Sometime around college, I started playing video games. Video games of substance, I would have told you, because I was a snob. I ran the gamut of indie games. Sword & Sworcery. A few Humble Bundles. The Banner Saga. I wanted to find something meatier, something turn based. I'm not sure what made me find Dragon Age - it was probably googling "video games like DnD that don't suck and are turn based and have gay shit."
I played DA:Origins three times in rapid succession, each time playing variations of the same male elf rogue, each time romancing the same character. It carried me through the worst parts of college. It was a hero story, and when I didn't get to be the hero anywhere else, I got to be the hero there. I got the guy. I saved the world. I cheated death, saved my friends. If I was strong enough and clever and charismatic, I could make it through with my nose clean.
It was a few more years before I played Dragon Age 2. This is where [you][Elia Hawke] come in.