Oak Father Preserve You.

A distinct lack of Halsin on my dash lately 🐻😔

While there is no doubt that having the Qun inflicted on everyone else is unacceptable, knowing why there are adherents is important because it'd never survive if it wasn't at least addressing enough people's needs to become a culture. One of the biggest things that stand out is that the Qunari do not believe in neglecting their poorest and weakest members of society. Oh sure, ideally, everyone should be taken care of, the Chantry sisters do have charities.

And yet.

There are people still joining the Qun (for good or for ill) like the city elf brothers who were wanted for murder. Why did they kill? Humans raped their sister. Did they go to the City Guard? Yes. No one did anything about it. Why? They were city elves, the least of all citizens.

No amount of spare food or clothing will address that need for justice there.

It's notable that Andrastian myths focus more on Andraste, her relationship to the Maker and a few involved in her story. But the story of the Qunari's reason for arising centers on the failure of societies in taking care of their poorest, their neglected.

Long ago, the Ashkaari lived in a great city by the sea. Wealth and prosperity shone upon the city like sunlight, and still its people grumbled in discontent. The Ashkaari walked the streets of his home and saw that all around him were the signs of genius: triumphs of architecture, artistic masterpieces, the palaces of wealthy merchants, libraries, and concert halls. But he also saw signs of misery: the poor, sick, lost, frightened, and the hopeless. And the Ashkaari asked himself, "How can one people be both wise and ignorant, great and ruined, triumphant and despairing?"

So the Ashkaari left the land of his birth, seeking out other cities and nations, looking for a people who had found wisdom enough to end hopelessness and despair. He wandered for many years through empires filled with palaces and gardens, but in every nation of the wise, the great, the mighty, he found the forgotten, the abandoned, and the poor.

There's another passage that comes to mind of how the Qun may not be all fascism and pigeonholing tyranny to the citizens (taken with a large grain of salt):

Dragon Age Wiki

Codex entry: Qunari Tamassrans

See also: Qunari, The Qun, Tamassran Nanny Goodwin lay on the hard stones of the Kirkwall docks until the sailors left with her purse. As sh

Nanny Goodwin lay on the hard stones of the Kirkwall docks until the sailors left with her purse. As she struggled to her feet, a large grey hand reached down to help her. It was one of the Qunari, the great horned giants who had come to live in the city.

"I thank you," said Nanny Goodwin hesitantly, looking for her satchel. "I did not know the docks were so dangerous, or I would have asked one of Lord G___'s guards to accompany me as I bought healing herbs for the children."

"You are a tamassran," said the Qunari. "Under the Qun, no sailor would accost you. Why are you here?"

"I am but Lord G___'s nanny," Nanny Goodwin said, "and Lord G___ did not believe me when I told him that the children needed healing herbs, so I was forced to buy them myself."

"Under the Qun," said the Qunari, "tamassrans are trusted and listened to when caring for the children, and any healing herbs they needed would be provided. Why did Lord G___ not attend your words?"

"He is a noble," Nanny Goodwin said, "and I am merely a servant who cares for his children." She shifted her shawl to hide the bruises the sailors had given her, as well as the bruises Lord G___ himself had left.

"Under the Qun," said the Qunari, "all are equal, and no tamassran thinks herself a mere anything."

Nanny Goodwin bid the Qunari good day and returned to Hightown with much to think about.

Sounds like propaganda, doesn't it? And it'd be easy to dismiss as just that, if not for a few non Qunari members of the Qun like Gatt.

Dragon Age Wiki

Gatt

Gatt is an elven agent of the Ben-Hassrath. Gatt was a slave in Tevinter until he met Hissrad. A Qunari team led by The Iron Bull (who was t

Gatt has lived under the Qun after escaping from Tevinter so he has two societies to compare side by side to on the pros and cons. And his assessment is this: The Qunari are meeting enough of his needs to offset their flaws in society.

So there are some positives in Qun society. It's far too rigid and narrow in its overzealousness to categorize and control everyone, but it's fascinating in how it's not just a cartoonish, mustache twirling parody of an evil government. They genuinely do want to take care of every single member of their society, it's just a shame that expectation to conform is non negotiable.

CONFESSION:

It sucks that we rarely get to see any truly positive or cultural looks into Qunari life. Sten was kind of our only real peak into it without every character around them going "wow thats TERRIBLE the qun sounds AWFUL you're basically SLAVES". Even Tallis's storyline eventually turned into her running away from it. We'll shine a light on how the Chantry and the slave empire are 'flawed but worth saving' all damn day, but maker forbid the Qunari have any kind of positive exploration with the modern storyline. I'm not saying I want them to be a shining perfect utopia, but would it kill anyone to add a little nuance?

I see this confusion time and time again, despite explanations that personality matters a great deal to many players and not just looks. Garrus was written as a character first, not tailored to what people think women want. And this isn't a knock on the other romances either. People loved them because of their personality just as much too. The point being is that our reasons, despite the tendency for "critics" cheapening our love for this character as some shallow freak fetish, are just as based on the bonds developed over time.

It's funny; Garrus' romance is a pretty good summation of what demisexuality is. He wasn't physically attracted to Shepard by his own admission, but his respect and admiration makes him able and willing to explore a romantic side of it with her until he does develop a physical attraction to her in ME3. In fact, you literally can't romance him if you deliberately kept him off the team in ME1. No history, no bond, no romance.

He's brash, but respectful. He's reckless but wants to do good. He's stubborn but listens if Shepard disagrees. He has strong opinions and isn't afraid to voice them, but that's never harmed the friendship he can have with Shepard.

He's one of the first teammates there for Shepard she can trust when she had woken up alone and struggling in an organization she does not trust.

It's a little disappointing that we have to repeatedly say, the personality matters in our attraction to a character. Especially if we're particularly struggling to feel sexual attraction at a glance.

Do you think Mass Effect's character writers deserves more recognition for how they managed to turn an entire generation of people sexually and/or romantically and/or aesthetically attracted to someone who is essentially a featherless spacebird?

No because they did it entirely by accident, tried to placate the confusing requests by female fans to make him romanceable but because that was not something they planned for they were still writing him primarily removed from being a romance partner and were more focused on writing him as the "best friend" character to MShep (not realising this is EXACTLY why the female players (as well as gay players) liked him) and by Mass Effect 3 they just threw up their hands and went "WELL HELL! YOU GUYS LIKE HIM SO MUCH YOU GET ALL THE ROMANCE THEN!!!"

Garrus' writing as a romance was a perfect storm of factors, many completely out of the writers' control that even they themselves completely missed until their players POINTED IT OUT TO THEM. Garrus is lightning in a bottle of unplanned factors, incredible voice performance, the writers willing to comply to player feedback, and the symbiotic relationship Bioware had with their fans and players.

Garrus is an incredibly well written character in his own right, that's WHY he's such a good romance option and the best one Bioware has ever had. But a part of this was luck, chance, and willingness to adapt his character to what a subsection of fans wanted.

Proof further by every single romance Bioware has since written with the INTENT of making them exactly what their female players want, never hit the same way Garrus did. And speaking personally, none of their other romance characters in any of their games scratches the same itch.

Also "Featherless Spacebird" means nothing to me because my "sexual attraction" level is lower than 0. It's not DESPITE him looking like that. It's BECAUSE he looks like that. Not because I find him physically attractive, but because he does not resemble something I am supposed to be physically attracted to in any way shape or form.

I like the way Garrus looks because he's Garrus. And because I like Garrus it means I like the way the turians look.

The caveat of "essentially being a featherless space bird" implies that "haha isn't it CRAZY gamers would be attracted to THAT???"

no.

His personality, voice, performance, and writing is wonderful. Why WOULDN'T players be attracted to that?

Wasn't expecting to get called out so early this morning.....

That's neurodiversity babe!

Actually, I do think it's an interesting topic talking about other biotics and how their development would be affected. Since people are comparing biotic abilities, why wouldn't other examples be used?

Is there some sort of forbiddence on people adding to the discussion that helps round out what makes someone more "powerful" than an Asari? Does only raw power matter or should versatility be included? We see Jack using her biotics to leap over enemies and yank the guards into the air with her momentum. We've seen Samara yank a skycar back to herself biotically. We've seen Kaidan admit he can't float down like Falere nor have the minutae of control to unlatch a hatch on the other side.

I'm never really certain what exactly people mean when they say Kaidan is as/more powerful than an Asari. Does that mean he can overpower someone like Morinth even though he says he'd be a goner to an Ardat Yakshi? Can he punch down a YMIR and keep running? Cutscenes of him make that hard to guess because his biotic abilities are rarely ever demonstrated if they're acknowledged.

Mass Effect really just left out the part about Kaidan being as strong and powerful as an Asari when it comes to his biotics. I had to find that out from google and I don’t remember it being mentioned in the game that a Kaidan is actually that powerful. Like I knew he was powerful and skilled but I didn’t know he was Asari level. I don’t know if I just missed that information or what

He’s literally the perfect man oh my god. I couldn’t ask for another. Why is he so perfect ? And like not meaning to shade Ashley but it makes me want to choose Kaidan over her more because he seems to be more of a valuable asset than her with his biotics.

*Pinches nose*

PSA Announcement: Solomancing Halsin does not make him monogamous. It's not a fan's responsibility to go sleep with others to make sure gatekeeping poly fans are reassured he's still poly. There is no minimum quota of people a fan has to sleep with for someone to still be poly. I'm sorry I don't find others attractive enough to put them above Halsin, but it's my playthrough, not the ones who are complaining. I don't owe the polyamorous group validation ON MY OWN PRIVATE PLAYTHROUGH through denial of my own preferences. What I like does not change that Halsin is still polyamorous.

On that note too, Shadowheart and Astarion are also poly despite some fans' insistence that they're monogamous victims being preyed upon by Halsin.

If you have never said this to anyone, carry on, this message is not directed at you.

*Waits for the torches and pitchforks*

Ok, so I've been giggling like a loon for the past hour at the thought of a Paladin decked out in full wartime armor, with fury in their heart and the wrath of heaven in their eyes, declaring in a voice that will command the heathens and sinners to listen:

"GET READY FOR MY ALMIGHTY SMITE-Y!"

Bonus points if they're smacking a wooden paddle in one hand while shouting that.

"The resources used to write Halsin could have been used to write more for Wyll!"

No. They literally could not. Wyll and Halsin were assigned to entirely different writers. If Halsin had never been made a companion, Wyll would have the exact same amount of content he does now. If anyone would have ended up with more content in the hypothetical alternate universe where Halsin wasn't a companion, it would have been Shadowheart, who shares the same writer as Halsin.

Criticize the lack of content for Wyll, because it deserves to be, but stop trying to make it sound like Wyll's storyline was scrapped in favor of the Gay Bear Sex Fund.

Tavs I've made so far:

Luth

It felt like tasting a forest for her, when she kissed Halsin. Greenery and wood in her minds eye, the cooled touch of a breeze, the warmth of the sun in his arms. Everywhere, surrounding her, she could not hide from it nor did she want to. He was there, fully present for her like the peace of early morning after a night of war. She does not need to prove herself anymore. He is here and he sees her struggle and he will not leave her to face it alone.

It feels like relief from a long fight, the blessed mindlessness of sleep and the sweet leisure of a spring day.

Just be.

Nothing further be needed than the connection between them.

Hemera

She was not given to flights of fancy, she thought. But the gentle delight of that twirl and Wyll's smile sent promises she thought long broken.

"It's ok," His movements told her, "It's ok to dream and believe again."

"Utter foolishness." She said to herself. It's a doomed fool's fancy before they'll hit the cobblestones, bloody and broken.

And yet

Yet he stands before her, defiant in the face of the fate that his patron would have forced onto him. He's free and proud, unbroken in his honor. Through it all, he's just as kind as he started when they first met.

Maybe it's ok to hope.

Lrb, I would also argue that Larian expected us to romance Halsin as a joke, what with how late in the game the romance occurs and how much emphasis the marketing put on the bear scene.