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Fans: I can't stand Halsin because he's racist to Drow!

Me: I see. Quick question, who's your favorite character?

Fan 1: Shadowheart, who hates all Githyanki, of course!

Fan 2: Lae'zel, who hates all non-Gith, of course!

Fan 3: Astarion, who hates all gnomes, of course!

Fan 4: Minthara, who hates all surface elves, of course!

Me: ...... I see.

How to Paint Light by jonhuangart

Forever thinking about the way Shepard says "He's been hurt, betrayed. He deserves something better." When Liara asks if she's fighting for a chance to give Garrus some peace when she comes to the Normandy after LOTSB.

Garrus has been through so much before and during ME2, but he puts it aside to support her. To pick her up at her lowest. From the minute he's back on the Normandy he's just there for her. Don't worry about me, Shepard. I'm fine. Fit for duty when you need me. I just got half my face blown off, but honestly I'm more concerned about you.

Shepard has the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders and Garrus is one of the first people that helps her shoulder it in ME2, despite everything else he's been through. They found each other when they needed each other the most. They get each other, and that's what built the foundation of their friendship and eventual relationship. That's what makes it great.

It's not just about attraction or companionship or a one night stand—and they both realize that pretty quickly. It's about belonging. About finding the person who sees past all the mistakes and bad decisions and responsibilities. Who sees past the soldier, the hero, the vigilante, etc, to the person underneath.

I also love the parallel with Mordin's conversation about his nephew. With thousands of human colonists going missing, the reapers on the horizon— trying to think about everything, fight for everything that's at stake is dizzying, daunting, terrifying. But fighting for Garrus? Fighting for her best friend, her partner in every way? That's something she can do. That's something she can manage.

And one of the best parts? In trying to give Garrus peace, to heal his hurts, to be there for him the way he has been for her, she finds peace herself, where she never expected to. They both find something real worth fighting for in each other, which carries them both through the suicide mission and into the reaper war.

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?

This.

I wish I could describe just how weird it is to see so much love for this character when you're coming in from a fandom era where the overall attitude towards him was "Ew, he's old" or "He's SO borrrrriiiing!" And most of the affection was neck and neck between Solas and Cullen.

The pendulum has swung I guess

The only reason Blackwall doesn’t look like this in game is because if he did look like this no one would want to sleep with egg man or the catholic cop

One of my favourite things is getting to see Chinese students trying to learn English at school finally being able to shake English speakers and yell "WHY IS YOUR LANGIAGE LIKE THIS????"

Bear: *licking paws* Halsin, you have odd companions. This one came over and wouldn't stop talking to me, but the honey he gave me is very good.

Gale: *Verrrrry carefully trying to slide away from the bear*

Concept: one of the companions chilling with Halsin in bear form just chatting about nonsense

then Halsin walks over

Day 10: Favorite Romance

Fair Warning: This is an incredibly long essay with tons and tons of flycammed screencaps.

Obviously, my fav romance is Shakarian. It’s my favorite for many reasons, but I think the reason that I like it best is simply because it is actually a romance. I honestly love it so god damn much that I’m having a hard time focusing on what I want to talk about with it, because its that damn good.

I think I’m going to talk about the development of it, because there’s lots of essays out there already about why they’re suited for each other or what makes them such a good pairing. What I think is particularly interesting about the way the Shakarian romance is set up is that so much of the romance is not in what they say – it’s in how they say it.

Keep reading

I'll never get tired of seeing Halsin included in this cutscene. It was....not a fun discovery back in the older versions seeing him missing. I figured I'd at least settle for Tav exploring this tower without anyone on the team if Halsin wasn't showing up, but the game auto selected 2 random teammates instead 😑.

It's often the little things like that, that can enhance a game for me.