Chargers, horns up!

Also, because this is incredibly important to Bond for some reason, she needs to be an incredibly predatory, womanizing lesbian. Some perfectly happy married straight woman needs to become gay by the end of the movie.

But… at what point does Bull lose control of his anger and lust? Bull is NOT sexually aggressive. He's relaxed and open about sex, yes, but he's never forced anyone into it. He uses the concept of active consent better than any other DAI character

It's sad that the game only has an option where Bull takes on the dominant role (because the game clearly shows that he could easily be a submissive). His "I know better what you want" isn't about power, but about being a cool spy who reads people well, and he truly understands what his partner needs (and here again, it's sad that we only have one scenario)

Bull asks the Inq three times in the first romance scene alone if the Inq is sure they want what Bull is dishing out. He then asks them again after the first romance encounter if the Inq wants to continue. He doesn't have a full kink conversation with the Inquisitor but that reads more as Trick didn't do their research than actively meaning to portray him as a bad Dom. The Inquisitor is also comfortable enough to engage in pillow talk with Bull about the relationship, Bull's kinks and the potential kinks of the other main cast.

Inq always calls the shots, this is confirmed in party banter (with Cole, of all people), and this means that Bull is actually supposed to be a really good Dom, despite poor writing. Bull is all about caring for his pet, not abusing or aggressing at them.

And like... Bull's entire character is also about his fear.

Notably, his fear that without qunari guidance he could be a horrible person.

Which is his PTSD talking. Because we know that who he is doesn't fundamentally change whether you choose to keep him qunari or not, so the game is pretty explicit about this fear being unfounded and Bull being just a normal dude who happens to be a soldier who both likes his job and is good at it (and plays up having an uncontrollable bloodlust for audiences as part of his cover - again, confirmed in party banter with Cole that this is an act and Bull actually dislikes having to kill people to defend himself.)

That said

To start off, some facts:

-White wine is made from sweet pulp inside of the grape (minus the seeds).

-Red wine is made from both the skin and the grape (and the seeds and stems…sometimes? Can’t remember).

-Tannin is the substance found in red wines, coffee, dark chocolate. Tannins are responsible for the bitter taste in those foods.

-Tannins are found in the skin of the grape, as well as the seeds and the stems. Therefore, most red wines will have tannins, versus most whites will not have tannins.

-Red wines vary in level of tannins, depending on variety of grape, climate, and fermentation process. Pinot noir tends to be very low tannin. Shiraz/Syrah, choice of poison for our beloved brunette surgeon, is very heavy on the tannins.

-Some white wines (most commonly Chardonnay) are aged in oak barrels instead of metal containers. Oak barrels have tannins, which seeps into the wine during the fermentation process. That’s why Chardonnays tend to be “drier” aka it has tannins.

-White wines like Sauvingnon Blancs are usually fermented in steel barrels (aka no tannins. Aka usually very fruity and light and sweet).

Your ability to taste tannins is genetic.

There is a genetic marker determining whether your taste cells are sensitive to tannins.

Basically two people can drink the exact same wine and have wildly different reactions because: 1. Person A can’t taste tannins, so they taste the actual wine flavor. 2. Person B can taste tannins, and that tends to overpower ALL the other flavors in the wine. Basically all they taste is tannins and none of the wine.

I am super tannin sensitive, so if I drink a wine like Cabernet Sauvignon (very tannin heavy, aka “very dry”, it tastes like bitter ethanol alcohol to me, whereas my best friend can’t taste tannins so the same wine is maybe a little bitter but they can actually taste the grape and different flavors. To her, a wine like Sauv Blanc is too sweet, tastes like sugar water. But to me it tastes good.

So unless it’s the taste of the alcohol or all wines you hate, chances are you might hate the taste of red wine, especially the heavier red wines, because taste the tannin overpowers everything else. And all you taste is bitter bitter ethanol bitter more ethanol. 

More tannin info: -Tannins bind to fat.

-This is why tannin heavy wines are recommended with fatty foods (Shiraz and steak). Whenever you eat food with high fat content, the fat builds up on your tongue. A sip of red wine will bind with the fat on your tongue and clear it away. That’s why the sip of wine between bites of fat heavy foods is considered a palate cleanser.

-By that logic, this is why white wines are recommended with low fat foods, like fish. Salmon is fattier than most fish, which is why Chardonnay (tannin heavy white wine) or Pinot Noir (low tannin red wine) is recommended with salmon.

-People who are sensitive to tannins can drink tannin heavy red wines with fatty food and generally the wine won’t taste gross. The fat on your tongue (from that steak) will bind with the tannin and neutralize the tannin taste. Aka the only time I ever drink Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz is with a steak or heavy, creamy pasta. Aka never bc I don’t often eat either.

-The reason dairy helps coffee taste better is because the fat in milk/creams binds with the tannins in coffee and neutralizes the bitter taste. This is why people who can’t taste tannins can generally drink coffee black without milk (sugar is a different story). It’s also why almond milk in coffee is the worst idea (almond milk is already bitter and has no fat).

More wine facts: -90% of the “aromas” of wine are marketing BS

-You know the labels that say like “cherry with a hint of blackberry?” There’s no real way to infuse cherry or blackberry into grape wine without screwing with the fermentation process. It’s all created by the wine marketing industry to sell you win. Sometimes if you smell cherry before you drink the wine, you might taste it in the wine (because majority of flavor comes from smell). Or if you think there is cherry flavor in the wine, your brain can trick your taste buds into tasting it.

-The only true flavors found in real grape wine are grapes (obviously), oak/earthy flavor (the barrels), vanilla (barrels, oak sticks), tannins. (There are a few others but can’t remember. I think maybe cinnamon?).

-People’s perception of wine often affect how good it tastes to them. Social psychology studies show that people will rate the exact same wine differently if they’re told the wines are different in price. (They rated the more expensive wine as tastier).

I wish there were more variables in dialogue/quests with Bull so that he would make that decision on his own. In the quest, the Inquisitor tells him to save the chargers or sacrifice them.

Later, in dialogue with Solas, he says "You are a man who made a choice... Possibly the first of your life."

But it still feels like he does it because he's given permission, because he's told to. I just want Bull to make the choice on his own. To take the action for himself and separate himself from the restraints of the Qun -- which is following orders blindly.

Cullen’s addiction gets handled in a really similar way, where you basically tell him to get addicted to lyrium or tell him to get sober and he just does it, regardless of your relationship with him or previous interactions.

Bull is particularly egregious though, and it feels like his whole storyline is underdeveloped, which sucks because he is such a fun character. The first time I played Inquisition I thought that I had missed a quest because Demands of the Qun doesn’t really have consequences if you don’t play Trespasser.

Say what you will about Baldur’s Gate’s companions, but having the likelihood of them listening to you based on your relationship with them does add necessary stakes to their quest lines.

All of his conversations, if you're paying attention, lead to his understanding of choice being "You need to do what your boss tells you, otherwise you lose everything." Heck, even his romance is about power and control dynamics.

Having someone who has power over him telling him that he should do what he wants to do makes him able to do what he wants to do.

Remember, at that point his perception of himself is that he must do what the qun says no matter what because if he doesn't, he kills people (Seheron + his re-education post Seheron). He's terrified of madness and links making choices that go against the qun as the first step down a madness path. He literally can't take that step unless he's ordered to.

You're giving him an order to follow in that moment. You're using his own conditioning to give him the ability to do what he wants.

Grace doesn't realise that he's flirting with Lokken at any point while he is flirting with Lokken

Stratt gets tangibly annoyed when Lokken and Grace are having their science tete-a-tete, in which Grace compliments Lokken

And despite 'having a bad relationship' with Lokken, Grace still compliments her at several points in the book and respects her intelligence. Their 'bad relationship' amounts to disagreeing on science. They actually get along quite well on page.

They look to each other when disaster strikes, Stratt is in the room and sees this.

Ryland on-page mentions that he doesn't know why he and Lokken look to each other. He puts it down to scientific solidarity.

Grace's longest (and only mentioned) relationship was 8 months and ended badly. He mentions this not in the context of missing a relationship, but being overwhelmed by how much stuff Rocky is moving into his ship.

He is uncomfortable talking about sex with his friends.

He is more than willing to never have sex ever again and doesn't miss it at any point. He doesn't even mention it unless it's in the context of explaining how human reproduction works to Rocky.

Stratt calls Grace a coward and directly references his lack of relationships as a point of his cowardice

SO CONSIDER:

Stratt being arrested immediately per what she predicts will happen after launch

Stratt having twenty-eight years of prison time to stew over the fact that she let her resentment and bitterness get the better of her when there was a second option candidate but she made Grace go on the Hail Mary

The information finally coming back on the Beatles and Stratt realising that not only was this man that she had a petty vendetta against the only survivor of the forward trip he:

Met a sapient alien

learned that alien's language

discovered an entirely new branch of noble gas science

Solved the astrophage (that he named!) problem with a predator amoeba (that he named taumoeba)

knows exactly what she did to him

Chose not to return to Earth despite being able to.

Like none of the above was spite, either, but to a person like Stratt that would read as a hell of a grudge. A middle finger from fourteen light years away.

Imagine the person who you believe rightfully hates you the most of anyone in the universe and who you sent to another planet because of the appearance of scorned affection becomes the literal person who saves the world.