Favourite romance?

You'll definitely be feeling it in the morning... if you do feel anything at all, but hey, that's what I'm here for. Just don't be surprised if I give harder than I receive.

Why? She was on a specific mission to acquire a Qunari script. Honestly, if my Hawke wasn't so damned personally charmed by Tallis herself, he'd have let the Duke get the list of names. Whatever Tallis says, this is a list of spies acting in Thedas, spies who, at any moment, could easily rise and cause large-scale disruption, sabotage, and chaos acting as a harbinger for the arrival of the Qunari. That information in mind isn't really cogent to producing a healthy relationship. I think my Hawke sees that Tallis could eventually be swayed away from the Qun, which is why she's not really a lost cause. 

As for Merrill, she's an idiot, and I'm not much a fan of characters with her... shall we say, innocent stupidity. But that's all of the characters in DA2 - BW really went out of their way to make them unlikable, and though that's not always the case for me personally, it really doesn't say much to having characters be put too much in either direction

Because she's an idiot elf who can't figure out that blood magic is a bad thing, even when its spelled out for her. Plus, I don't like the cheery, naive-about-culture type characters. 

I could not disagree more. Most of the characters in DA:2 are eminently unlikable. I can empathize with some of them, but arguably, their lack of function and likability (especially among themselves) is the point. From the get-go, this isn't a story about the power of friendship. Hawke even mentions it in Inquisition over how he barely kept his own companions from killing each other. Sebastian is waging a war on Kirkwall because Anders is still alive. Hell, my Hawke basically despises Anders after what he did to the Chantry, and really can't say why he let him live save for knowing that Anders was probably an ultimately tragic figure. Fenris is alright, but he does have his screws loose. But Merrill, to me, is the character I find to have no positive traits whatsoever.

So aside from spoiling me with your headcanon that clearly goes against the grain brought up in Inquisition of Hawkes allies going their separate ways, there's more disagreement. 

Blood magic? There's a quite large problem with it. As in, it's very difficult to perform safely. And Merrill is clearly quite blasé about the dangers, considering that she got her own keeper killed for her fuck up. I mean, even the Dalish Elves think she's nuts. And you aren't exactly selling her well, given the propensity for mishaps with her. So she's not naive. Ok. Is she just stupid then? She doesn't even go about the use of blood magic in a reasonable way. The way I see it, I don't see many positive traits at all. So she's emotional: guess what, I tend to think of that as a concern. I don't want emotional wrecks, I want rational thinkers. Merrill doesn't make that cut. And she's kind? Ok, one plus. But I'd swap that out for critical thinking any day of the week, because that's what I put my stock in. I mean, her kindness works miracles when you're gutting her Keeper due to her own idiocy.

But back to Hawke: you can say whatever you like to feel better mate, I know what Hawke said in canon (i.e. from an official, first-hand source, in this case, the game in question, DAI.) The 'friendship' as it were with Hawkes group is long extinct by that point. Or is Sebastian just being a 'friend' by launching a military invasion on Kirkwall? What a pal! 

So basically, you're just fooling yourself with your own headcanon by resolving not to let official canon get in the way. Well, sorry mate, so far as the game shows me, there doesn't seem to be a happy fix for DA2. You can subvert this in DAI and DAO. But DA2? Nope, no go mate. Romanced Isabella? Yeah, she's gone, off being a Pirate Queen somewhere. Fenris? Out huntin' mages up north. Anders? Fuck knows (I hope the Templars got him.) Really, only the sibling, Aveline, and Varric stick around. Everyone is scattered to the winds. 

Thanks for telling me why I kept Anders alive. I clearly didn't tell him to GTFO and never return like I remember saying.

The only time I recall Merrill directly using blood magic was to cleanse the Eluvian of the Taint and unsealing a door. Nobody ever got sacrificed or directly hurt from it. Sounds rather reasonable and quite restrained for a blood mage. The Dalish were too ignorant and paranoid. And Marethari got herself killed from her own stupidity, all Merrill was gonna do was talk to the demon, and she brought backup. Marethari goes alone and foolishly released it from its functioning prison in an attempt to destroy it but instead gave it exactly what it wanted.

I wish we could challenge Isabela's prejudice of men just as we can regarding Fenris' prejudice of mages. They're similar in that they're understandable but still wrong.

Fenris' romance with male Hawke just as good. Anders romance's different with male Hawke, better (not only for me). I don't think, Fenris romance would have a significant difference (never tried with a female Hawke).

My canon romance for my Hawke is... Surprisingly Isabela! I just find it much more fun, as my canon personality is the sarcastic Hawke - they do together very well, just tell Isabela some jokes and they get along. I once tried to romance Anders, but he doesn't suit well. I ended by romacing both with my diplomatic mage and sarcastic rogue the same character, which is not a varied gameplay, I believe.

Yes, I know, Isabela is selfish, but after awhile she starts to care, especially when she returns with the book. I killed with joy the Arishok, as I really hate all kind of fanatics - two birds with one stone, as we could say.

Fenris

I feel pleasant that this thread is full of Fenris mancers.

There's just something about him. I think about him more than Ali and Cullen or Zev.

Fenris and my beardy bisexual son Garrett Hawke are my canon DA2 ship. I love how devoted Fenris is to Hawke and how natural it feels. Hawke just being infatuated from the start and Fenris slowly realizing that he wants to stay with him, and that it's something he can choose of his own free will, and wrestling with those feelings versus his own baggage. It's just a lovely slow burn that hits me in the feels every time.

That said, DA2 is one of the very few games out there where I think the protagonist works REALLY well with all of the available romance options (except Sebastian - sorry Seb, but I like you with Bethany). And on top of that I think Fenris, Isabela, Merrill, and Anders all have equally good romance arcs and the same amount of content and banter, so you can't go wrong with any of them. I can easily see Hawke ending up with any of his/her friends.

when i started this series, Isabella, now i just let Hawke single because to be honest i don't like any romance option for Hawke, except maybe Sebastian for a FemHawke, but that's it.