You might have answered this a million times already but what is your response to the people who try to shit on both Anders and Anders-fans by calling him a terrorist? I personally just get so angry I can barely form a coherent sentence but you’re generally very good at this so I thought using your reasoning might make it easier

bubonickitten:

glasshalla has a post about that here and justiceanders has a post about it here that might be helpful to look at. 

The tl;dr of it is ‘terrorist’ is a modern term loaded with political implications in a modern context; plus, the word is often used as a propaganda tool to gain public support for retaliation, and it’s pretty hard to separate it from that real-world modern context. I think most people use it to mean “blowing up a building”, but the word “terrorism” implies a motivation to use fear to control people, and that’s not what his actions were about. It’s technically not a word applicable to Thedas and Thedas’ political climate, but it still gets applied in the games a few times, and some of the writers insist on calling him that—including Hepler, who’s referred to him as a “bipolar terrorist” at least once, which is the main reason why I get my hackles up when people start with this stuff. In my experience, it’s nearly always coupled with ableism in this fandom — most people seem to have trouble calling him a ‘terrorist’ without also using some sort of adjective like ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’. Which basically implies a causal link btwn mental illness and violence, which is exactly what the games do all the damn time. 

If people do need a word to apply to him, “insurrectionist”, “revolutionary”, or even “iconoclast” are probably better terms to use. 

BUT, for those people who aren’t convinced and still want to apply the term ‘terrorist’ to him, I want them to also consider the following:

• the Rite of Annulment, including the most recent annulment of the Dairsmund Circle in Rivain (which was done because the mages there were seeing their families and were passing on their magical traditions)
• the attempted annulment of the Conclave of the First Enchanters and Grand Enchanter Fiona at the White Spire (covered in Asunder)
• any of the Exalted Marches, including Andraste’s original Exalted March (which was a violent revolution—just one that is framed positively, bc the Chantry controls the historical narrative) or the Exalted March on the Dales, which led to the genocide & displacement of the elves, who are still suffering from the aftermath in the present day
• any of the many things the templars have done over the centuries, as an order, as groups, and as individuals (systematic abuse in the Circles, including those ‘good templars’ who covered it up or looked the other way; illegal and arbitrary use of Tranquility for the purpose of scaring other mages into submission; etc.)
• anything and everything done to mages, including Tranquility, the Harrowing, imprisonment, execution, or torture
• the templars burning farms and killing civilians in the Hinterlands in DA:I

I never see any of these things labeled as terrorism. I haven’t even seen the Qunari attack on Kirkwall labeled ‘terrorism’.

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