I do not "render." I do not "shade." I do not "paint," I do not "detail" and i do not draw "Backgrounds." I draw BLAND CHARACTERS standing in WHITE VOIDS And if it doesn't look good i GIVE UP.
the wrongful villainization of anders after dragon age 2 is directly linked to vivienne's writing as being a staunchly pro-circle character in dragon age inquisition. btw. and i think we must keep this in mind when we talk about her. dragon age inquisition pulled back HARD when it came to the mage/templar war in an effort to completely villainize what anders had done, ensure that no one could find him sympathetic, and tried to 'both sides' the conflict in attempting to present it as more gray and ended up failing in this attempt, at least imo. this centrist, toothless turn in writing that so blatantly points the finger at the mages reflects highly in vivienne's own characterization. and we must keep this in mind when talking about her beliefs and politics.
All of the discussion about spirits and demons in DAV has really got me thinking about DA2. Solas (and the game itself) tells us that when a spirit is denied its true purpose, it becomes twisted into a demon.
I think this suggests that Justice became Vengeance not because he was poisoned by Anders’ rage/desire for revenge, but because he was denied his original purpose as a spirit of justice in Kirkwall. The mages there were so oppressed and persecuted by the templars that after years of running a clinic and working to effect change without achieving any real justice for the mages, Justice was twisted from his true purpose into Vengeance. He was literally unable to fulfill his role and promote justice in that environment, so he was forced to become vengeance instead.
Anders wasn’t the reason Justice became Vengeance. Kirkwall was.
Lowkey, I need to talk about this and Im sure other Anders fans have probably talked this to the ground.
But I feel like Anders suffered so badly at the hands of the creators and its both heartbreaking and the largest reason I love him so much. We see him, easily one of the most hated characters in the fandom, and he is not handled with nuance by either fans or anti’s because the writers never even gave room for that nuance.
You either are hate him or you love him, because there was never an option presented that allowed for a grey area.
Lets talk about easily one of the most popular options (and mirror to Anders), Solas. He easily does so much worse for even less of a reason. What he tries to do in Veilguard, what he did in Inquisition. If I remember correctly, bro gives the anchor to Corypheus bc he couldn’t understand it and thought bro would fix it for him.
If this would have been Anders, there would be outrage.
But because Solas has the benefit of writers that love him in both games, he gets the benefit of getting a grey area. There is not nearly as much hate, no one sits down to talk about how secretly he is the cause of every problem here.
I cant help but wonder what Anders did to lose out on such nuance. Cullen, one of my favorites, receives that nuance, when we are well aware what can happen with his story line if we dont play our cards right in Origins and DA2.
To have a writer that basically wants you dead is so crippling.
There is no nuance, there is no forgiveness. Even the route where your Hawke doesnt stabby stab him is made to look like you made the wrong choice. I was lucky, my Hawke in inquisition does not paint Romanced!Anders as a monster, my Hawke is much more forgiving and speaks of him as someone who needs to be taken care of. But Ive seen other people talk about how their Hawke speaks of Anders.
We lose out on Awakening!Anders in a way that almost doesnt seem natural. It is like we were given a completely different character. One is capable of facing trauma, and I would even say having to give your body to a spirit holds some form of trauma as well, while maintaining core parts of their personality. It wouldnt have hurt to show us bits of that previous Anders once in a while.
Its hard to look at really, because there are things that he says in DA2 that gives us insight to what is going on in the chantry, things that gives us insight to why he is going through such lengths. But because everything is structured around the idea that you are supposed to hate him, no one ever really acknowledges him in game or in the fandom.
I saw on a comment a few days ago that states that Anders tried so hard to be heard, to have his stance listened to but throughout the game almost everyone shrugs him off. No one takes him seriously. And yes, he can be obnoxious about it sometimes, but if I put myself in his shoes, I would also be talking and talking about it until someone acknowledges me. In smaller cases where I would have things to say in places like highschool and everyone would ignore me, I would find myself repeating it again until someone would tell me “yeah, we heard you already”. Its in a way where I understand what it feels like, to have something so important to say and to be pushed to the side, I understand what Anders feels in party banter in a way that cant be said outloud without being questioned if I agree with his decision towards the Chantry.
He could have been perfect, a way to start a conversation where we ask ourselves, at what point are extreme measures acceptable? At what point can we consider what a person did to be necessary or unnecessary? Would anyone have listened to the cause if that measure hadnt been taken?
Unfortunately, its answered for us, it ends the conversation before we can even have it. It tells us what is supposed to be the answer. It tells us it is wrong, it tells us that this is a black and white conversation. What could have been a legitimate substantial conversation cut short because of their efforts to make the fandom hate Anders as much as they do.
Anders and Hawke remain together after the events of Dragon Age 2. Hawke, who is the only person Anders has left, the only person who he can rely on to help ground him whenever Justice starts acting up, stays with him.
Pre Inquisition Hawke stays along with him and eventually after months of running, they settle down and have a child. A daughter that looks just like Hawke, a mini me that has her gestures and expressions, but to Anders’ dismay (and slight pride) inherits his gift of magic.
But by the time their daughter shows, Hawke is long gone working for the inquisition. Its alright, she will be back, she promised everything would be fine and as long as he and their daughter didnt somehow burn the house down, everything would be okay.
Imagine Anders reading the letter from Varric months later, realizing everything, in fact, would not be okay. Realizing that Hawke was not going to return.
Anders, the fugitive, now a single father. Where now he needs to figure out how to raise a mage while barely controlling Justice. How was he going to explain why she cant tell anyone who her papa is? How was he going to get her help without putting himself at risk?
A tiny mage that looked just like Hawke and it haunts him. Because he is alone again, but not really. He had long since become used to being the one taken care of, and now the roles had flipped.
The struggle that he has to go through because he never got to let his own magic flourish without the chains of the chantry wrapped around him. The panic everytime his daughters magic goes haywire, because this was the part where he got in trouble, this was the part where he got punished. He expects her to flinch, to cry, to run. Hes halfway through consoling her when he realizes shes laughing.
He doesnt have Hawke anymore, now he has a tiny mage who isnt afraid of her own magic. A tiny mage who runs around and accidentally sets one or two bushes on fire without fearing the consequences that he faced. A tiny mage that isnt afraid of being taken to a mage tower.
It hurts to not have someone to come to bed to. But it gets better. Hes far too busy putting out literal fires. Slowly, he realizes he can live a normal life. He can see flickers of Hawke in their daughters smile, the mischievous grin when she sneaks kittens into their home. The laugh when little zaps of lightning hit him from her fingertips.
He misses Hawke, but it is their child that helps heal the wounds left. Not just left behind by Hawkes presence, but the wound that always left him wondering if a mage could truly live happily.
Also heres my HawkexAnders kid (I couldnt help myself 😭)
tangentwithtanner
stormborns
