The Cryptographer

maybe mota in amice verse is the bethany/sera version. i don't think i had anything else planned for it and i feel bad about endlessly torturing bethany in that verse.

maybe merrill's actually so upset and stressed out about being the protagonist of the worst da game that by the time she meets dorian in redcliffe she immediately dives into his jacket and dorian is standing there awkwardly while this 4'10 girl who stole the peacock feathers off his robe and tossed him off the pier in kirkwall and who he subsequently got into a couple of interesting arguments about magical theory with hugs him. and he's attempting to crack awkward jokes about it 'now, i didn't realise you liked me quite this much' but it's not working GET OFF HIM

merrill is of course hoping that dorian has an eluvian hidden in his trenchcoat that will let her escape from the evil andrastian cult, but i don't think she's a hugger normally, so this is actually very awkward for both of them once the moment is over.

Quiz Merr verse is haunting me. I need more of Fiona hating Anders for being an annoying presumptuous white boy and constantly smacking him on the wrist and sending him out to clear out Templar camps and whoever Fiona’s second in command is is like ‘he is only one man, don’t you think a dozen Templars might kill him?’ and Fiona is like ‘one can fucking hope’

Fiona is quite possibly the only person who meets face to face with both Merrill and Anders during act one of DAI and anyone else might use this opportunity to help ease their troubles and facilitate communication but Fiona instead spends the time wanting to strangle Anders despite his undying loyalty to her cause and making sure she says ‘I don’t know how you stand that guy’ at least two times during every conversation with Merrill

Merrill will never know that Fiona has exactly no legs to stand on given her whole deal with Cailan of all people

Quiz Merr verse is haunting me. I need more of Fiona hating Anders for being an annoying presumptuous white boy and constantly smacking him on the wrist and sending him out to clear out Templar camps and whoever Fiona’s second in command is is like ‘he is only one man, don’t you think a dozen Templars might kill him?’ and Fiona is like ‘one can fucking hope’

Fiona is quite possibly the only person who meets face to face with both Merrill and Anders during act one of DAI and anyone else might use this opportunity to help ease their troubles and facilitate communication but Fiona instead spends the time wanting to strangle Anders despite his undying loyalty to her cause and making sure she says ‘I don’t know how you stand that guy’ at least two times during every conversation with Merrill

The discrepancy in reactions to Mistress Poulin (the de facto leader in Sahrnia) and Gregory Dedrick (Crestwood's mayor) feels a little weird... Like I have feelings about how dragon age loves creating a situation where someone makes an inhumane 'hard choice' for the 'greater good', but if i'm taking all that at face value I think the biggest difference between them is that Crestwood's mayor's decision of who to sacrifice was essentially made for him (everyone who was already blighted) and Poulin's decision was made actively (let's be real she's not giving herself to the red templars). And we can make it more complicated by saying Poulin was restricted to able bodied workers and Dedrick maybe was influenced by class features like who is living in Crestwood's floodable lowlands and who is on the first line of defense for fighting darkspawn and getting blighted. But also I'm reviewing these sit in judgement outcomes and how nice you can be to Poulin compared to Dedrick is a little fucking weird I'm going to be real. (Possibly because Poulin is Orlesian with a title, she's more socially valuable, and Josephine is telling Quiz ahead of time they should be more lenient with her?)

I'm going to be real, I think we're expected to judge Dedrick more harshly because he displayed cowardice and attempted to run while Poulin has more composure and doesn't fight being taken into custody, but this kinda annoys the shit out of me. Neither of them is gunning to fess up to their crimes. Poulin was in an active hotbed of a situation she couldn't run from when the Inquisition arrived. Dedrick was wallowing about in ten years of aftermath. Also frankly I'm not sure I can blame someone for being a little afraid and bolting from punishment.

incredibly cynical overthinker who likes snickering at others' misfortune, who is entirely capable of violence but equally capable of restraint and, if properly incentivised, thoughtfulness and empathy, wit and charm. who thinks that freedom is a noble ideal but untenable in practice. who is following at the heels of someone he feels affection for or, in any case, would rather feel affection for than dwell on the fact that actually this person is his only lifeline and only defense against the rest of the world if and when it turns on him. now quick, am i talking about fenris in minrathous or fenris in kirkwall?

people sometimes act like fenris existed in some completely alternate mindscape back when he was a slave, and i don't want to diminish the fact that he has an arc and is growing and is developing a better relationship with himself, but also that is the same guy. they are the same guy. slave fenris isn't some entirely unthinking brainwashed non-person, he's a guy who is actively doing things and actively investing his brainpower into justifying the status quo (same as he does in kirkwall hey) because the alternative is complete social isolation and starvation.

hmmm...there was a moment in those early brainstorm days where the knight-corporal's race was selectable...maybe I should dig through my notes...