/m/ - media

I've never been able to find a full res version of this Solas tarot card but I was able to find a cropped one at huge res through the Steam TCG collection thing. I'm unable to even figure out who the artist is unlike the rest of the cards in the game.

Alright I'm gonna say it I don't like any dragon age inquisition companions except for cassandra and maybe vivienne

>>121915
The ones you like do go together I'd say. They're on the authoritarian side of things ideologically (though Cassandra has a reformist streak to her) and are strong-willed women who look awesome. What kinda companion would you like to see in DA4? Were there other companions that were close to being cool but didn't hit the mark for you?

Cassandra was a surprise hit for me, I ended up enjoying her a lot even though I find her VA a bit difficult to listen to. Well, my inquisitor's ideology simply didn't mesh with hers so I didn't bring her along and actually ended on bad terms with her, RP-wise. Still a cool character I did not expect to like at all.

I'm replaying DA2 right now and realizing I barely remember anything from that game. All the companions seem annoying to me and I hate Hawke too.

>>121917
I loved them because as you said they were cool and strong; I hoped that Sera would be cool, but she just really annoyed me; her room was the coolest though. I really thought I would like most of the characters but I found them pretty boring once I actually talked to them, but maybe I did something wrong or didn't focus on talking to them enough or in the right way, and I didn't romance anybody. Everything was just pretty forgettable for me, and I really wish the companions would have talked more between themselves while we were travelling, they didn't really talk much or more like they didn't say interesting things; in dragon age origins, they probably talked the same amount but I feel like it was more because it was fun (the bickering of Alistair and Morrigan)
What did you think about the characters? Which was your favorite?

>>121915
This makes me feel so much better lol I feel like all the companions on DA:I were kind of lackluster. I usually bond really easy with the side characters, ie during DA:O everyone but Sten got to be on my party (Alistair, Morrigan and Zevran being my faves) and as much as I loathed DA2 Fenris and Anders kind of grew on me, however in DA:I I wasn't particularly fond of anyone. I liked Dorian and Cassandra but if they died at the end of the game I wouldn't have cared, whereas I was legit sad when fucking Anders went crazy. I did enjoy Cullen's romance though, being a mage I actually enjoyed the angst.

They better make Varric a romanceable character at some point because I swear to god I;ve had a crush on that dwarf since DA2

>>121917
>All the companions seem annoying to me and I hate Hawke too.

I know Varric is popular but Aveline was a low key gem. Determined to do her job in that cursed city even if there's no winning.
Aveline and Merrill are the two I remember as best/worst. Merrill's writing in particular is still baffling to think about.

>>121927
There were a bunch of convos between them while roaming that I felt were nice. Btw afaik there is a bug in DAI that makes banter take place far less frequently than it should. There are mods or cheats you can use to fix it. Anyway, Cole and Solas in particular talk about interesting and mysterious topics. They're good lore nerd content. Sera tends to pick on people which can be amusing, she actually does bicker with people just like Morrigan did. The ones I feel strongly about IRL (so outside of RP) are:

Love
>Solas
>Cole
>Dorian
>Cassandra

Hate
>Blackwall
>Sera
>Varric

My favorite is Solas. I expected to like none of the cast tbqh but as I got really into RPing my character, her interactions with different companions put on a lot of meaning. I tried my best to embody the character based on the voice actor's performance as well as her backstory, and kept building up her personality and ideology with respect to her interactions with her companions. Tried to mimic a character arc of sorts I suppose.

Overall one thing I love about DAI is that even negative interactions with the cast are memorable and rewarding. My Lavellan started off distant from Cass, got closer with her as they helped each other BUT THEN, Cassandra's adamant rejection of anything "suspicious" to her started to wear my character down. She ended up getting Cassandra's max disapproval cutscene and it was great. Felt like a true falling out with someone my character initially grew to respect but ultimately lost that respect for along the way.

I'm sorry for the pure autism I'm about to spew but tbh I like reading about others' RP so please post yours if you're like me!!

I RP'd a Dalish mage who was in the process of leaving her clan behind before the anchor came into her life. The idea was that she spent a lot of time spying around Ferelden which is also why she has that English (human) accent rather than the Welsh/Irish (dalish) one. I followed Leliana's advice a lot and chose espionage-related war table solutions for the most part. Her god was June which is the craftsman deity, it went nicely with me always crafting her gear, I chose a favorite color for her and included that in all her stuff. Overall she started out as a curious and flexible woman who doesn't like the restrictions of Dalish life so wanted out. Of course, the events of the game both made her more insecure but also more principled.

My Lavellan first tried forging a connection with the two elven companions but both were weird towards her for being Dalish which first got her in a combative place with them but she started to open up as Cole and Solas both taught her a lot about the life she thought she knew and her thirst for meaning got really intense as her journey progressed.

Solas left a huge impact. What I love about that character is that you can argue with him all day. He actually appreciates it when you question his reasoning and will give you approval even when you end on a note of disagreement. That went over great with my Lavellan who became increasingly skeptical of others as she found out more and more shit she was taught wrong. Solas helped her immensely in finding new meaning in a life where she previously felt so lost.

My Lavellan became aware of how much responsibility lies on each individual to choose to be something rather than act like they're simply being guided by circumstance. The fate of the rebel mages was an early decision for me as I did their quest first, I had them become allies which was a result of my Lavellan being more accepting and forgiving earlier on. Plus she appreciated that they were trying to self-determine though they lacked good leadership. While she began more lenient at the start, as the story progressed I had her making judgments on the principle that it's not enough to feel sorry or want freedom, one must actively atone. The Dalish were all about living as victims to history and while IRL I think about the issue in a more nuanced way than "just get over systemic oppression lol", Lavellan is still figuring out her place in the issue and how the issue even works. It's a lot to navigate. Anyway, she ends up exiling and conscripting people a bunch. She had them atone actively rather than just execute them which is an easy escape or reward them with their freedom.

The amount of betrayals in the story absolutely rule!! Lavellan is constantly given reasons not to trust people but she's so strong that she can keep trying. People aren't simple and they are worthy of a chance to redeem themselves. It'll take hard work on their part though.

She disbanded the inquisition in the end, tired of being a huge symbol but also tired of dealing with the Chantry which she doesn't even believe the teachings of. I hope she will redeem Solas in DA4, even if she isn't the protag.

>>121928
I can't believe you liked Puss in Boots but have the gall to talk shit about Inquisition characters. The absolute state of Originsfags.

>>121947
Are you the anon who had the initial romance with Sera before breaking it off? If so, idk how far you made it down that path.
Sera gets aggressively shitty with a Dalish partner unless you renounce your entire stupid, superstitious knife-eared culture and tell her she's right about everything, of course she's right about everything she always is. It's worth looking up on YouTube.

>>121948
kek no idea who are you talking about inquisitionfag but if you mean anders, as annoying as he was he was a convincing character, I could get behind his struggle as an apostate mage with no interest to remain in the grey wardens and a spirit possessing him because he was too stupid to know better. All DA2 charas but Varric were annoying pieces of shit though, including the siblings. I still think DA:I characters were boring af tho, Sera was insufferable she should have been part of the DA2 cast

>>121952
I sure am lmfao
I did not make it far at all, she kept saying "gotta spend more time w me bud" and I was like "BYE" cause literally everyone else in the companion cast was more interesting than her. I'll make a rogue character who isn't an elf and who also hates anything remotely cerebral to romance her at some point though.

>>121957
Zevran.

>>121947
Forgot to mention that whenever I read your posts I feel like playing again and maybe trying to get more into the story, maybe this time I will grow more attached to my companions

>>121960
lmao I will start calling him that from now on. Leave my manlet alone anon, didn't really romance him but I loved having him in my party, he's an idiot

>>121961
Ahh, that makes me feel so warm inside!! and it's not just the beer i've been chuggin………… It can be hard to get into RP if you don't connect to the characters but pinning down who I want my protag to be helps me get into the right headspace and suddenly some companions shine. Then I can make friends and enemies with impunity and fully immerse myself in the life of someone else. I hope you can have a better experience if you do end up playing again!

>>121947
That makes me feel bad, I just chose a purple Qunari woman and chose the options I myself would choose…

>>121911
All I want for DA4 is my girl Vaea to appear, even thought it's going to be more than a cameo…

And Evanuris Lore, I loved Ghilannain stuff from Tevinter Nights!

>>121982
*nothing more

>>121977
Give roleplaying a go! It opens up a lot of opportunities to enjoy a story or a character.

>>121995
I will try next time; I started a game where I was an ugly dwarf and used every chance to hit on Josephine (and she said I was handsome) but I didn't get far

>>121952
ntayrt but my very first romance in DAI was Sera … as a mage elf. Made it all the way to the end. I'm very into Elfishness so having a character who pretty much had to reject everything to be with her was pretty hard.

My second playthrough was a Josie romance, and my third was Solas. I made a fourth to romance Blackwall and wound up romancing Solas again.

>>121999
Josephine's romance is the female version of Cullen's except even more saccharine afaik. I quite like her particular brand of micromanaging sweetie though I did not romance her. Pin unrelated.

>>122007
Blackwall is as bland as cardboard. I truly don't understand what there is to like about him beyond beardfags not being able to see past a man with that kinda look.

What were the positives and negatives of each romance for you? I feel like they can all be super rewarding depending on the character they're paired with. Elf mage with Sera sounds kinda toxic to me… did your character come out of it as someone who has new meaning or someone who got bullied into leaving what matters to her behind?

>>122007
It kinda feels like you're not getting the full DAI experience if you're not romancing Solas.
>>122026 is correct though, for some reason Blackwall is bland as mayo. Tried to begin a romance with him on an abandoned playthrough. Before I quit, I forgot I was meant to be romancing him and he was too busy carving wooden toys in his shed to even notice.

>>122028
DAI really does feel like it's most impactful for a female elf mage. Solas romance being one strong reason obviously but also how the previous inquisitor was also an elf mage whose legacy was subjected to erasure and how the Circle of Magi conflict has come to a head in the story. A character that isn't a mage can of course have strong feelings about how mages ought to be handled but a mage trying to solidify how they feel about their own people imo is far more interesting. Will the inquisitor be swayed by Vivienne's authoritarian approach, Cassandra's moderate reform idea, Leliana's chaos mode? Fiona is a pretty retarded and spineless leader but do the people under her deserve to be punished for her awful mistakes? The whole story keeps showing you all sorts of sides to the mage question and I felt extremely seen by the narrative when I played my (recently-apostate after leaving her clan) mage. I don't think a non-mage inquisitor can connect to the conflict as well.

I'd like to hear what a templar RPer has to say about DAI, though. Perhaps what I felt was the game's particular affinity to the elf mage identity crisis might be one of many facets that I simply haven't seen yet.

>>122035
I unironically play templar aligned only because I always play as a warrior human and it does feel like I'm the bad guy when I play DA2 and DAI. Might be why I prefer to play Origins since the conflict there is much more marginal. Also DA2 feels (and is? If I remember correctly) unfinished and DAI… I think it's much more better "imagined" than in reality, and yes it does skew female mage elf which corrisponds to an overabundance of fanfiction with those tracts which DOES NOT help me reimagine the game lmao this is just pettiness sorry
None of the romance options really impressed me but I did romance Sera because imo she fit with my inquisitor. Alistair will be in my heart forever and Fenris too even if he's a fuckboy and even more radicalized (could honestly be justified). I wish Morrigan wasn't straight even if I know why she is.

>>122051
To your point on imagining, I found myself thinking about my character and her interactions while not playing the game like all the time. Sometimes I still think up scenarios in my head. Now I wonder just how deeply my aggressive headcanoning enhanced my experience… Also I stay well away from fanfic and Solavellan community activities in general. I find the fandom extremely cringy and have absolutely zero interest in engaging that side of the DA fandom lol. I'm happy in my own head for the most part, as long as BioWare keeps giving me tidbits like in Tevinter Nights to enhance my headcanon.

I've heard great things about Cassandra's romance route but then again people love Morrigan's and I hate her whole thing. People also simp for Blackwall all the time, mehhhh. My greedy lizard brain wants every companion character to be bisexual tbh so I don't have to play a specific gender just for the romance. Admittedly I wouldn't want Sera to be bi just cause I don't wanna see fanart of her with a scrote. I'm a hypocrite like that lmfao. I generally don't like fanart with people's OCs anyway though. It makes me feel weird since I get attached to my characters so it's like seeing their partner cheating or something??

>>122053
Her face makes me want to punch her, not to be a racist but I hate dragon age elves

>>122055
I prefer them to the idealized LOTR elves. I think it's cool that they look weird with their high nose bridges and pointy chins.

>>122053
For your last point, Hawke was good in that they were basically their own base character. That was also their downside kek

>>122057
While I quite like that Hawke had an established character (makes RP easier since you don't get overwhelmed by too many options) I felt the voice actors did an absolutely abysmal job voicing them. Both voices. The writing also didn't make sense with shit like being able to meme about your sibling dying 3 seconds after it happens. A sardonic person may make some weird comment at something like that but the way they wrote it was way off. Hawke is a terrible character only in execution, not premise imo.

>>122061
With Hawke's voicework (both genders), if you even tried to RP replies to the general insanity in and around Kirkwall using the vast variety of three basic styles you were usually given, your Hawke just came off as dumb and written by committee at best, or genuinely schizo at worst.
After Origins, I began to dread the romance sections of the games. They were embarrassing to me and just a naked numbers game of gifting them +1 horny items. Inquisition wasn't quite that bad though, if I remember right.

>>122067
samefag but with the Hawke siblings, I found I enjoyed Carver as a character more than Bethany and found this surprising. Carver's writing was generally a bit more thoughtful than Bethany's, where it seemed "cute sis" was the goal they were aiming for.
It's interesting though that Bethany is a lot happier as a Circle mage under Kirkwall's brutal system than she is as a Grey Warden.

>>122070
Carver was my fave DA2 character, I also enjoyed him becoming a templar more than a grey warden.

I wish Bethany was a bit more interesting, idk, Carver was infuriating at times but he was interesting and I loved bringing him along. Bethany on the other hand felt like she was just there.

Now Hawke was a prick. Worst player character.

>>122067
Inquisition's romance was the only time I actually enjoyed a romantic cutscene in a video game. Ever. It actually changed my mind about romance elements in RPGs, now I'm not fundamentally against it like I was before. Origins made me wanna crawl out of my skin with those sex scenes and DA2 was not much better.

>>122070
Agreed on Carver. He isn't a character I'd wanna be friends with but he is a compelling character that does, to an extent, feel alive.

>>122026
I like Blackwall's character arc, and I've heard his romance is bittersweet, which is why I want to try my hand at it. Ideally I'd like to get through each romance, but I'm not in the least bit interested in Cullen so I imagine he will be last.

Not sure what to and what not to spoiler, so I'll do my best for people who haven't played these romances.

I feel being with Sera allows Inky to really let loose and relax in a way she can't with the others. Being in a relationship with her allows her to open up about her past and how the abuse she endured for not being "elfy enough" shaped how she feels about elves and explains her issues with projection. There are various hints in-game that being with Lavellan eases her into slowly getting into learning more about elves/Dalish, but it's not explored much beyond that. I completely understand why refusing to denounce Dalishness/gods is a dealbreaker for Sera, though. What happens at the Temple of Mythal completely shakes her entire belief system in a way that she is not equipped to handle, coupled with fears that Lavellan is going to become like one of the others that hurt her. If you're just getting through the romance to check it off the list, it's no biggy, but if you approach it from a roleplaying standpoint you have to seriously consider where your Lavellan stands, and whether or not she is able to essentially abandon her Dalish roots and prioritize Sera and their relationship (of course you could headcanon it as Lavellan lying to Sera when she presses her on it, but I did not.)

I'm sure romancing her as anything other than an Elf is a hell of a lot easier than the path I took.

Josie's romance is sweet, innocent romance, and a huge breath of fresh air. It's light and fluffy, and isn't emotionally intense like Sera's romance can be. I love Leliana's brief involvement; it was a nice touch and reinforced how close they are and how much they care for each other. However … The romance as a whole is sorely lacking in content and that is a goddamn shame. I don't mind the lack of a sex scene - I'm 100% fine with that. There just isn't even really any party banter about it.

As for Solas … I have a problem with wanting to put my characters through emotional torture and Solas's romance really does that for me. Solas starts to second-guess himself with a friendly Inquisitor, but a romanced Lavellan takes that to an entirely new level - to the point where he's ready to come clean about being the Dread Wolf and lay it all out on the table, until he changes his mind at the last second. I enjoy that their relationship grows out of Lavellan's thirst for knowledge, and how freely Solas responds positively to her inquisitiveness and understanding. He is open about how he makes her question what he has learned and come to expect from the Dalish (and people in general.) I enjoy that he recognizes that he has to leave her because he genuinely loves her and does not want her to see who he must become in order to do what he believes must be done. It isn't that she is simply a distraction that can lead him away from his goal, it's that falling in love with her has put him at odds with himself. It isn't just a tragic love for Lavellen, but him too, and Trespasser really brings that to light. My major issue with the romance doesn't really have to do with the romance itself, but more so the Solavellan fans who ignore Solas's misdeeds, how much he lies, and the fact that he withholds crucial information, manipulates, and is pretty damned racist.

>>122109
I loved reading your post anon, thank you for sharing.

I'm still not sure what kind of Inquisitor I'll make for Sera's romance but I don't want an elf to pair with her. I'd like to branch out and do Qunari or Dwarf, not sure which yet. I heard the story doesn't acknowledge those two races like it does elves, sounds like a missed opportunity.

What you've said about Solas speaks to me. I've pondered about "behind the scenes" moments between Lavellan and Solas and what their dynamic is like throughout the story. It seems to me that Solas starts at an aloof mentor point and progresses to recognize the wisdom in Lavellan as he encourages her curiosity which is ultimately the catalyst to their emotional/intellectual dynamic shifting. It looks to me like what began as a manipulative guidance role gives way to something far more mutual than Pride would have ever predicted. Solas begins to learn from her and that is the turning point. I'm lead to belive that, by the time he offers to remove the vallaslin he's kinda lost control of the whole plot and about to unravel, but pulls it together and by the next cutscene in Trespasser he's seemingly re-established himself as the one in control. That is how he wants it to seem but imo with a romanced Lavellan the person in control isn't really him anymore, despite the posturing during the ending scene. It's just a tug of war between his guilt/past and the hope Lavellan seeded in his head; a new path for the future vs trying to undo the past. I do believe the wolf we see in the epilogue card is actually him and not a mirage. He's extremely not over Lavellan. I've not reached the Solas story in Tevinter Nights yet but I am eagerly reading the stories in order atm! I'll see how extensively I'll be forced to headcanon in DA4 but I'm hoping there's an on-screen opportunity for my Inquisitor to confront him and despite "saving" him, she can also make him atone hardcore cause none of what he did was remotely okay. I'll just be upset if they do the Kylo Ren redemption where he drops dead the moment he is redeemed. I also definitely don't want his one connection to the world to be Lavellan. She is the start of it but I'll be annoyed if the way to save him is being his "not like the other mortals" gf. I'd like him to grow beyond thinking his gf is exceptional.

Right there with you on making my characters suffer. Tragic romances in particular are definitely super compelling though I do want my characters' romances to end on a hurt/comfort note usually. Going through hell and back to eventually stabilize at least a little, albeit still in a flawed way. I don't mind if characters die but I feel like a bittersweet ending where the couple has to live on and tackle their baggage together speaks to me more than one of them dying and the other moving on. Definitely not one for perfect endings or relationships that have no dysfunctions though.

I had a multiple romance mod installed so the way I played my Lavellan was she goes for Solas while flirting with Cullen a bit (mostly cause his flustered stuttering is amusing to her) here and there until things get serious with the Eggboy, goes full Solas and gets dumped, has a brief fling with Cullen as rebound but breaks it off right when Cullen tries to give her his lucky coin. She takes the coin, regrets it and ends it with Cullen to just pine for Solas as they continue through Hakkon and Descent and then… well the Cory fight and Trespasser breaks her hah. The (paraphrasing)"Why won't anything in this fucking world stay fixed?!" line was too good. Such a sweet fuckin DLC.

Also I ship Josie with Leliana

>>121912
Ramil Sunga drew this one. :)

>>122114
Qunari and Dwarves really did get the short end of the stick, but I'm hoping they will play a bigger part in DA4. Tevinter Nights seems to push in that direction.

Sera loves both of them, especially Qunari, so I think you'd have a pretty fun time.

I LOVE your mention of Pride because even though that's literally what his name means, I'm really fond of the fan theory that Solas is a spirit of Wisdom that has corrupted into Pride. I absolutely agree with you that he appears at odds with himself. I don't know how far you have gotten in Tevinter Nights, but Callback is amazing not just for nostalgia, but for the insight into how Solas's time in the Inquisition shaped him. I know the devs have pretty much said that Trespasser was the end of the Inquisitor/Solas story, but that's difficult enough to believe with a friendly Inquisitor. A romanced Lavellan adds layers to that relationship. I'm going to be extremely disappointed if Inky does not make an appearance. I understand how unlikely it is for the next protag to be the Inquisitor (we will probably be able to play a Lord of Fortune, Antivan Crow, etc.) but it would be interesting to have them as an advisor, if nothing else. I want a Solas redemption where he 100% does not die and he tries to fix the shit he screwed up. He is not IMHO the Big Bad of the series. He doesn't need to die, I don't think he will because he seems to be the pet character of Weekes. I could be proven wrong.

I'm with you re: tragic romances. I'd much rather see the growth that comes from healing together than have one of them kick the bucket (in a usually horribly sad/self-sacrificing way) and leave their partner to pick up the pieces. I also like the tragic romances where they both live, but can't move past the tragedies together because one or both have been changed in ways that are incompatible with the other person.

Your Lavellan's romance story sounds like something I'd have mine go through if I wasn't stuck playing it on PS4.

I was hoping for Josie and Leliana to get together but the Josie and Blackwall hints were cute.

>>122225
I feel like the Solas being a Wisdom/Pride spirit who took on a physical form is all but confirmed at this point, I'll be shocked if it turns out not to be true. Whether he did so to serve Mythal and later on removed the vallaslin from his face to rebel however I'm not sure about, I feel like we're missing too crucial of a chunk of the story there to fully grasp what the hell happened between those two. I did read Callback, it kinda broke me for a while. Especially since the fresco is now destroyed just like my poor Inky's love story. Kms. Also I'm kinda retarded I guess but I didn't realize Solas was canonically the one who painted that fresco in his room until after I finished the game and everyone was taking it for granted that he is indeed an artist. It makes sense in hindsight but I totally didn't piece that together even after Trespasser. I just thought that was the art style of Dragon Age artists lmfao.

I'll be honest I won't even sideeye Weekes if he gives some of that Tyrion Lannister plot favoritism juice to Solas. Keep my boy alive and make him clean up his mess but not in a shitty way pls! It's pretty much confirmed the protag will be a nobody and as you said likely a Lord of Fortune but I've read that BioWare has toyed with the idea of multiple protagonists like that one Kingdom Hearts game so perhaps a segment within DA4 where the Solas story culminates in some way could happen. Probably not though, bleh.

>I also like the tragic romances where they both live, but can't move past the tragedies together because one or both have been changed in ways that are incompatible with the other person
100%

I'm sorry but I want Blackwall to fade into the abyss and never show his wonderbread ass face ever again. I really fucking hate this man.

>>122231
I feel like Blackwall has as much of a chance of coming back as someone like Nathaniel Howe for example.
You probably don't have to worry too much.

I wonder if Sten will be properly introduced in the next game. Considering that he's Arishok, it's inevitable. But with the game in functional development hell, it's hard to say anymore.

>>122738
>dev hell
I'm so worried about this game, truly.

>>122742

Honestly. We all know we're getting maced. I just want to know whether or not to even bother closing my eyes.

>>122231
>I'll be honest I won't even sideeye Weekes if he gives some of that Tyrion Lannister plot favoritism juice to Solas. Keep my boy alive and make him clean up his mess but not in a shitty way pls!

I'm not the biggest fan of Solas (interesting character, but the narrative and especially the fandom favours him stupidly much), but it's kind of inevitable that the next game will focus on him… I just hope Patrick Weeke's Fursona isn't given too Messianic a treatment, and is actually held accountable for his bullshit for once.

Curious you loathe Blackwall - who has a legitimate redemption story arc in Inquisition – and yet you stan Solas and want to see his genocidal ass redeemed kek

>>122768
Blackwall is a boring person with no personality, to me. His arc of redemption I really like actually. I had him come clean and keep adventuring with me to redeem himself through action. What I don't like is him as a person for being boring and a pinterest man in all but man bun. Ok maybe pinterest skews timothee chalamet clone e-boy these days but this dude type still appeals to so many women and I don't understand his appeal and have a grudge because I had to design one of these Beard Dudes for work before

With Solas, you can ask him about history, the mechanics of magic, the spirits, the fade, art, parties/gossip, etc. He's a person who hs hobbies and many interests. Now think about the topics you get to inquire Blackwall about. What has he ever shown interest in besides THE GREY WARDENS (his fucking job) and WOOD THING (one time). He's got nothing.

>>122804
Also I want Solas redeemed because that is what my inquisitor who is his elf girlfriend wants. If this were IRL I'd want him imprisoned for war crimes.

>>122768
>interesting character, but the narrative and especially the fandom favours him stupidly much

I agree with this, I had pretty strong feelings the first time I played because i respected him a lot and that betrayal was very unexpected and hurtful for me I don't get why people get so obsessed with him though, he's a great character but saying he's the only TRUE romance and if you don't play a female elf and romance him then you don't get the full DAI experience? Nah.
I mean if Dragon Age was like Mass Effect that you only play one character? Yeah, ok, but I seriously doubt the inquisitor's romance will make any real difference in subsequent games and/or any other media.

Speaking of which did any of you like Blue Wraith? I finally got around to reading it and I regret it so much, I hated every second of it and I hate what they did to Fenris, like all his growth in DA2 never happened, they literally made him regress to the beginning of DA2 and I got even angrier when the authors basically started responding to criticism by acting like the ones who didn't like the plot were absolute idiots. The guy Nunzio saying he related to Fenris because he was latino and so he knew how he'd act was the weirdest shit I've read in a really long time. Also why the fuck was Fenris blonde

>>122858
lbh considering that your characters identity barely puts a dent in the story, what makes people think a romance will? I like Solas for what its wort. But no ounce of extra interaction is going to make the end game any richer outside of a few extra reactions.

I haven’t even began to touch that comic, but it really goes to show how far some fanon can go. I get that dude might have identified w/ Fernis but your writing a piece of official canon. Your not exactly writing fic for a select few. Your getting paid money to actually satisfy everyone.
Sometimes it just pays to say that you did what you did instead of digging yourself even deeper.

>>122858
They really need to stop retconning shit like this. Prequels are fine but to take a character whose life each player had an impact on and take it to a fixed place in the future like this is a retarded idea. Nobody will ever be okay with this happening to a character they personally connected to, like Fenris. In general I don't like that there are "canon" things that happen to characters. I'd rather have extensive time skips which nullify my decisions across games than have retcons like this where characters are alive and well yet bear none of the impact of the games I spent hours playing with them.

Not that it was a super important character but Tevinter Nights resurrected a character that I threw a knife through the skull of, killing him in DAO. He's just totally alive and well.

As for Solas, the fandom attitude towards him annoys me too but it's undeniable that a Solasmancing Lavellan gets more personal ties to the main plot due to fucking the main antagonist. It's not a matter of opinion, it's objectively more impactful to be faced with potentially murdering your boyfriend than your former coworker.

>>122858
>responding to criticism by acting like the ones who didn't like the plot were absolute idiots

At least this fits with the way many of the people who worked on DA2 responded to criticism.

>>122858
I liked the comics, but then again, I care less about Fenris and more about the new characters and overall lore. Same goes for all other tie-ins.
Also, my Hawke and Fenris never became that close in DA2, so I get that Fenris turns out that way after the gang falls apart.

>>122908
I get it, I'd been liking the comics so far and enjoyed the new characters, but like >>122876 said, companions are usually very well loved, don't make big changes to their story because people aren't gonna like it. I've been reading Tevinter Nights and imo how they portrayed Dorian is perfect, they're still 100% themselves and still very much relevant to the story.
Blue wraith was such disappointment after all the other comics, it felt like bad fanfiction.

>>122915
They probably brought him back because of the sarcophagus and his connection to it. Otherwise I wouldn't understand why they would touch such a difficult character like him, where a players choice has such a vastly different impact on his story.
Fingers crossed 'Dark Fortress' at least deliviers some sweet lore connecting to the sarcophagus or at least a build up to it's possible whereabouts in DA4

>>122915
I feel like Dorian isn't a character the Inquisitor even had a chance to change the trajectory of so the book can't fuck it up. He's a flamboyant Tevinter reformist at the beginning and still the same by the end. I didn't get too close to him though, is Inky able to convince him that slavery is very good or that mages need to be controlled or whatever? I'm pretty sure you can't really change his mind in the other direction, he comes out a full reformist regardless of your interactions.

Sorry for the reddit screenshot but this is a pretty handy list for canon major events in preparation for DA4. Sharing for my fellow amnesiafags out there

>>123192
Thanks for the recap, a couple things I had already goddamn forgotten…

I'm so interested to see if the veil thing will even be that bad if it happens. I don't get how it would just kill everyone. Sounds like Solas is wrong about that, maybe cause he thinks the current people roaming Thedas are so retarded that they'd crumble with more magic around. Like he's underestimating them again and being a dumbass. Fact is everyone but Dwarves are able to interact with the veil to varying degrees, mages obviously being the most connected. That leads me to think the veil being torn down wouldn't fuck them up. Dwarves might get wiped out though, I'm not sure about them.

>>122945
I don't recall Inky being able to change his mind, but he had some conversations with Sera and Solas that seemed to sway his opinion.

>>123192
I'm going to touch on some of the stuff in this screen cap, as well as some other things:
We can expect to see the Red Lyrium Idol make a comeback, as Solas plans to use it in some way.

Solas is now powerful enough to kill people in their dreams, including dwarves. I expect this to be the opening cinematic for DA4 but I am probably super wrong.

We have come further with respect to Qunari/Tevinter, in that as of Tevinter Nights the Qunari have invaded and conquered Ventus (and want to take Rivain) but this was done WITHOUT permission from the other factions of the Qun, suggesting the factions are fracturing. We will definitely be seeing Qun/Tevinter war, but we also have hints that there is trouble within the Qun as a whole and it will be interesting to see how that plays out with the war.

We've also had advancement re: Weisshaupt with confirmation that ALL Wardens have been called there. I definitely think we will be visiting the fortress in DA4 and I don't think it will be fore a fluffy, happy celebration over the return of the griffons.

What lies on the other side of the Amaranthine ocean likely has to do with Ghilan'nain and her Horror Pools and creations. I'm betting on this because the lone survivor (briefly) suffered in much the same way as the lone survivor (again, briefly) did in "Horror of Hormak.

>>123236
I completely agree with you on that last point re:Amaranthine ocean. There is basically no change it's not Ghilanain causing that shit imo.

It feels like there are way too many looming threats on the horizon, all seemingly of different nature. I hope they manage to juggle all these plot threads, seems so chaotic. Maybe they're all connected in more ways than we know now but then one runs the risk of it being all too convenient. Like all the problems had a singular source and it doubtless manifests in a big dragon or whatever that we can kill to end it. I hope it won't come to that again.

Maybe I'm alone in this but whenever Qunari shit comes up my eyes glaze over. They're so incredibly boring to me in all but aesthetics.

Hasn't there been IC speculation in two of the lore books about the Qunari being related or descended from dragons somehow, possibly through experimentation?
The titan subplot was more interesting than that entire DLC to me. Way too linear and no matter which companions you took, no one had anything informative to say. Even Solas was lost for words.

>>123264
I'm guessing you mean Descent. If so, yeah my party (Solas, Cole, Blackwall) had absolutely nothing to say beyond
>um ew this place sucks
>oh wow that's neato

>>123265
That's the one. I would have thought Cole might be more chatty down there but I took Varric as my rogue, not even thinking that he's a fucking surface dwarf he'd probably have no insight.

>>123264
Iron Bull even says in DAI that Qunari may have been mixed with dragon blood in the past.

The two theories I like are that their predecessors (kossith) were either a Tevinter or ancient Elvhen (probably specifically Ghilly) experiment.

I was incredibly disappointed in the lack of companion dialogue for Descent. This was the first time anyone had seen a Titan in a kajillion years and no one really had much of anything to say. I am somewhat okay with Solas being so quiet because you KNOW his dumb ass knows more than he lets on and he has to keep it quiet for whatever reason. But everyone else? Come on, man. They should have been shitting Lyrium bricks.

>>123266
I don't think Cole had anything to say actually. He had like one or two sentences. Makes sense though, the underground is where the fade is absent so he had nothing to do with it. He's got a lot to say in Trespasser on the other hand.

I decided to do a long-awaited run through of the origins again and I honestly forgot how attached i was to the companions. It’s been a few years so I only really remembered my main party, But god i forgot how hard Zevran could make me laugh with the mage and the carriage story I haven’t really been too keen on playing DA2 (never really clicked with it) but I’m honestly looking forward to it once I’m done.

i would have loved a new dragon age game to get me through this pandemic. i tried replaying DAI as a 2h rogue but the combat is so ass in this game. i played mage first because it didn't feel floaty but the melee is pure suffering.

>>140480
there is one thing i don't expect to get much better in the next game and that is combat tbh maybe a little now that their now their ways around frostbite but its bioware, their known for other things

I'm going to repost what I posted in the TV shows thread after mentioning a "DA fandom lolcow" as it's obviously more appropriate here + if someone is interrested in discussing it.

the DA cow that I mentioned was Saria;
>made a whole ass youtube video (that she deleted) bawling her eyes out, calling her ex (who's also in the DA community) an abusive rapist
>Turns out it wasn't true at all, and she was in fact the abusive one and made the whole thing up out of salt; you can watch Jackdaw's video where he debunks her claims
>Shits on and slut shames women who are prettier than her because she is secretly insecure about her crooked face
>Picrel is her shitting on Sairaspooks behind her back despite sucking her dick on Twitter
>hypocritically tries to skinwalk as Saira by posting embarrassing TikToks in cringy Aliexpress "DA inspired" outfits
>LARP as a good christian™ girl despite being vindictive and jealous + unironically quotes bible verses

>>141530
dropped my fucking pic

>>141530
until you mentioned itI thought they were the same person… I really like Jacks content and feel really bad for him.
I remember the fandom back in tumblr after DAI release, a lot of stupid funny drama, like the whole Solas is ace thing. Good old times.

Bumping this thread because Summer Game Fest is tomorrow and I hope we're going to have a DA4 title drop.
Placing all my money on some Twilight bs name like Eclipe or New Moon kek.
>>142206
The fandom was always batshit crazy, I remember people freaking out during the DA2 era over either Anders or Fenris fans, accusing them of apologizing abusive relationships or terrorism. Calm down you fucking retards, it's a video game