#anders positive

(Oh wait, he didn't actually start the war at all. Nothing in Kirkwall mattered whatsoever because the mages were totally already planning to rebel and his actions messed everything up for them and made it all worse. Nevermind Varric's statement that the Circles began to rise up as a direct result of what happened. He's a pathological liar, you can't believe a word he says!)

Honestly. Fucking gun control. You know what the Circles are comparable to? Internment camps. You know what the Chantry's preaching of mages being inherently evil and deserving to be locked up and tortured for the good of everyone else is comparable to? Hitler's rhetoric about all of the world's problems being the fault of everyone who was targeted by the Nazi regime. The Chantry's takeover of all of Thedas and forcing everyone to follow their doctrine or be branded heretics and subjected to an exalted march? The Nazis taking over other countries and forcing their regime onto them. The Chantry's massacre of the Dalish, and the confinement of city elves to the alienages, and the fact they're treated as less than people? Nazis mass murdering and confining Jewish people to slums, and considering them subhuman. The Chantry is not good or correct in any way.

an excerpt my from commonplace book

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Anders was right and I mean that with my whole chest. Let's just set aside everything about him as a person and focus solely on his actions in Kirkwall: he has done nothing to endanger the population of Kirkwall or Thedas in the ways that a mage can with his actions on the Mage Underground. The mages he helps escape are innocent of all crimes; he himself heavily abhors blood magic even though we see, in the metaphor of blood magic in the DA universe being likened to crimes such as drug dealing or prostitution in our world, that most mages turn towards blood magic when they are left with no other choice. Templars represent such a danger to them that they turn to the most forbidden type of magic that threatens not only their autonomy but their very lives just to escape them.

One could argue that if mages lived in a world where they weren't so threatened by a populace that fears them that they would, in turn, give them nothing to fear by turning to blood magic. It's not the mages the Anders helps escape that turns blood magic; it's the mages that are being mistreated and hunted by the templars. There are outliers, of course, but it's not a reach to say that the institution of the Circles and the Templars are the direct cause, or at least the spark that lights the flame, for most users of blood magic. Even in the cases of blood mages who were truly sadistic, they often cite the Templar's treatment of them as what pushes them over the edge. Anders' actions help prevent more cases of blood magic.

But even setting that aside, everything Anders did to try to help the mages other than his involvement with the underground was above board. He did it the "right way" by appealing to the authority in charge but Elthina deliberately wouldn't listen. In the scene where Hawke distracts Athena for Anders she says:

"I would not wish to be locked in the gallows, but I cannot take sides. We are all the Maker's creatures but magic allows abuses beyond the scope of mortals."

Using her religious beliefs to claim neutrality while also using that neutrality to turn a blind eye to the party that is actually suffering in the conflict. She tells Hawke without even needing to say the words that she sides with the Templars.

So the only authority higher than the Templars in city has taken sides with them. There is no one left to call for help to save the mages who are being abused, lobotomized and raped en masse. Anders is one of the only free mages in the city, in the entirety of Southern Thedas, who has the knowledge and means to do something, anything, to help them. And Anders is a healer; his entire life's purpose is to not stand by when there are those in need. He did everything the right way. He tried every avenue of non-violence available to him: he appealed to authority via Elthina, he appealed to the masses for help via his manifesto, and absolutely nothing worked. His only choice left was violence to save his people. I'm not speaking on who he is as a person, only what he did, which was give the mages the chance to break their own chains because freedom is never handed to the oppressed - it must be taken.

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And it's so fucking sucks. Anders is my favorite character from Dragon Age, but I would gladly exchange him for Velanna, like, the plot would be SO FIRE. But yeaaaah, we can't have any media that show revolution realistically- we can get glorious, happy win over evil bastards, or bad, mentally ill activist, who is evil because he's terrorist.

Really, I need to finally see some nuance. Dragon Age 2 would be perfect if they only noticed that Anders's crime have achieved a lot of good and was also well motivated (when still pointing at brutality of it). And it would be nice if people acknowledged that you can't achieve anything peacefully when your oppressor uses all his power against you.

Introducing the 2025 Handers Gift Exchange!

Welcoming any and all Handers fans, @handers-time will be hosting yet another Handers Gift Exchange! For those unfamiliar, a fandom gift exchange is an event in which participants create fanworks to give to one another, based off their prompts, preferences, and ships! Then giftees will leave comments on any gifts they receive and the love for Handers will be shared.

Schedule:

March 23 - April 5: Sign-ups

April 6 - 9: Matching & Assignments Sent Out

April 10 - June 8: Creation & Posting Period

With additional check-ins on May 2-4 and May 23-25. Participants may post any time during the creation period dates, not just at the end.

Sign Ups Begin March 23, 2025.

Rules & FAQ under the cut:

in every single oppressed mage she sees her little sister, she sees her father, she sees anders. all of the mages she loves. she's never been afraid of mages, and always ALWAYS was so damn angry that she could never make a difference when she saw the fear of being discovered in the eyes of her family.

i think she might support anders and mage freedom even more than some mage hawkes would, because her dedication to the cause is so selfless and there is no internalized self doubt or hatred of being a mage to contend with (which i think hawke as a mage might deal with). i think anders would love her even more for that dedication.

this hawke is usually purple in her dialogue but when it comes to mage's rights she is red and she would have helped anders if he told her his plan. kirkwall is literally an authoritarian police state after all, and the chantry is a huge symbol of that power.