Merrill - “It's a Keeper's job to remember.”

Rivarly path can be taken as "she's a naughty girl playing with forces beyond her ken" who has Hawke as someone trying to get her out of trouble (kinda like "I can cure this bad boy and send him on path of virtue."). While Merrill uses blood magic regardless of her relationship with Hawke, I suppose you can headcanon that Hawke is aiming for Merrill to give up on blood magic (along with eluvian obsession, which is main focus of her quests in-game).

Merrill art by Aimo:

I think the rivalry path should've been about whether Merrill should deal with demons and practice blood magic.

Instead, it focused on the eluvian being dangerous, which it objectively isn't.

You're right, but Hawke can consider, that it is. The Eluvian killed Tamlen.

If Josie's romance arc had been portrayed as Wait Until Marriage or Aesexual or Demisexual, you would have a point. I wouldn't have minded that, as it would have affirmed Josephine's agency and beliefs, and given players a different romance we haven't had before. But that's the problem with "ambiguous" storytelling; since the writer refuse to confirm one way or the other, you can't say she isn't a freak in the sheets...

Playing through DA2 again and romancing Merrill with the import of a Dalish Warden. I really like how it ties in with her quest arc, and to me at least it seems part of her obsession with the mirror is due to the Warden and her having something going on. The way the camera focuses on her as the Warden left the clan always led me to believe they had something going on. I head canon it as the Warden saw her as a girl\woman in addition to the clan's First, while the rest of the clan only saw her as the First and not what was underneath. Given how quickly the clan seems to turn on Merrill it is a good bet Tamlen and Theron were her only friends. I also head canon that part of her attraction to Hawke is because he shares similar qualities with the Warden,(driven, yet sarcastic/playful, and someone who sees beyond her title/magic).

I like the idea that at first she was obsessed with the mirror due to wanting to help/save the Warden&Tamlen. Then at some point during the time skip after the deep roads Merrill hears something about how the Warden in the company of Flemeth's daughter used an Eluvian and it renews her desire to repair the Eluvian that started the whole thing.

My issue with rivaling her is I feel Hawke doesn't take her seriously. He/she is doing the same thing as everyone else and second guessing Merrill. I like the idea of Hawke believing her and trusting her to take care of herself. I find it interesting that people doubt Merrill being strong enough/sure enough to see her plan through, yet they never question the player character's ability to do so. Hawke does numerous fool hardy things often with disasterous results but very few question it. I like the idea of a Hawke who supports Merrill and is ready if things go bad and she needs help, instead of telling her that her chosen path will end badly. Despite Merrill's naivete of life outside a Dalish Clan I find her and Varric the two most mature companions in DA2.

I think dealing with demons is foolhardy, no matter how confident you are that you know what you're doing.

We don't know the purpose for which it was bound. Was the original binding done in a way that did not hinder the spirit from fulling its purpose? Take the knight enchanter for example, they bind a spirit to a hilt that allows the spirit to still fulfill its purpose, ie spirit of courage/bravery/valor while being used as a weapon. Was it trying to fulfill its purpose when it reached out and contacted Marethari, and Merrill? Did its corruption start when Merathari immediately concluded it was a demon while Merrill judge it correctly as a spirit?

Aimo's drawing of Merrill:

www.deviantart.com/aimo/art/SSD-Patreon-Merrill-726776959