Post canon for my Warden
For the first year or two, anyway.
(i have a lot of thoughts about Sein's post canon but I'm putting them below the cut)
Gender
I knew from the moment I made Selena in character creation they were eventually going to realize they were nonbinary, however I didn't know quite what shape that would take
My current thoughts are that Sein's largely agender but have a feminine aspect to their identity as well. The way they probably think of this is that gender doesn't feel like an important part of who they are, but they still tend to feel more connected to women than to men (they're also very much sapphic. so hopelessly gay)
They also enjoy taking on a more androgynous appearance, and not having people see them as gendered first and foremost
in modern terms i think they're specifically nonbinary, agenderspec, librafeminine, and lunarian (which are basically just my own labels...)
Name
"Sein" is a name they take on a little while into traveling with Leliana. Their name change is partly a gender thing, but more a way of separating themself from their past before the end of the Blight
Sein's relationship with the name "Selena" is a little complicated. It's a name that belongs to their past, known for a role they no longer want to play, but it's still theirs in a way. It's no longer the one they introduce themself with, but they carry it with them in their heart.
Sein's relationships to gender and their name are largely based off of my own, as many things about them are
My current plan is to mostly use "Selena" when talking about them before the end of the Blight and "Sein" for them after, and maybe interchangeably if I'm talking more generally. however i might decide to go about it differently later
(also I stole Sein from the Ori and the Blind Forest character. I just liked the sound of it and it felt fitting to take the name of a genderless ball of pale light)
Relationship
Sein and Leliana fell in love over the course of Origins and went traveling together after the blight
their relationship is quite sweet and they're both very comfortable with each other, however they each have all kinds of baggage that are undoubtedly going to make things more complicated as time goes on
Selena's never been in a relationship before and has an unfortunate tendency to idealize Leliana in a way that makes it hard for them to see her flaws for what they are. they also firmly see her as the best thing that's every happened to them and are likely emotionally dependent on her to a somewhat unhealthy degree (they were also very much in love with Morrigan but whether that's a problem or not depends)
I have an idea of what Leliana's issues are but I think I'll have a better understanding of her once I play the later games so I'm not going to elaborate on her right now. but Marjolaine's got to have messed her up in a way that's going to cause some problems
overall I believe in the two of them to make things work but I don't think it's necessarily going to be a smooth ride
Other
Sein's super messed up from the everything of their life before ending the Blight. isolated in mage tower, became a warden out of desperation despite not caring about the order, got stuck saving the world and fighting for their life constantly...
they've also had some kinda anxiety/depression combo going their whole life and that remains with them
they miss Morrigan a lot and often feel hugely guilty about Alistair's death. but both of those things are also complicated
i think they deal with some kind of chronic fatigue that can make travel difficult. when possible they like to turn into a silver-grey raven and rest on Leliana's shoulder :>
I didn't play Awakening largely because Sein was NOT going back to the Grey Wardens 6 month after the Blight. They might have in some way wanted to for Alistair's sake, but they couldn't go back to that kind of life. some warden from Orlais did all of whatever that was but i didn't care enough to play as them
overall they're in a much better place than they ever were before the Blight, but their challenges aren't completely over