#this is really how the finale of act 2 feels if you and the Arishok are best friends but you can't let Isabella die but also what makes it

[shivunin]

happy Sunday! 💖

Philautia 3 & Ludus 3 for Maria / Philia 5 for Arianwen / Eros 5 for Emmaera

Happy Sunday to you as well! 💗

(Some discussion of sex below the break and in the tags)

(7 Forms of Love Asks)

Philautia 3: Does your OC judge themselves by the same standards as they apply to others? Or are they sometimes hypocritical in condemning others for faults they also possess? Or perhaps they find it easier to forgive others for things that they cannot abide in themselves?

Maria is harder on herself than she is on anyone else. I think her standards for others vary based on the other person's situation---she has a very low opinion of the rich, for example, because they do so little to give back---but in general, she holds herself to a high standard. When she fails, she internalizes it and struggles to let it go. That isn't something she would show outwardly, though; she laughs a lot off and dwells on it in private. Only the people who know her best have any idea how personally she takes failure.

Ludus 3: How does your OC feel about one night stands? Have they ever enjoyed a night of passionate romance with a stranger? Is this something they are quite keen on recreationally? Or only something they might engage in under specific circumstances (such as the eve of a battle or after a difficult breakup)?

Ooof. Yeah.

Definitely not something she ever thought about before Fenris. Maria found people attractive before him, and flirted and dated (a little), but Fenris was the first person she actually wanted to have sex with. If she'd thought for a second that it would be a one-night thing, she would have told him to go home. After that night, she really, really struggled to find a balance between wanting him to stay around (and remain her friend) and trying to put her feelings for him aside.

(I think from his perspective...the only thing she could think to do was not touch or look at or be near him at all. Given how affectionate she is to all of her friends otherwise, the contrast was as stark as it was painful...but this question isn't about Fenris)

The most logical solution she could come up for to solve this problem was dilution. Maybe she couldn't forget that night because it was the first time. Therefore, she would just drown out the memories with a lot of other experiences and then, obviously, all of those confusing feelings would go away and she could have her friend back and everything would be just like it used to be.

So Maria spent a few weeks of focused experimentation at the Rose trying every sex act that sounded even remotely interesting. It was nice enough, interesting from an experiential perspective, but the sex never felt like what she'd had with Fenris. There was no emotional connection, and without that the whole experience remained somewhat academic.

She was working up to one-night stands when Leandra died, and after that it all seemed a bit pointless. Fenris was so present for her, especially after the fight with the Arishok, that she finally conceded that she was just going to have to live with being in unrequited love with him forever. At that point, I don't think she ever seriously considered casual sex again--though she did have suitors in the gap between acts 2 and 3.

Philia 5: What is their most fervent wish for their best friend(s)? How far would they go to make it happen?

Safety and happiness. Wen would even refrain from killing to make this happen c:

Joking aside, Alistair is her dearest friend. By the end of the Blight, he's family to her. I think her deepest wish for him is that he eventually can have a life that he chooses for herself. She is well aware that she's the reason this couldn't happen, but she didn't see any other choice at the time. She would gladly and easily assassinate the nobility to make his life earlier, but more importantly she would let them live for his peace of mind. She remains his closest confidante even at a distance even though it's really hard for her to act in that capacity. When he calls her to Denerim to act as an advisor for important meetings, she neither complains nor climbs out a window.

(Morrigan, who is her next closest friend...Wen is willing to let Morrigan go if it really makes her happy. At the end of Witch Hunt, it breaks her heart a little bit to say goodbye for good. I like to think they connected again later, after Morrigan came back to the material world with Kieran.)

Eros 5: How closely is their opinion of their own beauty (or lack thereof) linked to their confidence? Do they see themselves as more or less worthy of love or sex based on how attractive they feel?

I don't think Emma is especially preoccupied with her appearance in general. If she were to think about it, she would suppose she looks pretty enough, but then she'd move on to something more interesting. Her confidence is linked very strongly to her mind; her body is a secondary consideration most of the time. She does try to present a particular image, especially given her role as the Inquisitor, but I don't think her idea of self-worth is tied to her physical appearance at all.

But then, she is my absentminded professor OC and forgets she even has a body half the time when she's comfortable. The hardest times in her life are times where she is forced to feel herself intensely for long periods of time: after she is stabbed, when she loses her arm, the rough period in Kirkwall when she's going into Darktown several times a week and having to heal constantly.

[unreadpoppy]

Daragon Age 2: Final Thoughts/review

Now that I oficially finished the game, I'll do it like I did it with Origins and do a review of it and post my final/overall thoughts.

For context, I had to play the game twice because I fucked up extremely the first time around, to the point where I was really upset with how some stuff developed, so before I could reach the end, I began a new save and that save was the one I finished last night.

All in all, I think the game is great.

It's very different from origins, and that is not a bad thing. I did like that Hawke was an even more established character and being able to mold the personality based on dialogue choices was really fun (purple hawke for the win).

I went into this game completely blind and I picked mage cause I skipped out on that in origins due to not know how the world worked, but now that I did, I went for it and i'm glad because I feel that like, playing as a mage put Hawke in the center of a lot of conflicts, and it helped me feel more involved with the plot.

(post was getting long so under the cut we go)

Gameplay wise, I was so happy that combat was more dynamic because the slowness of movement in Origins was a bit of a drag for me and for once, I was actually excited with combat in a game.

Plot wise I did enjoy most of it but I can definetly see the "game was made in a time crunch". Like I don't know how to explain but I think the quanari plot kinda takes away from the main conflict and I can't tell if that's intentional or not. Don't get me wrong, I did like the quanari plot and the Arishok is great but it felt almost like two different plot lines trying to happen at the same time, to the point where I almost felt like act 3 was disconnected. I feel like, not having Meredith and Orsino be actually met until act 3 was what caused that to me. I can understand it but having them show up only there/at the end of act 2 just gave it the feeling of them having to cram a whole ass new plot in only one act, whereas with the Arishok, you met him from the get go, you can talk to him at any point, you do quests related to him, etc.

Also I have many thoughts on the mage/templar conflict but even I can barely put it into words. Let's say that I think it's very complex, with lots of layers, and I think mostly, the game did a good job with portraying that, besides a few things.

I'm still kinda of on the fence in regards to the friendship/rivalry system. At the same time that once I got the hang of it, it was interesting, the first time I played it was my personal hell. I think it's just kinda hard to figure it out blind and it made me have to go look at the wiki so many times to get stuff how I wanted. Also, hum, I get why we can't enter actual dialogue with the companions whenever but bitch did I miss that. The banter did make up a bit for it tho.

Speaking of companions, after I got the gist of the friend/rival thing, I did appreciate them a lot more. I like that they each have their own lives outside of Hawke and I really liked their personalities and quests. And even if I hate it when people disagree with me, I did like that they voiced their opinions every time they could.

I will say, focusing more on the endgame, I wish we didn't have to fight BOTH Orsino and Meredith. Like, I guess they both had to die but I wish it had been something more like...you take only one of them and the other dies by accident or something, it just a felt a bit jarring going from fighting Orsino and then fighting Meredith. In that regard, I think origins did a better job with setting up the final battle.

Anyways, this was really long, I still have lots of thoughts but overall, great game and I'll definetly play it again in the future lol

[ziracona]

[[Hawke v Arishok, 9:34 Dragon]]

[felassan]

Some DA trivia and dev commentary from Twitter

There’s a lot of different tweets, so I’m just pasting and linking to the source rather than screencapping them all or making several different posts or something. Post under cut for length.

User: Was dragon age 2 your favourite in the franchise?

David Gaider: DA2 was the project where my writing team was firing on all cylinders, and they wrote like the wind- because they had to! Second draft? Pfft. Plot reviews? Pfft. I was so proud of what we all accomplished in such a brief time. I didn't think it was possible. [source] DA2 is, however, also where the goal posts kept moving. Things kept getting cut, even while we worked. I had to write that dialogue where Orsino turned even if you sided with him, because his boss battle had been cut and there was no time to fix the plot. A real WTF moment. >:( [source]

Mike Rousseau: I remember bugging that! And then being told it wasn't a bug, and being so confused. Doing QA for DA2 was an experience. Trial by fire. [source]

DG: So I think it's safe to say DA2 is my favorite entry in the DA franchise and also the sort of thing I never want to live through ever again. Mixed feelings galore. [source]

User: (I personally blame whoever it was for ruining most romance arcs in other games for me; they don't live up to Fenris's romance storyline)

DG: I wrote Fenris, so uh - me, I guess? Or maybe his cinematic designer, who put in the puppy dog eyes. [source]

User: If DA2 had just been an expansion, do you think it would have been better received? There was a lot of great stuff in there, and I think my initial dislike of it was because of the zone reuse. If it hadn't needed to be a full game, would that issue not have arisen?

DG: Hard to say. It was either going to be an over-scoped expansion or an under-scoped sequel. If it had stayed an expansion, it might never have received the resources/push it DID get. [source]

User: I'd love to visit the universe where you had an extra year or so to work on it. You did a very good job as it stands, but it definitely had rough edges. Not just the writing team either. The whole game had hit and miss moments, that just a little more dev time could have fixed.

DG: On one hand, DA2 existed to fill a hole in the release schedule. More time was never in the cards. DA2 was originally planned as an expansion! On the other, if we had more time, would we have started doing that thing where we second guess/iterate ourselves into mediocrity? [shrug emoji] [source] 

Jennifer Hepler: This is what I love about DA2. Personally, I greatly prefer something that's rough and raw and sincere to something that's had all the soul polished out of it. Extra time would have helped for art and levels, but it would have lost something too. [source]

DG: Right? I think we could have used some time for peer reviews (and fewer cuts), but I think the rawness of the writing lent a certain spark that we usually polished out. [source]

JH: Definitely. I think the structure (more character-driven) and the tightness of the timeframe let each individual writer's voice really come through. Polish can be very homogenizing. [source]

DG: I should add I'm not, by any means, against iteration. Some iteration is good and necessary. The problem that BioWare often had is that we never knew when to stop. Like a goldfish, we would fill the space given to us by constantly re-iterating on things that were "good enough". [source]

Patrick Weekes: I appreciate your incredibly diplomatic use of the past tense on "had". :D [source]

User: DA2 was my gateway into the series and I’m so happy it is. I love the game the way that it is. It’s one of my favorites of all time. But I am also aware of everything that was said here. If it were remastered, do you think it would change?

DG: I'd be surprised if it was ever remastered. If it was, do you really think they'd change things? Do remasters do that? No idea. [source]

User: Both sides got undercut as I recall. Didn't that whole sequence also end with the mage leader embracing blood magic? It was very much "a plague on both your houses" moment, at least for me.

DG: Yep. Orsino was supposed to have his own version of Meredith's end battle, which only happened if you sided with the templars. That got cut, but the team still wanted to use the model we'd made for him. So... that happened. [source]

DG: I would personally say that DA2 is a fantastic game hidden under a mountain of compromises, cut corners, and tight deadlines. If you can see past all that, you'll see a fantastic game. I don't doubt, however, that it's very difficult for most to do that. [source]

PW: I love DAI with all my selfish "I worked on this" heart, but DA2's follower arcs and relationships are probably my favorite in the series. [source]

User: As I've expressed many times, I love the game, especially it's writing and characters but, for me, the most impressive aspect of it, in consideration of it's lack of time for drafts and revisions, is the 2nd act with Arishok.  What amazingly complex character and fantastic duel

User: Just played it again and I have to agree. Though he is bound by the harsher tenants of the Qun, he makes valid points about free marcher society. Though it is obvious that he and Hawke will come to blows eventually, the tension builds gradually and understandably

DG: Luke did such a fantastic job with the Arishok I found myself sometimes wishing the Qunari plot had just been THE plot. [source]

User: What do you think would have changed, story wise, if you had more time for DA2?

DG: I would have taken out that thing where Meredith gets the idol. It was forced on me because she needed to be "super-powered" with red lyrium for her final battle. Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that. [source]

User: I deeply lament that there wasn't/couldn't be some sort of DA2 equivalent of Throne of Bhaal's Ascension mod.

DG: I'd have done it, if DA2 had allowed for anything but the most rudimentary of modding. ;) [source]

User: I mean, and I think I understand where you were trying, but how much legitimacy did the Templars and her as top Templar have after they're keeping the mages locked up against their will in the old slave quarters? Feel free to not reply.

DG: I think it's the kind of discussion which requires nuance, and which discussions on the Internet are not prone to. [source]

User: Was a compromise that the quest lines don’t branch? It felt like it was supposed to be that way but then you end up in the same place later regardless of what you pick. Like I hoodwinked the templars so good to help the apostates escape but in Act II they were caught anyway.

DG: I remember us having a lot more branching in the initial planning yes. Most of this got trimmed out in the first or second wave of cuts, in an effort to not cut the plots altogether. [source]

DG: "If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?" Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets. [source] I mean, it's the most hypothetical of hypotheticals. It's never gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if EA considered DA2 its embarrassing red-headed stepchild. We'd also need to ignore that in many ways DA2 was as good as it was bad BECAUSE of how it was made. But that aside? [source] First, either restore the progressive changes to Kirkwall we'd planned over the passing of in-game years or reduce the time between acts to months instead of years... which, in hindsight, probably should have been done as soon as the progressive stuff was cut. [source] I'm sure you're like "get rid of repeated levels!" ...but I don't care about that. All I wanted was for Kirkwall to feel like a bigger city. Way more crowded. More alive! Fewer blood mages. [source] I'd want to restore the plot where a mage Hawke came THIS close to becoming an abomination. An entire story spent trapped in one's own head while trapped on the edge of possession. Why? Because Hawke is the only mage who apparently never struggles with this. It was a hard cut. [source]

User: I would LOVE to hear more details about this! I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a short story?

DG: I don't even remember the details of the story, sorry. There was a fight, and you caught the bad guy and then realized none of it was real and woke up idk [source]

DG: I'd want to restore all those alternate lines we cut, meaning people forget they'd met you. Or that they knew you were a mage. Or, oh god, that maybe they'd romanced you in DAO. So much carnage. [source] I'd want to restore the Act 3 plots we cut only because they were worked on too late, but which would have made the buildup to the mage/templar clash less sudden. Though I don't remember what they were, now. Some never got beyond being index cards posted on the wall. [grimace emoji] [source] As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd want to restore Orsino's end battle so he wouldn't need to turn on you even if you sided with him. And I'd want an end fight with the templars that didn't require Meredith to have red lyrium and go full Tetsuo. [source] Heck, maybe an end decision where you sided with neither the mages nor the templars. Because it certainly ended up feeling like you could brand both sides as batshit pretty legitimately, no? That was never planned, tho. No idea how to make that feel like an actual path atm. [source] Maybe an option to go "umm, Anders... what are you DOING?" 👀 [source] And, of course, a Varric romance, because Mary took that "slimy car salesman" character we'd planned and did the impossible with him. I can feel Mary glaring at me for even suggesting this, tho. [source] Lastly, the original expanded opening to the game which allowed you to spend time with Bethany and Carver BEFORE the darkspawn attacked. And, um, that's about it off the top of my head. Zack Snyder, WHAT PANDORA'S BOX HAVE YOU OPENED. [source] Shit, I remembered two more things: 1) Restore the "Varric exaggerates the heck out of the story" at the beginning of every Act, until Cassandra calls him on it. Yes, that was a thing. 2) Make DA: Exodus. Yes, I am still bitter. [source] God damn it, I meant "Make DA: Exalted March". The DA2 expansion, NOT Exodus since that was DA2's original name and makes no sense. Because the expansion ended with Varric dying, and that will always be on my "things left undone" list. [source]

User: Whaaaat?

DG: Well, you know that scene in Wrath of Khan where Spock goes into the dilithium chamber because he's a Vulcan? Well, imagine that but with Varric and red lyrium and because he's a dwarf. ;) [source]

John Epler: I distinctly remember referencing the bit from MGS4 where you crawl through the microwave corridor in the split screen, while cinematic battle rages on the other half. [source]

DG: It would have been glorious, John. Glorious. [source]

JE: I don't think I've ever been so certain what a shot should look like as I did Hawke coming in and finding Varric in the broken throne, just like when he was telling Cassandra his story. [source]

DG: It would have come full circle! Auggghh, it still kills me. [source]

User: Lord, you folks are a little too good at this.

JE: The true secret behind videogame narrative is knowing how to make yourself seem a lot more clever than you actually are. [source] 'Oh, we TOTALLY planned that.' [source]

User: Ok, this thread [the DA2 regrets thread, which is the big chunks above] but Inquisition.

DG: My regrets about Inquisition are, more or less, the normal kind. Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid. [source]

User: You can keep your Varric romance, I want a Flemeth romance goddamnit!

DG: I would allow for one flirt option, and then a recording of Kate Mulgrew laughing for three minutes straight. [source]

User: I had a hypothesis about the repetitive caves in DA2. They're repetitive because it's Varric telling the story and he didn't consider them important.  They're like sets in a play.  (Okay, I really suspect it was a time/money/resources thing but I like my fake explanation better.)

DG: Hang a lampshade on it, maybe? Cassandra: "But that's the exact cave you were in last time?" Varric: "Whatever. They all look the same, I'm not THAT kind of dwarf. Can we move on?" [source]

User: that makes sense, hypothetically to make Varric romanceable and keep his arc—that had to happen for the main plot—I imagine you would have to make double the content (or more)? which would've been a tall order given the time/budget constraints the game was under

DG: Right. When it comes to "romance arc" vs. "follower story arc", we generally only had time to do one or the other. Never both. Romancing Varric would have meant not getting the story of his that you did. [source]

Mary Kirby: The one exaggeration I really, REALLY wanted, that we never got to do was Varric narrating his own death scene with Hawke weeping over him, then cutting to Cassandra's pissed off glaring at him. [source]

DG: Haha! The one I wanted was Varric's plot where he takes on the baddies single-handedly, sliding across the floor like Jet Lee, action movie-style, until finally Cassandra gets irritated and he has to admit Hawke & the rest of the party showed up to help. [source]

MK: We did that one! (He didn't do any Jet Lee moves, though.) Jepler gave him letterboxing to get The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly showdown vibes while he shot a ton of mooks single-handed. [source]

DG: Wow. Shows how much I remember. [source]

JE: I found it! I remember seeing this sequence as my treat for doing a bunch of much more challenging work. It was fun to see how far I could push our limited library of animations. [link] [source]

DG: Heh awesome. I could have sworn it was cut, honestly. I think I was even in that meeting. [source]

User: no disrespect but that’s surprising and rich of Mary “Hard in Hightown” Kirby to think DA2 shouldn’t have had a Varric romance when she wrote an entire book of Varric’s self-insert character pining over his Hawke insert character… HIH is the reason we had VHawke Summer 2018

DG: I can't *really* speak for Mary, or how she feels about it now compared to back then. I only know how she felt about it back then, and I'm not sure it was as much the concept of the romance but that Varric's entire story would be bent to "romance arc" ...a very different thing. [source]

JH: I remember pushing to have the first DLC start with Hawke having an option to ask Varric, "Did you tell Cassandra about us?" and if you picked it, Varric would answer, "Of course not, baby. I told her you were sleeping with X..." and then proceed as if you had had a full romance. [source]

DG: I still wonder how that would have gone over. x) [source]

JE: Okay, one more DA2 thing. Putting together the cinematics for this scene was a blast. [link] [source]

MK: These lines are my greatest legacy. I want "Make sure the world knows I died... at Chateau Haine!" inscribed on my tombstone. [source]

JE: I was so glad no one said 'no' to the crane shot. [source]

MK: It needs that crane shot. It's the perfect icing on that cake made from solid cheese. [source]

DG: The designers were all "we need more combat" and I think we were all "I think you underestimate just HOW interesting we can make this dinner party". [source]

JE: And finally. I think @SherylChee wrote the one-liner. I think we had a collection of like, 20. [link] [source]

Sheryl Chee: Yeah! Something like that! I remember submitted a whole bunch and Frank said you only needed one. Wish I'd kept the other fifteen. [source]

JE: A random chooser where, each time through the scene, you get a different one-liner. [source]

JE: DA2 is the project I'm the proudest of. I also absolutely get that it didn't land for a lot of people. But I don't think it's inaccurate to say that, in a lot of ways, DA2 defined my career. [source]  Everyone spent a year working at their maximum ability. I was a fresh cinematic designer and was given all of Varric's content, as well as the Act 1 Finale mission. It was a lot for someone who had been doing the Cinematics thing for literally 6 months. [source]  There's some stuff in there I can't look at without wincing. And there's some stuff I'm genuinely proud of. Not to mention, it was my introduction to most of the writing team. Several of whom I'm still working with today! Albeit in a different capacity [source] Also, weirdly, one of my most enduring memories of Dragon Age 2 is how much Bad Company 2 we'd play at lunch. It was a LOT. [source] Every game I've worked on has a game I played attached to it. ME2 is Borderlands. DA2 is Bad Company 2. DAI is DayZ. I, hmm. There's a progression there. I don't know how I feel about it. [source]

User: Is DA4 going to be tarkov then?

JE: I've kind of churned out of Tarkov for now. Probably Hunt Showdown, at least right now. [source]

User: I think people also don't take nuance into consideration -- like I FULLY acknowledge the flaws in my favorite games and will openly criticize them, but that doesn't mean they're not my favorite games anymore??? You can like and thing and still be critical of it.

JE: A lot of my favourite shit is deeply flawed! I acknowledge it and I think it's interesting to dissect the flaws. [source]

User: I still wish Justice was an actual character in DA2 rather than a plot point.

DG: There was a moment during DAI where we *almost* put in you running into Justice with the Grey Wardens, and he's all "Kirkwall? I never went to Kirkwall" [source]

User: Does that imply that Justice was shoehorned in to DA2?

DG: Nah, it was an in-joke where we thought it'd be fun to suggest that "Justice" was simply some demon that tricked Anders in DA2. Wooo those tricky demons! We didn't do it, though. [source]

User: [about templars]  except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves [source]

User: Can you shed some light for us on how DA was able to do multiple same-sex romance options for different genders but the Mass Effect team treated them like the plague? What process existed for your team that just wasn't their for the other tentpole franchise?

DG: Different people making the decisions, almost different cultures. I don't know what it's like now, but for many years the Mass Effect team and the Dragon Age team were almost like two different studios working within the same building. [source]

User: It truly boggles the mind. Kudos for doing demonstrably better on consistent queer representation than the ME teams. Y'all never needed us to make petitions to try to get the studio's attention and ask them to do better by us. That's the fight we're once again embroiled in now.

DG: Honestly, I don't feel like tut-tutting the Mass Effect team. They did their part, and if they were a bit later to the show than the DA team they certainly did more than almost every other game out there -- and willingly. [source]

Updates begin here

User: So what was the reason for naming Dragon age 2 "Dragon age II" and not using a subtitle?

DG: As I recall, that was purely a publisher decision. I think they wanted to avoid the impression it was an expansion. [source]

User: Is there no chance of ever remaking DA2 under better circumstances? -Somehow remove the repetitiveness of gameplay by making changes and updating the tech and adding much more to the storyline. It could almost be a new very exciting game.

DG: I'd say there's zero chance of that. Let's keep our hopes up for the next DA title instead. [source]

User: I am a little confused here, help me out here please! How exactly was the cut boss battle with Orsino supposed to work out? How it would've kept him from turning against the player?

DG: It means that, if you sided with the templars, the entire boss bottle at the end would have been against Orsino and the mages. No fight against Meredith. The end decision would have been more divergent. [source]

User: I do remember that one of the reasons going around for that, was that resources were going to the transition to Frostbite. I'm still not fully sold on that having been a good choice. I felt that more time should have been given for that transition considering it was made for FPSs

DG: We didn't transition to Frostbite until DAI. Given our time frame for DA2, I don't think we *could* have transitioned to a new engine. [source]

User: Since your talking about the what could have been for DA2. Could you say what your script was for Anthem? Cause I remember reading that you wrote the plot on that game.

DG: I created a setting for Anthem and scripted out a plot - but, as I understand it, almost none of that ended up being used. So it's a bit pointless to talk about what I'd planned, as that'd be for some completely different type of game. [source]

User: [in reference to the exchange above where DG said “Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that.” re: Meredith] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves. [source]

If I missed a tweet, got the wrong source link or included a tweet twice, feel free to let me know and I’ll correct.

Edit / Update: Post update 22nd April

[eurekq]

>be me >today i will make a height chart for my da protags and their love interests >okay maybe ill make it an outfit and color reference too >well i dont want it to be too boring to look at >draw this

so here we are with all my sweet little ladies and their lis :]!!! from left to right: cassie cousland, marian hawke and anders, aoife lavellan and cullen, rhiannon tabris and alistair, cecelia hawke and fenris, melly cadash and sera

LOTS of extra stuff under the cut!!!

lovely da protag templates are from marian churchland!

dear sweet cassie, partaker in the forbidden non-romantic alistair marriage that the game never knows how to acknowledge. very much the definition of gaslight gatekeep girlboss. and by that i mean a genuinely bad person in the sense that she tends to toy with peoples feelings. had an extremely public affair with anders during the events of awakening. It takes a good 5 years for her and alistairs marriage to be anything even approaching functional. extremely savvy, ambitious, and charismatic; a great politician and an extremely effective ruler. morrigan is her closest friend in the world (yes i know i never had her in my party. thats because im bad at video games and needed a healer.) and they’re like sisters.

my default hawke. 6′2, buff as shit, slept her way through half of her friends before finally settling with anders. she’s a blood mage and her first use of blood magic was during a particularly nasty fight where she got speared through the stomach. she carves herself up for mana; anders puts her back together. does things in anger and impulse and then regrets them (see: giving isabela to the arishok, never reconciling with carver after leandras death). mean if you dont know her, intensely protective if you do, but takes betrayal extremely poorly. constantly taking action, even if it doesn’t turn out very well; she is physically incapable of being a bystander. her and anders are my fave da couple ever... ask me about my post da2 hcs <3 theyre happy and have a daughter named bethany :] she punched cullen in the mouth at the end of da2 so hard that it left that scar.

literally is there anything like your first dai playthrough being an elf. aoife is... remarkably well realized in my brain for a character who’s life began as my friend chanting “goth elf! goth elf! goth elf!” over my shoulder while i was in character creator. very affable and friendly, but extremely politically adept with a capability for subterfuge that even she isn’t fully comfortable with. huge history buff. solas was like a big brother to her and her faith was extremely important to her so trespasser was crushing. very curious, especially about magic; definitely learned some blood magic from hawke after hearing dorian and solas talk about it. dorian is her closest platonic friend, but cullen is her rock. as in he is literally so normal compared to everything else that happens to her and she loves him for it. also her and hawke are friends and a scenario that lives rent free in my mind is them hanging out while anders and cullen attempt to kill each other in increasingly looney toons-esque ways in the background. she turned out remarkably pretty for an inquisitor... look at her

....and that’s it for my canon timeline. onto the secondary timeline!

DEAR SWEET RHIANNON. 4′8 powerhouse with a sword longer than she is tall. i first played rhiannon with a friend who was very new to rpgs and she picked all of the mean dialogue options because she thought they were funny, which led to me discovering that alistair reacts oddly and kind of hilariously well to being made fun of by a female warden pre-duncan dying. rhiannon is fun in that she literally gives no shits about conflict avoidance; if you start something with her, she’ll see it through. disliked alistair on principle and poked fun at him when they first met, but after the events at ostagar bonded to him extremely strongly. very close to him pretty much at the exclusion of all her other companions. extremely strong willed, laughs loud and smiles wide, no real concept of subterfuge except for when she’s hiding her own pain, generally goes in the path of least resistance if it gets to her goal faster. #1 arl eamon hater. she looks pretty different when i draw her compared to how she looked ingame but this screenshot of her doing the like. dead deer tinder profile pic pose is extremely powerful

cecelia is the truest tragic hawke that i’ve played (rip cecelia. you had the misfortune to exist in the warden alistair timeline). lost carver, lost bethany in the deep roads, lost her mother, believes that fenris has left her. act 2; a real rough ride for cecelia. aside from all the tragedy, she’s tough as nails, direct, and extremely blunt. very cautious in combat, even more so since she lost both carver and bethany. plans upon plans upon plans and prefers to strike unseen and unheard from the shadows. DEEPLY in love with fenris, best friends with isabela and merrill. aware of anders affection for her and keeps some distance for both their sakes; after the chantry explosion she helps him fake his own death on the condition that she never sees him again. when terrible things are not constantly happening she has a very dry wit, part of the reason her and fenris get along so well. too many bad things happen to her for someone with such nice thighs and such a stylish cape. her save file had some weird bugs with companion like.... staring???? in weird directions???

the absolute energy here. she also turned out very pretty in inquisition.

melly is easily my most powerful da oc. not in terms of in-universe power (although sword and board reaver is like. unkillable.) but in the sense that she is a catholic (read: andrastian) mid-40′s widowed mobster milf. she’s very close to cassandra and vivienne and consults them for advice before she goes to her actual advisors. even she was surprised by her relationship with sera; she finds sera’s unique sense of humor very charming and really likes pulling silly pranks with her as a reprieve from her everyday life. when she’s not with sera, she tends to be very pragmatic and logical when making decisions for the inquisition and has a very defined sense of purpose. she takes her role as both as the inquisitor and the herald of andraste very seriously. she’s very warm and soothing to be around during off hours and random inquisition members will often drift towards her for life advice. first draft of her and sera in this drawing had sera wearing this

[aricazorel]

I wrote “Pieces” for Dragon Age 2 set mostly during Act 3 based in the premise that Fenris and Cora Hawke were finally ready to have a relationship. This was the first story I posted on AO3 and one I am still proud of today. “Pieces” focuses on their relationship and the relationships with Hawke’s friends as the events of the video unfold in the background.

Chapter 10: Gift of a Friend

“You can’t really get upset because someone sleeps with Isabela…It’s just understood. She’s like a side dish. She comes with the meal.” And that declaration by Anders had set the tone for the night at The Hanged Man.

chapter 10 available here on AO3

read of the beginning here on AO3

An hour or more later, along with a decent helping of food saw the group still laughing and carrying on like there was not a care in the world. Everyone had had at least two ales; Merrill had already become tipsy after of one. Sebastian was keeping up with Isabela and Fenris without much effort. His rambunctious youth had apparently paid off in some unexpected ways. Anders showed no signs of intoxication at all, be it from his connection to Justice or because he hadn’t consumed as much; Hawke wasn’t sure. Aveline and Varric nursed their drinks; Aveline because of her natural tendencies as a city-guard and Varric because he was mentally takes notes for his books. Hawke was only on her second and not tipsy. Ale number four would put her there if Fenris even let her get that far.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the elf in question queried in exasperation, “You keep staring at me. Is it my eyes again?”

A chuckle from the pirate let her know who was eyeing him. Hawke couldn’t really blame her. She had had been eyeing him in secret since they had met. “You’re very lanky for an elf. I like lanky.”

Fenris arched an eyebrow as he shifted closer to Hawke. “From what I gather, you like a lot of things.”

“Nonsense. But when I see something I like; I go after it.” Isabela chided as she slung an arm over Merrill’s shoulders. The Dalish woman let out a contented purr as she rested her head on the Rivaini woman’s shoulder.

“That explains your current relationship with Merrill,” the Tevinter elf noted purposefully laying his arm with the red cloth tied to his wrist on the table. “Do you intend to go after me then regardless?”

“Mmm, tempting, but I like what I have now. If it had been a few years ago, oh definitely,” she cooed as Merrill began snoring lightly.

Isabela paused as a random thought struck her. “Say hypnotically, if things were different now, would you take off all that spiky armor you’ve been wearing?”

Hawke watched as Fenris seemed to actually consider the question. Anders spoke up before he could respond. “You can’t be taking her question seriously. Hawke is right there!”

Fenris disregarded the mage’s protests as he looked Hawke right in the eye, a smirk playing upon his lips. “It’s been known to happen…for the right person.”

Hawke felt herself smile like an idiot as he took her hand in his. Their fingers lacing together as he moved to pull her into his lap. A part of her said he was doing it to spite Anders and lay further claim to her in front of the others. A larger part of her didn’t care and put up no fight against his actions.

“Ah,” the pirate said as Anders glared at Fenris. “Then forget it. It’s probably better this way anyhow. No spikes aren’t as fun.”

“Daisy doesn’t have spikes,” Varric pointed out.

“Yes, but kitten has other things that are just as delicious,” the pirate rejoined as she moved Merrill’s head to her lap.

As Fenris’ hand coiled around Hawke’s waist she heard an annoyed sound from Aveline. The Guard-Captain had been listening more than participating in the conversation most of the night. “How are you so successful with men, women--whatever? You’re not that pretty.”

Fenris’ hand found hers, holding it against her stomach as Isabela shrugged. “Cast a wide enough net and you are bound to catch something.”

“That explains everything,” Anders muttered as he returned his attention back to his ale, his glaring at Fenris apparently concluded.

Aveline laughed hardily. “At least you’re willing to admit it.”

“Trust me. I’ve heard get away from me, you pirate hag more times than I care to count,” the Rivaini pirate admitted with an amused grin; Merrill stirred in her sleep, blinking her eyes up at the older woman.

Setting her tankard down, Aveline asked in all seriousness, “Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Why should it? They don’t know me. I know me.” Isabela replied firmly as Merrill reached up and played with her hair.

“I know you, Bela,” the Dalish murmured with a smile.

“Yes, kitten. You do,” Isabela replied softly, not caring that the rest of their group gawked at them. Of all of them to be in a serious relationship, no one had thought the pirate and the Dalish elf would have been it. Since the pirate’s return after the battle with the Arishok, something had subtly changed regarding Isabela. Not that she would actively admit it, but her relationship with Merrill was evidence enough of it, especially after the elf’s clan had exiled her.

Hawke felt Fenris squeeze her waist just a bit. He didn’t have to say anything. She knew exactly what he was thinking. She had been thinking the same. They knew each other and had known each other better than they had been willing to admit for years. Only now were they able to admit everything to one another, at least when it came to their feelings for one another.

Leaning in, Fenris murmured, “My armor has only ever come off willingly for you.”

She gave him a grin, shaking her head. He knew he didn’t have to tell her that. She knew of his past and that many of his actions as Danarius’ slave were not of his own choosing. Whatever had happened back in Tevinter, she cared only in the vain that it might adversely affect him. If it mattered not to him, it mattered not to her.

As far as what had occurred during his time in Kirkwall, before their first time together didn’t matter. The time after that night shouldn’t have mattered but it did. She had found out after they resumed their relationship that he had not been with anyone during those three years nor before. There had only ever been her. He had confessed that only she made him feel safe enough to be that intimate with. She could appreciate that and had confessed to him that he had been her only one in all her years in Kirkwall despite whatever tales Varric wove.

Merrill by that time had sat back up and was making contented noises as she watched them. Varric wore a knowing grin as Sebastian merely winked. They were not subtle in their actions; Hawke knew that. But it didn’t bother her. It didn’t truly bother Fenris any longer either though he feigned annoyance. It was just one more truth to their existence. Their friends would either gawk at them or tease them, but they wouldn’t tear them apart. They all knew the value of friendship and finding someone special to share their life with. Hawke continued to hope hers would be shared with Fenris.

[trulycertain]

I'm a completionist to the bone so I always leave the main quest 'till I'm finished with all the side quests so I've never missed Fenris. Being a purple pro-mage was def a challenge early on but by the end of Act 2 I had pretty much everyone's approval maxed out by finishing side quests, companion quests and giving various gifts! I didn't cheat with console, I just made sure I brought the proper companions on the proper quest. (Heck I romanced the spiky elf.) 1/2

Heck, by the time Carver left me permanently we were even half friends. He's the only one who's approval I didn't max out, but alas. Anyway. My point is, to me the game rocked because of the characters. They feel like a dysfunctional little family that sticks by you, even when they're fighting. Da2 is worlds different than Origins, but if you're playing, you're playing for the companions. Isabela came back during the Arishok fight, and Fenris didn't leave at the final battle. (2/2)

Guess I should have put a number 3/3 at the end hahahaha. Anyway, relax, have fun! DA2 has a specific charm and mostly revolves around your little found family being shitty drunk friends who'll stick by you. Mostly. (quest in the fade doesn't count haha you weren't friends then lol). Even Gamlen the crappy uncle has his shining moment/s. If you play dlc Legacy and bring Carver? Chefs kiss. Kid needed to see what his father thought of him. You didn't ask, but I still talked your ear off hahahaha

I did ask! And thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of answer I was looking for. Also, purple pro-mage high-five. I’m also a mage, so clearly I’m doomed with Fenris and Carver... but hopefully not too doomed, from what you’re saying.

Yeah, to me my favourite part of Dragon Age is always the characters, and I tend to like taking them as they are. I metagame as little as absolutely possible. (In fact, I think that’s why I missed Fenris the first time round; I was playing a very stubbornly blue Hawke who absolutely wanted to leave Meeran behind and wouldn’t do any jobs for him, so... in order to roleplay, I completely missed Bait & Switch.) I don’t think I’ve even used any cosmetic mods... Hmm. Maybe a couple of lore-friendly ones, like giving Fenris back his forehead tats, because they’re a later addition I like.

Yeah, Carver and I aren’t big friends, but we’re getting somewhere. I try to avoid too many shifty jobs, and both of them want to please Leandra, doomed as the effort is. (*cough* at least, I don’t take him when I agree to the shifty jobs. *cough* I’m playing an overall-good but slightly crooked Hawke who feels a great guilt about how much she has to lie to the people she loves to make ends meet, and is trying to become more honest through the acts as she has the resources/money/reputation to do so.) Also, to be honest, I love Carver, so I take him along as much as possible unless I’m specifically doing stuff that’ll make him hate me. 

So thank you. That’s really helpful and reassuring to know. I’d rather do it through the game as much as possible, so the idea I can play it legitimately and haven’t irrevocably mucked things up... thank goodness.

I actually haven’t got the DLCs (I did get Mark of the Assassin on my first palythrough but kind of checked out before Legacy), and the whole bundle’s currently going for eight quid on Origin. Kind of tempted...

[ageofdragon]

(1/2) Hey! I'm getting ready to do a new playthrough and have a question. When are the suggested times and/or best times to play through all the DLC from a story perspective? (DLC with set timing like Trespasser and the post-game Origins stuff excluded.) I don't care about optimal levels or best loot, I'm just trying to squeeze the most of them all story-wise.

(2/2) So far I’m thinking I’ll start Stone Prisoner when I’m doing my Redcliffe quests and finish it when I’m doing Orzammar. Return to Ostagar maybe after I finish my first main quest. Mark of the Assassin at the start of Act III. Exiled Prince as it becomes available. Do those sound like good plans so far? Not sure about Warden’s Keep, Legacy, and Last Descent. (I think that’s all of them.) Thanks for your time!

Alright, finally rewritten. I thought I had a DLC post like this, but could not find it. So whole new post!

DAO

The Stone Prisoner

If Redcliffe is your first quest, doing The Stone Prisoner afterwards sounds great (I always do The Circle first myself). Since the first quest in The Stone Prisoner is Shale’s recruitment, you want her as soon as possible so you have the option of dragging her around to work on her approval. Plus get some of her dialogues and friendship cutscenes.

I would recommend just making sure to do Shale’s recruitment before doing A Paragon of Her Kind, since you can take her along during that quest and get some great insight into her story. Just be sure to be ready to make some Hard Choices™.

If you find your team unbalanced by taking Shale through the Deep Roads though how could you lol, you really only have to take her in the final area of the Deep Roads to unlock her extra dialogue.

The last quest should come after A Paragon of Her Kind, even if you didn’t take Shale with you. So just be ready to work that in later in the game.

Warden’s Keep

Warden’s Keep doesn’t really have a place it specifically fits, it is mostly just standalone Warden Lore. If your aren’t interested in Levelling and Equipment, it is pretty much just up to you when you play.

I’d probably say play it two allied factions into the game (Elves/Werewolves, Redcliffe, Dwarves/Golems, Mages/Templars) for pacing.

Return to Ostagar

Now Return to Ostagar is probably best played after The Landsmeet, seeing as the Warden is not longer considered an enemy of Ferelden. So it’d make more sense for them to return and collect the things of the Fallen, as well as clear the location since the Darkspawn have started to move out.

This is especially true if you plan on using the “Secret Companion” aka Loghain. He has some incredibly fascinating dialogue during the quest and of course can only be recruited after The Landsmeet.

However, if you plan on using Alistair then I’d say before or after the Landsmeet would work. Or if you want to suffer from feels then after you give Alistair Duncan’s shield, is an excellent time to punish yourself by returning to where his mentor sacrificed himself.

And I know you said Post-Game DLC not included, but just for anyone else or if I do link this again. Witch Hunt is considered the Final DLC for DAO/DA:A.

DA2

Mark of the Assassin

MotA is another DLC that doesn’t have a specific time that it needs to be played. Which the great thing about DA2 DLCs specifically is the content in them changes from Act to Act.

That said, the beginning of Act 3 is probably the best time to play it. Given it lines up better with All That Remains having happened and Hawke being named Champion. Since it makes more sense for them to receive the invitation while in a position of influence, Orlesians like that kind of thing. Plus having defeated the Arishok (and how you did it) also factors into an Act 3 play.

Isabela and Aveline have unique side quests during MotA unlike the other companions who only have Collection quests.

Legacy

Now canonically Legacy does take place in Act 3 of Dragon Age 2. I would recommend playing it close to the end of the main game, probably before The Last Straw. Partially because this sets up for Inquisition in the best way and in part because it lines up Cassandra and Varric’s scenes in it, with the timing of Varric’s tale (he goes to finish and she calls him out on omitting something).

Also during this quest Anders, Varric, and the Hawke sibling all have unique dialogues, important scenes, and banters that other companions do not receive.

DAI

Jaws of Hakkon

So this DLC really just adds a new region to the game, it can be done at any point. However, it is a high level area so you may want to do it later in the game. Of course it being a region, means you can always complete a few quests and come back to finish them later.

There are a few lines of dialogue that can change depending on if you finish the game or not before playing this game. But they are relatively small and shouldn’t affect when you play the Frostback Basin.

Fun Fact: In the Dragon Age Tabletop RPG there is a campaign called Where Eagles Lair. The Avvarian Hold you interact with in the story is the same one who can (and in Bioware canon do) become the Jaws of Hakkon. I say can, because in the tabletop, your actions can stop them from seeking out Hakkon later on.

The Descent

This DLC might actually be best finished at the end of the game? Since it is completely unrelated to the main story of Inquisition and actually sets up for Trespasser kind of.

Plus The Descent has all the enemies levelled to your current level, which makes it a bit hard to beat when you are the lower levels and easier at higher levels. Of course, it depends on if you mind the challenge or not.

You could, however, play it like JoH and finish parts of it bit by bit.

If you do decide to run this DLC at the end of Inquisition though, be warned some of the companions will be unavailable obviously. This goes for Jaws of Hakkon too, if you decide to not finish it before the end of the main game.

[cassphos]

misc da2 thoughts

i think it’s really funny that alistair tells isabela that she looks different in da2 (which is true) while he also looks pretty different in da2 as well (he looks ugly)

tbh act 2 worked better as an ending than act 3 because act 3 felt kind of rushed and while i get that the mage/templar conflict needed to be addressed, the final battle in act 2 when you fight the arishok to the death is a pretty satisfying ending

act 3 is also pretty weak in comparison to the other acts because it’s set 3 years later after act 2 so i don’t get how the succession battle over who’s going to be viscount and meredith and orsino lashing it out over each other would keep going on for 3 years

also i’m upset that you don’t get to help the city elves much in act 3 if at all because i can’t remember anything that you can do for them besides finding the runaway mages. it kind of sucks because in act 2, you see why the elves may want to side with the qunari because the city won’t help them with justice and the most your player can do is early on act 1 when you choose to kill the serial killer who targets elves or help feynriel. it feels like a missed chance because it just seems like they accepted the anti-elf sentiment in kirkwall and just switched the focus to mage oppression which is typical

the hawke family dynamics really should have been explored more in the game because from the start you can see that leandra holds some resentment against her children and what her life was after she left kirkwall but you don’t really get to do a lot with your family in the game other than having a home base. there’s also the fact that leandra immediately places the blame on you when your sibling dies against the ogre and then again if your sibling dies in the deep roads which is awful of her and there’s not much you can do. also bethany mentioning that she hasn’t seen their mom their happy since she was born is really sad

the isabela romance is absolutely top tier and i’m upset that she doesn’t get to move in with you but tbh my favorite moment is when she comes back after running away with the tome during the qunari invasion. i don’t think there’s a difference in dialogue if you’re romancing her but i find it really romantic the way hawke looks at her and says you’re back and isabela acting as if it’s not a big deal even though 3 years later you can find her at the hanged man kicking herself over coming back is really sweet to me. act 2 was just very good imo

long road was probably my favorite companion quest because it has the funniest moments in the game and it’s super cute. the companion quests overall has some really sweet moments and i love the character interactions in the game and how intimate they can feel

[professorbylass]

Questions 47 and 48 for the 101 Dragon Age questions? :)

ooooooooohhhh no how long was this in my askbox?? i’m the worst 😂 im so sorry anon ❤️

questions are here btw~

47. Best antagonist in the series?

okay i don’t really know what consensus the fandom has on this one lol so i’m not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but i’d say that the arishok was the best antagonist! it’s a little weird cause da2 didn’t just have one antagonist, and he was really only that for act 2, but yeah i liked him the best

idk i think i liked how slow burn the whole storyline was? for all of act 2 hawke is busting her ass, running between the qunari and the viscount trying to prevent the arishok from killing/converting everyone in kirkwall. and then when it finally comes to a head it’s very intense and cool and i really liked it. it’s especially satisfying if you manage to earn his respect

48.Worst antagonist in the series?

corypheus tbh. i thought he was cool in da2 (i actually really liked all of the legacy dlc and his boss fight was very fun) but they shouldn’t have brought him back as the main baddie in inquisition. yeah i know it was hinted that he wasn’t really dead after hawke killed him, but still

i just found him sort of boring? i think a lot of my complaints about him as an antagonist tie into my complaints about da:i as a whole, so. there was just no urgency, like i could wander the hinterlands picking elfroot for days and corypheus would still be patiently waiting for me to show up before he destroyed the world lol

he wasn’t even there when you were trapped in the fade and as far as i’ve seen there’s no real way to fail the winter palace mission, right? so after haven is destroyed and you find skyhold, you feel like the most powerful person in thedas and there’s no point where corypheus seems truly threatening after that