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I might try it just got the heck of it....but if it's as heartbreaking as you say, I might cry sweatdrop
And the Anders part... I can't quite tell if you are being sarcastic or not. I'd like to believe you aren't since Anders actually is in fact quite caring and passionate normally...

He really is...it's shown quite often throughout Awakening and DA2 how much of good guy he actually is. He may have been a bit selfish before but he was always fairly righteous. I actually remember writing something about that in the "Favorite Character" thread for Awakening *goes back to quote herself*

"he's actually quite kind and he does always favour the right and honourable decision which gave him major points in my book"

He was always making jokes and being a fool but when it came down to a serious decision he always went the right way.
As for DA2, he did so much for my team....the way he runs a clinic completely free of charge for the unfortunate. He just about begs the Grey Wardens to save your sibling, keeping Bartrand under control until they could find a safe place to contain him and several other times throughout the game you can see how truly kind he is.... damn Justice for screwing around with his mind.

Yes, I almost always get really attached to my characters in Bioware games. They make them so realistic...like they are actual damn people. I find something like the Anders romance was done very well. You could feel the emotions every time Hawke and him spoke. Made me swoon quite a few times XD.
As for Isabela, she is way more then meets the eye. Alright she's a little skanky at times but once you get by all that...you can see that she's actually a caring and good person.

I was sooooooo freaking pissed at him, but then when it came time to decide what to do with Anders, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of him because I knew it was only a matter of time before either side did something incredibly idiotic to set the other side off, especially with all the innocent people who've already gotten caught in all the idiotic crossfire leading up to that moment and swept under the proverbial rug (if you haven't noticed, I'm really annoyed with how the templar/mage leadership ended up, I was pretty much fed up with their antics by the end of the game ...seriously now wtf was up with the storytelling? xD). I'm not a great fan of Ander's character, but I think in that plan of his I realized just how much he grew throughout the story. For the first time in the entire ******** game I feel like he actually took charge of Justice instead of letting him go freaky vengeance on his a**. He was playing the victim for so long, it was refreshing to actually see him do something downright ballsy and premeditated.

I killed of Anders. When it came down to it, after what Anders did, I killed him. Will he be remembered as a martyr or as a terrorist? Time will only tell. To me though he is a murderer, he started a war that not only caused Mage Circles to rebel....but for some reason the Templar's also. I just thought of it this way, The shot heard around the world, which caused WW1. Oh and about his character change, I have very little that I can say sense I have yet to play Awakening, but I do know that they changed writers for Ander's character so that is probably why he is so different.

The story was annoying. I was hoping for the ten year story where it eventually leads up to an epic showdown with the Qunari for the Free Marshes and Kirkwall. I was hoping to do a fight much like that seen in the original trailer as a final epic battle. But instead we get Emo mages that cut themselves at the slightest site of trouble ( Oh no tax collector BLOOD MAGIC! People are trying to kill me, BLOOD MAGIC! I stubbed my toe, BLOOD MAGIC!), a city with barely any sane people (apparently only you and Sanders), a kick a** mage that you end up discovering that he helped give research to the jackass that killed your mother, and one of my favorite aspects in Origins, major major decisions (werewolves, King of Orzammar, etc).

I was disappointed with a lot of things, but the game also did a lot of good things.

I love the characters in Dragon Age 2. Just hearing character dialouge at random times really shows the depth of the characters. I love that Fenris, Varric, Aveline's husband, and apparently your Mabari Warhound all get together to gamble with each other. I love the banter of Merrill and her not getting it. I love that if you do not romance Fenris or Isabella they end up getting together in act 3. I love that due to Varric, people think you have killed 20 dragons with your bare hands and made a bed out of their skins.

The play style may not be as tatical, but the chaos of the fights are fun.

It included a turn off helmet feature so I do not have to look at the ugly mage hats.

*gets on her soap box*

First off, gonna say that a lot of what I say isn't going to be based in logic but in gut feelings and I'll probably contradict myself a few times, but go with me anyways.

.. I fell in love with Anders. Probably because he's a poor man's Alistair, but there you have it. And I was a little squicked by the whole Karl thing. I am NOT homophobic, and I'm all for gay rights, but in real life I'd be rather turned off if I found out my boyfriend made a habit of eating hotdogs at the Y. (If you don't get that, just think about it for awhile. It'll come to you.) That's just me, I'm NOT a yaoi fangirl by any means. And yet that stupid, slimmed down, earring-less version of Anders managed to seduce little Catherine Hawke by saying 'no'. Catherine, like me, is a bit of a brat, usually does the good thing but can be a smart a**, and likes getting what she wants. Then he does the whole "don't tease me" thing so I was like "Tease" and he was like "maul" and I was like.. *romantic sigh* heart

And then he blew up the Chantry. I was SO excited to get Justice out of him and then I was like "um... you gonna tell me if it worked or not? How about I bring a Templar over here I don't like, like Ser Karras, and kiss him, to see if Justice comes out to play." He never brought it up again, so I KNEW something was wrong. Then he blows up the Chantry. In all honesty, it wasn't really MASS murder, there were what, 3 priests and Elthina in there, so people were more butt-hurt about her death than anything else.

Now, 'why the Chantry?' brainsoup has asked in one post that I'm too lazy to go back and quote. Why not the Templars? Well, their base was IN the Gallows, and any explosion there would simply kill more mages. Also, the Chantry gave the Templars their authority, refused to check their power when they started to abuse it, and Elthina refused to take sides. In Anders' mind, that is the REAL crime. So Elthina (which I'm probably spelling wrong but I don't care) once publicly berated Meredith, calling her a little girl. Big.Friggin.Whoop. Elthina had a duty to protect the citizens of Kirkwall by assigning the roles of Mothers and Templars, and she did a pretty s**t job. That nutjob Petrice got a promotion and then Elthina doesn't bat an eye when she's assassinated in the Chantry, and once Meredith started dipping her fingers into politics Elthina SHOULD have stepped in and said "No. You have other duties, leave governing and the Viscount's Office to the Nobles." But she didn't. She sat back and let the mire get murkier and murkier until it erupted into chaos.

I personally have no problem with what Anders was TRYING to do. I take issue with his methods. If he wanted to murder Elthina for her inaction he should have stated that as part of his goal. If he wanted to blow up the Chantry to make a point, he could have V'd it (Vendetta reference, love that movie) by waiting for the Chantry to be empty. In that case he is destroying a symbol, not people. I could have supported that 100%, if he'd only told me. I'd have lured everyone out with my witty-Hawke banter and then "BOOM!"

But Anders doesn't think like that. He doesn't blame Justice, though I think a lot of the blame lies there. I think it also has to do with the fact that he is a Warden, which is not something you can't quit. Wardens are taught to do WHATEVER is necessary to achieve their goals. Wardens would slaughter innocents to protect the greater good from the Blight, if they had to. In Origins every REALLY sticky moral choice had middle ground. Kill Colin or kill his mother, or walk to the Tower, get some mages, and kill a demon. Kill the werewolves, kill the Dalish, or get Zathrian to undo his curse. Kill Loghain, spare Loghain without consequences (other than a PISSED OFF Alibear) or make HIM kill the Archdemon. In II they take out that middle ground, which makes it all the more gut-wrenching because in Origins we were taught a middle ground exists if we wish to take it. And that's real life kiddos, there isn't always a neat solution that leaves everyone satisfied. In most cases there isn't such an option.

As to the mages of Kirkwall... here I agree with Brainsoup 100%... THEY ALL F*CKING SUCK! Though don't forget Alain never stabs you in the back, though he does turn to Blood Magic to fix your kidnapping victim, and the rich French bald kid I let get away, I don't think he came back to s**t on me in thanks. Maybe he does that in 3, I don't know.

I think Orsino's actions were the worst moment in the game for me. I was so pissed, but the despair in his voice "Why don't they drown us as babies?" in retrospect makes me hate him a little less. He's totally crushed in that moment, all hope is gone, why not turn to blood magic? I will never understand the Kirkwall mages, maybe it's a Free Marcher thing. My Warden Mages and Catherine Hawke would NEVER EVER EVER EVER turn to Blood Magic. I never use it as a specialization.

But when it comes down to it I'll never kill Anders, and I'll tell you why. I agree with Merrill 100%. Killing him let's him off the hook, and if the Mages win the war he DOES become a Martyr. I make him stay and clean up his mess, because HE made it, he needs to fix it. If that means siding with the Templars, well, with high enough friendship/rivalry you can do that. And I will, if I ever get around to siding with them.

To Krazy-Chibi, their leader going Psycho was a HUGE problem, not something to scoff at. Now those who were as rabid as she was had free reign to abuse people, and those who stood up against her were labeled traitors and arrested, all except for Cullen in the final battle. (Oh Cullen...) And this is my personal feelings, maybe I'm taking it too harshly, but I'm sure some people said "Those Jews in Concentration Camps have it made, they have a roof over their heads and they get fed, while I'm sleeping in the woods living off of bark because the Allies blew up my town." The mages in the Gallows were under constant threat of being turned Tranquil, which most find a fate worse than death. Also, some of the dialog between Ser Alrik and Ella in Dissent, and Hawke's response, makes me think there are other abuses going on, possibly including rape. Wouldn't be the first time that happened in Dragon Age. Oh, and to lend credence to my Concentration Camp theory, there is this little tidbit.. "The Tranquil Solution" is likely a reference to "The Final Solution". This was the most deadly phase of the Holocaust in World War II.

*gets off soap box* Kudos to anyone who reads this whole thing through.

Dione Nightly you make very good points, it's strange I honestly liked the mages in Origins and I did defend them. I think it's just as you and Death Sharpie said the Free Marches mages turned to Blood Magic way to easily that might be one of the reasons I didn't defend them.

The few not-crazy mages I did help and was glad to help, as with the non-crazy templars. Im pretty sure if there was neutral ground in the game it probably would have been stop both the templars and the mages.

I know his ritual was never about Justice, but that is what he told me, and since he was living in my house and sleeping in my bed I believed him. In hind sight, a bad idea.

I agree there were dozens of better solutions, but he is right about a few things.

1) The Chantry is more than a symbol for more than mages and templars, yes, but it is the ONLY institution that is oppressing them. The Circle system stems from the Chantry, and the Circles are there to oppress mages. I personally don't think the templars are the problem, the system is. Mages being torn from their families and left in a cage is a pretty good reason for them to be resentful.

2) There really is no "safe" place for mages now, barring Tevinter. The Circle is a prison, and any apostate is in danger of being labeled a Maleficar, without proof. There is no middle ground, no choice for someone who wants to live in peace and not in the Circle. I am assuming cases like Morrigan and Hawke are rare, perhaps this is a faulty assumption, but I have no reason to assume otherwise.

3) Things were not going to change while there was such a disparity in power between templars and mages. I'm not arguing that this was the right way to go, but that action needed to be taken. Compromise was not going to happen for two reasons: Meredith was insane, and Orsino had no position to bargain from. Perhaps Hawke could have compromised with a sane Meredith, or a Gregoir, but that was not the situation at hand. And let us not forget this game spans seven years. I don't think the game makes you feel that with all these "and then years past and nothing happened."

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I DO like Varric, like I said, he and Bethany are the two who aren't self destructive.

Anders - "MAGE FREEDOM!"
Fenris - "MAGES evil "
Aveline - ".. I need 2 goats and a sheaf of wheat.. just to talk to this guy."
Merrill - "Demons are my friends!"
Isabela - "Anders, cure this std..."
Carver - "Waah.. my big brother/sister is better than me!"