#anders positivity

[justcallmecappy]

Exploring the missed potential of Anders' character

Anders was an interesting character with a backstory and a set of characteristics that would have been amazing if explored further, but I believe his character's potential was tragically squandered by bad narrative choices and poor writing.

Here's a list of how I think his narrative potential hadn't been fully explored:

His name really isn't "Anders" -- it was a name given to him when he arrived at the circle at age 12 and was so traumatized he refused to speak, not even to say his name. BioWare has never revealed Anders' birth name. We also know that he has Anderfels heritage on his father's side, who migrated to Ferelden as a boy. It could have been revealed, through his birth name, that he has some connection to an Anderfels-related plotline: he could be related to the First Warden, or his family could have prominence or influence in the Grey Wardens of Weisshaupt.

Anders is a mage, a Grey Warden, and a host to a Spirit of Justice. This combination of spirit healing (already a rare branch of magic), Blight magic, and a connection to a Spirit of the Fade has never occurred before in known canon. Anders being connected to the mages, the Circle, the Grey Wardens, the darkspawn, and Fade Spirits means that there is a whole world of possibilities to explore with that combination, so many things you could do with his character.

Leveraging off Anders' connection with Justice, a potential key to finding the cure for the Calling could have involved possession by a Fade Spirit. (We already know Fade Spirits are essential to curing Tranquility -- perhaps there's more we could do with that.)

Anders could potentially be a companion to both the Hero of Ferelden and the Champion of Kirkwall, depending on your World State. If your HoF didn't die during the Archdemon battle and continued to Amaranthine, Anders (together with Justice) is the only NPC companion who has traveled with both the HoF and Hawke, and is also a potential love interest to Hawke. (Zevran and Isabela also are NPCs acquainted with both the HoF and Hawke, but only Anders has been a party companion for both.)

Anders could potentially be the only known Grey Warden to have met both the Architect and Corypheus.

Anders could have potentially have battled demons in the Fade three times: his Harrrowing, the Blackmarsh sequence in DA Awakening, and the "Night Terrors" Feynriel rescue mission in DA2. Considering these experiences, plus the fact he has his own in-built Spirit GPS in the form of Justice to help him navigate the Fade, Anders has the highest potential to be the one to rescue Hawke/Stroud/Loghain/Alistair from the Fade (if left there in DAI and has the potential to be rescued).

Anders may have political connections to the throne of Ferelden, if Alistair was made King, and was present at and endorsed Anders' conscription into the Wardens.

If your Warden was Mahariel, Anders would have a common connection with Merrill. If your Warden was Amell, Anders could have an extra connection to Hawke, having known their relative. A Warden Amell or Surana could also have an added layer of their relationship with Anders, having grown up in the same Circle together. (Anders just has a lot of connections to famous people and an extensive network that would have made everyone on LinkedIn jealous, is what I'm sayin 😆)

Anders being a prominent figure in the mage rebellion could also have been explored further -- especially in relations to Fiona, who was coincidentally another mage advocating for mage freedom and with a connection to the Grey Wardens and Alistair.

I just think it's tragic that Anders had so much potential -- arguably one of the characters with the most potential in the overall plot -- and yet BioWare squandered all that potential to push their brand of "grey morality".

The narrative and writing could have framed Anders as a heroic character -- it would have been so easy, the chances were right there -- which would have opened up the chance to explore the potential of his character further in subsequent works, but instead in DAI, BioWare doubled down on slandering his character to drive the point home that he was a villain, and closing off further exploration of his character post DA2.

[elevanetheirin]

In DAO we can tell Wynne that if you retain your humanity then you cannot be an abomination, during the discussion regarding The Broken Circle quest. Wynne is attempting to come to terms with her merging with a spirit, which from what I gather just sort of happened, it wasn’t a decided on factor. 

In Jaws of Hakkon the mage you try to convince to exercise her spirit again is fully human, again not an abomination based on the conversation option you can have with Wynne.

Anders in DA2 isn’t an abomination either based on this description. However, I believe that also based on DAO:Awakenings Justice was well on his way to becoming Vengeance even without Anders’ influence. I cannot 100% agree with the fact that Anders created vengeance. In Awakenings Anders is snarky and he wants equality but he’s also content with his small victories and doing what he’s able, he wants to work more along the lines of diplomacy but also while he himself is free and over the time after he’s allowed Justice to merge with him he is no longer the same person. It’s not that he didn’t want justice for mages it’s that even he for example tells Wynne that breaking away from the Chantry is a bad idea in Awakenings.

However during the course of Awakenings Justice isn’t seeking just Justice. He’s seeking the punishment, the vengeance so to speak and not just in the aspect of the darkspawn who kills the Warden who’s body he inhabits but he also is willing to remove the blood mage/demon who has taken over the Black Marsh at any means necessary. Sound familiar? I think Justice changed Anders more than Anders changed Justice.

The point being this. Wynne and her spirit are one and the same personality wise, the mage in Jaws of Hakkon and her spirit are of the same personality. Justice and Anders are not of the same personality and thought process. Anders spends years fighting against what Justice wants. It’s too harsh, it’s too much, it’s not what he wants. To the point of Anders and Justice breaking into pieces (like when he becomes Justice and the fade comes through) it’s not that Justice turns from his Purpose, it’s that Justice having inhabited a body prior to Anders has his own free will much like Cole, Justice’s purpose has changed he hasn’t been turned from his purpose so he isn’t a demon but neither is he Justice any longer. It stands to reason that the change from Justice to Vengeance is part of the fight Anders has to endure every day, and regardless of what he tells Hawke, Anders tells Merrill in ambient conversation that he isn’t himself when Justice takes over. This is when Anders loses the fight. This is why I think Anders has given up, he’s tired of fighting Justice and at the end of DA2 gives in and blows up the Chantry accepting his fate regardless of what the result might be.

[typhonserpent]

delicious

[rsuranas-moved]

Here's a canon fact: Anders gives great hugs

[dismalzelenka]

reblog if you cry fantasizing about soft!anders and just want to protect him from all of the bad stuff in the world that's ever hurt him.

[justcallmecappy]

The Andersmance as a narrative of hope

One thing I've noticed while in the Dragon Age fandom is the prevalent interpretation of the Anders romance as a tragedy, or a romance that's inherently tragic. Anders acts behind Hawke's back, destroys the Kirkwall Chantry no matter what choices the player makes, the player sees this as a huge betrayal, and — despite having romanced Anders, and/or being mage-sympathetic — they decide to execute or banish Anders as punishment for his 'crime'. Tears are shed; it's all dramatic and tragic and angsty.

While I sometimes appreciate tragedies, I would like to posit a different perspective: The romance with Anders is a story of hope; a story of standing up to insurmountable odds and overcoming them. The romance with Anders can be approached as one with a happier ending, where Hawke and Anders are the heroes.

Before I elaborate, a disclaimer: These are my own opinions. I understand some players prefer the Andersmance as a tragic romance, and to each player their own. I am not here to dictate the choices you should make in-game or how you approach your playthroughs, merely to present a different perspective to one I've seen very often.

Also, this post is critical of the rivalmance with Anders — more on that later.

The Andersmance as a narrative of hope relies on two perspectives:

Firstly, the Chantry is an authoritarian institution who are the antagonistic force that the heroes need to oppose and take down. There is plenty of meta that explores and supports this.

Secondly, Anders is a heroic character:

He is a healer who set up a clinic providing free healthcare for the marginalized and downtrodden people of Kirkwall who otherwise have gone overlooked by their own Chantry.

He let a Spirit of Justice into his body, simply to help Justice continue to exist in the physical world when he would have otherwise disappeared into the Fade.

He regularly risks his safety and security by helping mages escape abuse in the Gallows and have a chance at freedom via the Mage Underground.

These are all acts of someone who is kind and compassionate, and, yes, heroic.

He is not a villain who needs to be stopped. He is the hero of the story who needs help and support as he challenges systematic oppression. He's Katniss Everdeen standing up to the Capitol; he's Luke Skywalker opposing the Galactic Empire.

Hawke is that supportive pillar, that safe harbor, that source of unconditional love for Anders in his times of struggle. "The one bright light in Kirkwall" who stands by Anders' side as they face insurmountable odds together.

In World States where Leliana becomes Divine Victoria, this means Hawke and Anders' struggles were not in vain. Through their actions, they sparked a series of events that culminated in the abolition of the Circles.

Anders' prophetic speech about how, "Ten years, a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no Templars to tear them apart" carries so much more weight, because loving Hawke gave him hope for a better future that Anders actually gets to witness in his lifetime.

Do you know how powerful such a love story is?

Their love literally changed the world for the better.

They loved each other, that love gave them courage, and now future generations of mages are free to find a love as strong and precious as the one Hawke and Anders share.

Of course, the condition of this is that Hawke loves and supports Anders wholeheartedly, meaning that this obviously takes the Friendship route for the romance. The rivalmance where Hawke downplays Anders' struggles, breaks Anders' spirit, undermines Anders' confidence, and tries to convince Anders that his cause is needless has no part in this narrative of hope; in fact, I would go so far to say that Hawke is the villain in that version of the story.

Personally, stories of hope have always strongly resonated with me. I gravitate towards stories where our protagonists are presented with challenging obstacles (whether they be internal, external, or both), and things may seem bleak at first, but they bravely carry on, and by the end of the story the characters have made themselves better people, and/or made the world a better place.

Anders and Hawke had many chances to turn away and ignore the plight of mages and just get their own happy ending, but they didn't — they carried on, because they were the heroes, and they knew all mages deserved to be free as they were.

[justcallmecappy]

One thing that grates me is how so many Dragon Age players so often overlook Anders' compassion.

The healer mage who ran a free clinic in Darktown, providing free healthcare for refugees and the poor. He looked after them better than their own Chantry did, for seven years.

Anders took a Spirit of Justice into his body as an act of compassion. Justice needed a way to exist in the physical world after Kristoff's body was decaying, and Anders did it to help his friend. No matter what people say about the union itself or what they perceive it became, the act that started it was done out of solidarity and friendship.

Anders put himself in danger, risked his own life and security, to fight for the sake of all mages. He fought so that all mages would be able to live safely and love freely, not just for himself.

It would have been so easy for Anders to just up and leave and get his happily-ever-after riding into the sunset with Hawke and ignore all the mages suffering in the Gallows, but he couldn't. Because he cared, so strongly and so deeply, that other mages would not suffer as he did. There were some things bigger and more important than his personal happiness.

[justcallmecappy]

I think one of the greatest tragedies about Anders' character is that if it were entirely up to him, he would be living peacefully with the love of his life in some little village, surrounded by cats, being the local healer, helping people, keeping a little elfroot garden, spending his days in the sun.

But because he was born a mage, templars hunt him down and to lock him in a tower he cannot leave, tear him away from the people he loves, and tell him that his magic makes him dangerous and a monster. They put him in underground where there is no light, no one to keep him company or offer a kind word.

So he fights back. He pulls against his chains. He champions for all the mages who don't have a voice, who were locked in dungeons and forgotten, who didn't pass their Harrowings, who were coerced into Tranquility. He fights because someone has to, because no one else will, because the alternative is just years and years of more suffering.

If it were entirely up to Anders, he would be left alone and allowed to live a peaceful life. But he cannot. So he fights, so that someone else, another mage -- ten years, a hundred years from now -- would have that life he couldn't have.