Leliana really is the best option for Divine because 1) she undisputably does the most progressive shit while being completely ready and able to protect herself and her people when people inevitable come after her for that, 2) she makes it extremely clear that she will not leave the Warden once she becomes Divine and will basically publicly make the Warden her trophy wife (ideal for my warden) so there's no bittersweet angst if you romanced her in Origins you actually get information of what your Warden is doing (being Leliana's trophy wife) in Trespasser, and 3) she is just the funniest option like my girl breeds nugs and puts them in her official portraits you know she has official chantry robes and regalia for all of them
You can love a character and still admit when they’re wrong. I love Solas but can acknowledge his flaws (he has none) and can hold him accountable for his wrongdoings (he’s never done anything wrong in his life) and call him out for his actions (which are always correct).
Spoilers! ... I just need to vent about Thomas. Like. Seriously, dude? Like, I can understand his fake friendliness at the beginning of the story, because he needed to find out who MC were, and why they were involved with Hannah. And I can understand why he took Hannah's phone, while no one should've touched it in the first place. But. But! Dude, Thomas, my man, MC forgave you and helped you during a breakdown. Like. Why are you now so eager to push them in the arms of a killer? I'm so sad, man.
*deep breath* okaaay let’s talk about Thomas
Spoilers below.
I think to understand Thomas as a character and how his brain works, you basically have to see him as Jake. And I already know what you are thinking, “but Duskwoodraven, Jake isn’t like Thomas at all!”
To that I would agree but also heavily argue against, for they are eerily similar in the way that they value and behave towards their romantic partners.
Let me explain.
Jake, when you take the romantic routes with him, develops a very deep protectiveness and care towards you, the MC. He states multiple times that your safety is top priority, you are the one he cares about most and the one he trusts/will listen to (as long as your request doesn’t jeopardize your life). He is willing to sacrifice information about himself to Alan in order to keep the police off of you, to risk his life and being caught by going in a mineshaft just so you won’t have to.
Jake cares about his sisters, and their friends, he doesn’t wish for anything bad to happen to them. But when we get down to it, you as the MC hold a different level of priority.
Thomas thinks the exact same about Hannah, Thomas cares about Hannah in the same way Jake cares about you.
She is his number one priority.
Thomas from the first day we met him has been devoted to finding Hannah and her safe return. He loves and cares about her deeply, he will do anything to bring her back. He will go into a mineshaft to get her, will confront the MWAF at night in order to take him down, and will break into anywhere to get even a snippet of information to bring her back.
That’s why I find the moment when Jake firmly tells Thomas to stop begging us to go to Duskwood, to be really intense. Because you have two people with very similar attachments, slamming heads in the pursuit of protecting someone they care about.
Now this is where we split back into the differences between Jake and Thomas. Thomas, bluntly put, is like a horse with blinders on when it comes to Hannah. He doesn’t think deeply about the consequences his actions will cause, only the goal. Jake on the other hand thinks about the whole picture, he is distinctly mulling over every detail. While he will also do whatever it takes to achieve that goal, the consequences will negatively affect himself more so then anyone else, to the point of destroying him if it’s deemed “necessary” by his standards.
Jake takes the self sacrificial options, Thomas takes the fastest one. Leaving consequences behind him till it’s too late to turn around. Both unhealthy and dangerous in different ways.
In short, I don’t think Thomas hates MC, or is fake with them. I think towards the end, he does care, just not as much as he does about Hannah. If the MWAF said he wanted Jessy to go instead, Thomas would have told her the same thing. But once something else snaps him out of his blinders, Thomas settles back down. That’s why he backed off when Jake told him to, and stopped begging you to go after the group discussed it further and Jessy gave her speech.
Thomas is a good person down to his core, but he’s also a toddler you have to keep on a leash so he doesn’t get hurt/damage anything. Overly reactive and overly emotional just like Dan said towards the beginning.
There'll be a moment when you realise you're 27 when yesterday you were just 17; and you wouldn't be able to tell how a decade passed away and your life got divided into before and afters. The fury of youth will subdue and nothing will really change but everything will feel different when you look at old photographs and blurry videos taken on cheap mobile phones. Scents will remind you of childhood and certain friends you don't talk to anymore, hangouts will become reunions and mom's burnt pie will become the best food you ever had. And I know on some days you won't be able to show anything of those 10 years but I hope you remember to breathe, and let go of the knot in your chest. I hope you go out in the sun and live a little, because tomorrow is 37.
Edit- I added the visualizer for this piece on my YT, check it out here
