What did you do today in Thedas?

This It runs, when I play, and I cut the scene later with VideoPad. But nothing special.

I'm glad, I could help!

And I would be happy if my unmodded DAO would have able to run I still can't enter to Ostagar...

No. My Warrior can't enter in Amarantine...

Today I meddled with magic!
With the party trapped in the fade, I had to find my way out by shapeshifting and releasing my friends from their nightmares.
Honestly, I love this part of the game! I still remember my first time going through it and how much fun it was. I really loved being able to temporarily shapeshift and using each form's abilities to navigate my way through the fade. I also really loved that each companion had a personalized nightmare. Morrigan's and Alistair's nightmares are hilarious! I've also experienced Zevran's nightmare and Leliana's nightmare previously.
It really doesn't drag on as long as people seem to say, it felt like it was over pretty quickly. I've been through this section multiple times and still enjoy it as much as I did the first time. I'll never use that "skip the fade" mod.
Navigating through the place was pretty simple and I had no trouble getting through the tower safely.
It does feel strange meeting Cullen again every time...all I think about is how much he changes over the next few games and how he ends up with my Inquisitor, Renly.
The poor guy though! It's totally understandable why he feels the way he does in the game after what he had gone through.
After saving the mages I asked Irving for help with the Connor situation, to which he agreed.
Back at Redcliffe castle, I volunteered Jowan to enter the fade as he seemed liked he genuinely felt bad about everything and wanted to make things right.
Thankfully all went well and both Isolde and Connor are alive and well.

Along the way the party was ambushed by some assassins sent by the crows. After their unsuccessful attempt, we interrogated their leader and found out he was sent by Loghain. Not being one to kill in cold bold and seeing how the assassin could be useful, Arthur decided to allow him to join the group after swearing an oath of loyalty.

Back at the camp, Alistair surprised Arthur with a rose. He teased Alistair, but accepted the gift lovingly.
Arthur gave Flemeth's Grimoire to Morrigan upon her request, strengthening their rocky relationship.
Next he bonded with Leliana over shoes and listened to her speak about Orlais and reveal a bit about her past, and she promises to tell him some stories sometime over a campfire.
Wynne shared a bit of her wisdom about Grey Wardens, with Arthur teasing her about griffons. He learned about how she ended up in the circle as well as her confiding in him. He's worried about her health, but she insists she is fine.

Next stop is Denerim on the quest for the Sacred Ashes!

Davrin's boobs I saw some of the scenes today! I'm loving it! It's pretty great that most are gender neutral and work with a male Warden!
As far as the subtext goes...it really bothers me that not only do they actually tease Alistair's totally canon bisexuality in the game...but only do it in straight situations. There's also the thing with Anora where she insists the male Warden marry Alistair instead if the Warden won't agree to her demands.
This stuff, coupled with Gaider's "resources" statement (ugh, as always...), makes it pretty clear to me Alistair is in love with the Warden regardless of gender and is totally bisexual. But of course...to BioWare we aren't worth the effort and gay content is the first thing cut.

My PC is able to record games on its own so I have quite a few videos saved, but I've never attempted to edit them and make them into pretty gifs.

To end things on a more positive note...I absolutely love the "Sleep Until Dawn" mod! The camp is so beautiful and I love being able to see them go to sleep together!
I also have some mods that fix Alistair's kisses for a male Warden as well as the sex scene where he can be in either position. It's great, hehe.

I also saw Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs tonight. I hadn't seen the film in over a decade but I now strongly connect it to Dragon Age Origins. Back when I first played on PS3, I totally fell in love with Alistair...but it was an unrequited love. At the time I was listening to the songs from the film and now they remind me of him and that time. I wanted to be able to romance a guy like Alistair (I'm Wishing/One Song") and kept hoping for the day I could romance a guy like him in a game ("Someday My Prince Will Come").
So while watching the film I was thinking of him and how he now is my Prince Charming thanks to mods and that we will have a happy ending together.
I'd still love for a canon gay Prince Charming to sweep my me off my feet someday like Snow White's Prince did for her...all these years later and we still haven't had one!

I was just thinking about Thedas' odd dating system and talking to Dirk about it. The previous age was the blessed age, and this one is the Dragon age. With Lelianna as the divine-I suspect she will name the next age after shoes...

ROMANCE PROGRESS TODAY!!!
Stopped to camp and catch up with everyone.
Alistair finally confessed his feelings for my Warden and they kissed! I just love how awkward and adorable he is about this being his first ever romantic relationship!
Leliana revealed more about her past and Arthur learned about her life as a bard.
Morrigan sent Arthur on a quest to kill Flemeth.
Wynne told the truth about what happened at the tower...and the proceeded to try and talk poor Arthur into ending his relationship with Alistair.
Got to know Zevran a bit, he flirted and while Arthur didn't mind he made sure to let Zevran know it wouldn't go anywhere because he's in love with Alistair.

On the quest to Denerim to search for Brother Genitivi, the party was attack by someone that was sent by Marjolaine. This did not sit well with Arthur and he insisted they go and search for her immediately.
Upon arriving in Denerim, the group confronted Marjolaine, deciding to spare her.
Next stop was Goldanna's house, which didn't go as Alistair was expecting. Feeling alone and rejected by his only family, Arthur assured Alistair he wasn't alone and that he had others that cared for him...you know...like a certain boyfriend?
One of the highlights of trekking through Denerim was meeting Isabela at The Pearl. Beating her at her own game and impressing her, she passed on her knowledge as a duelist to the group!
Really, really love Isabela here. She left an impression on me the first time and I wished there could be more of her...leaving me pleasantly surprised in Dragon Age 2!
After finding leads on Genitivi's location and some cleaning-up in Denerim, headed back to the camp.
Talked with Alistair about what happened and cheered him up by presenting his mother's amulet, found back at Redcliffe castle.
Reassured Leliana that she was nothing like Marjolaine and that she was a good person. Oh, the poor girl...she has a long and hard road ahead of her after this short-lived happiness with the Warden.
Afterwards, Alistair finally confessed that he couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to join Arthur in his tent in the most adorable way ever.
He's making me so happy! I've really loved seeing their relationship develop and those little enhancements from mods just make it all so perfect.
Appearntly he really enjoyed it because they went at it twice, haha...

Looking forward to the quest for the sacred ashes tomorrow!
Haha I totally understand...I'm the same way! Action figures are totally worth the money...which reminds me that I need to buy the sexy Alistair figure they released a while back...maybe treat myself on my birthday.

I actually do care about fashion, although my sense of fashion is totally dated and really makes me stand out in a crowd!
I love, love, love a good pair of boots and I can totally relate to Leliana!

Good luck with the Alistair marriage! I'm sure you won't have a problem!
I typically save the DLC until the end of the game, so I get Shale late. I'll probably pick her up tomorrow though, just to have her around.
That reminds me...I never even bought the gifts/pranks this time!

So since my last update I did the Shale recruitment quest and return to Ostagar. I know that's not a lot of progress really, but my hand is cramping from using the keyboard the way the game requires me to. I really wish there was a way for tab's highlight function to just stay on, cause holding it with my pinky is just shite...and it seems almost necessary cause it is quite a challenge to know what can be interacted with on pc.

So yeah my cramping hand tells me that's enough for now. Will play some more later today perhaps. Hmm...will also be looking around for a mod or something to fix the highlighting issue.


Edit update: found a mod to allow me to toggle the highlight function, thank the maker! I also completed the Warden's keep DLC to test it out.   

I dont want to sound to BasementOwner-ish edit: lol!!! but this time the romance is going a little different with lines I never heard of, just little nuances that's all but it's great

I'm a little scared tho because the pacing I like is Alistair giving you the rose first aaand then having the "So all this time we've spent together..." talk after that, but I get this conversation first this time, maybe it has to do with the care and adore thing, because I tested it (with gifts then reload hehe the pacing THE PACING TAKE IT EASY BOY lol) being in "care" and the last time the relationship was in "adore" so I hope I can get the pacing I got the last time



I love it! you are very talented Cat!!!

edit2. ok i think it has to do with doing the first two main quests (in my case were redcliffe and the circle of magi) I need to play to prove this tho, I hope I'm not wrong 

bonus fangirling material



yeeesss

aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

Today I got a scene that I had never, ever gotten before in all my years of playing Origins!
I'm not sure what the requirements for this to trigger are, but my Arthur became King Arthur from the legends today, haha.
He ran into a group of commoners that were standing around a axe stuck in a log. They had him attempt to pull it out, and he did...and now they believe he's going to be the one to lead Ferelden...and of course he will as soon as he and Alistair win support at the Landsmeet and get married.
This was a pretty cool scene though and totally fits my character because that's what I based him off of, haha.

Anyway the party headed to Haven following a lead to find Brother Genitivi. This one has a always been a bit strange for me. I knew that if you investigated the house with altar, the villagers should become hostile...but the last couple of times I tried this they never attacked me. I could even interact with the guard and merchant! This time though, they did ambush me as soon as I left the house.
Had no troubled taking down the Revered Father and saving Genitivi and the temple was a breeze to get through, as well as defeating Kolgrim.
I even attempted to fight the high dragon and nearly defeated her, she had about a quarter of her health left but I knew I was doomed as soon as Wynne died. I still remember how proud I was of myself the first time I did manage to defeat her.

Next up was The Gauntlet's tests. I love trying to solve the riddles in the first trial and I am proud of myself when I get through them all...but I did end up missing one today.
I like the interaction the Warden gets in the next trial, Arthur's father in this case. It's really sweet and then we get that interesting "mirrored" battle.
They puzzle after that though...ugh...I have a love/hate relationship with these things. I tried for an hour to figure out how to solve that bridge puzzle...but I couldn't do it. It was giving me a headache. I was ready to give up and find the solution online...only to try it one last time myself and of course I got it that time haha. There were a couple of times where I thought I figured out the solution...only to have my Warden fall.
Got a pinch of the ashes and saved Arl Eamon.

Next up was the elves...but before that a quick visit to Flemeth!
I was able to defeat her on the first attempt, but Leliana was dead for most it it haha.
I still remember how difficult and intimidating this battle was the first time I played...and again it was another time I was proud of myself for being able to defeat her against all odds.

The Brecilian Forest went by much quicker than I remembered, but I loved the atmosphere of the forest and Dalish camp.
I decided to test out the bi overhaul mod for Cammen and it worked! That was totally worth it. Sleeping with him was absolutely hilarious...but it's not part of my canon so I went back and did the quest properly by persuading Gheyna to support Cammen.
In the forest itself I usually support the Elder Tree by killing the hermit, but I decided to try sparing him this time.
There was also the side quest where you examine the abandoned camp, I've always liked that one.
Anyway...met with the Lady Of The Forest, convinced Zathrian to end the curse, happy ending for everyone!
...I do feel bad about killing so many werewolves now after watching Beauty And The Beast and falling in love with Beast...totally seeing them differently...

Back at camp, spent some alone time with Alistair, listened to some of the banter about the romance, and even gossiped with Leliana about Alistair's eager "performance".
Leliana also sang for everyone and it was one of the most beautiful things Arthur had ever heard.
I used the "sleep until dawn mod" so the song had a different atmosphere to it and it was just so lovely.

Next up...the dreaded deep roads. Help!

I also forgot to mention that I got a bunch or armor/clothing mods and changed everyone's armor and I'm loving it! Some of the custom stuff looks really good! I even have Sebastian's armor!
It does feel a bit strange seeing Leliana out of her Chantry robe and Morrigan out of hers though!
Aww, I loved when he said that! He's so adorable.
Sometimes I also miss his non-romance "something on your mind" line as it takes me back to my first experience with the game and the first time I bonded with and fell for him.

One of the things I love about Origins is how the romances can play out in so many different ways. It's so much better than just clicking on a single flirt icon and having the experience go the same way every time.
...Also the fact that you can have multiple partners at the same time and get jealousy banter/conversations.
What I did to make playing these games on PC easier was change movement to the arrow keys and use "A/D" to control the camera. It feels so much more natural this way and I have easy access to the highlight function!
What I need is a mod for the backpack! 120 items is just not enough for me! I skipped out on all the treasure in the Brecilian Forest because I had no space, haha.