Cullen + Mage-Amell + Alistair
This very much needed to be a thing . Until trespasser came along and shot that all to hell ...
Please let's try to keep the original artist and link with the art. Folks spend a lot of time working on these things, for free, to not get credit.
http://princessstabb...-ot3-render-bye
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I think that picture broke my brain. Wow.
Cullen + Mage-Amell + Alistair
This very much needed to be a thing . Until trespasser came along and shot that all to hell ...
Did I miss something in Trespasser?
Spoiler alert
Completely agree - I don't know if I'll ever be over it!. Waited all those years for Cullen, then he arrived, it was awesome and now I am wondering what to do. A bit like Gil and the other fish in Nemo when they make it over the road and into the sea and after all that are bobbing around in a plastic bag not sure what happens next......
Hehe waves back
Always appreciate your comments very much! It is very kind of you to say so although sometimes I just want to knock Lea and Cullen's heads together and tell them to get on with it -aka Cassandra voice in the Winter Palace. Writing it helps keep Cullen alive in my memory though, now Trespasser is done - which sounds a bit sad but I hope you get what I mean!
Completely agree - I don't know if I'll ever be over it!. Waited all those years for Cullen, then he arrived, it was awesome and now I am wondering what to do. A bit like Gil and the other fish in Nemo when they make it over the road and into the sea and after all that are bobbing around in a plastic bag not sure what happens next......
Hehe waves back
I think we all are suffering of that syndrome called "tv-show end depression disorder" lol it was even demonstrated scientifically :S because when something you got attached off comes to an end, you feel depressed :S
Did I miss something in Trespasser?
Spoiler alert
Spoiler
Cullen + Mage-Amell + Alistair [/size]
This very much needed to be a thing . Until trespasser came along and shot that all to hell ...
Spoiler
Ah, so
Spoiler alert
Spoiler
Yes, well, some of us didn't have that option at all with our preferred IQs, lol. Which of course has the advantage of AUs now 
Cullen + Mage-Amell + Alistair
This very much needed to be a thing . Until trespasser came along and shot that all to hell ...
Please let's try to keep the original artist and link with the art. Folks spend a lot of time working on these things, for free, to not get credit.
Quoting R2 as well to keep the original artist link...
Consequently, I'd say swap out Amell and insert a fem IQ into that mix w/ a King Alistair. That's quickly becoming one of my favorite world states from DA:O with a very naughty head-canon for one of my IQ's... 
Alistair's story was retconned and so he was using lyrium, right? so why doesn't he end up like "on-lyrium" Cullen?
Alistair's story was retconned and so he was using lyrium, right? so why doesn't he end up like "on-lyrium" Cullen?
At some point between games, he must have stopped. However, he started taking it again during the comics when he needed to use his Templar abilities.
Remember, he wasn't on it for long, so I'd imagine it would have been easier for him to stop.
And they still haven't explained how a Warden in DA:O could become a Templar, unless it's just assumed that lyrium use just came with it.
At some point between games, he must have stopped. However, he started taking it again during the comics when he needed to use his Templar abilities.
Remember, he wasn't on it for long, so I'd imagine it would have been easier for him to stop.
And they still haven't explained how a Warden in DA:O could become a Templar, unless it's just assumed that lyrium use just came with it.
Alistair never took his vows so he didn't get the lyrium in DAO was my understanding. He wasn't a full Templar as such.
He also said that it wasn't necessary to take lyrium to still have Templar abilities. All of this got retconned for DA2 and onwards where you have to take lyrium to become a Templar.
The whole lyrium thing is massively confusing. Aside from the fact that the prognosis in the long run is pretty hideous. There's also the implication that the Chantry is merely using lyrium to control Templars and they don't need it at all.
Alistair never took his vows so he didn't get the lyrium in DAO was my understanding. He wasn't a full Templar as such.
He also said that it wasn't necessary to take lyrium to still have Templar abilities. All of this got retconned for DA2 and onwards where you have to take lyrium to become a Templar.
Because the retcon exists, anything Alistair says about lyrium in Origins can be pretty much discarded as no longer valid lore, or at least excused in-universe on the fact that since he never did go further than Templar-recruit, he didn't actually know what he was talking about. As the new lore stands now, Alistair did in fact take lyrium as a recruit (we have other references in canon to recruits taking lyrium before swearing vows, despite conflicting statements), and was still able to use his abilities due to residual lyrium still in his system from having only just recently quit (about six months before the game starts). Likewise, a Warden or Hawke who learned Templar abilities must have used lyrium to be able to use those abilities, even if there was no gameplay mechanic for it (there isn't one in Inquisition either, even if Ser and Cullen spell it out that you're using it).
As for why Alistair is not affected by lyrium withdrawal in the same way as Cullen... other than that Alistair only used lyrium for two very brief periods of time while Cullen used it daily for at least twelve years (if not longer), so their levels of addiction are completely different, lyrium does affect each person differently. We have one Templar in Origins who completely loses his mind in only two or three days without it, Evangeline says she'll go mad in two weeks to a month, we have Samson who becomes erratic without lyrium in DA2 but still semi-functional, we have Cullen who is able to quit cold turkey and go months/years without it, we have that Cullen ending slide that mentions some Templars can quit but some can't... there isn't a standard for how it will affect each person. Even if Alistair had been on the same regimen as Cullen, ingesting lyrium every day for over a decade, there's no telling if they would react the same to attempting to quit.
On top of that, Alistair also still has the Taint, and residual dragon's blood in him. No telling how lyrium would react to sharing Alistair's blood with those, either. It might be that one or the other change how lyrium affects him, and his predisposition to becoming addicted to the stuff would be different than other regular Templars.
Because the retcon exists, anything Alistair says about lyrium in Origins can be pretty much discarded as no longer valid lore, or at least excused in-universe on the fact that since he never did go further than Templar-recruit, he didn't actually know what he was talking about. As the new lore stands now, Alistair did in fact take lyrium as a recruit (we have other references in canon to recruits taking lyrium before swearing vows, despite conflicting statements), and was still able to use his abilities due to residual lyrium still in his system from having only just recently quit (about six months before the game starts). Likewise, a Warden or Hawke who learned Templar abilities must have used lyrium to be able to use those abilities, even if there was no gameplay mechanic for it (there isn't one in Inquisition either, even if Ser and Cullen spell it out that you're using it).
As for why Alistair is not affected by lyrium withdrawal in the same way as Cullen... other than that Alistair only used lyrium for two very brief periods of time while Cullen used it daily for at least twelve years (if not longer), so their levels of addiction are completely different, lyrium does affect each person differently. We have one Templar in Origins who completely loses his mind in only two or three days without it, Evangeline says she'll go mad in two weeks to a month, we have Samson who becomes erratic without lyrium in DA2 but still semi-functional, we have Cullen who is able to quit cold turkey and go months/years without it, we have that Cullen ending slide that mentions some Templars can quit but some can't... there isn't a standard for how it will affect each person. Even if Alistair had been on the same regimen as Cullen, ingesting lyrium every day for over a decade, there's no telling if they would react the same to attempting to quit.
On top of that, Alistair also still has the Taint, and residual dragon's blood in him. No telling how lyrium would react to sharing Alistair's blood with those, either. It might be that one or the other
inchange how lyrium affects him, and his predisposition to becoming addicted to the stuff would be different than other regular Templars.
I know that in DAO you can't really pay attention to what Alistair said about the lyrium issue. My point was that he was never a Templar so that made recruitment to the Grey Wardens much easier and prior to the retcon he hadn't taken it as a recruit .So at that particular point in time, it would have probably been why it was straightforward. Then everything changed to what it is now. I worded it poorly.
I know that in DAO you can't really pay attention to what Alistair said about the lyrium issue. My point was that he was never a Templar so that made recruitment to the Grey Wardens much easier and prior to the retcon he hadn't taken it as a recruit - so at that particular point in time, it would have probably been why it was easier. Then everything changed to what it is now. I worded it poorly.
Yes, I wasn't disagreeing with you, just elaborating from the point you were making. 
Yes, I wasn't disagreeing with you, just elaborating from the point you were making.
Your post made more sense than my late night reply
The whole lyrium thing is massively frustrating - for me anyway it was a huge retcon. I am also really curious to see where it goes in the future, given the closure of Trespasser.
If someone plays to DA:I without using the Dragon age keep, what was chosen by Bioware to be the "pre-definite basic choices" ? is Alistair King, warden? the Warden supposed to be dead, or alive?
Spoiler
If someone plays to DA:I without using the Dragon age keep, what was chosen by Bioware to be the "pre-definite basic choices" ? is Alistair King, warden? the Warden supposed to be dead, or alive?
The default world state for Origins has Alistair and Anora married and ruling Ferelden jointly, while the Warden died killing the archdemon.
The default world state for Inquisition has Cullen's tile set as "didn't talk to Cullen about lyrium," meaning the scene where the Inquisitor can potentially tell him to stay off or get back on it never happened. So, by default, Cullen is still off the lyrium in the end, as he initially quit on his own and the Inquisitor never interfered with that.
The whole lyrium thing is massively frustrating - for me anyway it was a huge retcon. I am also really curious to see where it goes in the future, given the closure of Trespasser.
Spoiler
(just coming back to this post after dinner!)
That's an excellent question for dwarf fandom, actually. Regardless of which ending you get, the Templar Order is severely damaged even in the best case scenario where you get to save and redeem them, and with many among the Templars remaining now looking into quitting lyrium if they can, the lyrium market is taking a serious blow. If you destroy them, then, the business is half dead in one single blow. And no, Tevinter Templars don't use lyrium or have any real magic-disrupting abilities (which brings up my usual question of how to preserve the Southern Templars' abilities without the lyrium to draw from), so they wouldn't count much either way.
Mages still do need lyrium, so the market is not entirely dead. Vivienne does say it has effects on them too, but apparently it's different from Templars because of their connection with the Fade, and some parts of Origins and Last Flight imply the lyrium is not something they can really do without... unless we trade lyrium for blood as magic fuel, and that's not where we wanna go, I hope. But still, you're right, at least half of the old market is going away and that's not good for dwarves. Orzammar's economy is already crippled and depends too much on the lyrium trade as it is, half of that trade going under (not even counting the business lost to the Carta black market) doesn't bode well for them.
I'm not sure I want lyrium entirely phased out of the story, though, because it's such a fascinating narrative element. I do want to see it elaborated on a lot more before that happens, anyway. Not many fantasy worlds bother explaining where "mana" comes from, it's usually just something that exists to facilitate magic and nothing more - the fact that the same mana source that facilitates magic and pseudo-magical abilities in this universe is also something that destroys the user in the long term is very interesting.
Even beyond its magical properties, lyrium is such a key element in dwarven economics and social structuring, and in surface underworld structuring too - we had an entire organized crime web specialized in enabling the Chantry-induced addiction of Templars, so where does that whole industry turn to now? But I think Descent is good sign for this subplot. Before DAI it did seem like they had no idea what they were doing with lyrium, like they were just winging it as they went and the story needed to turn this or that way, but now it seems like they've finally sat down and settled on the lore rulebook of what lyrium actually is, what it does, how it works, how and why it affects different people different ways, etc. We may not see all the rules clearly yet, but hopefully we have a consistent lore basis behind what we learn about lyrium now.
I'm not exactly sure why but that is absolutely hysterical to me
Why do you think I shared it
Oh, dear. At least you can alter it in the Keep to say you romanced no one or something...
Now I wonder what will happen when I complete a run with the poly mod installed, lol...
We shall see xD
Not sure what my canon will be at this point??? I am so in love with my personal canon inquisitor (Alin) that I might use him and say he romanced no one knowing in my heart who his true love is. Other than that I am considering making a Dorian romance playthrough in the Keep since Dorian will probably reappear for DA4.
For Descent DLC, I would definitely bring a good tank or two good tanks because the enemies in that DLC are damage sponges. Also there's a point in the DLC where you are trapped in a darkspawn horde wave mode. There's at least three potion caches so if you need to use the potion, do.
Another advice would be put the game on casual mode when you are playing Descent because the enemies can be not fun after a while like stated above.
Yes O_O And I'm sitting here playing ME on hardcore so it's not like I suck at games or anything, but srsly, this DLC... >.<
I actually wish I'd brought three warriors; everything else was too squishy, me included
If someone plays to DA:I without using the Dragon age keep, what was chosen by Bioware to be the "pre-definite basic choices" ? is Alistair King, warden? the Warden supposed to be dead, or alive?
I think Alistair is king and Warden is dead.
Not sure what my canon will be at this point??? I am so in love with my personal canon inquisitor (Alin) that I might use him and say he romanced no one
knowing in my heart who his true love is.Other than that I am considering making a Dorian romance playthrough in the Keep since Dorian will probably reappear for DA4.
I don't know much about your character, so I don't know if this would fit, but... would it be possible for him to later, over time, move on to a relationship with Dorian? Not as a cheap rebound, or as way to get over or give up on Solas, but just... naturally, over time, people eventually move on from failed relationships and may end up with someone else. Doesn't make either relationship less valid than the other, you know? Again I don't know if that fits this character in particular, just throwing ideas around. It's one way you could set up your canon world state - you can tell the Keep you romanced Dorian as a mechanic to get romance reactivity in the next game, but in your personal storyline you know that you really romanced Solas during the events of the game, and Dorian was something that happened later.
I've used this artifice before in DAO, for world states where my Wardens romanced Jowan or Ser Gilmore with mods, for instance. These romances are obvs impossible to reproduce in the Keep, but I cheated some other one in to get romance-specific commentary in-game, even if my story wasn't exactly like the Keep tiles tell it. (ie. my Amell absolutely romanced Jowan, you can't tell me otherwise 
but in the Keep she's set to have "romanced" Leliana because I wanted to get Leliana's romance lines in-game - she was in love with that Warden back then, so to hear her talking about she "loved" the Warden fit the storytelling I wanted to convey, even if I had to headcanon around the Keep mechanics)
I don't know much about your character, so I don't know if this would fit, but... would it be possible for him to later, over time, move on to a relationship with Dorian? Not as a cheap rebound, or as way to get over or give up on Solas, but just... naturally, over time, people eventually move on from failed relationships and may end up with someone else. Doesn't make either relationship less valid than the other, you know? Again I don't know if that fits this character in particular, just throwing ideas around. It's one way you could set up your canon world state - you can tell the Keep you romanced Dorian as a mechanic to get romance reactivity in the next game, but in your personal storyline you know that you really romanced Solas during the events of the game, and Dorian was something that happened later.
I've used this artifice before in DAO, for world states where my Wardens romanced Jowan or Ser Gilmore with mods, for instance. These romances are obvs impossible to reproduce in the Keep, but I cheated some other one in to get romance-specific commentary in-game, even if my story wasn't exactly like the Keep tiles tell it. (ie. my Amell absolutely romanced Jowan, you can't tell me otherwise
Oh that's actually quite the brilliant idea o_o I'll have to think about it. Though I have a tendency to play "love you forever" type romances 
...and also write long fics about them >.> I've written a four part fic for Alin and Solas, and in that fic Dorian and Cullen are actually together (please don't hate me) and also Varric and Cass are together because come on.
I guess it will depend on DA4... will our inquisitor return or not? Will Solas play a large part, small part, or no part at all? Plus it won't hurt to put a few years between me and the utterly devastating pain that is the solavellan playthrough. 
![=]](https://lvlt.forum.bioware.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sideways.png)
Seems it really worked for your Warden since she doesn't appear in game and we only get Leliana's side of things... maybe she never knew about her g/f's illicit love for Jowan xDDD
Then again, who knows... few years from now, modders may be able to crack DA4 and trick the game into recognizing non-canon romances, although that seems doubtful since the non-canon romances aren't very popular... though M!solavellan's probably the most popular, meaning, I've found maybe five other people who ship it
Btw, this being the Cullen thread and all... /coughcough anyone actually into Cullrian?? I resisted for like, so very very long. Then it just sort of happened in the fic I was writing. And I was like, oh. Ohhh. xD
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