196 replies to this topic

[ArcadiaGrey]

I'm planning on romancing Anders in my next run with femHawke but then I started wondering about the gay romance.

I've never played a male gay romance before, if any of you have tried it both ways is one superior to the other?

[robertmarilyn]

I've done both and was happy with both. Anders reveals more about his relationship with Karl if you play a male Hawke than if you play a female Hawke so you get a little more about Anders background if you play a male. 

[nightscrawl]

I think the romance plays better if you are male, but that's just me. Part of this is because of the Karl aspect, and part of it has to do with other things I'd rather not get into if you haven't done it at all.

 

You also should try to determine whether you want a friendmance or a rivalmance, as there is a different tone, particularly in Act 3. You can do a rival Anders while still supporting the mages, you just have to be savvy about your dialogue choices. You can follow along the DAwiki for approval info for each dialogue.

[Biotic Apostate]

I'm biased, because I usually do gay romances, but I recommend doing it with a male Hawke. There is some dialogue difference that make the relationship dynamic slightly different - Anders seems more open with a male Hawke. Plus Nick Boulton did a fantastic job voicing Garrett, so that makes Anders' romance more enjoyable.

[robertmarilyn]

Because Anders is more open with male Hawke about Karl, I imagine him being more open with male Hawke about other things in his life too and I think that's why I like male Hawke with Anders the best. 

[Qun00]

I think the romance plays better if you are male, but that's just me. Part of this is because of the Karl aspect, and part of it has to do with other things I'd rather not get into if you haven't done it at all.
 
You also should try to determine whether you want a friendmance or a rivalmance, as there is a different tone, particularly in Act 3. You can do a rival Anders while still supporting the mages, you just have to be savvy about your dialogue choices. You can follow along the DAwiki for approval info for each dialogue.

That is an illusion. Rival Anders believes you are pro Circle.

[Yaroub]

Both are good as long as you kill him at the end.

[Sah291]

I think the friendmance flows better with male Hawke for various reasons, and fem Hawke for the rivalmance. There are some slight differences in the dialogue (not just the Karl line), and I just thought the tone with fem Hawke set up the rival ending better, and vise versa.

[Catilina]

I think the friendmance flows better with male Hawke for various reasons, and fem Hawke for the rivalmance. There are some slight differences in the dialogue (not just the Karl line), and I just thought the tone with fem Hawke set up the rival ending better, and vise versa.

An interesting insight.

 

I ever thought that the rivalry can't work with Anders. If you works against the mages, you against everything which he believes. In the long term it will kill the romance ... I think. This leads to a breakup or kill the soul. (At least I certainly could not live with someone who hates everything I believe in.) (Of course, the sex can work. Question: How long and at what price.)

 

(Maybe I was a bit dramatic / pessimistic, but I think love can not conquers everything ...)

 

Oh, then on topic: I prefer male Hawke. Always

[ArcadiaGrey]

Thanks so much guys, looks like the consensus is to go with maleHawke.

 

It'll be my first guy after 3 femHawkes so that'll be neat, I'm thinking an epic beard is in order.  

[Catilina]

That is an illusion. Rival Anders believes you are pro Circle.

Yes, I also think: that is just game mechanic trick. (But maybe can credible... I dont know, I never tryed. I don't think, that possible a long term rivalry romance with Anders. Elsewhere, I described why.)

[Sah291]

An interesting insight.

I ever thought that the rivalry can't work with Anders. If you works against the mages, you against everything which he believes. In the long term it will kill the romance ... I think. This leads to a breakup or kill the soul. (At least I certainly could not live with someone who hates everything I believe in.) (Of course, the sex can work. Question: How long and at what price.)

(Maybe I was a bit dramatic / pessimistic, but I think love can not conquers everything ...)

Oh, then on topic: I prefer male Hawke. Always

It's just because the romance with fem Hawke gives more of a conflicted "I'm pushing you away because I'll hurt you" tone to it, so it flows better with the rivalry. In my opinion. Think Buffy and Angel.

But if you're going for a pro mage Hawke who accepts Justice and agrees with Anders...mHawke because the tone is more egalitarian I think. They seem more like friends who are on the same page. Except maybe later on where they maybe start doubting and not trusting each other anymore.

[ArcadiaGrey]

It's just because the romance with fem Hawke gives more of a conflicted "I'm pushing you away because I'll hurt you" tone to it, so it flows better with the rivarly. In my opinion. Think Buffy and Angel.

 

But if you're going for a pro mage Hawke who accepts Justice and agrees with Anders...mHawke because the tone is more egalitarian I think. They seem more like friends who are on the same page. Except maybe later on where they maybe start doubting and not trusting each other anymore.

 

My Hawke will be very pro-Mage and completely supportive of Ander's passion for freeing the mages.  From what you're saying maleHawke would be a better fit.

[Catilina]

It's just because the romance with fem Hawke gives more of a conflicted "I'm pushing you away because I'll hurt you" tone to it, so it flows better with the rivarly. In my opinion. Think Buffy and Angel.

 

But if you're going for a pro mage Hawke who accepts Justice and agrees with Anders...mHawke because the tone is more egalitarian I think. They seem more like friends who are on the same page. Except maybe later on where they maybe start doubting and not trusting each other anymore.

Maybe it's because they say, thant the women are more tolerant / manage conflict (maybe the writer aligned with this idea?) I do not know perhaps. I think Anders / Justice is not very tolerant. (Otherwise, there's a scene in the Legacy, which Anders realizes that the Chantry was not lying ...Well, there he's confused / disappointed, but seems more inclusive.)

[Biotic Apostate]

My Hawke will be very pro-Mage and completely supportive of Ander's passion for freeing the mages.  From what you're saying maleHawke would be a better fit.

Bingo. If you want to get even more out of that playthrough, play as a mage. This adds some lines that go quite nicely with a pro-mage friendmance run.

[ArcadiaGrey]

Bingo. If you want to get even more out of that playthrough, play as a mage. This adds some lines that go quite nicely with a pro-mage friendmance run.

Oh, thank you, it's just as well you said that. I thought a mage with a mage would be too....magey.
Urgh but that means I have to tolerate Carver.

[Catilina]

Oh, thank you, it's just as well you said that. I thought a mage with a mage would be too....magey.
Urgh but that means I have to tolerate Carver.

Carver is funny, I like better than Bethany. Especially as Templar. He have much funny dialog for example in the Legacy, and good conflicts with his brother. Despite this, Carver is good brother.

[Sah291]

Oh, thank you, it's just as well you said that. I thought a mage with a mage would be too....magey.
Urgh but that means I have to tolerate Carver.

 

It's makes a very mage centric storyline, but it flows nicely.

 

My friendmance story went something like this. Hawke and Anders are both apostates. They meet and become friends, until one day, Hawke starts to cave under pressure of doing all of the fighting and protecting everyone, and becomes a blood mage. Hawke contemplates betraying the mages in order to take control of Kirkwall, meanwhile, Anders is suspicious and decides to take matters into his own hands. 

 

My fem Hawke rivalry playthrough actually started off with what was supposed to be a Templar siding friendmance with Fenris. She was a mage also, but kind of like Bethany and just wanted to be normal, and was afraid of other mages. It just came off like Anders was trying to change her mind and protect her from what he thought were abusive relationships and attitudes (Fenris and Carver)...even though it turns out he might be the most dangerous one himself. 

[Biotic Apostate]

Oh, thank you, it's just as well you said that. I thought a mage with a mage would be too....magey.
Urgh but that means I have to tolerate Carver.

Nah, it fits the tone of the game. I'm not gonna spoil anything about Carver, but some of the decisions help him grow as a person, you might even start liking him near the end  Also, Anders has some cute romance dialogue in Legacy and MotA, so leave those for after you start the relationship.

[robertmarilyn]

Oh, thank you, it's just as well you said that. I thought a mage with a mage would be too....magey.
Urgh but that means I have to tolerate Carver.

 

I try to take Carver everywhere because he really is funny...he's just a jealous, pouty, little brother who really does care about his family. So give him a try and take him everywhere. 

[straykat]

I've done both and was happy with both. Anders reveals more about his relationship with Karl if you play a male Hawke than if you play a female Hawke so you get a little more about Anders background if you play a male. 

 

Ah... I've only played female with him. I always hear about the Karl lines, but never saw them.

 

That's weird they did it this way.

 

I really don't like the Anders romance, but it makes for a good story.

[Catilina]

Ah... I've only played female with him. I always hear about the Karl lines, but never saw them.

 

That's weird they did it this way.

 

I really don't like the Anders romance, but it makes for a good story.

Not only Anders responses working so, I heard, also Fenris' answers vary with female Hawke. But I think, that different is not about from important thing. I do not understand, why Anders not speak from Karl with femHawke.  If I know right, Zevran equally respond to fem Warden and to male Warden...

[nightscrawl]

That is an illusion. Rival Anders believes you are pro Circle.

My point was only that it is doable.

Rival Anders is my general preference for non-romance. Besides, I don't think it really matters what he believes. The players and Hawke can have their own reasons for choosing whatever options in whichever given situation. Depending on the Hawke roleplay, the same person might allow Feynriel to live with the Dalish while also sending Idunna to the templars and turning over the Starkhaven mages.

I personally do not believe that the mage issue is black and white. Just because Anders does doesn't mean that it should dictate my Hawke's actions.

[Lythinae]

It's just because the romance with fem Hawke gives more of a conflicted "I'm pushing you away because I'll hurt you" tone to it, so it flows better with the rivalry. In my opinion. Think Buffy and Angel.

 
A Buffy/Angel vibe was what they were going for, apparently (this is from the Collector's Edition of the Game Guide, which had some bonus stuff in it)

 

For example, for Anders in DAII, I really wanted to try doing a cursed Angel-and-Buffy style romance, which we hadn’t done at BioWare before.  We settled on using Anders and Justice from Awakening for this purpose.

 

[Sah291]

A Buffy/Angel vibe was what they were going for, apparently (this is from the Collector's Edition of the Game Guide, which had some bonus stuff in it)

Thanks! I had heard that, but couldn't remember the quote.

Also, I recall the writer explaining the reason why Anders didn't tell fem Hawke about Karl, was because she didn't think he would tell a girl he was interested in that. Which I guess makes sense. If you're flirting with someone you don't immediately bring up your ex....unless I guess you want to find out how that person feels about it (like whether male Hawke is interested in other men).

But he also has this great line about loving the whole person... Which is another reason why I think the friendmance works better with m Hawke.