felassanns:

Get ready for a pro-Carver rant!

One of the big reasons I love Carver is that his envy of Hawke is refreshingly realistic. I get why people dislike him – Hawke’s our character, it makes sense we stand up for them against someone like Carver, who isn’t exactly in the Hawke fan club. Hawke is popular, witty, and a natural leader. Carver is not really any of those things. He’s not taken very seriously, his jokes tend to fall flat and the girl he likes (Merrill) only has eyes for Hawke. It’s probably always been this way: Carver has always been in his sibling’s shadow, has never measured up.

His aversion to mages makes perfect sense. He’s spent his life watching over his shoulder for templars like the rest of his family, but unlike his sibling(s) and father, he isn’t a mage. Malcolm, Hawke, and Bethany shared a connection that Carver could never be a part of. Even his twin sister seems closer to Hawke than to him. So not only is magic – or lack-thereof – the thing that’s made him the odd one out in his family, he still has to deal with its drawbacks (templars, etc). It probably seems really unfair. A perfect person wouldn’t be bitter or jealous, wouldn’t blame their siblings for the templars chasing them, but Carver’s not perfect. He’s a kid – a kid who’s been through some tough shit, too (Ostagar, anyone?). 

Yes, Carver can be a bit of an asshat. He’s flawed, but in a very normal way that we don’t see a lot of in DA. That may be why he gets so much hate. Unlike other flawed characters like Anders or Solas, Carver is someone you could know in real, everyday life. He acts like anyone who’s jealous of a sibling, who’s felt excluded and overshadowed.

He lets it get to him because he’s just a normal person. And underneath that bitterness, he is kind and clearly loves his sibling – this is especially evident in Legacy and at the end of the game if he becomes a Grey Warden.

As much as I like Bethany, I like Carver more because I think he’s a really realistic portrayal of what’d it be like to be the charismatic hero’s younger brother. So that’s why I like him, why I think he’s a great character and why I’ll always defend him.