Steve Spohn Able Gamers Interview (Dragon Age Day 2019)

Let's hear it for Dragon Age Day 2019!

In celebration of this year's Dragon Age Day online event, which takes place all over the world on December 4, 2019, as one of the co-founders of Dragon Age Day, I'm very excited to join them in shining the spotlight on our charity for this year, Able Gamers, and to talk to Chief Operating Officer Steve Spohn.

Able Gamers is an amazing organization, a charity working to improve the lives of gamers with disabilities utilizing the power of videogames. For Dragon Age Day 2019, 100% of this year's donations and charity auctions via Tiltify will benefit Able Gamers. Please do check out our Tiltify link here, and don't forget to visit their website for more information on getting involved!

Dragon Age Day founder Teresa joined me to talk to Steve a few weeks back, and that transcription follows below.

We're delighted to be here with Steven Spohn from Able Gamers, and to have Able Gamers as our chosen charity. It means a lot to us.

STEVE: Thanks for having us! We appreciate the support. Thank you so much for including us in this special day!

We're so happy to be supporting you. Now, for the benefit of Dragon Age fans—first off, you are already a fan of Dragon Age, right? And you played Origins?

STEVE: Yeah, it was one of the games that got me out of the online Star Wars games I was playing, and got me into the more story-driven games formats. I loved the characters and loved the game, and probably spent way too much time playing it.

How long ago did you play?

STEVE: Probably the last time was maybe seven or eight years ago. Origins was a game I really loved the most.

Everyone definitely has their favorite Dragon Age chapter in the trilogy!

STEVE: The accessibility aspect in Inquisition was a little questionable, so I wasn't as able to easily participate, so here's hoping they go back to some of those choices that made it easier for more of us to play.

Were you ever able to play Dragon Age 2 as well?

STEVE: Yeah, I played it. 

TERESA: That's my favorite right there. Yes, I am one of the rare people for whom Dragon Age 2 is my favorite in the series. I also really connected with the characters, and Fenris, specifically. 

STEVE: I know Fenris is popular with so many! Guys, gals, nonbinary, everyone loved Fenris... but you know... oddly enough, while Origins is my favorite game of them all in the series, my favorite character is Varric, from Dragon Age 2. He's my favorite Dragon Age character of all time.

I think we all want Varric on our side in life in general...

STEVE: You do. And actually, the only other time I've ever mentioned Varric was on a podcast with Danny O'Dwyer, and we were discussing a book I'd written that I don't talk much about—it maybe wasn't the best thing I'd ever written—but one of the inspirations for one of characters was Varric.

(laughs) Now I'm hoping EA doesn't sue my butt off.

TERESA: On the other hand, I'm sure that Mary Kirby, who wrote Varric, would be incredibly flattered to know that.

I love the fact that in Dragon Age 2, everything is at an eleven—the drama, the emotions, the characters. I love that it's so operatic.

STEVE: They did very well with the stakes, balancing the story, the beats, there's several instances where the story didn't bite quite enough, but Dragon Age is always especially good at that. How many of us have played an RPG and then quit because it didn't grab us? But Dragon Age always does.

It builds to this big great huge conflict and I felt it was very cinematic and well-done.

STEVE: I thought so too, but I miss playing Origins. I did like the way they flipped perspectives and gave us different ways to see the story.

Which Hawke is your Hawke of choice?

STEVE: Blue is always my favorite.

So you went for the kinder, more peaceful Hawke.

STEVE: In any game, so many times, I'm like, "This time I'm gonna go with the more evil or challenging answer..." and then I do... and I'm always... in Dragon Age and any other game, every time, I'll think, and yeah, maybe I'll go with the evil answer... 

And then I click it, and instantly, I'm like, "No, I can't do this," and go back.

TERESA: Oh, I feel that so much.

ANGELA: In my first playthrough of Origins, I killed Connor. I had no idea there was any way to save him, so boom, I killed him. And I still feel bad about that! I ended up going back 45 minutes in the story to make it right so Alistair would stop yelling at me.

TERESA: At least you didn't do what I did. I got attacked by Conner, and mis-clicked Alistair... and got the rose scene. With Connor on the floor between us.

STEVE (laughs): Timing is everything!

Steve, we're so excited to support Able Gamers this year, so can you tell us about Able Gamers and its mission for those who may not know about you?

STEVE: Absolutely. Able Gamers is a 501 (C)3 nonprofit charity that has been around for nearly 15 years now, and we're supporting gamers with disabilities by creating opportunities in order to help them combat social isolation, foster inclusive communities, and enhance quality of life. Our main initiatives include giving people with disabilities the equipment that they need to play, whether that is 3D printed, or it's just a piece of velcro on a table, there are lots of different accessibility options out there for everyone. 

We have various programs within our tiered support, where we take people through, allowing them to go from not knowing anything about videogaming, all the way to being a gamer, just like anyone else. We also have community outreach, which includes going to PAXes, and doing things like Dragon Age Day, and having community outputs to show that we are out there, that people with disabilities can participate, and want to participate in the gaming community. And it's really part of our core design, to incorporate this loving community into. 

And now we all feel this affiliation towards gaming, and it's all changed our lives in various ways. And that's really what it's all about. We're a gaming charity, we're a disability charity, we're a human charity. We're out there showing that it's all about family and friends, which is ultimately part of what being a gamer is all about.

We all like to bring it back to videogames, but at the end of the day, it's just a matter of you and me, connecting as humans.

What would you say the biggest difference is that Able Gamers is able to make in the lives of disabled gamers?

STEVE: There are 46 million disabled gamers in America today, alone. And that's a staggering statistic, if you think about that. It's everyone who watches the Super Bowl—plus some.

Wow. That's an incredible number.

STEVE: And that's just America. You start going worldwide, and the numbers quickly become even bigger. It's impressive, the numbers. And when we started doing this fifteen years ago, we'd ask people, we'd go to events and ask if they'd ever thought about gamers with disabilities, and most of them would say no. 

But it would vary. For instance, one person we talked to openly laughed at us... and walked away.

TERESA: What the—?

STEVE: Yeah, you know? 

But things have changed. Things have changed a lot. And now people realize how important it is to be able to game, no matter what your challenges may be.  So it's hard to pinpoint one big moment of change or one thing that helped one gamer, because we've helped so many, and each one's situation is unique and different.

We've got a great Player Research Division that does nothing but find out these amazing numbers. And it's now able to take a group of 500 gamers with disabilities and get them into our player panels program and give them opportunities for amazing companies, just like BioWare, the makers of Dragon Age, to come to us and say "Hey, we want to make sure our game is accessible." 

So then we may have twenty players with disabilities that we connect with them to see whether or not that game is accessible. So there are lots of different ways that Able Gamers is out there fighting the good fight for everyone.

As we rally the Dragon Age fanbase to support Able Gamers, what would you like to see our followers do to support your mission?

STEVE: It's always a matter of funding. So, you know, having a day like this can really help us to raise some capital for the charity. It costs $2.2 million dollars for us to run a charity like Able Gamers every year (with 92 cents on the dollar going directly to Able Gamers' missions and objectives). Every dollar counts!

$350 is the average cost of what it takes to buy or create one piece of equipment to help a single gamer to be able to play. But that total can go up to multiple thousands of dollars for someone who is profoundly disabled, for example. 

Meanwhile, outside of funding, there's also the need for awareness. Now, people are more aware nowadays than in the past, and the world is more welcoming of people with disabilities nowadays, and the gaming industry is more welcoming too. 

So our goal is really to keep working with great events like Dragon Age Day, so that there's more awareness, and so that gamers can play any game they want. Any of them. And one of the things I get to do is to get out there and help with that, and also to reassure disabled gamers that yes, people care. People care.

And the only way they can be guaranteed to know that is when you tell them, when your followers tell them, when you tweet out to them, "Hey, I care about people with disabilities, and I care about accessibility." And people listen. They really do.

For future reference, for our BioWare friends and other developers, what can be done to increase accessibility, and what could have been done, for example, on Inquisition, that maybe you would hope to see in Dragon Age 4?

STEVE: There are several answers to that, and it's a great question, because number one, in Inquisition, they changed the camera setting so that it was locked more behind in its focus. And that means you have to sort of control it more like a typical over-the-shoulder camera game, as opposed to isometric. And then what they could have done was separated out the mouse, uncapped it, so that it wasn't at a certain level, there's lots of things that could have been done with that game as an example. 

And there are very simple things you can do as a developer that don't cost a lot, and yet that would help billions of people be able to play your game, more easily, more readily, and more availably.

For the next game, I really hope BioWare goes to our accessible player experiences, and it's a free resource anyone listening can visit now, here.

Beyond Able Gamers as an organization, do you have any tips for how friends and families of gamers with disabilities can help them to enjoy more gaming options and better experiences?

STEVE: Absolutely. First, you have to ask them if that's what they're interested in. There's nothing worse than being helped by someone if you don't want the help. 

But if they do have interest in gaming, or you just want to show them how important it is, Able Gamers has a swathe of articles on the Internet to help you with that. You can just go to Google and type in "Able Gamers" and there are thousands of articles that may be a resource.

And it can be so transformative and fun! My favorite thing about gaming is playing a story and living it at the same time. So you are that car racing around the track, you are that mage trying to take down a dragon. It allows us to live a story in real time.

STEVE:  Lord knows, I wanted to marry Morrigan.

You and pretty much everyone, I think!

TERESA: I mean, my boyfriend already knows that if Fenris ever showed up at my door, he'd be like, "Oh. Okay." (laughs)

I have a list. I've blogged thousands of embarrassing words on my love for The Iron Bull and Solas.

Meanwhile, for gamers or fans who are disabled, and who would like to reach out to Able Gamers for help, what's the best way for them to do that?

Go to Ablegamers.org, then click on "Get Help," or go to https://ablegamers.org/our-services/ and people will see options to get accessibility help, to apply for a grant, and more. I also always encourage people to follow me on Twitter, on Twitch, and more.

Thanks so much for this opportunity to speak, Steve. It was great to learn so much about Able Gamers and what it's accomplishing. We're proud to support you for this year's Dragon Age Day.

STEVE: We always tell people, expand your world. One of our gamers plays in Street Fighter tournaments every year, and last year he was seventh overall, in the entire world. And he literally plays with just his face against the controller—plays, and beats people up. It's amazing.

So, you know, expand your world. If you've never met or hung out with a disabled gamer, seek that out, find out how someone else plays, and you'll see how much they love the same games you do. 

At the end of the day? We just want to make sure everybody can play.

All images courtesy of Able Gamers.

The All-Time Most Romantic Dragon Age Moments

Oh, Cullen. Your love for the Inky is sweet, hesitant, and a reminder of how much our Dragon Age characters can evolve across one of gaming's best trilogies.

Varric: Look, Seeker, if you love a character, you give them pain, ruin their lives, make them suffer. Maybe even throw in a heroic death.
Cassandra: That makes no sense!
Varric: You care enough to argue. If she had a nice afternoon and took a nap, you'd stop reading.

Happy (Late) Valentine's Day!

So, I wanted to post this a few days ago. And of course, life and work intervened. But still... better late than never, right? Hawke would forgive me instantly. The Warden would roll her eyes. And the Inquisitor would look at her watch.

Or so I headcanon. But onward...

The lovely thing about pixels is, they never let you down. If we love them, they love us. And because we are all fabulous Dragon Age fans here, let's face it, no matter who we are, we've all had a perfect romantic moment with the companions we love.

So instead of a ranking of romances, which I just feel wouldn't be productive and wonderful, I'd rather provide a rundown of my personal favorite sexiest, most romantic and most poignant moments across Dragon Age, for all companions.

Here goes!

Dragon Age: Origins

A rose by any other name just wouldn't be the rose given by Alistair to his adored Warden. It almost makes a Blighted world worth navigating...

Alistair
Alistair is a lovely Prince Charming, especially when he begins to face the Blight-ridden world he's supposed to save, and grows up. He's sweet, brave, and bashful, and his declaration of love for the Warden, giving her a rose in a world of darkness, really moved me the first time, and always will. It's one of my favorite-ever romance moments in Dragon Age: He's young and vulnerable but he's not wrong to use this one moment in a time of tragedy and torment to declare his feelings. It's just lovely (and beautifully acted by Steve Valentine).

For me it's Alistair's most beautiful, literate and genuinely poetic moment: 

Here. Look at this. Do you know what this is?

I picked it in Lothering. I remember thinking, 'How could something so beautiful  exist in a place with so much despair and ugliness? I probably should have left it alone but I couldn't. The Darkspawn would come and their Taint would just destroy it. So I've had it ever since. I thought that I might... give it to you, actually. In a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you.

(Warden replies among several options)

I'm glad you like it. I was just thinking... here I am, doing all this complaining, and you haen't exactly been having a good time of it, yourself. You've had none of the good experience of being a Grey Warden since your Joining, not a word of thanks or congratulations. It's all been death, and fighting, and tragedy. 

I thought maybe I could say something. Tell you what a rare, and wonderful thing you are to find amidst all this... darkness.

Morrigan has literally been raised to distrust closeness, kindness, and generosity. Her romance therefore reveals a vulnerability and sweetness that is doubly charming.

Morrigan
For a scary swamp witch who can turn into a spider at will, Morrigan is surprisingly lovable. I adore her. I know she's controversial but to me she's a peanut-butter-tart with a soft and creamy center.

Wait. That sounded more sexual than I meant it. Although yes, I wanted to romance her with my female Warden and am still not okay that I couldn't.

Morrigan's romance, however, is genuinely lovely—she's tentative on emotion, forceful on passion, as you might suspect, and yet... the emotion is always there. It means something to her. Her acknowledgement of the Warden's feelings is moving because we know it's one of the only times she's ever done so in her life. Ever.

She seems like one of the sweetest characters in Dragon Age, but Leliana has a core of stone and steel to see her through the greatest crises of world or heart. And yet, no one is braver or more faithful.

Leliana
Oh, Leliana, Leliana, where do I start.

Romancing Leliana in DAO is like admiring the grace of a beta fish and not knowing it was a shapeshifter fish. It was not swirly and cute and pretty and inoffensive. It was a swordfish. Ha. But the joke's on you. It wasn't a swordfish, either: It was a shark all along. A beautiful GORGEOUS awesome, smart, subtle shark, but... yeah.

But that shark still has the soft little feathery feelings of the beta fish. As it should.

The best part is that she is unshakably faithful: If she romanced the Warden in DAI and Trespasser, she's still present, faithful, and loving there. It's the best thing ever.

Leliana: "Here, with you, knowing the freedom of the road and the uncertainty of tomorrow, I feel alive again." And a bit later... "It comforts me to know that the stars will remain untouched by the Blight. That whatever happens down here, they will shine eternally, their light undimmed."

Leliana is a combination of sweetness, softness, and steel. Leliana is amazing.

He's the rogue with the tongue of velvet and the heart of silk. Zevran is well worth romancing, and he's one of the funniest and most moving characters across the trilogy.

Zevran
I love Zev. Because his romance isn't "Yay! We're in love! Let's have sex!" and more, "Yay! We've had sex! Now we navigate the minefield of... feelings?!"

Ahem. But you get it. 

Like Bull, Zevran makes sex simple and only the emotions that follow anything complex or challenging. For him, they are a series of puzzles, a cipher. A product of incredible abuse thanks to an upbringing among brothels and assassins (wait, who does this remind you of?), poor Zev came through with his joy and sensuality intact. After a recent devastating loss of both life and faith, he has decided to kill himself, and it's only the Warden's mercy that spares him (or not).

And so there we are, with a wonderful character who thinks nothing of sex and who guards his own secrets like gold. Beautifully and humorously voiced by the talented Jon Curry, Zev is a character to adore or to kill and discard as too dangerous to live. Me, I've never ever been able to kill him or send him away.

And it's fitting for such a textured, rich character that one of his most devastating moments is when he's absolutely stone-cold serious and his heart is breaking:

"By your side I would willingly storm the gates of the Dark City itself."

Dragon Age II

Merrill cannot find her way around her own alienage even after years of residence, but she knows her own heart, and she's wiser than she seems.

Merrill
Secrets of Dragon Age blogging: Look. I love Merrill. I love her like I love relatives. Pets. Because (cringeworthy admission): She is the most like me. Of any DA character, she's who I understand, who I love, who I know. I have to respect and adore someone who can understand and parse complex magic and metaphysics while also finding herself lost in a simple neighborhood setting. BINGO. I get this.

And I think she's vastly underestimated. She's a goofball but she's also wise, and brave, and clear-eyed. (I'm not saying I am any of those things: But she is undoubtedly smart and yet in life, she is often... not. And I identify with that.)

But here's my favorite example of her feelings for a romanced Hawke, because they show that little thread of metal at her core, and as always it's a gorgeously voiced scene by Merrill's voice actor Eve Myles. Merrill is darling, but she does not mess around:

Aveline: I didn't expect you to stick around for this mess Merrill. This has nothing to do with your elves.
Merrill: I love Hawke, I wouldn't go anywhere.
Aveline: But it's not your fight.
Merrill: I love Hawke.
Aveline: You said that.
Merrill: I say it a lot. It makes things clearer, takes away doubt when everything is crazy and people are dying.
Aveline: I understand.
Merrill: Oh, good. Someone should.

That's Merrill for you. Funny when you expect her to break your heart. And heartbreaking just when you expect her to make you laugh.

Sexy, confident and complex, Isabela's suffered much. And she's softer at heart than she seems.

Isabela
I loved Isabela's romance. It's surprising, funny, sexy, and warm. It's also complex and it often zigs just when we think it will zag.

Isabela isn't always an easy character to love. She's tough, tenacious, pragmatic, and a pretty challenging, frightening life that included enslavement, rape, forced marriage, servitude, and imprisonment has taught her to be all right with cold, even callous choices. (Evidenced by her behavior over the Tome of Koslun throughout Dragon Age II.)

But there's more to Isabela, and she often shows us real charm and sweetness beneath the tough swaggering sailor-captain. She puts up with Aveline's constant yelps of "Whore!" and still sees beneath the warrior's puritanical knee-jerk reactions to the slightly scared, socially uncomfortable woman beneath.

As Izzy's terrific voice actor, Victoria Kruger's voice is rich and gorgeous, and it provides Isabela with something that externalizes who she is at her core—her generosity and warmth. As when she looks out for Merrill and calls her "Kitten." There's something to Isabela that's fine and pure, when she allows herself to be vulnerable.

My favorite moment for Isabela's romance is the very first one, when she shows up at Hawke's door for a little quality time. Since I was playing this with my FemHawke, I had no idea Izzy was, er, propositioning my girl for a little sex, and I was stupid enough to go, "Sure! Let's have girly time!" I was picturing more mani-pedis, but was also sort of delighted, nevertheless, that she was proposing something entirely different. My Hawke's reaction: Well, all righty, then! (Mani-pedis are, after all, overrated.)

Needless to say, the next scene, of Izabela and my Hawke happily making out while tossing off a dozen daggers apiece, remains one of the funniest, sexiest scenes in Dragon Age for me. I've seen it with a male Hawke too, but somehow it's better and funnier with the two women. Maybe because it's just so empowered, so strong, and so freaking funny.

I know many, many fans will disagree with me, but for me, Anders deserves every tiny little moment of happiness he can get. And somebody still needs to go find Ser Pouncealot. (Talk to the hand.)

Anders
Oh, Anders. The angst! The drama! The italicized proclamations!

Here's the deal: I love Anders. I know he's over the top. But I know how much he's been through. I know what he's suffered. I know he's spent his entire life running from people trying to isolate and control him.

So the fact that he's able to still feel so much in Dragon Age II, to be so passionate, is kind of a miracle to me. Let's not forget that our earliest outing for him literally involves our mercy-killing the first person he ever loved romantically.

So I love Anders's romance, with all its dramatic proclamations, doomed portents, and breathless kisses. His romance is one of my favorites across Dragon Age, and always will be.

I know people favor the dramatic "drown us in blood" quote, but the one that always gets me with Anders is quieter, and it broke my heart into little slivers:

"No mage I know has ever dared to fall in love... This is the rule I will most cherish breaking."

This. This is everything that's wrong with the mage/templar system. And it's doubly tragic given Anders's choices in this story path. But it will always move me.

Hey, if they took away his damn cat (don't get me started on Ser Pouncealot's fate!), the least Anders deserves is a night with the person he loves.

Abused, enslaved, and traumatized, the beautiful Fenris is a terrifying warrior who's able to reach right in and grab your heart. Both literally and metaphorically.

Fenris
"That night... I remember your touch as if it were yesterday. I should have asked your forgiveness long ago. I hope you can forgive me now."

Oh, Fenris. Such a tease.

I mean, I understand. And I know he has good reason—and isn't even always aware of how or why. As with Solas, he's close then not-close; near then far—not because he's consciously being a jerk, but because of the incredible trauma he's navigating.

And nobody has more trauma than poor Fenris, who has endured impossible sufferings in captivity, enslavement, rape, and further trauma, and all of it has—tragically and predictably—left him with a wellspring of real damage, sadness, hatred, vengeance, and suspicion.

He shares a night with Hawke, but he's then instantly conflicted as hidden memories surface, and he's undone by the vulnerability of real love and sex. While poor Hawke is devastated, Fenris's return is lovely and truly romantic:

"Nothing could be worse than the thought of living without you," he says. He goes on to say, poignantly, "If there is a future to be had, I will walk into it gladly at your side."

Sigh.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Cassandra is a strong woman and superb warrior, but she's just as susceptible as any of us to a sweet moment of poetry. And that's a very, very good thing.

Cassandra
In a grove just outside of Skyhold, the Inquisitor calls to Cass with a line of lit candles through the trees, with poetry to bring her into the space.

He declaims the poem, "Carmenum di Amatus" and she teases him about it then quotes from it on her own lips:

His lips on mine speak words not voiced, a prayer.
Which travels down my spine like flames that shatter night.
His eyes reflect the heaven's stars, the Maker's light
My body opens, filled and blessed, my spirit there.

And the moment when the Inquisitor circles around behind Cass to join in on the poetic moment she finishes those final lines, his breath on her neck, her face inches from his. It's just so lovely and delicate, and everything our romance-loving Cass could wish.

"Not merely housed in flesh," he says. "But brought to life."

It's pretty sexy. It's even better that Cassandra's romance-loving heart of course adores every single minute.

What happens when sex turns to something more? Iron Bull's romance explores this conundrum with humor, edge and charm (and a surprising amount of poignance).

Iron Bull

It's a challenge to pick a romantic moment from the guy who shows NO RESPONSE AT ALL when we flirt with him, hopelessly, over and over and over again. Who views sex as a purely physical thing, a release and then boom, done.

Until he begins to think there might be more.

That's a relationship with the Iron Bull. For me, despite many romantic moments with our challenging and edgy Hissrad across the relationship, the one moment that stays with me as the loveliest and heart-meltiest, is during the postcoital "watchword" discussion scene. 

And here, for me, the final wonderfulness is a tie, when we can either tell Bull we love him (and Bull, acted beautifully by Freddie Prinze Jr., responds poignantly with a soft, "I love you too," or we can tell him we fear the outcome and that we may not make it through, and for the first and only time, Bull breaks down. 

He actually breaks, and responds softly, with "Katoh. I can't..." And that's the moment, you guys. It absolutely kills me. Kudos to Patrick, Freddie, and BioWare because I cry every single time I've seen it.

NOTE: And of course, I'm talking Tal-Vashoth Bull for maximum romance. Because, do not even start me on the alternative. Nope. We're not going there. KREM LIVES, you bastards!

Cullen's romance is sweet and unexpectedly moving, but it's his faith that adds a dash of pathos and real emotion.

Cullen
DAI's pensive Templar is one of my favorite characters across the trilogy, not least because he has a complex path through youth and into redemption and self-acceptance.

When I first played DAI, I remember assuming Cullen was mid- to late-thirties, just one of those ridiculous men who become more and more handsome as time passes. Except when fleeing our Warden's flirtations in DAO, he always seems like a guy who knows who he is, and who is certain of his own feelings.

But y'all. The reality is so much sadder.

The reality is actually more tragic to me—Cullen's a teenager in DAO, and in DA II he's just a traumatized guy in his twenties who really needed a vacation but who was instead sent to the worst possible place in the world for his next assignment: Kirkwall, where every bad opinion of mages he'd formed was confirmed. Where every corner contained a magical conspiracy.

Although barely 30, the Cullen of DAI knows better. He has finally realized how wrong he was, how corruptible even the best people are, and he has gone from confidence in his own infallibility to fear of causing harm for anyone under his watch: Mage, Templar, elf, qunari, human, dwarf, or otherwise.

Which is why, for me, Cullen's romance is sweet, hesitant, and sensitive. It's sexy but also realistic; there's the sense of real people dancing hesitantly toward each other here. He's someone old before his time; he's tired, self-doubting, and disillusioned. So the romance brings him back to himself in some lovely ways, while also reminding him of the importance of abandoning former hypocrisies and bigotries when it comes to mages or other races.

The most moving scene in Cullen's romance for me is the final one, when he desperately embraces a romanced Inquisitor in the chapel, both certain of his faith and fearful of her future.

Josie wants love, but she gives us the sense that she's not exactly seeking it out or expecting it. She's not chasing the physical, and is a fantastic ace option for Dragon Age: Inquisition protagonists.

Josephine
If you want an innocent romance, especially one with lovely, gently ace overtones, Josie's is the perfect choice for you, and it's a wonderful example of how different Josephine can be in her own quiet way.

As our resident Disney Princess, Josie seems like a typical privileged player of the Great Game, but she's so much more. She's quieter and gentler than Leliana, and still haunted by the one death that ever resulted at her own hands.

Josie wants love, but she gives us the sense that she's not exactly seeking it out or expecting it. She's not a physically outgoing person or after sensual pleasures. She's surprised and hesitant when flirted with, and disarmingly lovely simply for a few fairytale-worthy time-outs with the Inquisitor.

The culimination of Josie's romance is a dashing duel for her heart with the arranged suitor who will steal her hand in marriage, and my favorite moment of the entire situation is when Josie storms in, in a fit of temper, and tells everyone to calm down and control themselves. When the Inquisitor declares love, Josie is surprised and outright disbelieving:

Josephine: Why risk everything we've built? Why risk your life?
Inquisitor: Because I love you!
Josephine: You... you do?
Rival (best moment ever): He does?!
Inquisitor: I do.

And then the delighted kiss at the end, complete with leg-pop. It's the best possible fairytale ending you could ask for.

Blackwall believes he is doomed and does not deserve love. Of course, this makes him irresistible. 

Blackwall
I always love the characters who are so starved for love, for acknowledgement and redemption, and Blackwall's romance is deliciously angst-ridden, and oddly sweet. At every turn, he's blatant in his adoration of the Inquisitor and that he doesn't deserve her love. 

Blackwall's the romantic Knight-Errant ideal personified, the man with the tragic past who feels he cannot deserve his maiden, who cannot face his past actions. It makes his yearning for Josie sweet and sad, and his feelings for a romanced Inquisitor really quietly lovely.

So for me, my favorite romantic scene for him isn't the love scene (DUDES, he left me in a HAYLOFT. NAKED. NOPE.). It's when (earlier) he shyly shows up to the Inquisitor's quarters, and can't help but declare his feelings, and the kiss there. And of course he tells her she shouldn't love him, he shouldn't be there, and shouldn't kiss her.

That moment made me actively root for him and his redemption. And of course also made me love him more. Basically, every single time a pixellated character says, "Don't love me," I JUST LOVE THEM MORE.

It's human nature. And BioWare knows us all too well.

Dorian would run across vistas into his own arms to romance himself. Wouldn't we all?

Dorian
Okay, I'm biased here, because I love the "surprise kiss" more than life itself as a trope, and I am loud and proud, right here, with it. 

And Dorian's soft, surprising kiss to a romanced male Inquisitor, shortly after the revelations about his family and struggles, is so personal, so sweet and intimate and surprising, that I'm... y'all... it's just gorgeous. It's soft and sexy and prolonged just the right amount. 

The scene is also genuinely emotional, following Dorian's soft, sad account of his relationship with his father. The moment begins with him at the window at Skyhold, light falling on his impeccable profile, the Tevinter haircut more distinct here than anywhere else -- the shaved high sideburns, the dark curls of hair above. It's almost priestly in appearance.

And then he tells us about his father's shame over his choices. And then the poor guy has to immediately face Mother Giselle's innuendos about his relationship with the Inquisitor. Which, thank goodness, we can either allay or confirm (in all the best ways).

Inquisitor: Do you always answer a question with a question?
Dorian: Would you like me to answer in some other fashion?
Inquisitor: If you're capable.

Dorian rushes in, and... sigh. SHOOT ME, I'm not made of stone, people.

Sera's romance is sexy, exuberant, funny, combative and charming. Just don't go too 'elfy' and you'll be fine.

Sera
My poor darling Sera gets a bad rap. She's called out all the time for being rude, biased, or mean, and to me she's just tough and traumatized and trying to protect her little sweet taffy-soft heart.

Sera's romance is tough if you're an elfy-elf, and those are often what I've tended to play. But once you get past her flinty and protective exterior, she's soft and sweet and just as adorable as you might expect. 

Sera's romance is exuberant, funny, combative and charming. She knows her own mind, she loves women, she's decisive and fierce, and it's best if you're an Adaar and worst if you're a mage-friendly elfy-elf (please don't do it, just don't). 

Yes, she's intimidating (surprisingly so). But I love how smooth she is—for me, she's right up there with Solas as one of the smoothest companions when it comes to flirts. She openly calls our female Inky as pretty and shows only amusement at early flirtation attempts. 

Sera has a big moment mid-romance that's one of my favorite speeches across the trilogy. It's just so characteristic and real:

You don't act like nobles. I love that.
You don't hide. I love that.
(Varied) You don't like cookies. Convenient. Love that.
(Adaar) And just... look at you. Just... love that.
But seeing this really hurts. I'm fighting to make things better and learn truth and shit, and it just keeps getting scarier.

And when she called my Adaar "honey-tongue," um, it's really, really sexy. And I love her love scenes and how playful they are.

Solas's romance is high romance in the grandest Shakespearan tradition, where the best matches yearn hopelessly from afar, where sex occurs only rarely or just before death, and where outcomes usually end with "and with a kiss, I die." And I wouldn't have it any other way. Even as I tremble at the prospect of DA4 and what it will do to my poor heart.

Solas
Oh, he loves us. Yet he hides a terrible, tragic secret. Has there been any formula more deadly or more irresistible since time immemorial?

No. Nope. No, there hasn't. Just ask the thousands of happily weeping Solasmancers out there.

Solas's romance is high romance in the grandest Shakespearan tradition, where the best matches yearn hopelessly from afar, where sex occurs only rarely or just before death, and where outcomes usually end with "and with a kiss, I die."

I know it will shock blog readers (I KNOW!) but I love almost all of Solas's scenes, especially the romantic ones, but for me the biggest romantic zinger will always be the Fade Kiss.

I love all the other Solas Kisses (and it's a high bar, because, people, as a fictional character, it is highly apparent that the dude knows how to kiss), but there's something new and surprised there that always still gets me every time. I love all the others (I DO), but there, he's settled into the lie, he knows how to live there, sort of—but the Fade Kiss is the one discombobulated moment where Solas is literally going "HOLY CRAP, OKAY FINE, KISS ME YOU GORGEOUS THING."

So I do. And that's my favorite moment. Not just the kiss—but the kiss when he dives back in and goes for it.

We should all want that, right? The lover for whom one kiss is not enough. Solas may fight against this very thing, but let's face it... he doesn't fight that fricking hard, right? Not at first at least. Not for many many months. Until the endgame (and goodbye) looms and he faces the hardest choice of all.

But that's fantasy.

As far as reality, I'll wish you Fade romances, today and every day. Whether real or pixellated, I hope you romance a mage, a warrior, a rogue, a misfit, a lover, and get the love you deserve. And all the best kisses and cookies in the world.

And my work here is done. 

Happy Valentine's Day and beyond, you beautiful creatures! Thank you as always for reading!

Dragon Age 2 (Part 2): Positively Dickensian

Anytime you make Merrill cry, somewhere
a unicorn dies alone.

My favorite thing about DA2 while experiencing the game's storyline was its immediacy and intimacy. When you're playing, the focus is less on where the next battle is, and more often simply on your Hawke's attempts  to survive on a seven-year character journey that's positively Dickensian—arriving as a penniless refugee fleeing the darkspawn attacks in Lothering and rising through the years to become an actual political power in Kirkwall.

That Lothering beginning is an especially clever way to tie Dragon Age II immediately to Dragon Age: Origins, as Lothering was a key location in the plot early on, and it was where we met DAO companions Leliana and Sten. Lothering was later utterly obliterated shortly after our time there—overrun by darkspawn. (I still remember how shocked I was when I could no longer go back to Lothering in DAO... it hit me like a punch to the gut, because the town no longer existed. It had been utterly obliterated. That cute kid you talked to? Likely dead. The sweet villager who helped you find your way? Dead.)

The fact that Hawke's story and DA2 plays out in a single city and its surrounding areas (well, mostly—we do get to run off to the coast or up a nearby mountain) can mean that the action at times feels slightly claustrophobic, but it also becomes home for us, and for our Hawke protagonist, in a way that isn't always possible in gaming, even in RPGs. Somehow, the longer you play, Kirkwall becomes home, and your companions become friends, lovers, and family. Hawke has a home complete with relatives and servants (lovable returning characters Bodahn and Sandal) that it's easy to become attached to. She even has a faithful Mabari war hound just as in DAO (thanks to the free Black Emporium DLC), and as each year passes, her friendships or rivalries become richer or more heated, all the time building up for a final confrontation in which all must choose sides, and in which more than a few hearts may break (or stop beating altogether).

Relationships, rivalries and romances add richness to DA2. Here,
my female Hawke is making a terrible life choice with Anders.

At times, Hawke can be a cipher—a potentially Randian hero/ine who's also dangerously close to serving as a pretty classic Mary Sue. But for me, at least, she's also more than that. As a small player who only becomes a medium one (at least in my three playthroughs to date), she's real and believable. And she embodies the timeline of most people who become pulled into great events simply by proximity, even against their will. Hawke isn't seeking celebrity. She isn't out for renown. My Hawke, at least, simply stepped in where she had to, where she witnessed injustice or bullying and couldn't let it stand. For this reason, I loved the way, storywise, Hawke was slowly drawn into a moral and political struggle she wanted no part of. It felt both timely and believable, especially in today's turbulent world.

Ultimately, the action in Dragon Age II is more intimate and set on a somewhat smaller scale, but this means that it can frequently also burn hotter and more fiercely. The stakes often feel higher because you're so often simply fighting for Hawke or her loved ones, fighting for them to eat, live, love, and carve a space in the world. Above the fray, meanwhile, and year after year, the stakes grow ever higher, as Templar Knight-Commander Meredith's imbalanced obsession with oppressing the (already imprisoned) Circle Mages and mage apostates continues to mount, even as the mages' elegant and secretive Grand Enchanter Orsino tries to calm her fears... and fails.

Hello, Old Friends...

Familiar faces from DAO abound in DA2—beyond Bodahn and Sandal, we meet our old friend Cullen, the naive Templar survivor from DAO who is now the Kirkwall second-in-command (and, it must be noted, who is palpably hotter than he was in the last game, even if he still looks sleepless and haunted). We also reunite early on with the mysterious hedge witch Flemeth (once again voiced by the incomparable Kate Mulgrew), who looks like she went to a spa after the last game because she looks fabulous, right down to her awesome new hair-horns. Seriously. Look at them. They're fantastic.

Flemeth, is that you?

We also meet our old friend and former DAO companion Alistair (if he survived, that is—although whether he's King, a Grey Warden, or a sodden drunk will depend on the choices you made in DAO), as well as glimpsing the world's sweetest and deadliest bard, Leliana just around the edges. Providing another callback to DAO, the Chantry is once again a major player, and we get a much bigger glimpse of Qunari culture with the presence of a shipwrecked Arishok and his troops (as always, I found myself crushing more than a little on the Arishok, just as I'd done on Sten in DAO and The Iron Bull in DAI, so, um, evidently I have a serious weakness for Qunari men).

Rivalries and Respawns

Does Dragon Age II have flaws? Sure, on a minor level. The Kirkwall setting can get a little confining, and the night quests throughout the city's seedier areas can get really tiresome, simply because you'll have to fight an endlessly respawning series of slavers and thieves. But the story! the characters! I have to forgive that stuff when they give me the chance to know people like Isabela, Fenris, Merrill and Anders. It's all ultimately pretty thrilling and beautifully paced. Inevitably, events and passions come to a head in DA2 in a way that feels inevitable, however tragic they may ultimately end up. The characters are so nuanced and well-written that they act believably according to their natures, and those actions lead to love, kindness and illumination, as well as to devastating loss on all sides. If you don't navigate a very delicate tightrope for darling Merrill, for instance, as gentle and sweet as she is, her loyalty mission can become the game's biggest tragedy, a bloodbath that upset me so much I had to turn the game off.

In addition, the DA2 dialogue wheel is also something of a step down from the huge array of stacked conversation options and directions of DAO, and that means your dialogue responses can certainly be simpler when it comes to some conversations. However, there are still plenty of times when the dialogue is genuinely complex and beautiful nevertheless, and those conversations involve companions and characters who I could argue are actually more mature, complicated and unique than those in DAO (something I also felt was true in DAI). Best of all? If you choose to play her as a bit of a wisecracker, Hawke is frequently hilarious ("I have an excellent sense of dramatic timing. And good hair."). 

Game over, man! Game over!

The complex, funny and heartfelt dialogues and banters are where the characters really shine. For instance, at a key point, Isabela turns to confront Anders, who is pontificating about mage rights (as he tends to do), and rather than responding with her usual wisecracks, she says, "Has it occurred to you that maybe there's no justice in the world? Other than that voice you keep in your head?" This actually silences him, and it's a genuinely poignant moment.

Their conversation continues in a later banter between the two:

Anders: There is justice in the world.

Isabela: Is there? You want to free the mages. Let's say you do, but to get there, you kill a bunch of innocent people. What about them? Don't they then deserve justice?

Anders: Yes.

Isabela: And then what? Where does it end? It's like a bar brawl. People are continuously pulled into the fray, and nobody remembers why it started. Justice is an idea. It makes sense in a world of ideas, but not in our world.

Like the best tales, Dragon Age II is well worth savoring, and it culminates in a shocking and genuinely jaw-dropping dramatic moment that had me thinking for days. Whether or not what happened was justice? It's a question that will continue to be debated online for years to come.