1. How did you get into Dragon Age?
Someday I'll write a book about how it happened, perhaps, except make it sound actually interesting, and then admit the at least alleged true course of events under interrogation. I... actually just can't remember.
2. Have you finished all three games?
I've finished DA:O and DA2, but I still haven't started DA:I.
3. How long did it take you to finish the series?
A long time. I'm thorough and slow, and like to stop to take screenshots at every turn. Like here, for example, is a mid-fight Justice with a floating shirtless guy.
No, it's not a staff, ser templar. It's a selfie stick.
4. What was your first Warden (gender/class/race/personality)?
My first and only Warden is Kaino Surana. She's nonbinary, and starts out very shy and very angry, and becomes more confident and still angry but good at channeling it to taking no shit. She's still my canon Warden, and is also the Warden-Commander that gets mentioned in some DA fanworks I've made that are focused on other characters.
5. What was your first Hawke like (gender/class/temperament)?
Also nonbinary, a warrior, and I picked a mix of the different dialogue options, not aiming for a specific "type" of Hawke.
6. First Inquisitor (gender/class/race/personality)?
I haven't played yet, but if I ever get around to it I'd like to play as a lady Cadash. Not sure about class yet, but I play rogues less, so maybe that for a change. Can't have her be a mage in any case (though maybe there's a mod for that).
7. Favorite DA:O backstory?
Probably the mage one... but the Dalish one has Merrill.
8. Preferred class overall?
Across any fantasy genre games, I tend to play magic-users, whatever they're called each time. Sometimes any class that lets me hit my enemies with a big axe. Sometimes a combination (warning for blood at the link).
9. Do you tend to play male or female characters most?
Female and nonbinary. Not that the latter is an option most of the time outside of headcanoning.
10. Share a pic of your favorite OC from any DA game.
Here's Kaino, a while after the events of the game I actually played as her, reading letters from her wife:
11. Best Hawke quote?
"What's a mekel?" in response to being (correctly) accused of having killed a guy called Mekel, perhaps.
12. Do you prefer DA:O, DA2, or DA:I most?
DA2, warts and all.
13. Favorite mission from DA:O?
I don't remember the game well enough anymore to say for sure. I should replay it sometime. With the same Warden, of course.
14. Favorite DA:O party combo?
I remember Awakening better, banter-wise, so let's go with Velanna, Sigrun, and Justice.
15. Favorite DA:O companion overall?
I love all my children equally*.
*I don't care for Oghren.
16. DA:O: Did your Warden survive?
Yes.
17. What did you name your Mabari?
I named Kaino's mabari Masu, but I might rename him if I replay. Poor doggy was named after a cat, after all. Hawkes' is Makkara.
18. Who did you choose to rule Ferelden?
Anora.
19. Favorite mission from DA2?
Aveline's romantic comedy interlude. If only her dialogue with Isabela wasn't so atrocious and Donnic's assumption of Hawke trying to get with either him or Aveline depending on Hawke's gender wasn't so boringly heteronormative (there's a mod for that, though), it'd be perfect.
20. Was everyone loyal at the end?
Yes.
21. Did Hawke side with the Mages or Templars?
Mmmmmmages.
22. Favorite DA2 party combo?
idk, but Isabela and Merrill are in my party a lot.
23. Did you give Fenris back to Danarius?
No, and never will. Fuck that.
~Skipping some Inquisition-specific questions, as I haven't played the game.~
29. What are your feelings on the Chantry?
Would mind it less if the games' narrative wasn't so increasingly cowardly about acknowledging that it's awful and it wasn't given this special treatment because Bioware made it their christianity-analogy, while religions based on other real-life religions, ones with a history of their practicioners being oppressed by christians, get portrayed in ways less flattering and in many cases replicating harmful real-life stereotypes.
30. What are your feelings on the Circle?
Not a fan.
31. DLC for the first 2 games: All of it, some of it, or none of it?
Most of it. I don't think I can get the rest now anyway since the site was shut down?
32. Favorite DLC mission overall?
I like dicking around in Mark of the Assassin.
33. Favorite DA character overall?
The DA2 LIs, let's say.
34. Least favorite character?
Well, there's disliking how a character was written and disliking the person the character is written to be, and when it comes to the latter I just am not very interested in thinking about characters I don't like. There's plenty of villains there that are definitely terrible people, but at least some of them are still good characters because their writing succeeds at what it set out to do, i.e. making them unlikeable.
35. Who do you want to see return in the next game?
All my faves on one hand, but on the other I'm worried how they'd be portrayed and also just want them to be living a happy life somewhere out of world-scale trouble. I'd love for all of them to make brief cameos just to confirm they are indeed living such lives and then leave, lol.
36. What kind of DLC do you hope for for
Definitely not something that's essential to understanding the plot, that you have to buy if you want a complete game, ahem. I think MotA and Legacy for DA2 worked pretty well - at least until DA:I made Legacy mandatory course material by expecting you to have played it to get the context of who their main villain is - with one being a more light-hearted contrast to the dark and heavy main plot, and the other delving more into something that's important to your player character.
37. Bloodmagic: yes or no?
Responsible blood magic is good and wholesome.
38. Funniest moment in the games?
Hawke punching a demon was pretty funny.
39. Creepiest moment in the games?
Let's please not have to deal with broodmothers ever again. And I don't just mean that they're grotesque-looking, the whole concept is just really unsettling.
40. A moment/action you regret in-game?
Letting Alain go back to the Circle. I know the player can't do anything to stop him or talk him out of going, but I wish I could and I bet my Hawkes wished they had.
41. Who did you romance in your first playthrough for each game?
Leliana and Isabela.
42. Who do you wish you could romance that you can’t?
Harding, apparently.
43. Favorite romance overall so far?
Leliana and Isabela.
44. One romance you just can’t stand/doesn’t make sense/etc?
Can Inquisition please be the last game where we have to interact with Cullen? I was supposed to have gotten away from him when I left the goddamn mage tower already, but the dude just keeps popping up and Bioware expects me to be glad to see him for some reason.
45. Which 3 DA characters would you want as your best friends?
Leliana, Isabela, and Merrill.
46. A character you’d love to drop in a volcano and forget about?
I'd hardly forget going close enough to a volcano to drop something in it, even a dormant one.
47. Best antagonist in the series?
Grand Cleric Elthina is a pretty realistic villain, and is indeed a villain.
48. Worst antagonist in the series?
[tw: ableism and its severe consequences]
Kelder is a very conflicting case. On one hand, he's a terrible person and deserves to die for what he's done. On the other, it's extremely ableist how his deeds are blamed on an implied mental illness, which makes him yet another mentally ill character you can kill, and which is not free of the context of abuse and demonization of mentally ill people in the real world. If he's meant to be lying about voices telling him to do those things as much as he probably is about those voices being literal demons, it's not made clear enough, and if he is indeed mentally ill, no matter his deeds it's disturbing that either killing him or doing nothing to stop him from hurting more people are the player's only options. It's not a case of grey morality, because there's nothing grey about that what he's done is wrong. It's a case of people who do things such as that being what neurodivergent people are sadly often depicted as being like and depicted as being only like that, and real neurodivergent people being literally murdered due to misinformed ideas about us is a reality, whether it's "well-meaning" belief that "saving" us from living as neurodivergent individuals is a "mercy", or baseless fear and hatred.
So, yeah, I'm glad it's an optional quest.
49. Something you do in EVERY DA playthrough, no matter what?
Be gay and do crimes.
50. Describe your perfect playthrough for any DA game.
Basically that.
51. Favorite Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor headcanons (any or all)?
trans
52. Favorite non-Player Character headcanons?
trans
53. That One Headcanon that hurts to think about?
Well, this may not be The One Headcanon, but it's one such: I know we like to joke that Karl has gone grey by his mid-thirties because worrying about Anders not staying out of trouble at Kinloch stressed him out, but consider: not a single hair on Karl's head was grey when Anders last saw him before they were forcibly separated for years.
54. Fluffiest headcanon ever?
Literally fluffy. Fenris has cats.
55. Your non-Player Character OTPs?
Merrill and Isabela, and also Velanna and Sigrun.
56. Your absolutely NOTP?
templars/circle mages in general.
57. Who would you date if you could (as you, not your OC)?
All the ladies.
58. Who has the best character arc overall?
Recovery arcs from abuse with support of found family and healing to not needing the tough shell that a tough life forced one to build around the good heart that one hasn't given oneself enough credit for having is a popular character arc here. I like those. Isabela's isn't without flaws, but it might be my favorite when she does actually get to be happy.
59. Who was written really poorly?
If the player is supposed to find Oghren sympathetic, a lot more emphasis should have been put on literally anything else in his writing than expecting the player to find alcoholism and sexual harassment hilarious (and it is a shame, because he has potential to be interesting and someone you're happy to see get his life back together). Anders's DA2 writing is all over the place a lot, probably because the writer wanted the player to dislike the character for reasons I don't find grounds for disliking someone. Aveline is also written in a pretty out of touch way, which is not an uncommon result of a man writing a female character (or Lukas Kristjanson writing any character, really, though he did a decent job with Carver, I'll give him that), but at times the dissonance is just bizarre in other ways, too. In general you get better-written characters when you hire writers with actual personal experience in being someone like the character, instead of, say, a white straight man writing a lesbian character who struggles with internalized racism, as if he knows anything about any of that and how to portray such a person respectfully. Also Serendipity for exactly this reason.
60. Who do you wish had been given more story?
I want to know
61. Favorite NPC?
I like Dagna, and am happy for her for what I've heard of her involvement in DA:I.
62. A character you think deserves more fan love?
All the ladies, and not just the "love" of sexualizing them.
63. Best story moment?
Fenris saying he has friends now cured my depression for at least five minutes.
64. Favorite achievement?
I haven't paid much attention to the merit badges, really. But how about reloading in the exact right position to come back to this:
65. Any epic game play moments in any DA game?
What's epic is how having these screenshots of the same scene from both of my Hawkes' simultaneous playthroughs (where I pretend they exist in the same worldstate and are an older set of Hawke twins) makes it look like Taisto shuts down Wesley first and then their less bloodied and scary twin follows that up with a "yeah, what my sibling just said".
[tw: blood in the screenshots]
66. Something you hate about any/all of the games?
I can't bring all my friends with me at the same time.
67. Best non-OC quote?
The Classic.
68 + 69. Have you cosplayed any DA characters? Who would you cosplay if you could (no holds barred)?
Maybe someday I'll cosplay my Warden.
70. Did you read the comics?
I've read some of them. I like Knight Errant.
71. Did you read the novels?
I've read excerpts, none of them in full.
72. Did you see Dawn of the Seeker?
No.
73. Favorite OST song(s)?
74. Do you take screenshots in any DA games?
Do I ever. Here's Aveline being perceptive:
75. Do you edit images/gifs or make videos about DA?
Not really, no.
76. Have you ever made a DA Let’s Play?
No. Maybe some day I'll make one of some game?
77. What moment/memory still gives you chills/feels?
Oh no, I'm going to have to play through All That Remains, aren't I.
78. What are you hoping for from DA4?
No more blaming fictional groups based on real-life marginalized people for their own oppression?
79. What are you worried about for DA4?
Not getting what I hope for.
80. Favorite fanmix?
I found a really fun one at some point on the theme of blood mages, but it was on 8tracks back when the site worked one way and then they changed it to work a different way and that broke the playlist. I just remember it opened with Arsonist's Lullaby and ended on a dialogue clip from Broken Circle with people wondering if the Warden could maybe possibly be using... *gasp* blood magic???
81 + 82. Favorite fanfic? Favorite fanart/fanartist?
Some awesome artists/writers who have made DA fanwork I enjoy (I'm reccing you by your usernames, if you picked a silly one that's your fault :P):
dalishious / kispesan, casijaz (on ao3), bunabi, toopendous / sirconnie, griffinsanddragons, earth-dad, mimibayra, cullenvhenan, ndn-bebop / ghost-suit, skimlet, dorkagedoodles, esakris, mountainfucker69, domirine, antivanfutch, untaintedtea, scarecrow-forest, teyrnacousland, remington-zero, dalishmage, bklt, unklarity, and here's my DA DA (deviantart Dragon Age :D) faves folder.
83. Favorite fan musician/music?
idk
84. Favorite cosplay(er)?
Anyone who knows not to wear black/brownface for their cosplay.
85. Favorite Let’s Play?
I haven't really watched through any in particular, just check individual scenes from whatever video of it happens to be available.
86. Favorite DA-themed blog?
Please follow Dalishious if you're on tumblr.
87. Do you create anything in the fandom (write, draw, craft, gif, etc)?
I've drawn the occasional fanart and written some fics. And meta posts found on this blog.
88 + 89. Do you participate in or run a DA RP? Are you on any DA forums, chats, reddit subs, etc?
No.
90. Do you run an DA-themed blog/page/website?
Not any exclusively DA-themed ones. I have the DA fan comics I've drawn gathered here, though.
91. Do you have any friends who love DA too?
Yeah.
92. Did you get someone into DA?
Maybe. Sorry about that. :D
93. Do you own any DA merchandise?
I own a pretty halla pin, which is not official merch so it's actually Bunabi merchandise, which is good because she's much cooler.
94. Have you ever made any DA-themed crafts (clothes, toys, etc)?
I... have not. Perhaps I should.
95. Which actors would you cast for a movie of your fav DA game?
Don't know, good thing I'm not a casting director.
96 + 97. Do you use game mods? What’s your favorite DA mod?
I do. Here.
98. If you could be any non-Human DA species, which and why?
A cat. Because cats.
99. Where would you live (Fereldan, Orlais, Free Marches etc?)
With my luck probably the Anderfels, every time we hear of which pretty much what we hear is different accounts of it being a terrible place to live.
100. Circle, Templar, Chantry, Guard, Seeker, Inquisition, or none?
Fuck the Chantry and all its different branches of terrorizing people in the guise of religion. And fuck the Kirkwall city guard, too.
101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say?
Sorry for all the forgetting that those of you who aren't tanks aren't that, and playing you as if you are anyway.
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