2, 10, 12-15, 19, 26! For the inquisitor headcannon meme!
2: What class are they? Does this reflect upon their personality?
Rift mage, and in some ways, yeah. At least, it’s revealing in so much about how Caitlin makes her choices. But her preferred branch of magic is fire and fuck yeah that summarizes her up pretty well.
10: How do their personal beliefs effect their choices and dealings with others?
She tends to react with her gut more than is wise. She’s been pretty sheltered but is also pretty opinionated so sometimes her understanding of the situation is misguided but she doesn’t care and just goes with it.
12: Did they sacrifice Hawke or the Warden? Why?
(this is the question I wanted to answer the most!!! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work this into the story but it says a lot about Cat)
Hawke. She didn’t even hesitate.
The Hawke in her world is just horrible. I based her a lot around Umbridge from Harry Potter. She was racist against elves (gave Fenris to Danarius), full of self loathing against mages (killed Anders, sided with the templars) and was in a rivalry with everyone except Sebastian. Cat was actually downright TERRIFIED of Hawke and hated her being in Skyhold.
On the other hand, Caitlin was about 13-14 ish during the 5th blight when the Hero of Ferelden, a young Dalish elf, saved the world. Cat has a big hero worshipping thing going on for Lyna Mahariel and the chance to meet the Hero’s boyfriend Alistair! Oh she was just besides herself. Cullen almost was a bit jealous of how much time Cat was spending with Alistair until he found out that all she wanted to talk about was the Warden (something Alistair loves to do as well).
So for her, the choice was easy. She wasn’t going to leave behind the Hero’s lover and it rid her of someone she viewed as a very dangerous person.
13: Did they side with the mages or templars? Why?
Mages. Not just because she’s a mage but because giving her unconventional magic lessons, she kind of built up what the circles were in her mind, closer to how Dorian describes the Tevinter circles. Finding out the realities of Circle life was a rude awakening (but we’ll get to that in the fic…). But that ideal is why she’s good friends with Vivienne. Vivienne helps her rectify her own imagination and with the harsh reality.
14: Are they diplomatic, aggressive, passive, political, etc.? How would you explain their personality?
Mostly a jokester. Her and Sera are pretty close in that regards. But it is very much a mask and is a very closed off person. And if you push her too hard she becomes very aggressive. But it takes a while to get under her skin.
15: Which part of the storyline affected them most? Why?
In the canonical storyline? Adamant for the above reasons. In the ARTPB ‘verse? Arbor Wilds because of REASONS.
19: How does your Inquisitor differ from your Warden? Your Hawke? Are there any characteristics all three share?
Cat’s World state is actually my very first Warden. I lost that playthrough so none of the DLC or DA2 got played with in that world and I would have abandoned the character if the Keep wasn’t there. So she reflects much of my play style throughout my very first Bioware game: WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING? Cat isn’t as collected as any of my other characters. She feels very much like a fish out of water, which is exactly what my first Warden was like. Plus they’re both Dalish. She’s similar to my canonical Hawke by being an utter smart ass. But she has almost nothing in common with the Hawke of her world.
26: Name one to three things that you headcanon about your Inquisitor that is not/cannot be confirmed through in-game choices.
So here’s a bit that I don’t think I will ever be able to work into ARTPB.
Her clan life was complicated. She was pretty protected and sheltered and she hated it. Her mother was the clans previous First and she died in childbirth. There isn’t a strong magical line in the clan but they waited until she was old enough to have started manifesting magic before they would look for another mage to bring in.
Cat though didn’t want to be a mage. She wanted to be a hunter. But when she was about 6 or 7, out came her magic.
Her father had died a few years earlier and it was just her much older brother to act as her advocate versus the needs of the clan. He was the reason why she grew to love her magic, explaining how much easier it would be to kill spiders by setting them on fire. He is also the reason she was finally able to leave the clan for a bit to go to the Conclave. So yeah, that worked out well... (I think if I ever get the chance, I want to write about her and her brother. He and their relationship is based off of Mr. Darcy and his sister Georgiana from Pride and Prejudice, if Georgiana was a massive brat like Cat is).
(Thanks for sending me these questions! I’m in an odd holding pattern with the next chapter but I really wanted to do something with Cat today. New chapter should be up on Saturday morning, which is looking to be the schedule the story will keep)
