It’s bright and early—actually, it’s late afternoon, but I deserved a lie in—when Leliana summons me to the tower. She tells me her agents have encountered many of Corypheus’ supporters. One woman, Calpernia, has been leading the Venatori in search of Elven ruins. She proposes that we stop them. What a novel idea! Why ever didn’t I think of that for myself?

Have an Alien Movie Date Night with the person whose face you wanna hug the most!

As much as it's a game about ancient evils and holes in the sky and saving the world, Dragon Age: Inquisition is about politics - and in the game of politics, what you wear and when is as important as with whom you choose to ally yourself.

After a fitful sleep, I immediately summon the War Council. I need this breach closed now.

After consulting the council (thanks everyone who voted!), I decided it's best to side with the Templars—or, at the very least, to ask them for their help.

After the chaos in Redcliffe, Emone returns to the war table briefly to check in on everyone. This is the first time Blackwall has been this close to the breach and he's astonished by the size of it. He comments that it's difficult to avoid the breach when you're this close to it and he can't believe Emone walked out of it alive. I tell him he could get closer to it if he wanted. We could go see it together right now, but Blackwall doesn't want to. Chicken shit, is he?

Naturally, we begin again in Haven. Josie's worried that some people in the Haven might have been treating me unkindly for being an elf. I'm not sure why this is suddenly an issue for her. Did they not know I was an elf when I was first strong-armed into the Inquisition?

Anyone know where this sign is and want to turn that apostrophe into a colon?

Jamin Warren brings up a lot of good points about how the player agency which lies at the heart of most games often results in dehumanized NPCs, which become doubly problematic when PCs are majority white and/if NPCs are predominantly brown. He also tackles the common scifi/fantasy trope of using inter-species conflict as a metaphor for inter-racial conflict, one that I've been mulling over myself for a while now.

Before I duck back out into the Hinterlands, I do my rounds in Haven. I visit the tavern and end up meeting Flissa for the first time. I correct her on being Dalish and not being an Alienage, and dear lord this woman is so awkward about the way I look, even if I'm edge a little. “Things on my face?” Urgh, please shut up, Flissa.

If there's one thing I've learned playing Dragon Age, it's that ladies can't resist the allure of a tortured-yet-charmingly-sarcastic blond Templars. Here, we see Alistair and Cullen having a musical face-off (Into the Woods-style) about who is more charmingly tortured. As one YouTube commenter points out, a Lyrium-addicted Cullen telling Alistair that he "knows nothing of madness" makes a heck of a lot of sense. Plus, shirtlessness.

Bad Gamer is a series following one woman as she tries to play her way through RPGs as the biggest asshole possible.

Bad Gamer is a new series following one woman as she tries to play her way through RPGs as the biggest asshole possible.

Dragon Age: Inquisition might just have one of the best representations of a trans character in video games ever. Writer Patrick Weekes took to the BioWare Blog to discuss exactly how this character came to be, and why they all loved creating him so much.

Auberg Designs is now hand-making these beautiful Historical Women in STEM pendants! Including Grace Hopper, Ada Lovelace, Hypatia, Sophie Germaine, Hedy Lamarr, and Marie Curie. If you dig them, everything in the shop is 20% off today! (via Facebook)

Krem is a mercenary in Iron Bull's group, the Chargers - and he also happens to be trans. That fact isn't even brought up until about halfway through the game, when you sit down to have a conversation with the Chargers - and Iron Bull handles the situation with much aplomb.

BioWare. Did you just. Did you just?