DA 4 Romances! New info for real this time!!! Zom-bangin'?

Romacning Jaal as a guy. There is no competition, other than ME:A sucking donkey dickies and being a shit game. 
But yeah, can we get a gay Jaal in DA4? Same voice actor too, I love his voice and accent so much. 

Kaidan/MShep for pretty much the same reasons. I also like that he has control over his life and does not ask me to solve all his personal problems. I feel he is more stable, mature, and trustworthy than other m/m romances in Bioware game. Really he is a type of guy I would marry in real life. 

And yes he is incredibly hot and it does not help that his face model is super hot and also gay! 

For me it’s definitely Anders (I play male PC). I love Zevran and Dorian a lot, but they have emotional availability issues for a majority of their storylines that isn’t an issue with Anders. He’s clear from early into the relationship that he’s interested and doesn’t dance around the issue or pretend that he’s less invested than he really is. His storyline is tightly woven with the primary narrative and has passion and intensity and tension that makes it compelling. I’ve never romanced anyone but Anders in DA2 because at this point the game just feels incomplete without it to me, lol. I personaally tend to be more of a reformist than a revolutionary, but I’ve always been very attracted to more revolutionary ideological types (my IRL partner is that type as well.) Also, he’s snarky and likes cats. Indisputable best husbando

My absolute favorite is still Zevran, who’s been romanced by... basically all my wardens of both available genders.

First off, he’s fun to be around, so that’s already a major personality win. I strongly believe that it’s possible to do good and also have fun, because reality is fundamentally absurd. We’re all just shambling meat sacks hurtling through a completely indifferent universe. So I’m not so into LIs that are serious 100% of the time.

I also like his directness. He doesn’t couch his attraction in a bunch of touchy-feely bs, or get all weird about the romance. If he feels something, he says it. I appreciate that. I understand liking drama or warming up someone who’s initially chilly, and for most things I separate my PC from myself. But goddamn if my one Inquisitor that noodled Solas wasn’t pulling teeth the whole way, I hate that will-they/won’t-they nonsense.

Plus Zevran being an assassin sent to kill the warden makes funny feelings happen in my primal monkey brain.

My choice is Anders. (But who doesn't know it?)

Passionate, his inner fire is beautiful! He wants Hawke and tells it openly. Lives with Hawke. Absolutely not perfect – but very living character.
As a mage Hawke they're lovers, soul mates, brothers in arms. I feel, they can build a world... 
As a warrior, it's a little bit different feeling, but also similar, because Hawke with his background, father and sister also can feel him – and wants to protect him (and his sister, ofc.). I loved Anders' romance as a warrior too.
(It's my fairy tale – perhaps, weird, but this is me...)

There's a lot of things.

It's a more realistic progression of a relationship. You first build up trust and friendship, and then you can even think about being more than just friends. It has some slow burn aspects I really enjoy. You literally have to get to know him first and earn his respect, and that's important in building a strong foundation for a romance and a realistic video game relationship.

And after the slow burn, you get a man who absolutely ADORES you and TREASURES you. There is no shortage of actual romantic romance content. He is IN LOVE WITH YOU and feels no shame about it, he is invested and has no qualms about what he feels about you.

'' Beyond all reason, I've fallen in love with you. '' 
'' Wherever you go, take me with you. '' 

He doesn't at any point push you away, he follows his heart, all that good shit. This is SEVERELY lacking in most male x male romances. And it's not just a fuufuu fluffy romantic relationship, but you are two soldiers on the field, you are brothers in arms, soulmates and of course lovers. There's an aspect of that fluffy romance, but also strong companionship. Not just either or. He also finds you sexually/aesthetically pleasing, and that's a pretty nice bonus. It's not just emotional, but also physical.

Romancing him lets you also see a completely new side of him, and that's important in a romance as well.

And then there are the bonus things that is just a cherry on top like
- alien/non-human, which adds some complexity to the romance, as you are falling in love with an entirely different species. It's a journey.
- alien/non-human appearance, which gives a nice '' beauty and the beast '' trope which I enjoy
- explicit sex scene, while not mandatory, is still pretty hot and was done pretty damn well too
- relevant to the story, which helps you to connect to the plot and think of your romance as a bigger event than it might be in reality
- amazing voice actor and lovely accent, so so so charming and sexy

I did it with male Hawke, but I know the romance has differences – and some difference seems not even a little thing... And many people told, that with male Hawke, Anders' better. For me: sure it is...
The fact that he doesn't speak about Karl to fem!Hawke and the reason is very bad...
(I also like Zevran's romance – his romance arc is great, and for it I can forget Wynne's bosoms... while it's hard... But also: he was my first in-game gay romance, so, always have a spot in my heart despite his flaws.
I ME, Kaidan is my fav, and he's in my top3, I loved him from the beginning – it's a shame, we got him only in the ME3...)

Nope. I roll my eyes a little at the male/male lines that were obviously put in to protect the delicate sensibilities of The Straights. Buuuuut I’m also really socially inept IRL, and have literally told a blonde that I’m usually more attracted to brunettes (meaning it as a compliment... endless facepalms), so I read it as Zevran having a similar level of impolite directness.

Like, sure it’s not ideal to say that shit, but I’m also an insensitive doofus so we’re a perfect match. And he seems pretty darn attracted to the warden either way, so his attraction or lack of attraction to other people of a particular gender is sort of irrelevant to me. Though I can totally understand the annoyance it creates, it doesn’t cause negative feelings for me personally.

Oh, boy, it's pretty impossible to pick The One and Only favorite romance. Although I will say whatever romance DA4 has, I will likely end up sucked into the vortex of a dramatic and heart-breaking one tightly tied to the main plot because that seems to be what naturally happens to me. LOL You'll see here in a moment...

Also, I'm a hetero woman in RL and I tend to lean towards first playthroughs being a female protag with a male love interest. If I feel up to more playthroughs, I'll tend to make a protag to fit the companion I'd like to romance next and that I feel might be interesting from a narrative standpoint, so sometimes that varies a lot. I only have one secondary playthrough romance that's a definite favorite, so I'll list it later.

DAO
Female city elf Warden rogue with Alistair. I had no idea the game had romances - had not ever experienced that in a game before. So, I was shocked when my tank started hitting on me and I essentially got sucked into BioWare's games. Before, I played only RPGs like Elder Scrolls, so I was used to be alone and doing my own thing. Playing a game with squadmates with their own personalities and friendships was a new experience and spoiled me a lot. Anywho, back to that romance, you can imagine how it ended given the pairing. My city elf was equal parts heartbroken and angry that their relationship had to end. To the point that she spared Loghain both because it was the pragmatic choice being down so many Wardens and just to piss off Alistair. LOL And then had Loghain do the dirty the Morrigan just to further piss off Alistair. Good times. She ended up kinda liking the cranky bastard after all that, aside from his BS with selling off the city elves to fund the war chest. 

DA2
Female sarcastic Hawke rogue with Anders. That was a crazy little fireball of a pairing. Hawke loved her mage sister and was very protective, not being a mage herself, so that sort of feeling also transferred when she fell in love with a mage herself. I loved the dynamic of not being able to fully relate to Anders (due to being a rogue), but still adoring him and supporting his views because of having grown up protecting her sister. Even after the Chantry, that Hawke decided to go full YOLO and ran away with Anders to go be crazy revolutionaries together.

DAI
Female elf rogue with Solas. Again, because I am SO drawn to the dynamic of the protective non-mage loving a mage, etc. She's still searching for her beloved Dread Wolf to try and save him from himself.

ME1
Since I'm primarily a PlayStation player, my first introduction to Mass Effect was with ME2, so my experience is backwards. Once ME1 finally became available to us, my playthrough of ME1 was celibate.

ME2
Female Shepard with Garrus. Loved his personality, his honor, his insecurities. Like falling in love with your best friend kind of a romance. I also was drawn to the intrigue of an alien romance.

ME3
Continued pairing from ME2.

MEA
Female Ryder with Jaal. He's such a sponge of sweetness, and again with allure of an alien for a partner. Whenever I do MEA again, I might do a male Ryder with Vetra because she's also cool, alien, and I got a thing for Turians now. LOL Or maybe male Ryder with Jaal.

Pretty much all my second or beyond playthrough attempts have never fully finished. I've got a TON of half-finished arcs everywhere.   But the one secondary playthrough I made it through to the end was DAI. During my first (female elf) playthrough, her absolute best friend was Dorian. ADORED THAT MAN. So, my second playthrough was a male elf 2-handed warrior. Are we noticing a pattern yet with me wanting to be the big, chesty protector of the powerful-but-squishy mage romance dynamic yet?   Honestly one of my favorite romances ever. And his ass is amazing, not gonna lie.

As far as what I would like for a DA4 romance... a dwarf. Admittedly, my Hawke was in love with Varric, but his Bianca hang-up and all. Glad Anders swept her off her feet, but still... ah, what could have been! I'd love to see a dwarf romance, particularly a male dwarf, for a few reasons: we've never had a dwarf romance before, and because of the aesthetic dynamic of a woman being taller than her man. In real life, I'm 5'8" and my husband is 5'5". People endlessly point fun at that, which is equal parts amusing and shitty, to be honest. He's an amazing man and I was drawn to him, height didn't factor in at all. He could've been "traditionally" taller than me and I'd have still fallen for him. But, admittedly, the dynamic DOES amuse the hell outta me... like being the one to reach stuff on the top shelf.   And being fussed at for putting it there in the first place.   So, again, from the sort of "protector" standpoint, I'd love to pair a female warrior with, say, a rogue male dwarf. The idea that a shorter man is somehow "lesser" is annoying and I think a dwarf romance would help punch that in the eye (perhaps moreso than a female dwarf because, again, that whole "traditional" concept of tall guy, short chick being the "default" version of the world, blah). And also because of David Gaider's "ew, dwarf romance" tweet from forever ago, which may or may not have been tongue in cheek or serious. LOL Plenty of people loved Varric and wanted to bang him. And Tyrion Lannister has quite the fanbase as well. So, goddammit, it's time to give short men some love, too!

Huh, weird.

And here I have noticed that the straight men were the only ones hating the fact that Anders represented the very thing they assumed gay men would be.

Men who would just throw themselves at you like a wild dog as soon as they note that they are attracted to you, no flirtatious hint needed, just a wild, sudden bounce onto you.

Sure, it’s definitely only gay men who do that. I know this because I too have slumbered peacefully under a rock for the past decade.

This will be no surprise to anyone, but my single favorite romance option is Josephine. I love everything about her character and romance and it means more to me than that since on a personal level it was the first time I could have a LI and romance that represents me and have the devs fully support that. As for what gender I was, I played as my own as a self-insert.