I always have trouble with those “would you and your favorite fictional character get along” questions honestly just because of a straight up lack of imagination on my part. Even if we lived in the same universe I can’t imagine why we’d be talking to each other. I work in marketing

Just a few hours into the kids stay at Ume's this WOMAN decided to SHOVE HER SON?????? LITERALLY SHOVED HIM????? The twins immediately started conspiring against her and Haru, local nerd, went to the park and got drunk with his friends just to piss her off. ☺

thinking about that dialogue where sebastian suggests turning merrill and anders over to the templars and fenris completely shuts him down:

fenris at most loathes the both of them, and at the very least mistrusts them and thinks they're dangerous and says unkind things to them (not necessarily unprovoked in anders' case, but still). and yet he does not seem to even consider turning them into the templars.

you can argue that fenris does it out of respect for hawke, but whether fenris is friends with hawke depends entirely on one's playthru, and also, though he uses that as a jab at sebastian, he doesn't use it as an excuse for himself. he is simply completely firm on the fact that he isn't going to do it.

and i think the reason for this is that fenris knows what it's like to be hunted, to have to hide, to always be looking over your shoulder. he might agree with the circles, but he knows what it's like for anders and merrill to live in a city like kirkwall as apostates. and while he might despise having to admit any similarity between himself and them, i'm sure he's aware of it on some level.

and in conjunction with that, there's something of an unacknowledged quid pro quo. merrill and anders could turn fenris over to bounty hunters just as he could turn them over to templars. but they don't, and he doesn't. it's an understanding of being in the same social group. he might hate them, but he won't betray them. and he, of all people, will not be the one to bring his companions' pursuers down on their heads.

You ever think about how in spite of knowing their exact locations, the game never gives any indication that templar Carver has reported his mage sibling, Merril (a blood mage) or Anders (an abomination) to his superiors?

I do think about that a lot, even though I tend to ignore the Templar Carver route because I know Warden Carver to be true in my heart and soul... but I totally get the appeal of Templar Carver within DA2's narrative, y'know?

It's so fascinating, really. I've never played a run with Templar Carver, I just can't bring myself to do it, so I know I'm missing out on smaller details of it. From what I do know, this drives me crazy in the best way possible.

Deciding whether to bring him or not to the Deep Roads is such an important choice, not only because it affects his fate, but how it affects his relationship to Hawke. He tells you that he wants to go, he makes it very clear that it's important to him that he goes, too... and Hawke can just leave him behind and it hurts him. I don't think that registers enough with some people just because of how Carver is, like it doesn't matter what Hawke's motivations are [staying behind for his safety, not wanting to bring him, thinking someone should stay with Leandra, etc] it still hurts him because it tells him that Hawke doesn't need him, and Carver wants to be needed.

And yes, there are other contributing factors to why he joins the templars, but it doesn't matter what your relationship is to him, it doesn't change the fact that he doesn't turn Hawke or his companions in.

Sure, the meta reason is it's a video game and you're playing the main character. You're never in any actual danger of being captured by templars, and you're not going to lose your companions to them that easy.

But if we look at it through the narrative and Carver's character, that's when it gets interesting. You can max out his rivalry and be an utter asshole to him [there's a point where you can call him a brat and mock him for being stuck in your shadow, like Hawke can be real cruel about it] but it doesn't matter, you're still his sibling. He even makes a remark about how you might not know what that means [referring to leaving him behind] but he does. He refuses to kill Hawke in the end when Meredith makes the order, too.

Which can I just point out that Hawke has the option to let Bethany die in the end if she's with the circle and they side with the templars? Just saying, Carver NEVER does that no matter what, but Hawke has the option to betray Bethany like that and it's fucked and interesting and it makes me want to eat my chair-

As for Merrill and Anders, I think he knows that if he turns either of them in, then the chances of Hawke being brought in as well skyrocket. They're all friends, they're in the same group... bring one in, and you'll probably get the other two.

I also think Carver just genuinely likes Merrill. Yes, I'm a Carver/Merrill shipper, so I have a bias, but even if you remove anything romantic from their dynamic I believe that's true. Of all the companions, Merrill is the only one who doesn't make fun of him, or find him annoying, in party banters. He never snaps back at her, like he's never defensive with her, he's just a little awkward and nice.

Like, HE'S SO NICE TO HER! He tries to find common ground with her! She asks him about "swording" and he's taken aback by her saying he's good at it, but you KNOW that if someone like Anders asked him the same question, he's be all, "shut up, you're stupid, stop talking to me >:["

Think back to that banter Carver can have with Aveline post-act 1 where they're talking about how the guard wasn't the right place for him [hard disagree with you there, Aveline] and Carver says he was a bit of a tit, wasn't he.... and every companion will agree except Merrill. She doesn't say anything, whereas other companions like Anders will be like "ugh maker YES" and if you have a purple Hawke, they'll go on to other ways Carver was a tit like?? I think Carver and Merrill got along and he doesn't want to turn her in because she was nice to him! And she's a blood mage! He knows what will happen to her if the templars get ahold of her! He doesn't want to see her made tranquil or killed!

At that point, he's witnessed what bad blood mages can do, assuming you've brought him along for those quests, but even so. He knows Merrill isn't like that and he likes her, so of course he's not going to turn her in despite that being his literal duty.

Then there's Anders who Carver doesn't like. If you're in a romance with him, Carver will tell him that's why he doesn't turn him in but c'mon Carver, you know that's not the only reason. My theory is Carver may not like Anders and he knows the man's got a spirit of justice inside of him... but Anders also runs a free clinic. If he's ever taken in by templars, then so many people [including a LOT of Fereldan refugees] will be without free health care and will suffer for it. I think in Carver's eyes, Anders might be irritating but he doesn't more good than harm. Carver knows first hand how shitty refugees and poorer people are treated in Kirkwall. Anders' clinic is the one place they can go for help and actually get it, and he's not going to be the one to take that away because the templars say "magic bad."

So yeah, I'm not as informed about the Templar Carver route, but I do think about how if I did do that route, he wouldn't betray Hawke or their companions no matter what and what that says about him.

This had been irking me so i have to say it. I know Hellsing is a horror media with a LOT of flashy action scene, however, it is unjust to see it as solely gore and fights. I've seen complaints about how adding a "romance" in will reduce the quality of the story as an "action horror". (specifically speaking is between Alucard and Integra because of course in the end of the day this is just ship war, not a serious discussion whatsoever) I would argue that Hellsing is never ONLY about the actions. Yall might have already noticed how Alucard is too OP, and it was not even because he got any tricks up his sleeves. He is simply invincible, his mechanism is just that hes a "deus ex machina". He did NAWT need to start out with zero and levelling up like your common action anime protagonist. It's not a first time a central character is overpowered in an unreasonable way. A way you could interpret this trope is that it was not about battles, not the physcial one, but the development in their characteristic, their thoughts and emotions and ideology all that stuffs. A classic example is Sir Gawain and The Green Knight (TGK), where all of their (physical) battles are nonsense and did not mean anything in terms of combat, they dont even fight each other, even the climax (the decapitation of TGK) was dismissed into a looney tunes moment. BECAUSE OF COURSE IT WAS NEVER ABOUT THE BATTLE NOR PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, it was the internal struggle and maturing in character. THAT is what's happening in Hellsing IF yall look pass the very flashy facade of gore scenes Hirano put up. READ BETWEEN THE LINES, because he's not gonna hand it out to you on a plate. If you want to see how each character developed you have to look closely at their reactions and dialogues, not how they fight.

SO, imo, it's reducing the quality and message of Hellsing to interpret it solely as an action horror media, not the other way around. AND MIND YOU, romance subplot and action horror can coexist. For what does the character fight? A higher ideal? Power? Fun? Love? All that is noteworthy to think about when you engage in a media display many fight scenes. DONT YOU WANNA KNOW WHY THEY FIGHT THAT HARD ???? and in this case it is VERY obvious that Alucard is motivated by Integra. LIKE it cant be more obvious

And I'm so tired of seeing "Alucard only listen to Integra because of the seal and shes a Hellsing". Bestie, he literally ripped Richard's hand off, we dont even know the extent of the seal, like how far? or can it REALLY control Alucard? Besides, if you have read The Dawn you would see what a damn lazy ass Alucard was, Arthur sent him on a mission and he didn't even bother to walk on his own and just sleep safe and sound in his coffin until he felt like waking up??? Compare that to his enthusiasm to beg Integra on four just for her order and even purposefully tick her off by asking about her enthusiasm for war, oh and did we collectively forget this

(This is the Dark Horse eng scan if i remember correctly? i might be mistaken idk)

Sure it could just be a mere parallel, "The woman he personally desired" might only means Mina Harker and not directly Integra herself, I see. But, why bother choosing this parallel, and RIGHT after this panel he went STRAIGHT to Integra to ask for her order.

You know how enthusiastic he is with a fight and everything was already laid before him, worthy enemies and all. Yet he would not act without her words? I did not see him needing permission before ripping Richard's hand off... Also the seal did NAWT ask him to do all this

There are more of his sickening and excessive display of obedience but i don't have time to pull the panels out yet, but we all know its there since Alucard's submissive attitude and Integra's bossy demeanour is one of their most appealing traits, I know, because it is literally one of the BIGGEST selling points and running joke of the fandom, funnyyyy how people always love to call Alucard a sub and use words such as "freaky" and "slutty" to call him as if he didn't reserved this treatment for ONLY Integra. Sure Integra is a demanding boss to even her enemies, and it works like wonder everytime, because she's Integra, she mastered Alucard, others are just piece of cake to her. But that's not the same case with Alucard. Major literally said "She is the only authority Alucard recognizes". And have Alucard extended the phrase "My master" and all the begging and insinuating jokes to anyone else? It's so convenient isnt it, to just take one specific trait of Alucard's personality and make it his entire character without considering to WHO he directed those innuendos to.

Oh and I haven't walk us to the final chapter yet, like the seal did NAWWWWWTTT asked him to call her "Countess" (or Count, depending on the translators) and literally he could accept his death becoming a paradox? Wasn't Alucard had been craving an end for a long while now? Why the need to return just because Integra asked him to??? Be serious for a moment here

Also a personal interpretation of mine that could be a stretch or just pure delulu is that, in the manga AND the anime adaptation, the last word Alucard said after goodbye is "Integra" (In both Japanese and English dub, the word order is exactly the same), not "Master" or "Integra HELLSING". The same goes when he addressed how he can kill without remorse but the decision is in her hand, he also said "I am a monster, now regarding you, Integra". To me that is an indicator for how he CARED for her not just because she's a Hellsing or his master but she's Integra, from the first of their meeting it was very clear, that Alucard wounded A HELLSING to protect Integra.

So... even non-romantically, you cannot deny that Alucard voluntarily worked for Integra. They DO care about each other a lot, even platonically, their bond is almost like soulmates with how well they trust and understand each other. I just don't like it when people keep side-stepping the depth of their relationship just because you don't like to ship them romantically. These are the canon informations you can't just seriously unironically say that there was nothing there.

And oh don't even get me started on the "But he is a vampire, the enemy of her family and he hates Hellsing because of Abraham something something stockholm syndrome something she's ace coded she's lesbian coded she swore to be a virgin until death she wouldnt throw it away for the enemy of her family etcera etcera" you're saying it as if ace people aren't allowed to date or have sex and you're saying it as if Alucard isn't canonically genderfluid. Why always view the ship as solely heteronormative while they were never conventional to begin with. And MIND YOU, i thought everyone love the enemies to lovers trope?? they were BARELY stockholm syndrome at all did we forget about the Bird of Hermes analogy as a metaphor for loyalty voluntarily given.

If you care so much about "monsters and humans are forbidden" and "they are not canon" maybe treat every ship with the same attitude since MOST of hellsing most popular ships fit into that exact two sentences above, maybe except Pip x Seras is canon, but they're also human x monster, so what now???? Just hate on a ship all you like, I hate ships too and I hate them because I don't like them, that's all, no need to do extra mental gymnastic to prove the ship is "wrong" or their shippers are "wrong".

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (2010, Io-Interactive A/S)

(Fragile Alliance mode)

This has one of my favorite aesthetics ever. It is such a harsh, grimy, beautifully ugly game.

Highly recommend bringing Anders as the sole mage with you when recruiting Fenris at least once, because MAN the dialogue he has in that situation lives in my mind rent free

edit: here it is

An engine, an engine Chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.

Or, Chapter 9 of Lauren’s backstory is here.

man Anders and Merrill really were both on suicide missions and they really both expected Hawke to be the one holding the knife huh

You will not convince me to ever get as deep into conversation/analysis about DA2 on here as I do on TikTok.

Bc the reason I never talked about DA2 10 years ago is an attitude I KNOW still exists within some of you who remain here today. Some of the people who were the reason people lurked back then are still on here. To be frank, y’all scare me.

The discourse around Marian Hawke, the bad and lacking-in-nuance takes around certain companion characters… the inability to talk about mage rights and Anders’ actions with literally an ounce of grey mixing into the black and white thinking 😭 “I support him and wish I could contribute” vs. “I think he’s the most evil evil to ever evil in any universe”

… it’s just so bad 😭😭

No thank you. There’s a reason I lurked then. Because this fandom has nightmarish takes and a mean attitude around it. All while being Completely Convinced™️ that they have a right to be judgmental about everyone else for having vaguely differing opinions or interpretations 😭😭

god they really did do Justice kinda dirty in da2, huh

I'd just like to say I find it very funny that so many people want to romance the Stones when I'm full on "Stone if you fuck me over I'm not only chartering a boat to the deepest part of the ocean and dropping you in. I'm going to throw myself in after just to guarantee your pernicious influence is totally removed from this world."

The Stone, just like Manerkol, do be causing intense reactions in all directions, it seems XD

Reminiscing that one time a random guy came up to me at a convention, when I was cosplaying Anders from DA2, and asked me why I was cosplaying from "the worst game in the series". He also asked who I was "supposed to be", and then said, I kid you not: "I don't remember him from the game."

Peak convention interaction, A+, no notes.

@orion-the-onion oh my GOD I had to check this out with my own two eyes and I feel like a computer trying to reboot after a forced shutdown lol listen I will fully admit that my one true DA2 love will always be Fenris (rip my beloved, slain by Hanako-kun) but I am genuinely incapable of wrapping my head around Anders being a predatory bisexual stereotype?? For...flirting with you and then--hold on, let me check my notes--fully respecting your boundaries if you tell him you're not interested?? Damn, ain't that just how it goes, blows up a church but is somehow more controversial for being bi we love you king

i get why tommy/alfie is the go to slash ship in pb, alfie is not related to tommy, cilli/an mu/rphy and to/m ha/rdy have a good chemistry that makes their relationship feel reciprocal and lived in and is entertaining enough to watch, but given alfie's relative little screentime he doesn't really slot in as the secondary male character of great importance with all the tension, unspoken history and an ever shifting dynamic with tommy/impact on the story and tommy that is explicitly explored on screen.

that is arthur! and i understand why arthur/tommy isn't an option for many, due to, like, the incest, but it makes me wonder why there's such a small freak portion in the fandom in the first place, because it's all there!

Tom, please...

Idk if this is him confirming or just liking the speculation...