This started out as a reblog for this daconfessions post, but it turned into being more about my Warden than about Alistair, so I decided to give it it’s own post.

Alistair expresses doubts about all of the other companions, with varying degrees of implied negativity. Probably partly because none of them are Wardens: they are random rag-tag people that the Warden dragged along for the ride of trying to save Ferelden.

Now, I’ve only finished the game with two Wardens: an fCousland who did her best to be Lawful Good and managed to be friends with everyone (albeit sometimes with the use of sweets as bribery) and romanced Leliana, and an fTabris who was blunt and generally not a happy camper who just really wanted the whole Blight business over with who romanced Zevran mainly because he was a fellow elf. 

I do not remember how fCousland reacted to this conversation, as that play through ended about a year ago. When it popped up with my fTabris, she saw it as an attack on the members of her party she’d ever really done anything resembling bonding with.

Here follows Aeren Tabris’s general thoughts on the companions (though Alistair gets multiple sections, as he triggered the write up):

Aeren Tabris really would have preferred not to have to hang out with Alistair, though she did grow to find him tolerable. It was a case of Alistair not realizing he had human male privilege that might not sit well with a female elf (Aeren didn’t like humans much to start with; Shianni’s rape put her firmly in the feelings-of-hostility area when it came to human males in general).

The Mabari (I named him Sam on this run, after Sam Gamgee) made Aeren feel safe. The dog was bonded to her and she spent most nights sleeping beside him.

Morrigan was human, but she was like the shem Aeren was used to. It was refreshing. And Morrigan didn’t like Alistair either, which gave them something additional to bond over. They became best friends, and Aeren was sad to see her go at the end.

Leliana was…strange, and a bit preachy, as Aeren saw it. She was initially bristly toward Leliana, but gradually warmed up to her after delivering a few doses of education about the lives of elves. Aeren liked her stories, especially the one about Shartan, and she liked her hair. Leliana’s hair reminded her of Shianni (Aeren had something of a crush on her cousin, though she never said anything about i). Aeren and hardened!Leliana ended up sharing a kiss.

Zevran was an elf. That was Aeren’s initial interest in him. He started out as a way to feel the hole she felt from being torn from home, a way to make the nights more bearable, someone to hold her when the nightmares came. She cared about him, and could tell that he cared more than he let on. She was never exactly in love with him, though, and felt bad about that, even though she did ask him to stay with her for a while after she became Bann of the Alienage.

Wynn was a nosy old woman, but she meant well, and she had her own regrets to live with.

Shale was an oddity, but she and Aeren respected each other and had fun being snarky together.

Sten was a comrade and respected Aeren as a warrior. His initial confusion over her status was with her sex, not her species, which she found sort of refreshing. They were both outsiders in Ferelden, and Aeren felt comfortable around him.

Oghren, well. Oghren was a drunk who lost the woman he loved, but was willing to try moving on with his life. In a bizarre way, it was a little inspiring. Aeren liked him, even if he was kind of a boor.

And back around to Alistair (there was a moment, just a moment, where Aeren considered sparing Loghain before his excuses on why selling elves into slavery wasn’t an issue to him echoed through her mind). Alistair, to Aeren, made too many assumptions. She treated him decently and gave him trinkets, and he read more into than she meant. Aeren never considered him a friend, even though he considered her one. So when the conversation about all the other companions came up, Aeren bristled. And if slapping him had been an in-game option, it would have been taken.