for some reason). All I know is I somehow decided to buy the game and fell in love with it.

2- Have you finished all three games?

Technically, yes. I finished all of what was available for Inquisition prior to the DLC releases. I think that’s the only one I haven’t played the DLC’s for (though I do own them).

4- What was your first Warden (gender/class/race/personality)?

First Warden, oh boy. I want to say Female Dalish Rogue? As far as personality, I could not tell you. I played it when it first came out, and I’ve replayed that game more times than I can count.

5- What was your first Hawke like (gender/class/temperament)?

This one I do remember. I am very much a Purple Hawke person (is there any other?). And Rogue ofc, bc I like collecting all the things, which means I don’t like depending on others to (unsuccessfully) open chests.

6- First Inquisitor (gender/class/race/personality)?

Another Dalish Rogue (I really like the Dalish, okay). I did one thing different though, this one was a MALE Dalish Rogue. His personality was very ‘I’m here, this sucks, but going to make the best of it, because wtf else am I supposed to do?’.

7- Favorite DA:O backstory?

All? I honestly have a really hard time starting new DA:O playthroughs simply because the origins are my favorite part. Especially when you come across all the little easter eggs later on from not only the origin you choose, but also the others that you don’t.

8- Preferred class overall?

So, I usually do my 1st playthrough of a new game as a rogue because I like the ability to open chests, but I actually like playing as a mage.

12- Do you prefer DA:O, DA2, or DA:I most?

Unpopular opinion time. I like DA2 the best. The day/night cycle thing is annoying, but unlike a lot of people, I don’t have a problem with reused maps. It makes it easier to find those nooks and crannies that have things hidden in them. The story though…it is one of those angsty ones that I just can’t tear myself away from. Like, I know what’s coming, and each time it still manages to just rip my heart out for poor Hawke.

15- Favorite DA:O companion overall?

It’s a close tie between Zevran and Shale. Zevran is…well…he’s called the Antivan Sex Pest for a reason lol. Shale is pretty much the Hulk. Point at something/someone you want destroyed, and I swear they rush over, kicking their feet like a giddy school girl lol.

28- Inquisitor’s feelings on being the Herald of Andraste?

I’ve only played one Inquisitor that took the role seriously. The rest were like ‘Ummm…this isn’t even my religion? I don’t even believe in the Maker? WTF???’. I even had one human Inquisitor that was very much atheist (he was my Dorian romance), and he absolutely hated the title.

29- What are your feelings on the Chantry?

I am torn between ‘Anders’ solution was a bit extreme’ and ‘Anders did nothing wrong’, and leave it at that.

41- Who did you romance in your first playthrough for each game?

Origins- Alistair

DA2- Anders

Inquisition- Cassandra (hardest romance imo and will never do it again)

42- Who do you wish you could romance that you can’t?

Varric. Fuck you Bianca (The bitch that dared threaten me, not the crossbow. The crossbow stays during sex lol)

49- Something you do in EVERY DA playthrough, no matter what?

I’m a completionist, so I have to recruit and make friends with all the companions. I failed to become friendly enough with Fenris on one playthrough where I was a mage and romancing Anders. I had to fight Fenris in the final battle. I wanted to cry.

64- Favorite achievement?

As much of a completionist as I am, I don’t pay attention to the achievements lol. I honestly can’t name a single one off the top of my head.

101- If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say?

Warden- Don’t trust Zevran when he says he can disable a trap/open a lock. He lies.

Hawk- To hell with buying your mother’s old home. Use that Deep Roads coin and move somewhere that isn’t Kirkwall.

Inquisitor- (Specifically Lavallan) Don’t trust Solas. Stab him in the heart before he stabs you in yours.

101 Dragon Age Questions

[andrewknightley]

final thoughts of my reply of da2 all here to not mega spam

-gosh i remember how shocked i was when i saw the chantry exploting for the first time. i wish i could see myself again. the biggest plot twist of my life. (now replaying anders is like "yeah the potion we pick this and this and bum!" and im like i see what u did there)

-im not a big fan of sebastian and i usually dont bring him around much but goooood i love when he is full of blood telling me how he is gonna come for my bf anders and show us what real justice is. its so epic

-replaying makes me love bethany even more ... my lil sister... i wanted to bring merrill in the final battle but in the end i had to bring bethany with me :_) all the legacy stuff and all the pretending to be happy in the circle because she doesnt wanna be a burden and her complicated feelings about being a mage gosh... i love her

-also i didnt say it here before but merrill mission destroys me everytime its so fucking sad. she did it all for people who loathe her. 6 fucking years in a shitty situation of hey your clan doesnt want your help or the eluvian this is like. bad for everyone ToT she could had spend all that energy with the city elvves and she admits she didnt even pay that much attention cause she has the "we the dalish are the real elves" thing.... gosh i love merrill and her story and im so sad

-anyways living with all the anders convers but what else is new

-isabela friendship is also a thing i treasure very much GOSH i love it...

-fenris saying im his only friend when i know he hangs out to play cards with varric and aveline's husband and isabela like what are u saying boy

-orsino turning to blood magic at the end of the game its so so stupid it will always be so stupid and made no sense but i know apparently they were forced to add 2 final boss for gameplay and they had to do this shitty story reason but god. awful. he doesnt even fight templars he just fight us like fiojfdigf

-last minute change of heart of cullen could also. be done better dffddf

-IM NOT CALLING YOU A LIAR JUST DONT LIE ON ME (cries)

-best credits

-anyways im emotionally destroyed i wish there was another dragon age to play but alas i have to wait for veilguard

(now for reals there are some stuff i would play inquisition again for, but god i think about the open world and walking and walking wthout nothing and the missions and ugghhhh)

-im gonna replay the emotional anders scenes now

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

Happy birthday!

💬 (what is this about DA characters I'm hearing? Can you show/describe them and their personalities?)

In order: Armin, Lancelot and Amaya. Hawke is just Hawke so I didn't put him here.

I'm sorry, this is... long :'D

Armin Surana

He's my mage Warden. Born to a Dalish clan, he developed his powers at an early age. Unfortunately for him, his clan already had a few mages so they gave him to another clan living nearby. Being a young boy who very much didn't understand why his people didn't want him anymore, he decided that he didn't like his new clan and ran away. Eventually he found himself in a village where Greagoir discovered him after he set his own hair on fire out of anger. And Greagoir being a Templar, he brought the kid to the Circle of Magi where the story starts when you chose that origin.

Honestly his life in the Circle was actually pretty good. Past the few first months, he managed to find his place and didn't particularly want to leave after his Harrowing. If not for Jowan, he was mostly set on becoming First Enchanter at some point in his life.

And I think Alistair was very lucky that the only surviving Grey Warden save for himself actually enjoyed leading and already had a strategic mind.

Though mostly Armin is fairly diplomatic, merciful and patient. He does have strong opinions about certain things, but is careful about which ones he publicly expresses and which ones are for his inner circle only.

I do think though that not a lot of people figured him as the kind of people to become Zevran's fuck buddy... and to eventually settle with Morrigan (and their son).

By the time Awakening happened, he was a changed man. More military leader than idealistic Grey Warden, still driven by the will to help others, but as you can imagine, having to sacrifice the citizens of Amaranthine didn't help him sleep at night. Although I think that knowing he'd do it again if the need arose was really what made him look at what he'd become and decide he needed to take a break from that kind of responsibilities.

Hence why he purposefully doesn't return in Inquisition. He didn't trust himself to not be more ruthless than actually needed.

(Please don't pay attention to the tattoos, I didn't know he would've needed to be an adult in a Dalish clan to have them since it's not explained in the Character Creator. Also he was meant to look East Asian but the CC is... well, it exists.)

Lancelot Cousland

My second Warden, a Warrior this time because I wanted to replay all three games as pro-Templar this time. And what better for this than to start with a young and charming noble who mostly succeeded in everything he attempted, except for, you know, saving his entire family.

I'm not yet done with him (currently nearing the Landsmeet) but he's grown more serious, albeit still joking and occasionally teasing people, and also increasingly interested in having a say in how Ferelden is ruled. I'm still not entirely sure how to go to make him marry Anora but that's the plan XD

Overall, he's charming, smart and resourceful man, albeit still a bit entitled as you'd expect from a handsome and rich young noble (though he's not exactly rich at the moment).

He believes in Andraste and the Maker like Armin does, but while Armin wasn't much of a practitioner outside of asking for a Blessing from time to time (never hurts when you need to save the world), Lancelot is more devoted overall and also a lot more wary of magic and mages. He doesn't hate them, however, and always tries to treat people fairly. His upbringing just occasionally gets in the way and blinds him, and he's more likely to seek to maintain the statu quo.

Also Loghain won't survive this play through (he did in my first and Alistair didn't forgive Armin for this, but Armin figured that killing a National Hero wasn't the smartest political choice. Especially not when you're trying to marry your friend to his daughter.)

Lancelot is romancing Leliana, because I want to see what she'll say in Inquisition—and it was the most ic choice for him.

Hawke

I won't go into too much detail about him considering he's a lot more fleshed out in the game than the Warden or Inquisitor. But I chose to play a mage again, and he took the mages' side because really, much as there is a blood mages issue in Kirkwall, the Templars were completely off the rails.

And he's an apostate.

Anders survived my first play through because you don't erase 6 years of friendship this easily, and contrary to Fenris, Anders didn't force him to kill him. They've lost contact since, however. Hawke couldn't forgive him.

He died in my Inquisition playthrough to help Loghain and the Inquisitor get out of the Fade, and it broke my heart. And Varric's.

And Isabela's.

But mostly mine.

I even took a screenshot to whine to one of my friends about it

Amaya Lavellan

A confident young woman, proud of her heritage and the mission of her people to preserve as much of their history as they could, Amaya was never one to entirely reject Humanity but never really trusted them either. Which is, in fact, specifically the reason why she never completely rejected them: she prefers to not blind herself willingly of what humans are doing in the vicinity of her clan.

I purposefully made her less diplomatic than Armin and Hawke, especially in the beginning because she wanted nothing to do with the Inquisition. Once she became the official leader, however, she took her role seriously. But even though she'd been trained to become the next Keeper of her clan, she never felt completely comfortable in her role as the Inquisitor.

Part of that is simply that Amaya wanted nothing to do with anything related to the Maker and the Chantry. Being called the Herald of Andraste kept irking her until the end, though over time she became less vocal about her disliking of the title and more pragmatic about it. She even gave more space to the cult of Andraste in Skyhold, as she figured, with a little bit of Josephine's nudging, that one of the strongest common point between Orlais and Ferelden was a powerful tool to wield to unite both countries against Corypheus.

The other reason why she didn't feel comfortable in her role was simply that the Inquisition grew too big too quickly, and the fallout in Trespasser was honestly not a huge surprise to her (she opted to disband the Inquisition rather than risk corruption again).

But because she has impeccable taste in men, and a purposefully made a female elf to romance Solas, she hm... she couldn't pretend to be surprised that the Inquisition was crumbling onto itself but she was not prepared for him to be the main culprit.

She's still hoping she can make him change his mind.

I also used a mod to be able to romance several people. And she does have impeccable taste in men, so obviously she also romanced Blackwall. And dumped him after learning the truth, though she chose to let him truly become a Grey Warden instead of letting him die or making him lie. Again.

Fortunately, Cullen proved more reliable than her other partners. They eloped in Trespasser.

(She also became a Red Jenny. An excellent way to deal with her anger while still being useful to the people.

It took me a while to figure out while she kept Sera in the Inquisition, considering that Amaya didn't consider her really fit for the job even though she does see Sera as her friend, but eventually it became obvious to me that what made Sera so important was how she never let Amaya lose sight of her priorities. She kept her down-to-earth, and with the power Amaya had at her disposal, someone not afraid to tell her when she started to lost herself in politics was truly precious.)

I'm sorry this is so damn long, but I hope you enjoy learning about them! And thank you so much for the ask, @confusedtia!

[pisscrossiant]

Part two of things I would change about Dragon Age: Origins

I realized I didn't add everything to the first part so second part it is!

BETTER LOOKING ARMOR. I hate how most of the light armors looks the fucking same it's annoying GIVE US SUM VARIETY.

Add the Antivia Crow armor and Leliana's Sister Nightingale armor that you see in the like preview or whatever it was.

Also talking about the armors make it where Morrigan's robes of possession you get from flemeths hut different from her original fit, it's just annoying to me that they changed literally nothing about her new robes besides what it enhances or whatever

Longer hair, I like the hair options but I wish they would've done longer hair, and other hairstyles like braids n shit.

To be able to have like your own little base in denerim, I know that you'd be traveling and stuff and you'd have a camp but a base in Denerim where everyone has their space and bed would be nice, yes they'd be in camp most of the time, but they should have a place they'd actually call "home" if you will.

Softening Morrigan without having to be a dude, like bro let me soften her so she doesn't disapprove of EVERYTHING I do.

If you're a Dalish Warden after the thing with Tamlen at your camp there's a grave where you buried him and a tree sprout from it.

ALSO HAVE THE OPTION TO SAVE TAMLEN. What they did to my boy was so unfair ☹️☹️☹️ like how dare you.

That's all I just wanted to add a few more things I forgot too in my first post I don't think I have anything else I'd want to change so probably my last post of this topic

[vigilskeep]

I don’t know how many times you’ve played night terrors but yeah because any companion you take with high rivalry will refuse to apologize and says something fucked up to, kinda like how the same gifts are received completely differently dependent on your present relationships with companions (versus in origins always contributes to friendship). I think it’s really interesting but it also own of those obvious flaws of basically combining a “rival” system where it’s supposed to be two different people with different values respecting each other but it’s the same route if you both just hate each other especially bc it’s often hawke just being awful to the other person. So it is like why do you hang out beyond game mechanics. But yeah every companion can say something horrible in night terrors, like if you’re rivaling Merrill before the ritual takes place she feels so abandoned by everyone (including hawke and co) especially the Dalish and is incredibly jealous that Marethari would do this for the boy and doesn’t think she would for Merrill that she literally refers to him in racist way, as a “half breed”. I know both Fenris and Isabela blame you for taking them, I don’t think Anders says that messed up since he literally can betray you if you even think about giving the kid to the demon. But everyone else in rivalry is a rollercoaster.

yeah i expected that! it’s less the refusal to apologise which i’d expect from any rival and more that aveline would specifically say that about mages, i think, when although it’s easy to notice what she’s like, she tends to portray and understand herself as more neutral. it’s very uncalled for and sudden; i would expect her to be mad at hawke but the lines abt mages feel like such an open reveal of biases that usually go implied. the pro-mage response is literally “hey what the fuck i thought we were cool on this?”

also, actually merrill will call feynriel a half-breed whether she’s rivalled or not, she’s done that in both my playthroughs. it’s like the only bad thing merrill ever says or does from my perspective lmao but it does make sense for a dalish character. actually opens up a lot of questions about merrill/hawke that i don’t remember getting addressed

as for anders, i have no idea what happens if you deal with torpor but i can’t imagine he apologises? because, like. demon. hawke’s actually the betrayer here. i’m pretty sure he breaks up with you if romanced if you follow through on that deal, right? i read that on the wiki as i was playing. i’d be interested to see what that scene is like

[morgana-ren]

Sounds like I missed put on Zevran. I went into my first DAO playthrough blind and Alistair broke my Dalish heart. Didn't even mean to romance him, couldn't stand him in the beginning, then all of the sudden he got really sweet and I fell. Still working that out in therapy tbh. Also there is no way in heaven, hell, or purgatory that Morrigan is straight, IDC what the code says.

That is literally what I said. I played through the game mostly blind, and only found out a little bit in that I couldn't romance Morrigan because I couldn't initiate her romance, looked it up online, and was told she was straight. I think I went "What a waste" outloud. Both for my playthrough, and for her lmao.

Then I accidentally fell in with Alistair because he gave me a flower and it was really sweet. I had my romance with him for a bit, picked up Zevvy, and then did the whole stupid landsmeet. He broke it off with me, and boy, I was pissed. He wasn't even my type but I gave him a chance because he was so nice and funny-- and then he breaks it off with me because I'm an elf. I called him a little bitch and stopped bringing him anywhere. I genuinely started to like him but all of that went down the drain, even though I technically realized why he broke it off. He asked me to be his mistress and I believe I spit in his face.

I started travelling with Zevran, and we fell in, and boy, I rectified the Alistair mistake fast. I fell hard and fast for Zevran, he confessed (probably a little quicker than he was supposed to because I was most of the way through the game at that point) and then... I died fighting the demon. He was heartbroken. I moved on to DA:2 and it the scene with him is kinda sad when you die. Alistair was also all mopey over it, but fuck him tbh.

This playthrough, I went straight for Zevran (both ways lmao.) He was already at full approval and we were doing the dating thing and I guess it initiated a romance with Alistair too?? (Even though I deliberately avoided those options.) I told Zevran he was the only one for me and busted it off with Alistair because fuck you, dude. Now Alistair is all snarky and shitty with Zevran over it and keeps grilling him for his intentions. Mate, Zevran won't leave because I'm an elf. Get blasted, Ali. My warden stays with him forever and won't die this time.

Honestly, go for Zevran. Like the second he joins the party. 11/10 totally worth it, husband for the ages. He even proposes, technically, and he will stay with you for life. I think it's actually mentioned in the other games as well if you do, especially when he shows up. He'll tell anyone who hits on him that he is 'committed elsewhere' which really sends Isabela for a ride. No one ever thought they'd see Ol' Zevvy tied down I guess, but I managed it.

[vivispec]

hey, i’m bloo/vivi (she/her, 25). feel free to send me asks/message me/tag me in stuff, i always love interaction! icon and sidebar by my bestie @sweetmage

mostly posting dragon age rn (and for the foreseeable future) but i’m also pretty big on bg3, outer wilds, mass effect, zelda, msa, ghibli, ancient magus bride, and lots of other things i pick up and put down. i do a lot of writing for my da ocs which you can find on my ao3 here.

speaking of, here are links to my big completed projects:

reckless momentum (what would hawke do if carver was the warden contact? my submission for the 2024 dragon age big bang with art by @ladyofc)

kindling and set yourself on fire (my DA2 submissions for the wipbigbang with BEAUTIFUL art by @sweetmage)

derecho (my DAI submission for the 2023 dragon age big bang, with AMAZING art by neoendydy)

my whumptober 2022 collection (100% completed because. i have issues.)

under the cut are my dragon age ocs whomst i love dearly, and write about pretty much exclusively! i am a dirty dirty console player so janky quality be upon ye

just realized all but one of these bitches is elves. look. i told you i got issues ok.

here we have my beloved viera’vun ‘viera’ lavellan, my inquisitor and a solasmancer (i am so sorry to her), as well as the oc i write most by far. she was a dalish hunter trained primarily in daggers, later specializing as a tempest. she is a pathfinder at heart whose greatest strengths are her perceptiveness and resilience, while her greatest weaknesses lie in her impulsivity, lack of assurance in her identity, and her tendency to run from her problems. i have a bunch of fucked up aus centered around her and all the situations i put her into! she likes to run, climb, and sing (she is Bad at it). varric calls her ‘finch’.

iloniyn, my most preciousest boy. him and viera are hunting partners as well as (platonic) soulmates, a phenomenon known to the dalish as tael’inan. they are each one half of a whole. iloniyn is incredibly sarcastic, confident, and prickly, but tends to care deeply about those that he considers his people, and gives of himself freely to them (even if he complains while doing it). he is bonded to @sweetmage​‘s oc athimien, likes to whittle, is a great shot, and can play the lute. varric calls him ‘snipe’.

ishme aeducan, a sharp, hard woman who will not be made a fool again. raised to navigate the subtle and dangerous world of dwarven politics, she is incredibly cunning, and often pulling the strings in any given situation. she is softened by alistair, who teaches her how to be a person as she teaches him how to be a king. wields dual blades as a warrior.

taufei! oooh i love taufei. a leader alongside ishme by the end of origins, she is idealistic, friendly, and generally just a chill person to hang with. though content enough to do her own thing, once she sets her sights on something, she does not relent, often leading her into...hairy situations. those situations include wooing a witch of the wilds and having a sweet lil totally-not-in-any-way-shape-or-form-creepy baby with her! yippee! she was the second of her clan, though her magic was never incredibly powerful and, as such, she made her living on making and infusing potions for her clan. she is a skilled herbalist, knows enough archery to protect herself, and actually has really long luscious curls that Do Not Exist in game you are just going to have to trust me okay.

kita tabris. she is...intense. if you are her friend she is kinda just a dudebro. picked up the big sword her mother used to wield and decided to learn how to use it because, hell yeah, big sword (which, as it so happens, is exactly what her mom did). if you are not her friend, she is. intense. finds battle thrilling, and isn’t afraid to spill blood. while she can come across as flippant or immature, much of her disregard stems from an avoidance of her more serious (and painful) thoughts and emotions. she is zevran’s gorgeous and incredibly powerful girlfriend whomst he adores and cherishes, and the fact that she can, will, and has crushed a man’s skull with her bare hands only strengthens his devotion. 

araia surana, a very sweet young mage who is wholly overwhelmed by this big, new world around her. previously a teacher’s pet who didn’t much mind kinloch hold with little in the way of friends, jowan’s ‘betrayal’ left her reeling with nowhere to turn. while she is curious of the world beyond, she is also incredibly anxious. she picks up a habit of lying to avoid confrontation, and while she is very good at it, her dishonesty puts strain on her and leliana’s relationship early on. her passion is in ancient and forgotten magical techniques and practices. she loves listening to leliana’s stories of adventure and romance, and often plays ‘doll’ when her girlfriend decides she needs something to dress up. after the archdemon is defeated, she spearheads efforts to find the cure for the joining.

[cyhaino]

Dragon sage Romance Opinions

Alistair | I am not immune to cliches. The stupid rose got to me so yeah I romanced him. I only romance him as Amell so he gets the one playthrough sorry my dude

Leliana | what’s hotter than one bisexual? Two bisexuals! Anyways I love her I think her romance is well written and I love seeing her in inquisition

Morrigan | I’m very sorry but I’ve never romanced her because I’ve never played a male warden. I feel for her because people seem to forget her feelings on the dark ritual and the whole thing with her mom. I also like seeing her in inquisition for the most part.

Zevran | he’s sent to kill you of course I love him my current playthrough of the series I’m romancing him and I’m reminded of how much I love him. Also the fact that I can romance him as a dwarf? Thank you!

Anders | my mutuals love anders. I do not.

Fenris | no. I get the appeal but no.

Merrill | I romanced her once. It’s a very nice but bittersweet romance because of the whole her being dalish and hawke being human and feeling like she’s betraying her clan for pursuing this romance. I love her but all my Hawkes just end up being friends with her.

Sebastian | look I know not everyone likes him but I do and I’ve done one playthrough where I romance him also he’s definitely bisexual I don’t care what bioware says

Isabela | she is the love of my life she is my moon my sun the light that shines in the dark she’s done nothing wrong I would die for her I would kill for her fuck everyone else she is the best romance of all time I just want to see her again bioware stop whitewashing her and ahhhhh

Blackwall | I have no problems with women lying to me but a man lying to me??? No.

Cassandra | written for straight men would probably call me a slur

Cullen | written for straight women would call me a slur behind my back leliana should be able to kill him I played inquisition first and romanced him then went back to play origins and felt disgusted

Dorian | the one good gay romance in bioware

Iron Bull | love him I’ve wanted to romance a quanri and bioware delivered suffers from fandom brain rot though like this man is more than kinky sex he’s a complex character who depending on player choice can become a loyal friend or betray you

Josephine | deserves a fairytale romance and gets it for the most part bioware let me marry her please!!!

Sera | well I like her but romancing her as an elf is oh boy

Solas | see Blackwall

[phoomwhoosh]

Now I feel obligated to ask how you would envision Daniel (at any age) in the Dragon Age setting. Do you see him as a human, elf, dwarf, or Qunari? Would he be a mage or no? What country would he be from (Antiva seems obvious; the Tevinter Imperium is there for a different style of Italian inspiration, but I do not think he would thrive there...)? Would he fit into any of the game plots or would he just do his best to vibe while the world keeps going through multiple apocalypse events during his lifetime? Would Cobra Kai be part of any of the various organizations or their own little thing (the idea of Johnny being a templar fits but also makes me sad)? Would Daniel have the same level of antagonism with them regardless if he were a mage or not?

Holy crap, okay, thank you so much! Sorry to all other anons but this one is my favorite. XD

So, I thought about this very briefly once and then went “no, stop, you don’t need another AU.” And now I’m really thinking about it and, when I say that, I mean I'm gonna have to put it all under a cut lmao:

I would imagine Daniel as an elven mage who grew-up in a Dalish clan in the Free Marches. (They might've originated in Antiva but moved towards the Free Marches for Reasons.) Which clan? A made-up one lol. His father still died when he was young and maybe Daniel’s grandma is their Keeper. His mom is alive and actually was a city elf but was allowed into the clan because they liked her.

When Daniel came into his magic, it was very strong. He was supposed to become the First but there was a mage born before him who had that status already. So, Daniel was the Second and the clan was considered to be very lucky to have two mage children born into it.

When he was seventeen, the Blight happened overseas and Ferelden refugees came over to the Free Marches. He just happened to meet one of them, a human boy named Johnny. And then he met the other Cobras too. It wasn't totally antagonistic between them. Like, there's still gonna be kind of a rough start but they eventually get along. Daniel meets them near the end of the Blight, close to his eighteenth birthday.

Daniel's clan was traveling and Daniel wandered off because that’s what he usually did when they camped at a new place. He wasn’t a scout, though, just simply liked exploring the different areas. He discovered the humans and noticed one of them (probably Tommy) was sick. The others were worried it was somehow the Blight and Daniel overheard and knew that’s not what it was. He approached, showed them they were wrong and that Tommy had an infected wound. He helped them by healing it and then, well, another human passing by (probably Kreese, who I could see as a templar although he's a disgraced one and not part of the Order) saw an unknown elf “bothering” them and then he realizes Daniel's probably Dalish. He and some others attack Daniel (fearing him telling his clan about them or simply fear of Daniel possibly being a mage due to his lack of weapons and the fact that Tommy's wound is healed).

However, this is about the time everyone learns Johnny’s been a mage this whole time; he was an apostate hiding his status because his mom, Laura, taught him how to. She was an apostate too but died while they were trying to flee the Blight. She showed Johnny how to keep his magic in check and hide it from others. He was fighting with a mace and shield and still uses it even after his magic is found-out.

He helps Daniel by setting Kreese on fire (he survives although is badly burned) and they have to run away. But Daniel’s clan won’t let a human join them and Daniel’s not about to let the other humans hurt Johnny so they sneak into the camp, Daniel gets his stuff, and they flee together.

The other Cobras do catch-up to them, though, and offer to help. It’s a real offer too and so they all travel together. As time goes on, Johnny uses his magic more and becomes a force to be reckoned with. Daniel does too, of course. Don't fuck with any of them. XD

Where does Mr. Miyagi fit? No clue. Maybe he’d be a human who comes across them and teaches them some non-violent ways to defend themselves. After all, Daniel and Johnny are mages in a world that despises their kind. Daniel’s got it even worse being an elf on top of that. Daniel knows how to fight with his staff but Miyagi shows him some neat tricks. They part ways, though, because they have to stay on the move. But maybe they meet-up with him from time to time.

When Kirkwall explodes, they’re in Denerim. Tommy’s the one who hears about that and they all grimace because that can’t be good news for mages.

They’re in Redcliffe when the Breach happens. They were going to attend the Conclave but were anxious about being around so many people. They do go to Haven, though, to try to at least help the survivors and find-out what went on. They consider joining the Inquisition when it forms and decide to do so because it might offer them some protection from Kreese, who is still relentlessly trying to pursue them. They don't say anything about Kreese, though. They're kind of like Sutherland and Company but call themselves the Griffons because griffons were badass lol.

In my canon, Daniel would have a few things in common with my Inquisitor: being a Dalish elven mage from the Free Marches with at least one dead parent. (My Inquisitor's parents are both dead. Sorry, buddy. At least his clan survived!)

The question is, would all of the Cobras be humans? I can imagine Dutch as a dwarf. Maybe Jimmy as an elf or maybe even a half-elf, honestly, who tries to hide the half-elf side of him but his friends know about it. I could see Tommy as an elf. Maybe that’s why his wound really got infected: nobody besides his friends cared because he’s an elf. Tommy wouldn’t have hidden his ears. But Johnny and Bobby would totally be humans. Dutch and Bobby would be warriors; Dutch would wield a big axe (not just because he’s a dwarf lol) and Bobby would have a shield and sword. Tommy and Jimmy would be rogues with Jimmy being a melee fighter and Tommy being a ranged rogue. I accidentally created a balanced party lmao.

Specialization-wise, I could picture this: Tommy (Ranger, Assassin), Jimmy (Duelist, Tempest), Dutch (Berserker, Champion), Bobby (Champion, Guardian), Johnny (Battlemage, Force Mage), and Daniel (Arcane Warrior (Fade Shroud is my favorite thing), Spirit Healer). If Daniel was given a weapon, it would be a sword but he’d probably just stick with his bladed staff.