it didn't sing, it didn't dance

dragon age. origins, awakening, & da2 primarily. always asking hey where's zevran. what's he doing. early modern vibes and by vibes i do mean vibes. what if i apply a bunch of otherwise usually fun but not esp practical info into helping a faux-medieval/renaissance setting make a little more sense to me specifically. ask me abt my playlists if u enjoy the shawm. ask me abt shakespeare/early modern english theatre if u want a new friend. i am shy but friendly. house-trained!

ao3 here

fic tag here

will eventually compile some info abt ocs but for now:

my main girl is cat cousland, a walking anxiety disorder who is having a bad time. an autism diagnosis would not save her but it would make her brother go ohhhhhhhh wow.

my hawke is an andersmancer but more importantly, bethany is there (: ask me abt fenbelathany.

Aveline: Are you safe, Fenris? Fenris: No. Aveline: You know, some guards give people the opportunity to lie if it will keep the peace. Fenris: You can see what I am. Lie to yourself if you must.

even before she becomes guard captain, she's still trying to consolidate her friendship w fenris into her overall framework of 'guards = good.' this to me is a copout (badumtsh), and i think that's part of why fenris responds so bluntly. he understands his position, and he understands that he exists outside of aveline's desired worldview; aveline is the one tying herself in knots going okay guards are good but sometimes guards lie but when guards lie it's still good because it's abt keeping the peace. and fenris tells her flat out that she's the one lying. and he is right.

Alistair: So let's talk about your mother, for a moment. Morrigan: I'd rather talk about your mother. Alistair: There's nothing to talk about. And besides, isn't your mother a scary witch who lives in the middle of a forest? Much more interesting. Morrigan: To you, perhaps. You would find the moss growing upon a stone interesting. Alistair: You know what's more interesting than that? Apostates. Mages outside of the Tower. That's illegal, you know. Morrigan: You did not read that in a book somewhere, did you? I hope the small letters did not strain you overmuch. Alistair: Or we could not talk about your mother. That works for me.

this is the big one. like quite frankly i don't think this means alistair would actually turn morrigan in or that he would approve of what would happen after morrigan ended up in a circle. but the chantry/templar alignment is useful to him when he wants to intimidate her. it's notable to me that it's when morrigan jabs at his ability to read that he decides to tap out.

later, when she rolls her eyes at him asking her why she thinks he's stupid, he snaps, 'i was educated by the chantry. i studied history. they don't make stupid templars.' and like. my guy i do think they make stupid templars. but his chantry education as a templar is a thing he can hold over morrigan's head. and he does.

Alistair: All right. I've come up with one, a question that you can't answer. Morrigan: Are you talking to me? Alistair: That's right. You think you're so smart? I've got an academic question that I bet you won't be able to answer. Morrigan: Oh, I doubt that. Alistair: So tell me, then: what was the name of Andraste's husband? Morrigan: This is a religious question, not an academic one. Alistair: You're joking, right? A five year-old could answer that question. Do you not know more than a child? Morrigan: I care nothing for your religion. And this game of yours is over. Alistair: Oh, how the mighty have crumbled.

a chantry-taught metric of intelligence disadvantages morrigan and advantages alistair, so he uses it to make her feel stupid. morrigan is right when she tells him he's asking a religious question and not an academic one in the same way that's it's unfair of her to judge alistair against flemeth's metric. why would knowing the name of andraste's husband demonstrate intelligence to someone who exists outside of that institution — or rather, someone who is imperiled by that hegemony?

like.

Alistair: So tell me, was the Tower of Magi everything you thought it would be? Morrigan: Abominations running rampant? Templars ready to slaughter every mage in sight? Yes, it rather met all my expectations. Alistair: You don't think you might have been better off getting your training there? Instead of whatever your mother taught you? Morrigan: You're right. My mother didn't nearly have as many abominations running about. That certainly would have improved my education. Alistair: Hmm. I'll give you that one. Morrigan: I'm so relieved.

'instead of whatever your mother taught you.' it's what flemeth taught morrigan that saved alistair and the warden's life, but alistair a) cannot concede that here and b) super cannot concede that here if he wants to press morrigan's buttons abt who got the better education.

and also idk it's just a weird level of HELLO? to walk out of broken circle, rock up to the apostate mage, and say hey that was all kind of a lot, but you get why your education was still lesser, right? and then immediately having to be like yeah the abominations were bad. yeah.