Anders/Justice

Pairing
Pairing:	Anders/Justice
Alternative name(s):	Justanders
Gender category:	Slash
Fandom:	Dragon Age
Canonical?:	no
Prevalence:	uncommon
Archives:
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Anders/Justice, also known as Justanders, is the slash pairing of Anders and Justice from Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening and Dragon Age II.

Canon

Sometime after meeting, human mage Anders becomes a willing host for Justice, an incorporeal spirit from a dimension called the Fade. Spirits from the Fade have purposes rather than personalities. Thus, Justice is rigidly focused on fighting injustice, and finds mortals strange and confusing. The merge significantly alters Anders' personality and focus. He shifts from a snarky, self-interested rake in Awakening to a serious, passionate mage-rights advocate in Dragon Age II. Anders describes Justice as "part of [him]" and states that he experiences Justice's thoughts as his own. In the world of Thedas, possession is regarded with fear and fiercely opposed by the militant church known as the Chantry, as dangerous abominations can be created when demons (malevolent spirits) take full control of mages. Justice can be corrupted into the demon Vengeance in DA2.

Fandom

Tropes in Fanworks

• Bodysharing: Anders serves as a willing host for Justice. Some fics use this to explore themes of individual agency and self. Others use it as a set-up for misunderstandings and comedic situations.
• Orgasm Denial: Some fans speculate that Justice might physically prevent Anders from having orgasms or even becoming sexually aroused. This is based on a line in DA2 in which Anders laments not being allowed to get drunk by Justice and the romance-arc revelation that Justice considers his feelings for Hawke a "distraction." Explicit fics sometimes have Justice use orgasm denial to punish Anders or force him to stay focused on the mage-rights cause. Anders/Justice fics may feature the kink in the context of a consensual D/S relationship.
• Selfcest: Some fanworks may verge on this trope if Anders and Justice are portrayed as a single entity or too interconnected to be separated.

Fannish Reception

Debate Over Anders' Agency

Some fans have commented that assessments of Anders' actions in DA2 are complicated by the difficulty of separating Anders' own feelings and agency from the influence of Justice/Vengeance.

You know who I loved, who I felt didn't get great character development in DA2? Justice. Like, I liked Anders fine in Awakening, but I loved Justice. I had the HUGEST soft spot for Justice. He was so alien, and so unique, and it was so interesting to perceive the world through his (rotting, heh, too soon) eyes. And while I feel (and think canon supports) that Anders' emotions eventually corrupted Justice, and that Vengeance-corrupted Anders acted more extremely than un-spiritified-Anders might have, I just... I am so sorry that Justice died, you know? That Justice became so mutated he was no longer what he was. And that there was no grieving for that because Hawke doesn't know what the player knows. Hawke never knew Justice, after all, not like the player did (back in the Warden years), so Hawke has no context for the change.

I think so much of what Justice/Anders is (and becomes) was a huge, huge narrative risk (like so much of poor, poor much-maligned DA2, which I really do love even with its rushed act 3), and I can appreciate it on that level: pushing the boundaries, living extremes, seeing stark black and white (because such is the way of spirits and demons, and Anders can't escape that). But I also think that, at its heart, I’m not sure Anders can have what might be called a traditional redemption arc because the presence of the Justice/Vengeance spirit has an effect that can’t be mitigated or scaled back or undone. Anders and the spirit within him fuel each other. There can be no compromise, right? And... life with no compromise is pretty tough.

To me, Anders is a character whose arc is rather destined for tragedy, even if that isn’t at Hawke's hand. I think I may disagree with you a little: I think Anders does have remarkable character development in DA2, but that his character develops toward a place that makes me uncomfortable, unhappy, and distressed, all without vast plot holes or huge narrative leaps, and also without Hawke being privy to all of it (narrative risk!). His anger, frustration, reclusiveness, paranoia... they're all growing from seeds that are pretty much present from the first conversation you have with him. The extreme action he takes at the end of the game actually is foreshadowed pretty carefully throughout. But Hawke--and the player--are helpless to influence it (HUGE NARRATIVE RISK).

tarysande (2015)

Anders himself states that Justice is basically gone and that he and Justice are 'one'. That it's not like a voice is in his head; his thoughts are Anders' thoughts and vice versa, as implied in his short story when he tries to remember his name:

[...]

I suspect Justice starts to become 'corrupt' leaving the fade and getting a taste of Kristoff's memories; he tells a warden he envies the love Kristoff had for his wife. He goes full blown vengeance when combined with Anders, who had latent resentment and anger towards the circle and templars. Justices' self righteous and sanctimonious line of thinking is why Anders comes across as pedantic and preachy when we first meet him in DA2, he's a total 360 from the more easy going Anders we first come across in Awakening because he no longer is that Anders. He's basically Janders now.

On the DA2 rivalry path with Anders it's totally implied that Justice took over Anders to make him blow up the chantry because Hawke has planted the seed of doubt in Anders mind, he's resisting the possession. Whereas the friendship path coddles Anders into thinking he's doing the right thing; hence the possession is more 'natural' because Anders is convinced he is the "cause of mages", so he and Justice become more integrated.

DevotionAge (2019)

I'll start by saying I love Anders' character, both in Awakening and DA2, but it's important to understand that Anders is actually two characters in DA2, original Anders plus Justice/Vengeance. Based on what we saw in Awakening, most of Anders' Templar-hate in DA2 was actually Justice talking, not Anders: when Anders it taken to meet Wynne he's completely against the idea of the Circle separating from the Chantry, despite the fact the Templars had already threatened to kill him earlier in the expansion. That's why I find Anders to be such a good character in DA2 - his differences from Awakening highlght what possession can do.

Garahel (2014)

I agree that Anders isn't Anders any more, but I don't agree that Justice is "in the driver's seat." Justice is also not Justice any more - literally, the possession gradually warps him into Vengeance. But I wouldn't even say Vengeance is in the driver's seat. He says it himself in the fade, it is no longer clear where one ends and the other begins. There is no Anders or Justice/Vengeance anymore, they have become an entirely new entity that embodies the relationship between the two, and unfortunately, it's an extremely toxic relationship. Justice/Vengeanc'’s single-minded drive to punish wrongdoing and Anders' sense of victimhood, whether justified or not, is a very dangerous combination.

Charlaquin (2019)

In a now-deleted series of tweets, BioWare writer Jennifer Hepler stated that Justice didn't entirely supplant the Anders of Awakening, but rather stripped him of his defensive sarcasm and exposed his suppressed traits.

Nice post! And very accurate to the writing process. Anders was never carefree — he used humor as a defense. And merging with a spirit means that your underlying feelings come to the surface, not your hard won defense mechanisms. Merging with Justice was because the humor wasn't enough any more. But he didn't know how far his own bitterness went.

Jennifer Hepler

Fanworks

Fanart

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Fanfiction

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Archives & Fannish Links

• Anders/Justice works at AO3
• Justanders tag on Tumblr