In a way, it's a testament to how firmly Bioware established the scariness of blood mage that players will loathe Merrill because of her association with it, despite her attitude and looks otherwise.
I'll be honest, that's why I don't like her. For what it's worth, though, I hate Anders, too - at least DA2 Anders, Awakening Anders is pretty innocuous. If Merrill were just a shy elf-girl with Eve Myles voice and no blood magic, she'd be one of my favorite companions, and I'd never take Anders anywhere.
I love Merrill too! Eve Myles did a great job giving her personality, and I just enjoy the way the character's written. And your point about the fandom reaction to Anders vs. Merrill is spot-on.
TBH I just started it, was saving my mage Hawke for Fenris despite being charmed by Merril from the get-go, and realized something:
Fenris annoys the shit out of me. There is nothing redeemable about him so far (granted I just did the first mission but I kinda wanna give him a wedgie and tell him to stand up straight, my God, man, posture!). Merril, on the other hand, I want to squish every time she opens her mouth. I expected to at least be ambivalent toward her just from the fandom response-- and I have some very feminist-aware friends in fandom, but no, she's made of total win and adorableness.
Aww, I love Merrill! Granted, her single-minded zeal to fix the mirror grates on me from time to time, but I ultimately feel really sorry for her, because she was trying to do what she thought was right. Ironically, I started off liking Anders until I saw what an asshole he was to Merrill. Like... Damn. So much of what he said crossed the line big time, and ended up just sounding cruel and petty, rather than snarky and funny.
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I'll be honest, that's why I don't like her. For what it's worth, though, I hate Anders, too - at least DA2 Anders, Awakening Anders is pretty innocuous. If Merrill were just a shy elf-girl with Eve Myles voice and no blood magic, she'd be one of my favorite companions, and I'd never take Anders anywhere.
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Fenris annoys the shit out of me. There is nothing redeemable about him so far (granted I just did the first mission but I kinda wanna give him a wedgie and tell him to stand up straight, my God, man, posture!). Merril, on the other hand, I want to squish every time she opens her mouth. I expected to at least be ambivalent toward her just from the fandom response-- and I have some very feminist-aware friends in fandom, but no, she's made of total win and adorableness.
It's really odd.
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