the bathroom window

15. Your favorite “Bro”
VARRIC

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13. Mages or Templars?
Mages, no question. While the Templar/mage relationship may have started with the best intentions and possibly even worked at some time, but the time we see the Circles in DA and DA2, it's clear that they function as prisons.

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11. Favorite song from the soundtracks

Easy: "I Am the One," written by Inon Zur and sung by Aubrey Ashburn. It's so hauntingly beautiful - the wailing rise and fall of her voice sends shivers over my skin. The first time I heard it, I'd just beaten the game. The sad triumph of the Warden is captured perfectly.

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9. Favorite class (ie, mage, warrior, rogue, assassin, healer…)
Ooh, tough one. I like all the classes I've played: bow!rogue, dual-wielding warrior, and daggers!rogue. Looking forward to trying out elemental mage in DA2, which'll be my next game. It's hard to say, since the fighting is so different between the games.


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7. Favorite quest

DA:O - The Deep Roads certainly left an impact. Wading through the political quagmire that is Orzammar took ages, and even after the Warden had settled the bureaucratic nonsense, they still wouldn't abide by the contracts. When she was sent to recover the Paragon, she figured it was just another task on the laundry list of handyman jobs the dwarves had given her. Oh man. The Legion of the Dead? Awesome. The Dead Trenches? Awesome. Broodmothers? Awesome. Into the heart of darkness the Warden and her companions delved, descending into the bowels of Thedas to uncover the terrible secrets buried there. Branka...

What I also liked about this quest was that it once again showed how complex and complicated the human (or dwarf, as the case may be) soul is. What started as an attempt to right past wrongs and ultimately save people somehow got twisted. Selfishness and pride; this isn't the only example of how good intentions go astray, but it's one of the most powerful.

DA2 - I'm going to go with the fan favorite: The Long Road. Aveline and Donnic are just so adorable.

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6. Your Warden’s story
f!Cousland: Eee she's my favorite. I've written about her already, but hell, I don't mind babbling some more. The youngest child of Teryn Cousland, Mairen was trained as rogue by her mother. Her personality tended to be serious, sometimes even stiff, and her limited humor tended to be dry. She joined the Wardens out of desperation and took on the responsibilities of the order to fill the void that her parents' murder had gouged in her. Her family instilled within her a sense of justice and fairness, and it wasn't difficult for her to accept the Warden mantle. And it was easier to devote her focus and energy to her work rather than dwell on her failures. Despite their differences, she considered Morrigan her sister; she admired the witch's perseverance and strength, and is even a bit jealous of the other woman's ability to forge on ahead. Cousland could get a bit broody. She got along well with Leliana, even if she wasn't as devout as the bard. She respected Wynne a great deal, even if she doesn't always follow her advice. Zevren could be tricky - he made her laugh, but she wished he wasn't so flippant. She's rather ashamed to admit that she thought Oghren can be hilarious. Sten worried her; she couldn't decide if she admired his dedication or despises it.( As for the ending of the game... )

f!Brosca: My first characters was a female dwarf commoner. Airathess was raised, if you could call it that, in squalor of Dust Town with her sister and mother. She can ruthless when forced into a corner, but despite her tough childhood, she isn't completely heartless. Not as I-will-do-good! as Cousland, but Brosca still tries to help when she's able. She's fascinated by Leliana and wishes she were a rogue so she could imitate the bard. We'll see if that interest turns more intimate.

For DA2, f!Hawke was a dagger rogue, prone to swaggering and swearing. She was at Ostegar with her brother, and saw the betrayal and fall of the Ferelden army. She made it out and with her family fled the onslaught. Her mother and sister found their new life difficult, depressing, but for the most part Hawke saw it as a game. She played her way through the first few years, winning gold and respect, only loosing the occasional tooth. Until she followed Bartrand into the Deep Roads. The shit got real.

She wooed and won Anders. Partially it was her innate sympathy for outcasts, partially her childhood as a daughter and sister to apostates, partially because she couldn't resist a challenge, partially because despite her glibness, she admired the work he was doing. She protected him when he begged her to leave.( End of the game spoilerssss )

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4. Favorite Love Interest
Alistair! He's such a sweetheart. Bioware perfected the nice guy in him - not boring like Carth in Knights of the Old Repulbic and not a Nice Guy who's actually a manipulative asshole. The hardened!Alistair love scene was excellent, touching and umf umf umf, and the part where he gave Cousland a present made me squee. And his dialog is extraordinarily well done: he can be goofy and flirtatious, but you can also make him blush, which is adorable. And his conversations with other team members are some of the best in the game. And Bioware did a good job with the development of the romance; the pacing was perfect.

f!Cousland adores him. Before the war, she wasn't concerned with love and marriage. She had all the time in the world, it seemed; her brother was the heir and he already was married with a child, so their line, and thus home, was secure. With her being the youngest, she had freedom in choosing her partner; she didn't need to rely on an arranged marriage to provide stability. Parties and events that other nobles attended were dull and dry affairs, and she preferred to skip them entirely and spend her free time in the woods or in the keep. And why shouldn't she? Plenty of time to settle down later.

When she was conscripted, when she saw her home lost in a storm of fire and blood, when the dark spawn marched through Ostagar, staying alive to find Howe and prove to him that the Couslands - and that the Wardens - would not be defeated became her priority. The weight of the responsibility was heavy and stifling, and it narrowed her vision.

Enter Alistair! Someone who understood the aching pain of loss as well as the demands of duty. But who didn't brood or turn angry. Alistair's admiration of her gradually turned into devotion, and as he approached her, he started to draw her out. Wynne warned her, but by the end of their journey, my Warden could not stop being Cousland or stop being Alistair's, and could not devote herself to the wardens. Sealed with dark magic was the bargain she made to save him and herself, to keep them together when destiny tried to tear them apart. Eee.

Course nothing beats Anders' first kiss. There's no way Hawke could resist after that. And when he finally allowed himself to admit his feelings and walked through the dangers of Lowtown and then Hightown to be with her... Sigh. So delicious.

Planning on romancing Leliana with my f!dwarf, then the next run-through of DA2 will be with a m!Hawke. I initially wanted to rivalmance Fenris, but Anders. Apparently if you play as m!Hawke, Anders is more active in pursuing you.

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2. Favorite character
Ooh, this a tough one. One of the reasons I love the DA series is the depth and breadth of characters. Everyone is unique with their own motivations and agendas. And everyone is awesome.

I probably fangirl the most over Alistair, followed by Anders. Ooh Mr. Alistair ooh. And Anders, you can possess me any day. But I love them all. The women in particular are well done, I think: varied, versatile, and at the end of the day, fucking bad ass. Leliana's backstory was fascinating, Morrigan's bargain was touching and brutal, Wynne's quiet strength was inspirational... And then we have Velanna, Sigrun, Isabella, Bethany, and Aveline, not to mention all the NPCs that help or hinder the Warden and Hawke along the way. Like Sister Petrice, who Hawke is trying to deal with right now. She's a sly, slick cleric who has been meddling in the shadows as Hawke attempts to organize the chaos of the city - she's delightfully devious.

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18. What don't you talk about here, either because it's too personal or because you don't have the energy?
School, mostly. usually I'm too tired at night to write when I get home, and then by the next day I've forgotten everything. Which actually may be a good thing, since it's probably boring to everyone else.

19. Any questions from the audience?
Anyone want to write me some DA fanfic?

20. Yes, but what are your thoughts on yaoi?
Huge supporter!

21. What's your favorite thing about Dreamwidth?
Hmm, the community, I think.

8. What community do you wish was more active?
Oh god. Like, all of them? 310toyuma, aceattorney, beatlesslash, legendofzelda...I joined a bunch of communities that haven't been updated in months. If ever.

9. Are there two people on your reading list that you think should meet?
Hmm... dunno?

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