statistically average hound

faith possesses wynne to save her. anders allows justice to possess him to save him. even lucanis and spite (...) band together out of a mutual need to survive. they save each other at great risk and knowing that not doing so would make the surviving half's life infinitely easier and less dangerous (minus lucanis and spite. don't worry about it.), and then they continue to negotiate that shared existence with like. really comparatively a lot of care. like we definitely do, in dragon age, see possessions that are violent, not really consensual, fatal to the mortal, but we also spend a Lot of time with cases where... the big fears around possession... are just visibly not True. which is not even beginning to talk about spirit healing in general (and how the Two "we merged because i love you and i don't want to lose you" abominations are spirit healers).

Especially if you're playing Hawke as a mage, the way it's repeatedly driven into the player in act 1 that Hawke could wake up in the Gallows because they're a poor refugee and also not every templar has a price, some really just love to make mages suffer (even though you never do get caught; I really wish there'd been an instance where Hawke had to break out of the Gallows like the Warden and Alistair breaking out of prison in DAO) and if you go to the Gallows and like... listen to the mage NPCs idle dialogue, look at the way some of them that are allowed to roam the courtyard are cowering, listen to the monotone voice of the Tranquil merchant standing beside Solivitus, the templars' remarks about the mages not even being people, it's just so incredibly fucked up that it baffles me how there's even a question of whether or not Anders was right. Even some of what he says in banter with your other companions about the Circle is genuinely insane (what do you mean you've been fortunate, you just told Sebastian you were assaulted by the templars at Kinloch??? You were fortunate that you escaped??).

Tranquility is so genuinely horrifying as a concept, too. Anders' entire recruitment quest being about his own lover being made Tranquil as punishment for the crime of just writing to him, Alain mentioning that Karras has been in his chambers and threatens to have him branded if he tells anyone, watching Alrik tell a girl that she'll do whatever he wants her to when he makes her Tranquil, that one woman in act 2 who Alrik made Tranquil before he died having a conversation with her distraught lover about how she belongs to Ser Alrik now, the fact that slowly over the course of the game there actually are more Tranquil in the Gallows; I feel like it's one of the darkest things I've seen in a non-horror RPG. You get taken away from your friends and family forever if you're born with magic, and if you fail the test you aren't prepared for that they randomly spring on you to see if you can resist a demon you're executed, and even if you successfully pass that, if you make one wrong move or even if the templars just don't like you, you get fucking lobotomized and have no agency over anything that is done to you ever again.

Nintendo - Zelda's 25th Anniversary Zelda Flipnote

You are Cassandra. Your job is to find out what happened in Kirkwall leading to the Chantry bombing and subsequent mage rebellion. Your sources have indicated that a few individuals closely involved with the incident traveled directly to Kirkwall from Ferelden, a country than underwent a major succession crisis less than 10 years ago. It’s open knowledge that this succession crisis was resolved with heavy interference from the Grey Wardens, an incredibly secretive order whose immediate plans are deliberately obfuscated, despite their claims to political neutrality. The result of this succession crisis was either:

The current Queen of Ferelden was placed there by an alliance with the Grey Wardens, and her father and/or husband may even be a member

The current King of Ferelden is a quote unquote “former” Grey Warden (this being a transparent attempt at a loophole to get around rules about political interference) and he may even be married to or openly sleeping with a current member of the Order

At the heart of all of this is the Hero of Ferelden, who if alive, is possibly the prince consort of Ferelden, or the friend, wife, mistress, or ex-lover of the King.

With this in mind, there are a few key figures who keep popping up the more you investigate Kirkwall, all obviously deeply embroiled in whatever transpired. They include:

Another member of the same Order — records indicate he may have served directly under the Hero of Ferelden and might even have grown up in the same Circle of Magi that they did

A soldier who served in the same battle as the Hero of Ferelden and possibly the king. Shortly after this battle, she relocated to Kirkwall, where she rose in the city guard’s ranks surprisingly quickly. Just weeks before the rebellion, she received an offer of a high ranking position in the Ferelden military

Possibly: the Hero of Ferelden’s literal cousin

Possibly: the Hero of Ferelden’s childhood friend

A pirate (yes, a fucking pirate) with known ties to one of the Hero of Ferelden and possibly the King of Ferelden’s former companions. A few witnesses at a Denerim brothel claim to have seen her associating with them there, and possibly even left to sleep with the Hero of Ferelden (also possibly, the King of Ferelden too??? both of them???)

Possibly: another Grey Warden, (possibly also the HoF’s cousin, possibly served directly under the HoF’s close friend and/or lover during the Wardens’ visit to Kirkwall) who was mysteriously inducted into the Order after they discovered the substance used to corrupt Kirkwall’s Knight Commander

Putting aside the fact that one of these individuals is well known for having killed/otherwise dealt with a prominent Qunari leader, who was then replaced one of the Hero of Ferelden’s former companions, there’s also the fact that the possible King of Ferelden might have travelled to Kirkwall himself before the Kirkwall rebellion to specifically push for mage rights, and then scheduled a MEETING with Hawke and all of their aforementioned associates less than WEEKS before the mage rebellion.