You may have just convinced me, actually. I assume going Templars rather than mages doesn't prevent recruiting Dorian, right? (I assume the Tevinter storyline gets shifted to the Templars somehow?)

That is very mature of you. I pre-ordered it even knowing I'd have to deal with early-stage glitches like miniature Josephine and Varric marching in place through the ground. It worked out, though, because I got a whole dialogue scene with Cullen with a headless soldier in the background. Just straight-up practicing…

Thanks! I'll have to see if I can direct it better this time around.

Cole gets mad every time I'm not completely merciful. Like, I'm not just going to let the mass murdering mayor off scot free, Cole, damn. But I generally get along with everyone except Vivienne (that beautiful, beautiful harridan). Even Cassandra disagrees with pretty much everything I do, but we're cool. I love…

Ditto. I actually first let Hawke sacrifice herself because I thought it was a satisfying end to her character (she seemed kind of at loose ends anyway), but Varric looked so sad I immediately rebooted and let Stroud take the hit, because who gives a fuck about Stroud? I set up the Keep to make Alistair the warden…

The well thing is particularly annoying because his dialogue in that scene is completely pushing you to drink from the well instead of Morrigan (he says something like, "I think SOMEONE should drink it") — then he gets all high-horse about it later. Solas is so humorless, I'm tempted to just start actively pissing him…

I'm the only one in my family with any interest in video games, so when it's time for the annual trek down south for the holidays, I have to leave my console behind and get my fix playing something on my laptop. In the past that's been WoW (which I know I don't play "correctly," as I don't do multiplayer). This year I…

I actually just started my third* play-through of Dragon Age: Inquisition (I don't rush through the main storyline, but I'm far from a completionist), because I'm so interested in how the different variables affect the experience. While I can't bring myself to side with the Templars to get a substantially different…

Oh damn, I'm sorry about your cat! My oldest cats are 10 (and my dog is 9), so I fret about how to handle their dotage. My patriarch is a 20-pound tuxedo who purrs through his vet visits. I will not handle his loss well. I hope you're doing all right!

Thank you! I thought he meant Oklahoma City, and I was deeply confused.

I once woke up to all three of mine perched on the dresser, staring at the same spot on the ceiling. They stayed like that for a solid five minutes, then abruptly and nonchalantly went back to their regularly scheduled program. It was unnerving.

You've probably read it, but if not, I recently read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers and really liked it. I'd actually picked it up a time or two before but never got through the prologue; stick with it through that, though, and it gets quite good.

Ryan Gregson, I try to do at least one good deed a fortnight, and this is my good deed to you:

Wait, so they threatened death and destruction should the film be released but then leaked the film's screenplay themselves? That doesn't make sense. Or is a piece of fiction only unacceptable to North Korea in filmed form?

I don't watch The Good Wife (lawyers, meh), but I surprisingly really like Jane the Virgin. It's honestly pretty girly (don't tell OtherAccountBanned I said that!), which means I expected to hate it, but it's got great performances, it's doing fun things with soap opera conventions, and visually it's very appealing.…

I would agree that "female-oriented" programs that pander to a stupid idea of what women are all about are bad. I would counter, however, that possibly "female-oriented" programs that receive consistently great reviews and awards probably do not do that.

Every time I scratch my back against a doorframe or whatever, I think of Baloo and that tree. I'm not saying I sing the bare necessities song while doing so, but I'm not saying I don't.

Here's an idea: Rather than deciding whether you want to see a show based on whether other males are watching it, try watching a few episodes and deciding for yourself. Also, "aimed at women" does not equal "needs to get better."

Keeping in mind that I've probably almost died lots of times and just didn't know it, the closest I've come was probably when I was in grad school. I'd never had a car, and I'd saved up about a third of what I needed to buy a used one. For my birthday, my friends and family pooled their money to get me the rest of the…

I was initially appalled that she axed Baylor over Missy, but then I realized that Missy was a vote-splitter while Baylor was not. Respect, Natalie.