straightforwardly | 080 | in which I am alternatively cackling and sobbing over Dragon Age 2

I am not yet finished with Dragon Age 2, though I am getting closer. I just had to take a break, as the last bit I did was a bit... emotional. But let’s start chronologically!

Hawke ran out of things to procrastinate with, so she grudgingly dragged herself to the Gallows to see what Meredith wanted. And surprise, surprise! She wanted her to catch some mages.

I will say, though, Meredith took Hawke’s reluctant acceptance much more positively than I thought she would.

I decided to look for Huan first! That… did not end well. Poor Nyssa.

Oooo, Merrill and Isabela had the cutest banter about Hawke & Isabela’s relationship. My favorite bit was when she said that it wasn’t surprising at all that someone would love Isabela. ♥ TOO CUTE.

And then they compounded the cuteness by Merrill asking Isabela to write her letters once she’s off sailing the seas. ♥ ♥ ♥

Oh, Emile’s parents are GREAT. I love how his father walks in, just blabbering about everything that that his mother was trying to hide. And then, there was this:

Emile’s Mother: “Not the Hanged Man! It’s so… filthy!”
Me: *dramatic hand to forehead* “It’s so filthy!”
Varric: *does the exact same thing*
Me: OMG I love you.

And then Isabela made a delightful comment about how so-very Orlesian they were for a perfect finish. ♥

But wait, there’s more! I went around the mansion to see what I could loot, and ended up getting stuck in a very much booby-trapped room. I did get all of the loot, but then couldn’t make my way out of there because Hawke+friends kept getting impaled. But THEN I realized that Isabella was near the door / not getting impaled, and so took control of her to get out of the room.

Which led to Isabela dashing through the mansion and past the people living in it while her friends’ screams of agony echoed after her. It was glorious. ♥

OH MY GOD Emile is HILARIOUSLY bad at pick-up lines. So bad.

Also, I really loved Merrill’s reaction to him saying that he called himself a blood mage to impress girls. “Isn’t that more likely to cause panic / have the templars called in?”

(Hawke let him go. He’s so inept; no one can imagine that he’ll ever cause any problems.)

(Now watch, it’s probably going to backfire on her horribly, because that’s just how Hawke’s life goes.)

...I am so confused by my notes here. I wrote “Anders at the place”. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. WHAT IS THE PLACE, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT ANDERS WAS THERE???

OH NO. Merrill and Varric had a banter where SHE TRIED TO GIVE HIM BACK THE TWINE.

MERRILL DON’T GIVE BACK THE TWINE.

IT’S THE PILLOW ALL OVER AGAIN. WHY ARE PEOPLE TRYING TO GIVE VARRIC THEIR THINGS.

(I comforted myself by telling myself that it’s just a banter; it’s much less likely that means something, UNLIKE THE PILLOW CUTSCENE.)

(STILL. THIS IS CONCERNING.)

Something tells me that the quest called “A Small Problem” is not going to involve a small problem.

oh god oh god this is so creepy. I can’t handle scary things at all. ._.

Also, I should have known that Merrill would be the scaredy-cat! She jumped and freaked out and shrieked at allll the places where I did the same.

Isabela, on the other hand, reacted with a “yawn, bored now”. I… think my Hawke is probably not the type to get freaked out by those kind of things (unlike me), but it’s amusing for me to imagine Hawke and Merrill just clinging to Isabela as they make their way through the mansion.

Oh, well. At least I can say that Merrill probably did.

Oh no, Varric. No.

NO RELIC FOR YOU. NO.

Aw, he was grateful about that post-quest. Their conversation was so cute. “You never have to worry about me, Hawke!”
I CAN’T SAY THE SAME ABOUT HIS OTHER CONVERSATION-QUEST.

“It’s been an honor knowing you.” WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE. STOP. STOP IT. YOU’RE ALL MAKING ME NERVOUS. Maybe not as nervous as Anders is BUT THAT IS NOT A GOAL YOU SHOULD BE STRIVING FOR.

Which means that it is time to see what Alistair wants! And oh my god I am CACKLING WITH GLEE at this meeting. Let’s run down the highlights.

First, Meredith! “Let’s hope that next king Ferelden chooses is more aware of his duty to the Maker.” Yeah, that’s what happens when you let a Dalish elf who doesn’t believe in your gods choose the king.

ALISTAIR. YOU’RE JUST AS ADORABLY AWKWARD AS I REMEMBER. ♥

“I’m Alistair! The, uh, King of Ferelden. And this is my Uncle Teagan, sort-of.”
“I am actually Teagan. I’m sort-of his uncle.”

Ha, Aveline’s bowing to him / talking about what an honor it is to meet him is making Alistair so uncomfortable.

ANDERS AND ALISTAIR’S CONVERSATION IS THE BEST. NO CONTEST.

Anders: “Weren’t you a Grey Warden?”
Alistair: “That’s the rumor. Wait, weren’t you also…?”
Anders: “That’s the rumor.”
Alistair: “Huh, we get around.”

That being said, Isabela’s was almost as good!

Alistair: “Isabela! You look...different.”
Isabela: “Don’t we all.”

IT BELATEDLY OCCURS TO ME that I should have seen if Merrill had any special dialogue with him, considering my Warden was her Mahariel. Too late now, sigh.

Ahhh, this whole conversation with him was great. Also, a mention of my Warden!:

“The Hero of Ferelden should be in Denerim by now.”
“You’re so formal! She has a name, you know,” and we are going to avoid saying it if at all possible.

So, I don’t have much to say about the quest where you see Aveline re: Cullen’s letter, but I so love how offended Aveline was at being called soft.

Isabela and Anders had a great banter! Anders was asking why she didn’t just run off during the whole qunari-thing, and totally didn’t buy her excuses. “I knew you had a heart of gold.” “Don’t tell anyone.” Oh, Isabela. ♥

Time to talk to Merrill! And she opens up the conversation by talking about that damn mirror. I love you Merrill, but your life choices are so bad. So bad.

In other news, LISTEN TO MARETHARI.

The banters when walking up to the Sundermount are so good. Varric telling Merrill that he thinks this is a bad idea, and that he doesn’t want to tell people about how she died = all the wibbles from me.

And Anders and Merrill had a fantastic conversation about their various beliefs. “You have choices! You always had choices! Stop using blood magic. Get rid of that damned mirror.” And then Merrill told him that she’ll give up on this when he gives up on the circle mages, which, ouch. But it really drives in how much their respective beliefs and desires drive them, and the ways in which they parallel one another.

That being said, it also DOES NOT HELP my worry meter. Because it’s really good advice! But Merrill clearly isn’t listening, and that, paired with ALL THE FLASHING ARROWS pointing at Anders screaming BE WORRIED is, well, making me worried that he’s not going to listen to his own advice.

Wow, that got tl;dr. Back to the increasing sense of doom!

Oh no. no. Marethari. The way Merrill covered her face with her hands when Marethari revealed her plan. Her denial. Marethari’s calm acceptance. Just. no.

How do they expect me to fight a boss after making me burst into tears. how.

no no no no this is so depressing.

The only good thing about this is that Hawke had the option to point out that Marethari loved her, but… that’s not enough. Not when Merrill’s dealing with the crashing realization that Everyone Else Was Right and that It’s All Her Fault. Poor girl.

Of course, the clan has to pop up RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT.

I was under the impression that “I’ll take responsibility” meant responsibility for the death, which, I figured my Hawke would go for, because even though she was heavily against the eluvian thing, she 1) loves Merrill and 2) has lost too many people to be able to bear seeing even one more person she cares about be hurt.

That… wasn’t actually what that option meant, but the end result was that the clan didn’t swarm on Merrill like a bunch of locusts, so I figure that it’s still a win.

Oh, oh, Merrill. Just her little, “They hate me— they’d kill me if you weren’t here.” So many sadfaces. All the sadfaces.

Anders’ banter with her on the way out ended much more nicely than I thought it would considering his reaction straight after Marethari died. At first, it seemed like a rehashing of what he said to her then— Marethari was an amazing person, she didn’t deserve that death— and I half expected him to say the whole ‘it’s all your fault’ thing he said then, but he didn’t. Instead, when she asked (in the most anguished tone possible, oh poor Merrill) why he was doing this, he told her it was because he wanted her to be aware that she had a second chance— something most blood mages don’t have.

Like, it wasn’t very sensitively done? But I can appreciate the sentiment behind it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I am dying at Isabela's daring escape from the mansion while her friends are impaled.

MERRILL DON’T GIVE BACK THE TWINE.

I am convinced now that her quest could possibly end in something other than tears if she'd never tried to return the twine. Never give anything to Varric! Drawing his name for the Kirkwall equivalent of Secret Santa is practically a death sentence.

That was the best. The BEST. I'm still laughing about it, hours later.

Never give anything to Varric! Drawing his name for the Kirkwall equivalent of Secret Santa is practically a death sentence.

I almost did a literal spit-take when I read this. Poor Varric; it's not his fault he's cursed!

080 | in which I am alternatively cackling and sobbing over Dragon Age 2

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