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Tarquin / Ashur Fic Rec List - Part One

So you've played Dragon Age: The Veilguard (or had dash osmosis) and want to read about the fantasy pope moonlighting as a vigilante and a resistance fighter tired of his job falling in love? Being two idiots in love? Well! Do I have the post for you!

Look no further, here are a collection of fics to get you started.

Honestly, I recommend the entire tag which I read (at the time, it was 8 pages on AO3) in its entirety but I know not everyone is insane so I wanted to get back to a little fic rec list and put together a (non-exhaustive!) list of a few favourites.

I added part one to the title because I'm optimistic about writing another one later. Without any further ado, here we go.

Snatched from the jaws of an ending world by SkyScribbles/@sky-scribbles (1/1 chapters, 5,089 words, rated T, no warnings)

This was the first tashur fic I read and set off what was a simmering interest into full blorbo mode. A blighted Ashur throwing himself in danger and a Tarquin who can't bear it anymore.

You fill the emptiness behind the masks I wear by SkyScribbles/@sky-scribbles (1/1 chapters, 4,205 words, rated E, no warnings)

Yes, a second Sky fic, however, they are both excellent and are set in the same timeline (though both can be read independently!) Ashur is losing himself to the blight, and Tarquin is there to remind him of why he needs to keep living. Also some incredibly hot and tender smut.

The Templar, the Viper, and Other Masks by teddywesworl (2/2 chapters, 13,996 words, rated E, no warnings)

A great fic of how Tarquin came to be a Shadow Dragon (and to find out Ashur's identity) which has been sitting with me since I read it. Great characterisation and writing, there is also a series with additional works!

The Sacred and the Profane by Sidney Sussex/@sidneysussex (chapters 1/1, 6,029 words, rated M, no warnings)

Crack taken seriously in the best of ways. This fic had me laughing at some moments (the end reveal is :chefskiss: wonderful) and just a fun comedy fic full of great characterisation.

Trials 1:11 by minrathian/@minrathian (works 4/4, combined 18,546 words, rated T-M, no warnings)

A series of fics both pre-and-post canon of Tarquin and Ashur meeting and falling in love. It's a lovely series of fics (seriously, everything minrathian writes is a delight!) and hits the spot of filling in how these idiots in love came to actually admit it.

5 Years / 5 Conversations by bendingwind/@bendingwind (works 5/5, combined 6,278 words, rated T-M)

Another series based around different conversations, how they met, and came to be. Bendingwind is another where you could just go through xer works and have a great time.

And right at the end, I'm linking to a collection of drabbles which spawned off the hivemind discord server (want to join? reach out!) and all of the are worth a read!

Tarquin/Viper Drabbles by various authors (myself included!)

Missed one of your favourites? Drop it below!

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woo-less alistair …….. i made this in a haze

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so you might remember that a few weeks ago i ran a poll on what kind of v-day shadowgast picture i should do; naturally 'smutty' won by a large margin, and i thought you know what, i'd gotten a healthy chuckle out of one of the players joking about Essek wearing glass slippers under his cloak back in c2, so i might as well create something out of that. so i did. happy belated valentine's day friends

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So not only do the Exandrian gods not need mortal worship in order to survive, but in order for gods to grant mortals power and protection through the barrier they erected to protect mortals from themselves, there must, mechanically, be mutual love.

Fucking take that, Ludinus dickbag Da'leth, and go fuck yourself.

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listen. there are a number of aspects in which c3 and divergence are not comparable and fundamentally work differently (namely the difference in construction between a long-form campaign and 4-part mini-series), but thematically? not only are they comparable, they are designed to be. divergence is being aired directly after the conclusion of c3 in order to further explore concepts introduced in its conclusion. a world with less connection to the gods, the effect of that on the faithful, how the average exandrian approaches the concept of faith in general (in multiple aspects), the connection between the divine and their mortal children, burgeoning hope from post-war darkness, etc. these are concepts we're being asked to compare with the finale of c3. so if someone says that divergence's handling of faith and exploration of the gods blows c3's out of the water, that's valid. if we were meant to be avoiding comparisons, a) they wouldn't have aired this immediately after c3, b) there wouldn't be so many overlapping concepts, and c) they wouldn't be holding off on having the wrap-up until divergence is over. divergence is in conversation with c3, actively and intentionally, and it puts a stark contrast on how poorly faith was handled in c3, but also things like. understanding character motivation. which yes, is going to shine more strongly in short-form content because you have to get the information out quickly, but is a valid thing to discuss if you genuinely feel you understand a short-form campaign character's goals better than you do a character you spent 4 years watching. it's the difference between a woman who has never been shown to seriously engage with the gods at all stating "i don't know if i want to save gods that don't love me" and the moonweaver saying "if the love is true, it will pass through the barrier" and us knowing that divine magic will continue to be granted to mortals, by the sheer love the primes hold for their children, complex as that love might be. and, fundamentally, divergence is an exploration of consequences. the consequences of the calamity on mortals and the gods and the earth itself, decimated as it is. so when people compare it to c3, when a major complaint of the campaign was lack of follow-through and exploration of consequences, divergence shines for being about exactly what a lot of people felt c3 was missing.

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i got distracted god jesus christ this interaction because anders KNOWS why karl was made tranquil it’s the letters. he knows they found the letters he knows that’s why and knowing that thinking about this interaction i need to lie down

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Brennan: hehe i shall take things from my last little mini campaign and connect them to things in my new little mini campaign

Us: losing our minds

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can you IMAGINE living your whole life with an intelligence of 6 and then all of a sudden getting smacked in the face with the sudden understanding of having a 12 int. a SHOCKING change

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If anyone ever doubted that the gods love the world and love mortals . . .

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The Moonweaver chose Nia to lead her followers and the world into the Post-Divergence because she is her sister and she loves her and she has faith that that love will be enough to carry some of her love and power into the world even when she is gone

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Thinking about the mirror of this scene that will take place in just roughly over 800 years just miles away from here. Sisters two halves of a whole whose connection, whose tether, crosses planes.

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okay but i think its kind of beautiful that all these things were saved along with like. childrens dolls. i wonder if part of the reason they are vestiges is just because they are some of the only things that survived. not even particularly powerful in terms of age of arcanum magical items, its just that everything else was reduced to dust and ash

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This was Maya's place 😭

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We got another Vestige, fellas!

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Please let this old dragonborn retire to Boca and spend time in water that's *warm*

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Erro's parents, Arrideo and Cor