#Astala MY BELOVED

[heniareth]

for your potential kieran fathers (presumably just ilanlas and khêd?):

💕 = What are your muse’s thoughts on parenting and being a parent even if they aren’t one?

There may be 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 a secret third possible parent 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 But let me focus on Khêd (my beloved) and Ilanlas (also my beloved) first.

[From the Family Headcanons ask game]

Let's start with Ilanlas. He's easy because he is very gay. This and the fact that he was a terrible child and is Not Good at managing his own emotions, so imagine teaching a child how to manage theirs, has resulted in him never ever even considering to have children in any way. What would he do with a little kid?? Seriously! It's a bad idea! He's an interpersonal disaster made elf! (He's not, he's just got a lot of maturing to do) So... would he take in a child if there was no other adult around? Sure! Would he do a good job at taking care of the child? No. He would do his best, but his hest is not enough. He would be lacking very important skills, and he knows this. His first priority would be to pass the kid off to somebody who can do this better than he does. Like Astala! Or Khêd! Alistair! Zevran even! Parenting is not for him.

In the case of the Dark Ritual, which I realize is technically not the question but is, I think, good to consider, Morrigan explicitly states that he would not have to take care of the child. This... would help, somewhat, but probably not be enough. He still doesn't like women, for one. He also has grown up without a father, and wouldn't wish that on any child. And least of all for the father to just abandon the child like this. But, most of all, he would consider it abhorrent to have a person trapped with the soul of an archdemon—who would do such a thing??? To a child no less??? If it came down to him, he would rather die killing the archdemon as he should have died in the cave with that mirror than inflict a literal child with the curse of housing an ancient and formerly tainted god. No. Absolutely not. Morrigan can have a kid somewhere else if she wants it so bad.

Now, Khêd grew up without a father as well, and witgout the example of good to decent parenting Ilanlas had in Ashalle and the whole rest of the clan. Khêd only had Rica, the occasional beating from Kalah, and what glimoses he got of good parenting from the families around him. Which, in Dust Town, would have been far and few. But Khêd is an idealist, and Rica did the impossible to protect that idealism in her little half-brother. And for Khêd, for the longest time, the family that was Rica was enough.

Things change after Endrin, Khêd's nephew, is born. Because Rica is now a noble, and Khêd himself is a Grey Warden. They are no longer Dust Towners. If Khêd had a kid himself, he could give them what his own father had wanted and failed to give Khêd and Rica. But Khêd can't have a kid now. He's a Grey Warden. He never considered having children, or getting married, or falling in love, or any of that stuff, so there's not too much to grieve after but... it does make him think more than he anticipated with a kind of weird sense of loss? He can't quite place it.

Khêd would take parenting very seriously. He is an idealist, as stated above, and one of his ideals is Rica, who was his actual parental figure. Another is his absent father as presented by Rica's stories, and Rica sure knew how to make him seem like a great dad. So parenting would be extremely important to Khêd. Sadly, he's had very little good examples to emulate on a practical level. Rica did what she could, but she was a child herself. Khêd would have a lot to learn in terms of parenting, and as soon as he realizes that, he's in danger of beating himself up about it and distancing himself from a potential kid because "ancestors fry me in oul, I'm just like Kalah." As a father, he would need a lot of support. He does a lot better as an uncle because he is not directly "in charge" of the kid.

As far as all of this relates to the Dark Ritual: he can have a family! :D but he cannot see the kid? U_U He would be torn. There would be a faint glimmer of longing in there, but mostly he has learned to be apathetic for so long that it'd take him actively fanning it into a spark for the flames to catch. I'm also not entirely sure how he and Morrigan would get along. And he has seen enough families where the parents hate each others' guts to know that that is Bad with a capital B. But he would be much easier to convince than Ilanlas because a) he actually likes women and b) now that he could he... might... actually want to build some sort of a family???

And then Morrigan reminds him of the fact that he will never get to actually know the child and crushes all of those hopes. But Khêd has lived in Dust Town for long enough to know of the maleability of such statements. There may be hope yet. And if he does go through with the Dark Ritual, he knows he has a kid and will consider it his moral duty to practice and become the best parent ever. Or... a good parent. A decent parent. More like Rica than like his supposed father, but he hopes it will be enough.

He would be such an interesting foil to Oghren in Awakening now that I think of it 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Thank you for the ask, Bumble my friend!!! It has been so much fun to ponder these two and parenthood XD XD XD XD XD I hope the answer has been fun to read too ^^

[wild-houseplant]

WIP Wednesday

Heyooooo thank you for the tag marvellous @heniareth and consequently delighting me with the goings-on of Astala my beloved!! And, like a seagull screaming for chip, I tag you back and @bumblerhizal , @siriskulksnerding , @ollifree for a no-pressure but please give snippets if available. 8) 8) 8)

(I may have been tagged in WIPs by others but my history isn’t loading atm so if you did please consider yourself tagged as well!!)

I’ve been futzing around with all 3 DA fics of late, and I just published the latest chapter of HWWT (posting soon to a dashboard near you but AO3 is here) but I have two snippets if that’s ok, one from The Minimum Wage, and the other from Your Personal Hero. I’m hoping that by posting snippets I’ll finally get the brainwave I need to wrap up the latest chapters of each... I’ll stick ‘em under the cut!

TMW:

Zevran woke up shivering. The fact that he had actually woken at all was motivation enough to get out of bed and begin the day.

Which was good, because the knocking at the door was getting impatient.

“Honestly,” came a familiar voice from the other side of the wood, “I don’t know why you’d pretend to be dead when you knew I was– oh, SHIT, the bastard’s died of the cold!” The door flexed and rattled as the Fire Warden proceeded to hastily bash it. 

He’d be on the hook for who-knew-how-much if this woman broke his bloody door. Zevran hurried over and released the lock, stepping aside just in time for the door to burst open and the Fire Warden to scream past him in a crouch-run. She, and her armfuls of chimney sweeping supplies, finally came to a halt when she was almost at the window.

Zevran raised an eyebrow. “Dear lady,” he purred, “had I known you were so keen to see me, I would have dressed a little better, maybe found some wine for us both.” 

The Fire Warden shot him a withering look. She straightened up and smoothed out her robes. “Might you have opened the door a little sooner, too?” she enquired pointedly. “I thought you’d turned up your bloody toes on me!”

§

YPH:

“You… I do not know what you want from me,” Zevran says quietly, stiffly. 

My heart sinks. “Nothing, sweetheart.”

Irritability flickers in his eyes. “... Do you wish me to love you? Is that it?” 

“No! Well, not unless you want to.”

“And after all this? Hmm? What then? What would you have me do, once I am registered and such?”

“Dunno. Not my choice.”

“Then whose is it?” he asks impatiently.

I give Zevran a meaningful look and gesture at him. It’s like he hasn’t been listening at all. 

“Yours!” I exclaim. “You choose what you want to do in life, not me. Maybe you’ll take up a trade, or spend your days in the library. Hell, you could get a one-way ticket to the other side of the world if you want. Carve out a life of fame and riches there, and the only time I’d see you is when you appear on the news.”

He snorts. “You really believe I could do any of that, do you?”

“Ugh. I knew it was too soon to tell you.” I groan and mash my hand into my face.

[badartxd]

‘Tis 11pm and I come bearing gifts of my beloveds💚

I tried my best on the cleaning and backgrounds, so hopefully they’re good, but pls lemme know if you’d like to make any changes!!

Vanessa Mahariel - @siriskulksnerding

Went for the shiny copper bg fading into dark green ^^

Astala Tabris - @heniareth

The background is the (hopefully close) shade of red made into the banner of the Amaranthine arling/ Vigil’s Keep !

Severin Rhodri Amell Callistus - @wild-houseplant

I tried to make the bg a black marble with gold look though, admittedly, I’ve never drawn marble before :D

[heniareth]

Character Songs Tag Game

Tagged by @bumblewarden thank you so much for the tag ^^ *rubs hands together* This is gonna be fun. Tagging in return: @siriskulksnerding @wild-houseplant @icy-warden @badartxd @oxygenforthewicked if you all fancy this game, and anybody else who thinks it looks cool as well!! Have a lovely day ^^

So! Some songs for my main girl (beloved darling of my heart), Astala Tabris

Hit Like A Girl (Meet Me @ The Altar)

Got strength, no brute

Nothing to prove

They just don’t know about it

Got grace and truth

It’s nothing new

They just forgot about it

The Wedding Feast (Bonnie Grace)

In my mind and heart, this is the soundtrack for the wedding before everything goes south

Warrior (The Phantoms)

The drums of war are beating

At the end of it all

The last light is fleeting

As the Shadows fall

But still we’ll stand up, we’ll stand up, we’ll stand up

Soldier (Tommee Profitt & Fleurie)

Soldier keep on marchin' on

Head down til the work is done

Waiting on that morning sun

Soldier keep on marchin' on

Welly Boots (The Amazing Devil) aka Astala’s issues with her mother in a nutshell

“How could you leave me here?" you'll scream

And louder, I'll scream back to you from that unknown

And say

"I know you're strong enough

I know you're strong enough

I know you're strong enough to do this on your"

And a bonus one for Zev and Astala:

Dust to Dust (The Civil Wars)

Let me in the wall, you've built around

And we can light a match and burn them down

And let me hold your hand and dance 'round and 'round the flames

In front of us

Dust to dust

More OCs over here!

Ilanlas Mahariel

Khêd Brosca

Sulri Aeducan

Surana

[heniareth]

Yoooooooooo hey hi!! First of all I am sending get well soon vibes to you, beloved germbag 😂😂 no but really. Kick its arse. The nerve of it!

For the kissing prompt, if I might ask for Astala (my beloved!!) and Zevran (her beloved!!):

- kissing them to shut them up

- holding them by the jaw to kiss them

- idr the name of it but the gist was small, domestic kisses while getting stuff done e.g. making breakfast.

Any of these, none of these, all of these-- whatever takes your fancy as applicable!! :D :D

Kisses and smooches coming right up!! Thank you for the well-wishes ^^ I am happy to report I am kicking the germs' ass (or whatever counts as a backside on a germ). Current prognosis is that maybe this weekend I'll get rid of it? My trusty allies garlic and lemon have done a lot of heavy-duty lifting here. On to the smooches! It's being a good pracitce at being self-indulgent. Under the cut because it's long (very long)!

CW for a little suggestive talk in the second and third snippet, discussion of drunkenness in the second.

A) Holding them by the jaw to kiss them

The Landsmeet was always an ordeal. Zevran knew that Astala had hoped it would go smoother this time with all the evidence that they had prepared. His mere presence, however, unusual as it was, seemed to be enough to bring all of their preparations into jeopardy.

"I just don't think, arlessa," Gell said, "that his word holds much weight here."

"Say what you mean," Astala said in a tone that Zevran recognized as a threat.

"It should be obvious," arl Gell said and leaned back in his seat, gesturing towards Zevran. "He's Antivan."

"And you're no longer Fereldan," Astala shot back. "Your point?"

Gell laid his hands on the railing of the balustrade. "He shouldn't even be here!"

""Neither should you," one of the banns called from the floor below.

"Please!" Anora called from her seat as Astala stood up. Her knuckles were paling from the death grip on her cane.

"Your Majesty," Gell said, turning to Anora. "This is an insult to the Landsmeet!"

"An insult?" Zevran lifted his eyebrows. This man was getting tiresome.

“I’m so sorry, Zevran,” Astala muttered, only for him to hear.

Zevran made a dismissive gesture towards the arl. “This is hardly your fault. How about we make ourselves more disagreeable to this man?”

“What, is that still possible?” Astala scoffed over the clamoring nobility. “Any ideas?”

Zevran drew one finger along her jaw, on the side of her face that had ben scarred by the archdemon’s fire, and bent her head further down, until her lips were hovering above his. A wolfish smile came over Astala’s face as she leaned in and Zevran captured her lips in a fierce kiss. The Landsmeet broke out into loud shouting, broken up and harmonized when Shianni whistled loud enough that it could be heard out in the hallway and in the rooms past it.

Author's notes: arl Gell Lendon is an asshole who took Edgehall by force when his half-brother, who he had attempted to murder, died to the darkspawn. He proceeded to chopp down Edgehall's vhenadahl and then took action against a Dalish clan who wanted to gift the Alienage a new vhenadahl. To say Astala has beef with him (as do I) is to put it lightly. You can read more about him and inform your outrage at this man on this wiki page.

B) Kissing them to shut them up

An early night in the Alienage that was just chilly enough to be comfortable as long as people were sitting close enough together found Astala and Zevran in the company of two of Astala’s friends, Carrel and Tehriel. They’d found a spot close to Alarith’s shop where they could sit and talk as the sun fully disappeared behind the ocean, and swap stories about the year that had passed. Tonight was a night of funny stories, and Zevran had finished recounting every detail of his failed assassination attempt.

“You tried to kill her?” Tehriel leaned back, wide-eyed and arms crossed. “No way.”

“It made for a rousing first meeting,” Zevran said lightly.

“Second meeting,” Astala said. “Our first meeting was in the tavern at Redcliffe.”

“Ah, you remember that?” Zevran clicked his tongue. “I thought you might not. You were quite drunk.”

Carrel snorted. “And you fell in love with her after seeing her drunk.”

“Hey, I’m an okay drunk!” Astala protested.

“And a bit aggressive, Tabris,” Carrel said.

“Well, I was very nice to him,” Astala answered.

“That she was.” Zevran leaned further against Astala. “She invited me to sit with her.”

“Oooh, she never let me sit next to her,” Tehriel said and Astala stuck her tongue out at him.

“Because you cheat at cards!”

“After that, we went for a stroll under the stars,” Zevran continued with a fond smile.

“How romantic,” Carrel deadpanned.

“And then, she asked me to stay the night.”

“She did whaaaaat?” Tehriel turned to Astala. “You did that?”

“I didn’t!” Astala protested.

“No?” Zevran asked, feigning surprise himself. “But you asked me to join you!”

“To join our group!” Astala said and gave Zevran a shove. “Not me!”

“Are you quite certain?” Zevran asked.

“Maybe you don’t remember it right,” Carrel offered with his brand of calm but relentless teasing. “How drunk were you, Tabris?”

“Oh, let me assure you,” Zevran said, “she was quite drunk.”

“I was not!” Astala protested. “I could walk and all!”

“Barely.”

“You know, it’s not like you, Tabris, to just go on inviting random strangers into your little group of friends,” Tehriel said.

“If she was at the point to do that, I can imagine her asking him to stay the night,” Carrel mused.

“Don’t listen to him!” Astala said. “I was doing fine!”

Tehriel turned to Zevran. “How much had she been drinking?”

Zevran shrugged with a mischievous smile. “I counted six tankards.”

Carrel and Tehriel broke out into roaring laughter as Astala shrieked in indignation and tried to cover Zevran’s mouth with her hand to keep him from talking on. It was in vain; Zevran licked her hand. Astala pulled a face and wiped it off on his shirt, which he used as a momentary distraction to sneakily pull her closer again. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Astala, seeing how the hand on his mouth hadn’t worked, had grabbed him by the chin and pulled him in. The pressing of her lips to his effectively shut him up. What surprise this move provoked quickly vanished from Zevran’s face as he closed his eyes. His hand cupped her cheek, hers found his neck, and Carrel and Tehriel were presented with the enticing opportunity to whistle and holler at the tactical move and its devastating effects.

C) Small, domestic kisses while getting stuff done e.g. making breakfast.

"We should tidy up," Astala sighed.

From her lap came a muffled "no" as Zevran buried his head further in the crook between her thigh and stomach. He haphazardly slung one arm around her waist. It tickled. Astala let out a breath of a laugh and leaned back against the pillows on the bench.

It promised to be a quiet night here in Antiva, sitting on their porch with the host of children finally asleep in their beds. The stars were bright on the cloudless sky. The breeze from the ocean ruffled the leaves of the trees in the garden and chased away the heat of the day. It danced through Zevran's hair and blew up her own curly strands. Astala started combing her husband's hair back down.

"What a day," Zevran muttered and shifted. Half-hooded eyes were now looking up to her, soft with tiredness.

Astala nodded and added a bit of pressure to the slow drag of her fingers. Zevran closed his eyes again and groaned in contentment.

"Sorry for the last-minute addition," she said. "Soris didn't say they'd all come."

"It's alright." Zevran stifled a yawn. "How did it go?"

Astala looked up over the garden as she gathered her thoughts.

"Good, I think," she finally said. "My father's not over Soris just disappearing yet, but they talked. And his wife is very nice. Bit shy."

Zevran laughed quietly. "She was frightened of you, I think."

"Really? Huh." Astala raised her eyebrows. "I'm not that scary anymore."

"Oh, I think you get scarier with age, amore," Zevran said and laughed when he saw her expression. "Come now. You were the one who drove all the customers away from that old man, no? A few words and nobody dares approach the place."

"He was so rude!" Astala protested. "And his stock was the worst I've ever seen!"

"And so you drove him into ruin," Zevran laughed and tapped a finger against her lips when she started pouting. "Beware the power of those lips."

Astala pretended to bite his finger.

"Ohoho! See? You are a danger, amore."

"You're the danger here, love," Astala retorted and placed a kiss on his finger. "How did it go for you?"

In her lap, Zevran sighed and turned to face the stars.

"Alright," he muttered. "It went alright. Well, even. The flock is behaving."

"They better," Astala said. "So, setting an example worked?"

"I think it did," Zevran said. "But it is such a long way to and back. One whole day on the road, and everytime I go…"

He threw his hand in the air and let it fall listlessly back to his side.

"I would much rather be here," he said. "The backstabbing, the intimidating, the posturing, it is getting old. At least our children never try to pull the same trick twice."

"I mean…" Astala began, but Zevran cut her off.

"Trust me, they are much more creative than the Crows. They act like children; the Crows meanwhile are like a band of street cats fighting over a piece of fish."

Astala let out a snorted laugh at that image. It got a quiet chuckle out of Zevran. Then he sighed and readjusted his position in her lap.

"What if we left the washing up for tomorrow?"

"I can do it," Astala said. "You've been on the road for a long time."

Zevran shook his head. "You have been up all day."

"I'm alright," Astala said. "Believe it or not."

Zevran leaned his head against her stomach again and closed his eyes. Astala leaned back once more and watched the stars.

Dinner kept sitting in the kitchen, dishes and cups piled up and waiting to be washed.

"Alright," Astala said, trying to stand up and tapping Zevran on the head when he refused to move. "Gotta clean up together then."

A groan in protest was her only answer. Nothing to do then but to pick her reluctant husband up. Which went straight to her hip and she'd probably regret it tomorrow, but it was worth it; Zevran let out a yelp when she heaved him over her shoulder.

"I must say," she heard from behind her as she made her way to the kitchen with him hanging head first down her shoulder. "I cannot complain. This is a lovely view."

He gave her backside an appreciative pat.

"I'd love to indulge you for longer," Astala groaned and set him down. "I'm gonna wash the dishes. Can you get them? And also a chair?"

"Your desire," Zevran said and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

He made for the nearest chair. Astala held him back and kissed him herself, on his lips.

"Incentive," she said.

"For dishes to be brought?" Zevran asked.

Astala nodded.

"Hmmm. For a price such as this…"

Zevran leaned back in, but Astala quickly leaned to the side and gave him a peck on the cheek instead.

"Dishes first."

"Such dangerous lips and now such torments." Zevran threw his hand up to his forehead as he turned around. "I shall have wasted away before this ordeal is done."

"Poor soul," Astala giggled and sat down as she began to wash the dishes. "Maker have mercy on you."

"May he, indeed!" Zevran approached, arms full of dishes, and set them down next to the water basin. "But will you have mercy on me, amore?"

Astala cupped his cheek with the hand that was not wet yet and kissed him. Zevran, evil man that he was, let his tongue dart out between his teeth to taste her, which made her squeal, and this prompted him to kiss her again to muffle the sound. The kiss ended in laughter on both sides—quiet laughter so they wouldn't wake anyone up.

Kiss by kiss, the stacks of dishes vanished. Kiss by kiss, they were dried and placed back in their respective cabinets. Once the last dish had been stored away and Astala had dried her hand, Zevran pulled her up and into one last kiss. Soft, warm, a light caress after a long day… suddenly, Astala was sad there were no more dishes to wash.

"This wasn't so bad," she said, letting her surprise bleed into her voice.

Zevran hummed and set out to say something. Instead, he yawned.

"Bed?"

"Bed and sleep," Astala nodded.

---

"And maybe a reward for a job well done?" Zevran asked cheekily.

Astala laughed, hooked her left arm with his and stole another kiss after he turned down the lights. The house fell silent.

Thank you so much for the prompts!!! These were very fun to write XD XD XD XD It's a damn shame that I haven't written many kissings or other affectionate moments between Zevran and Astala for now and I love being able to rectify that. Also, kudos for reaching the end! This was exactly the kind of brain fodder I needed right now

Have a lovely day and a lovely weekend!!! May no cold befall you, my friend. Cheers!

[Ask game]

[heniareth]

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH my brilliant friend you know what? First the notification that you liked the ask game came up and the jittering began BUT NOW YOU HAVE REBLOGGED!!!! PREPARE. TO BE. ASKED.!!!!! Ok now I'll ask a lot, because I'm curious about a lot, and you just pick whatever you want to answer yeah? Yeah! <3 <3 I'll put this under the cut as it's ended up quite long (you said you were on the road tmrw and I didn't know if you'd be on mobile to answer, so I wrote the prompts here so you didn't have to get out of this to go back to the list-- god help me if it turns out there's an easy way to do it and I don't know it :P) Hope you're having a grand time!!!!

NOW!!!!!! For Astala my beloved, as she is always on my mind, let me put forth requests FOR: 1 (what is their colour palette), 2 (what does their handwriting look like), 10 (what piece of moody poetry or novel quote best encompasses your character), and 22 (what is some advice or guidance they received that had a big impact on their lives or outlook? was it a positive or a negative impact)

For Ilanlas my bitey beloved, who spins in my head like he's been glued to a chair-o-plane seat, I'd like to enquire about 4 (if your OC likes art, talk about what they would like best), 8 (if your OC were to live in an alternate time period, which one would suit them best), 12 (what is their character theme song and why? if it has lyrics, pick which ones best suit them), and 24 (is mental, physical, or emotional wellbeing most important to them)

And for Marelas my brand spanking new beloved, who is shiny and taking shape so gorgeously in my head, may I ask 3 (what architectural or design aesthetic would suit them best), 9 (if your OC were to imagine their idyllic life, realistically or otherwise, what would it be like), 23 (what sort of rules, routines, and rituals do they set for themselves), and 26 (if they were to lose the person closest to them, how would they mourn them and how would they handle their grief)

Plant, lovely friend!!! I am so excited for this!!! I did end up having to drive the other day (this is why the asks are trickling out of my askbox rather than being answered all at once), but here we are!!! And such asks!!! Let's talk about the beloveds! A cut is required because this never is short (please take as long as you like with this because it’s. Really Long.)

I appreciate you putting the whole questions into the ask so much!!! It makes life easier (and asks long, but no long asks ever intimidated us, did they? XD)

Astala

1 (what is their colour palette)

Oh boy. Astala loves her colors. She usually goes for muted colors. You know, kinda something like a fall palette. Here are some examples:

When she’s at court as arlessa or as the Hero of Ferelden, however, she very deliberately wears brighter and more saturated (and thus more expensive) colors, and if there’s jewelry involved she’ll go for gold. She’s definitely flaunting her status here in front of all the shem. At the Landsmeet, she’s well known for her red dress; a callback to her first encounter with the most esteemed nobility of Ferelden (aka. Vaughan). If she’s somewhere in her capacity as Hero of Ferelden she’s restricted to blues and silvers, sadly, but she makes it work (and work very well indeed, as Zevran would add). Below are the same colors as above with higher brightness and saturation to give you an idea of what that might look like:

2 (what does their handwriting look like)

Astala, dearest Astala, started her career of doing paperwork while having a fancy title with nothing to prepare her for hours spent writing (she does know how to write, thank you very much). In the beginning, her handwriting suffers from it. She grips the pen with way to much strength and either ends up with a hole in the paper or a cramp in her hand (or both). But practice makes perfect, and after a bit of practice, her handwriting is even and orderly as can be. She tends to make her lowercase letters pretty tall and overall her writing leans to the right. If she's sending informal letters (like the one to Sten) she likes underlining the important words to accurately convey the meaning and intonation of her sentences. She's also one to use several instances of P.S. to tell the whole of what she wants to tell. Her letters are mostly always nice and structured; she's better at accounting than writing, and tables are amazing, so she makes liberal use of bullet points and the like to speed up and organize the flow of information.

10 (what piece of moody poetry or novel quote best encompasses your character)

We've got a couple different ones here, so I stitched them together!

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." —George Eliot

This quote spoke to me because Astala was supposed to be a troublemaker like her mother and live a quiet, unassuming life like her father, was supposed to get married and start a family and is now a Grey Warden.

"Nobody protects us. So we protect us." —Miriam in Dragon Age: Absolution

This one is pretty obvious. Astala is big on protecting and wholeheartedly believes in her community and the need to stick together.

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." —Charles M. Schulz

This one just made me laugh XD XD Astala loves to enjoy things (regardless of whether they are luxuries or not), but she does yearn for close connections. And when she can't have them, having access to nice things is definitely a way she copes with a potential lack of close relationships

"But of course, your Excellence. A true commander takes responsability for the life and death of the men he sends into battle; it's only right and proper that he should be held accountable for them. At the first stolen chicken you may have my head." —Rankstrail in The Last Orc by Silvana de Mari (a bit of context: Rankstrail is sassing the local governor's military people bc they wanted to torture one of his soldiers over a stolen chicken. And the chicken wasn't even a fat one to begin with!)

This book series is a YA fantasy series that I stopped reading after some installments because the characters I loved the most kept dying or falling into depression with no visible way out, but it handles poverty, government incompetence and injustice beautifully. Incidentally, the government in question has a very futuristic style of architecture, and given the Italian name of the author I wonder if there are some intended parallels to a fascist government. Back to the book, Rankstrail is definitely one of my favorite characters and the whole series was very formative when I read it as a teen. I wanted to include a quote and this one stuck out to me because Astala has to navigate some authorities trying to pull one on her while sneering down on her as well. I think she and Rankstrail would find common ground in that (and in the book series the whole thing is amazing bc Rankstrail dances circles around these people but they always maintain the upper hand in the end because they have the power and the resources and he doesn't!)

22 (what is some advice or guidance they received that had a big impact on their lives or outlook? was it a positive or a negative impact?)

I've talked about how Astala has been impacted by her mother, for good and bad. Her father mostly taught her by word and by example how to look for work and keep it, as well as how to care for her family. I really should talk more about Cyrion, because obviously he had the bigger impact on her here, but I want to talk about Valendrian.

When Cyrion was still recovering emotionally from losing Adaia and physically from having spent a winter sick (half of it working), Valendrian often took the Tabris kids with him when he made his rounds around the Alienage. Other children in sinilar situations had other adult family members (aunts, uncles, grandparents, adult cousins) who could do the same; not the Tabrises, so the hahren had to step in. Working with Valendrian gave them something to do, connected them more with their people and allowed them to feel useful and capable in a situation that was very much beyond their control. He sent them to run errands for families who couldn't, to deliver medicine or food, to watch over kids, to help clean a house or a street or warehouse, or took them with him to visit people who were sick (and not contagious), alone or grieving. He also often took the scenic route to his destinations and tried to send two of them ahead or something to get time with the third one alone. With Astala he talked about her mother, about her father, about the weather, her future, Soris, Shianni, and, when she was fourteen and still helping him out, her crush on Alarith (that moment in the first chapter of her story when she offers Valendrian her help with Vaughan and Valendrian tells her to step back? That's a callback to those days, when she and her cousins used to help him all the time).

Basically, Valendrian tried to lend these three kids what support he could give them. He's Astala's reference for what leading a community looks like, and what a community is, how it works, and so forth. This comes in very handy during the Blight, but especially later, as arlessa. She is some steps further removed from her people than Valendrian was at that point, but the basic procedures stay the same.

Ilanlas

4 (if your OC likes art, talk about what they would like best)

Ilanlas is very much about statues and abstract art. I think he’d love the black and white paintings of Franz Kline. It's the kind of art where he feels like he can step into it; the feelingnis comparable to when he sees a grove of trees or a structure of rocks or a bend of the road in the distance and wants to go and check it out. These paintings form a kind of space for him where he can retreat into. It's very nice and calming.

He'd also love sculptures made out of driftwood, particularly those where the wood has been left to stay in its original shape. In his opinion, taking the raw material as it is and working with its shape instead of bending said shape to one's will is much more imaginative, creative, respectful.

And then, while snooping through the internet, I found this piece, Burning from Within by Christopher David White. It's ceramic, not wood, which is a feat in and of itself, but what Ilanlas would find amazing is the way the copper leaf on the inside really makes it look like it's wood being consumed by embers. He'd see it from the back and get all excited about it jntil he'd realize that the thibg is not a piece of a hollowed-out tree but. Y'know. The naked torso af a woman. That'd bother him a lot; the ubiquity of naked women in art in general would. Why does everything have to be about having the hots for random women? Wtf??? (He's very unimpressed by the countless Andraste statues everywhere as well. At least they're clothed.)

8 (if your OC were to live in an alternate time period, which one would suit them best)

I answered this one here! It’s kinda hard to find a time period that’d suit him. He’s so integrated in Thedas. But, now that I think of it, he would’ve had a blast in the 80s. He’d have his own painted van and everything. He and Tamlen would just take off and make a long, long roadtrip to wherever the road will take them. They'd set up camp in the middle of nowhere, stop in the desert and spend the whole night looking up at the stars, park the van in the curb of a steep mountain road to climb those extremely climbable rocks, watch the sunrise next to a gigantic waterfall that douses them from head to toe in fine spray water. Merrill comes along sometimes and has them stopping at tourist attractions, museums and canyons. Can you imagine Ilanlas with sunglasses and a bandana holding his long hair back? He’d have so much fun XD XD XD XD

That said, big aside: since the Dalish have ties to Native Americans, Roma and jewish people, all of the above might not've been possible. I don't have a lot of knowledge on the situation of these people in the 80s, in the USA and otherwise, but what little I know makes me think that Ilanlas would've been more preoccupied with travel restrictions, bad faith from the authorities and just the general population, poverty and all of its lovely companions. For his sake, I'd like that not to be so. On the other hand, erasing the past of other people is not good. I hope he does get to see at least one sunrise next to that waterfall tho

12 (what is their character theme song and why? if it has lyrics, pick which ones best suit them)

I have. Several songs I relate to this man, but here’s one. Sound the Bugle from the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

If you lose yourself

Your courage soon will follow

So be strong tonight

Remember who you are

I don't have a lot of smart things to say here, except that he's really going through it. Where Astala is doing her damnest to eke out a place for herself, no matter how small, where she can live her life as close as possible to what it used to be, Ilanlas has thrown himself wholesale into the Grey Wardens. The only thing he keeps for himself is the right to take vengeance for Tamlen, and since that means killing darkspawn, it's not really something that detracts from his role in the order (while Astala very much does try to put as much distance between herself and the order as she can). Losing Tamlen was like losing a huge chunk of himself for Ilanlas. When he finds Tamlen again, these verses will be significant.

24 (is mental, physical, or emotional wellbeing most important to them)

I think his emotional wellbeing is the most important to him because it's the most fragile. He has a very decent pain tolerance and doesn't mind getting sweaty or having his legs full of mud after trekking through the countryside for hours. He's also good at problem-solving and decision-making generally comes easy to him (even if they're not always the best decisions).

It's the emotions that get him; some things hurt him deeply and he doesn't know what to do with that. In other instances it's just him losing his cool or being brusque and not thinking much of it, only to then turn around and find that the other person is offended and blames him. There are many people that feel things more deeply than him, and he finds it hard to understand that because to him it's no big deal. It's a bit of a vicious circle, tbh. He seriously and unwillingly hurts somebody and then gets hurt back bc the other person reacts negatively for no reason, seemingly. Or even lashes out. Long story short, it's the emotional wellbeing that bugs him the most and that is thus most important to him.

Marelas

3 (what architectural or design aesthetic would suit them best)

I think Marelas would enjoy the Arts and Crafts Movement. It's beautiful (could do with a bit warmer and more vibrant colors though), practical and it puts great emphasis on the craft of the artisan. This man enjoys having beautifully made things around him, and that's one if the tenets of the Arts and Crafts Movement. You bet he had a say in Skyhold's furnishing, much to Vivienne's chagrin. Too Dalish for her taste.

He'd also have a field day in the Library at the National Palace of Mafra, Portugal. Baroque isn't his favorite (it's very Orlesian), but this building in particular is grand, but not gaudy, well illuminated, probably very cool in summer, and has tons of space in case he wants to strew his papers around to arrange them on the floor and look at them from a certain distance to get a look at the big picture of things. He likes mind maps. Also, the building apparently houses bats!! How cool is that?

9 (if your OC were to imagine their idyllic life, realistically or otherwise, what would it be like)

Here are some of the things Marelas would love to have in his life if you’d asked him right before the plot in Trespasser kicks off:

Study lore!! So much lore!! All the history and the magic, medicine, cultures, all of it!!

Peace for clan Lavellan.

A long life for Keeper Deshanna.

Many people around him he can trust and rely on.

Frequently meet the members of the Inquisition, see what work they have been doing, maybe even continue working with them to enrich the lives of the people of Thedas (and enrich is the keyword here. He’s no fighter when he can help it. He’d rather pursue social or cultural goals).

Be able to often visit Dorian, very often (the separation hit him hard, harder than he wants to admit. He thinks it commendable and a good thing that Dorian wants to better his homeland, but at the moment when Dorian told him he was leaving, Marelas did feel a bit abandoned in favor of more exciting pursuits. He and Dorian did have the chance to talk it through, however, and have settled on an arrangement that, so far, is satisfying to both. Still, he misses Dorian).

Not have any world-ending threats hanging above his head.

Foster more community between the city elves and the Dalish clans (I think somebody from his family came from the city, probably an uncle who married into his mother’s side of the family).

23 (what sort of rules, routines, and rituals do they set for themselves)

Back at his clan, his routine looked something like this:

Wake up, have a handful of something, pray alone.

Do some stretching, have some real breakfast, revise what has to be done that day with Keeper Deshanna and the clan’s Second, and start. He sometimes works alone, sometimes they all work together or in pairs. They have a well-honed system.

Part of his routine is taking a round of the premises (wherever he is) and see how everybody is doing. He tends to do that around mealtime, after getting some work in.

If somebody wants to converse with him, he will tend to schedule it in the afternoon, preferrably right after having eaten lunch and taken a bit of quiet time to himself, or when the sun is already lowering towards the horizon. He finds these are hours best spent quietly, and that they lend themselves more to thinking than to doing.

He will also pray alone in the evening, right after dinner if he can manage. He will go over the day, write up things that have to be done next (either the following day or at some point in the future), offer up the good and the bad, and enjoy the quiet as the sun sets and the stars start to shine.

Prayer is very important to him, and throughout the day there would be more opportunities, mostly with Keeper Deshanna and clan Lavellan’s Second. He tries his best to keep this routine after the explosion at the Conclave, although Keeper Deshanna and clan Lavellan’s Second are replaced by Cullen, Josephine and Leliana. He does miss the more relaxed rhythm of the life in his clan, but he makes do well. It is strange to him to be at the head of a group instead of the leader’s right hand. He takes responsability quite seriously and the biggest break in his routine is him doing paperwork until way later than he intended. Sometimes, it’s almost a relief when he can leave Skyhold to go roam around Thedas.

Another big interruption to his routine can be any sort of magical or historical study that catches his interest. He’s an academic at heart. In the Jaws of Hakkon DLC, he was happy as a clam at first, searching for Inquisitor Ameridan, and even in the Descent DLC he would rather have spent time studying the runes on the wall than investigating the earthquakes. The Emerald Graves were a treasure trove (albeit a bitter one). If there’s a piece of work that captures his interest, he will get his duties done, sure. But later you’ll find him writing deep into the night. Sometimes his room looks like a tornado came through and scattered complex diagrams and drawings throughout. This turns a bit unhealthy after he drinks of the Well of Sorrows. He now has direct access to knowledge from Arlathan, and he considers it one of his duties to record EVERYTHING the well tells him. He ends up with incoherent scribbles more often than not, but at other points he wrote down a poem, sketched a view from the temple of Sylaise, found a recipe to help with some kind of cough, found hints of an old technique to enrich iron, and so forth. It’s fascinating, but dangerous. More than once, somebody else had to take the pen out of his hand and send him to bed, or otherwise bring him back to reality.

26 (if they were to lose the person closest to them, how would they mourn them and how would they handle their grief)

Ooooh, this is a heavy one. Let's do it >:)

Okay, first of all, Marelas would nowadays have been diagnosed with some form of anxiety disorder (or maybe even PTSD, since the symptoms manifested after an accident in which he nearly drowned). As part of dealing with persistent worries, intense fears of danger and death, and with a generalized feeling of helplessness and loss of control, Keeper Deshanna encouraged him to seek special connection with Falon'Din. The reasoning was that if he died, Falon'Din would be there; he wouldn't be alone. Take away some of the fear that death inspired, and everything would be much easier to deal with; that was Deshanna's reasoning. After all of that and all the events in Inquisition, Marelas likes to think of himself as someone who is familiar with grief and who knows that a loss such as this one will take time to heal. He will do his best to be patient and lean on other loved ones for support, to give himself time, to cherish the memories while stepping out of himself to create new ones. And he does good! He tries his best! He is able to step away from the moment, take a deep breath and brace himself for the things that are to come and he is able to stay moderately aware of his own wellbeing during the period of intense turmoil that follows the death of a loved one.

The reality, however, is that he's a very sensitive man who feels things deeply and for a very long time. He might be patient, experienced and good at taking his own feelings at face value, but his emotions are stubborn buggers. He'll most likely spend a couple of days numb, think that it's going better than he anticipated, until reality catches up to him and everything comes crashing down. After that, he will cry, a lot, but try to keep some of it to himself. He does occupy a position of responsibility after all, and he has to keep doing his work.

In fact, although he knows that giving himself time to actively grieve is important, he definitely puts his role as First (or the Keeper if it's Keeper Deshanna who died), well... first. If Keeper Deshanna died, he would even officiate the funeral. Embodying the figure of the First/Keeper removes him from his pain by focusing on other people's pain, although that's not the only reason why he blends into his role in the clan. He does genuinely want to help. It is, however, part of the reason why he spends some days functioning well while emotionally numb. He's not entirely conscious that he does this, and there's no easy answer here because he does have a responsability for the well-being of the clan. He does best when he has somebody that will step past the whole "he is responsible for everybody" thing and makes him contemplate how he is doing as a person. Hold a mirror in front of him, so to say. So yeah, that's him if somebody close to him from his clan dies.

If Dorian died... well, that's a whole other thing. He doesn't have any official role to disappear behind here, although he definitely would find something to try and occupy himself with. He'd definitely be at the funeral, and he'd definitely ask if he could help with anything. But he's out of his depth in Tevinter, and he's Dorian's partner from down south. Despite his best efforts, he'll have everybody's attention and he'll be at an utter loss on what to do.

So he'd do his best to hold his tears in and cry when he's alone. He'd try to meet Dorian's friends and family and establish at least a bit of a positive relationship with them. And in the process, he'd probably have at least one moment where he'd crack under the pressure and either run away or cry somewhere totally inappropriate and end up mortified and with all the pain spilling out.

All of this, of course, if Dorian or Keeper Deshanna didn't get assassinated. In that case his new mission would be hunting those bastards down, and that's what he'd stand behind until the emotions one day suddenly catch up to him. And he’d go for it with a lot of zeal. He isn’t an easy one to anger, but when he is angry, it holds for a long time.

After having digested the heap of emotions, he does his best to celebrate the person he's lost. He's quite meticulous about marking death-days, and consciously makes space on those days to remember and honor the deceased. He might put up an altar with things that remind him of them and spend a good chunk of the day reminiscing and talking to them (without receiving an answer of course. He might be a mage, but communion with the dead is rare). And he would honor them by trying to help along whatever efforts they pursued in life, if the chance presents itself. Falon'Din is still a god he holds in high regard, even if after Trespasser the elven gods as a whole are unstable ground to him, and honoring the dead is very important to him.

---

And that’s a wrap on these three! I hope the wait was worth it, and if you’ve read the whole thing, kudos to you! This was a very nice brain exercise XD XD XD It was really cool to get to know Ilanlas’s taste in art, tbh. I had a vague idea, but now I really want to sit down with him and talk about modern art. There’s a lot to go into there (starting with what the devil IS art??) and it’d be so interesting to hear what he likes and doesn’t like. Thank you so so so much for these wonderful questions!!!! I hope you are having an absolutely splendid few days!

[wild-houseplant]

Ooh now! I wish I’d seen this first and beaten you to it, @heniareth  :D :D But it’s ok! I still have plenty I want to say about your work!! Not a short post, never short, but you know this already. This won’t go on a photo or anything as pretty as yours because too many words!! 😂

When I think about Astala and the way you’ve written about her-- and she drifts in and out of my head on the daily, very much like a passing breeze-- I always get this curious settling in my stomach. Some sort of muscle that I didn’t know was tensing relaxes. I’ve been pondering why that is for some time, and I worked out what it is today.

The thing about Astala is that she has always felt like an old friend. You know the ones: you run into them purely by happenstance, and there’s just something about them that draws you from the get-go and puts you at ease. Five minutes passes and you think to yourself that they could swing by your house at any hour of the day and you’d be pleased to see them. That’s her. 

I don’t quite know what it takes to make a character have that sort of appeal, but I think the way you’ve built up the scenes in Two Weddings and a Kidnapping has furnished a lot of that. Seeing her at home, with strangers and familiar people, out in the neighbourhood... all the small things that show you how she works in such a wide variety of circumstances. It’s masterful and probably, along with Tolkien’s opening to The Hobbit, one of my favourite introductions to a character. 

It’s especially good because it’s not hurried, but succinct all at once. Horses for courses, naturally, but I do personally have a soft spot for slice of life and character studies, extensive rotations of the blorbo etc, so it’s nothing but a treat to get more of Astala in her various moods.

And of course, she’s a pleasure to see in all the moods because, well. She’s Astala. What’s not to love? She’s got such a bloody wicked sense of humour. Sharp as a tack but with the subtlety of an acupuncture needle. There’s a look, and there’s a look. One is a generic facial expression and another is the nonverbal equivalent of an Oscar Wilde-level retort-- and Astala’s are most certainly the latter of these.

But she’s balanced. Not so determined to make everything funny that she’s inappropriate. She knows what’s called for, and she delivers. Kindness? Politeness? ... Sauciness? No worries. Astala’s got it covered. She’s shrewd and because she doesn’t make a song and dance about it, anyone who didn’t know her well might think she’d just made a lucky guess.

And she’s fine with that, which is refreshing. She takes things as they come, all of it in her stride, practical as ever. She’s the kind of person folks give their I teeth to have as a neighbour.

And so, whenever I open up Two Weddings and a Kidnapping (which I have open on a tab most of the time so I can come and go as I please 😂 ), it’s such a pleasure to be back in her neighbourhood, puttering around with her as a friend unseen. Life’s better with Astala Tabris, and that’s all there is to it. Hats off to the genius creator :D :D :D I can’t wait to read more!

Let’s spread a little love!

 I got a random idea that I thought might be fun :D Let’s spread some love around the creative communities! When you see this post, please tag at least 1 writeblr/artist on here and tell them something you like about their work, and if you’d like, why you enjoy that specifically.

[badartxd]

WIP ———-Day (I’m like a week late aaaaa)

Hihihi I’m only now managing to post me wips, and am actually gonna use this post for any changes/choices/guidance for your lovely Wardens, @wild-houseplant @heniareth @siriskulksnerding

These are still sorta rough and I admittedly am very much learning to draw them as I go, but I hope they’re nice to look at anyhow!

Please please please don’t hesitate to let me know about any and all changes you’d like at this point bc I still have all the layers! >:D

Vanessa (admittedly still p fresh especially in terms of armour and proportions):

Astala(somewhat torn on the eye expression):

Lashes/wider, lashes/lowered lids, smaller eyelashes/open.

Rhodri:(not yet sure about how to approach amulet, difference in nose/lips/jaw proportions)

Bonus with her earring bc I don’t make jewelry v often and I’m pretty happy with it even if the definition is godawful

[heniareth]

HI HELLO HEY THERE MY FRIEND 8D 8D 8D *waves like is flagging down air traffic* For the FMK alternatives I would like, if I may, to request number 6 (go clothes shopping with, go to ikea with, go grocery shopping with) with beloveds Astala and Ilanlas, and Zevvo!

Thank you!! Hope you're having a lush day 8)

OH DONE!! This is very good, very good indeed!! Let's say I've lost my worldly belongings and that's why I need to do such an extensive bit of shopping to apice things up, shall we? Oh, the decision is clear as day.

... actually it's not.

clothes shopping with Astala. I'm tempted to take Zevran bc clothes shopping is a Chore(TM) and he'd make it very fun, but I think Astala (my darling girl) would get more out of it and we could go a bit crazy over the clothes. We'd haw and hem over the price together, but at the same time we'd have a blast with beautiful fabrics and patterns and cuts and laugh about the more ridiculous outfits stores try to sell. I will try to buy her something. Maybe a dress. Maybe a warm winter coat so she's comfortable. Maybe both. She'd try to refuse and I would insist for putting her through all the trouble in her story. And then we'd march down the street in our new clothes, proud as can be, and have some coffee. Well, she'd have coffee. I'll have tea. Or maybe we both get hot chocolate. And go to town on some cake. It's a (platonic) date!

Ikea with Ilanlas. He'd try to drag me through the exposition section into the place where they actually store the furniture they sell while I would want to look at all the cute made-up rooms that are totally impractical, but we'd enjoy the trip. He gets a plushie. I think he'd like it. The main good things about having Ilanlas come along is that he's very quick to make decisions where I'm not and he's very solution-oriented. Need a new chair? Here's three options. Which is more comfortable? Does it fit in your room? Is the price acceptable? Yes? Done. Let's go to the check-out. Nor but-what-ifs and i-don't-knows. We could also join forces to put the chair together. He's good at that and I'm also not bad. It'd be what the Germans call an Erfolgserlebnis.

go grocery shopping with Zevran. I really, really want to take Astala along as well because she loves food, but she'd get all shocked at the prices and put her hands to her head when I clean out the chocolate section. She'd get the necessities and make the magic happen by cooking. Zevran though; Zevran would be very good at letting me get stuff I like but also nudging me to try new stuff. A bit of a culinary adventure. Besides, Astala's well acquainted with the old "going to the market with friends to get stuff, browse and talk". For Zevran, I think, being able to go grocery shopping and just relax and have a look around would be more unusual. Don't ask me why. Maybe because he's not had that many friends to do this with (ouch). The Zevvo will also get some... what would he like? What wouldn't he like? Definitely some chocolate, definitely some regional specialty. He'd enjoy that as a specialty (apart from the fact that it's food and tastes good. I think he's quite receptive to the delicate and the special. Specialties are sadly still lost to Astala bc they're overriden by the big old excited squeal of having tasty food). And, you know what? Imma make them all dinner since we're at it. They deserve it for helping me with the shopping. If I'm making meat I'm not accepting criticism, Ilanlas >_>

Thank you very much for the ask!! This was fun to think about and a very welcome distraction (and a lovely chance to spoil these three rotten. Heck yeah!!) XD XD XD I hope you're having a great day yourself!! Take good care ^^

(Ask comes from this ask game)

[heniareth]

Henlo lovely friend :3 I am nyooming into your askbox with all due speed and urgency regarding the OTP questions for Astala (my BELOVED!!) and Zevran (ALSO MY BELOVED!!). If I may enquire:

3: Do they wear the other's clothes? (Sweatshirt, bandana, necklace, etc.)

4: Which one is more protective? Who needs to be 'protected?'

57: Who's the serious one when grocery shopping and who likes to toss random things in the cart?

60 (if it's not too personal): Who pulls the other closer when they're sleeping?

You take care and enjoy yourself!! No pressure on any of this, just whatever you fancy, whenever you fancy it. Have yourself a gorgeous day!!!

Hello Plant! :D The ask you answered yesterday inspired me to sit down and answer this one apparently, because I wrote the bugger up in one go!! Never happened before XD XD You do magic with those words. Before I get into the questions, a littel prelude:

These questions make me think about a potential modern AU. Astala probably would've dropped out of school as soon as it was legal to do so and started working whatever jobs are available. Maybe cashier? Waitress is still a possibility. She'd definitely have been juggling two jobs plus a few odd bits of work to make ends meet. Then she gets fired one day and lo and behold, Duncan offers her a place with the Grey Wardens. I imagine they'd pay well, which is why Astala would take the job. Zevran is still an assassin for hire, and eschews guns in favor of knives for his assassination attempt. To kill somebody with a knife, you have to get close to them and expose yourself to harm. A gun makes people way too easy to kill. A knife attack can also be written off as a mugging gone wrong or something. The party camp turns into an empty office building where the Grey Wardens had their HQ. The group would transform it into one big apartment. Cubicles are turned into rooms (walls between several cubicles are broken down for more space). There are sofas and rugs and a fully functioning kitchen and bookshelves and plants. Rascal is still a big dog. Shale is... a robot? A person in a very cool exo-skeleton suit for someone a la Iron Man? Oh and magic still exists. After the whole thing with the Blight is over Zev and Astala would have enough money for a tiny but cozy apartment in a quiet part of town, with enough space on the balcony to fill it with plants. Please feel free to picture what scenes are described in the answers as happening in said apartment. Other alternatives are Vigil's Keep, where Astala has a tiny portion (study + room + entrance) to call her own. Or a house in Antiva with white walls and a roof with red shingles with a porch where flowering vines creep up the walls. Also in the modern AU Astala would be finishing school after the Blight and discover that studying for exams is so much better than a night shift or killing darkspawn.

And now, off to the questions!!

3. Do they wear each others' clothes? (Sweatshirt, bandana, necklace, etc.)

Yes they do! Astala does this particularly often, especially when Zevran is away, especially at night. She will wear something of his until it no longer smells like him, and then she'll pick something else. It makes the missing him a bit easier, but at the same time a bit worse because something of his is there but not he himself. She gives it back once Zevran returns, however. Most of it, anyways. One or two shirts might get lost among her things. How curious indeed XD Zevran I think would also wear things of Astala's, but it'd be because it's become a somewhat accidental habit. Maybe there's a scarf she has lent him so often it's as good as his (he did happily accept it every time she offered it of course). Or a bandana that Astala used once to tie his hair back and he finds it a year later in the pockets of the trousers he was wearing. And by that point Astala would insist he just keep it, since he's evidently using it more than she is

4. Which one is more protective? Who needs to be 'protected?'

Well now. This is quite the question 👀👀👀 They are both quite protective of each other, Astala in a more physical "I'll literally stand between you and harm" way and Zevran in a "stand aside and observe and be ready to strike if necessary" way. So during the Blight, they both do their fair share of protecting. Then of course Astala gets injured in the fight with the archdemon and just can't hold her own as well as she used to. Their roles are now inversed: Zevran is the more physical one because he can be, while Astala has to keep away from danger and can intervene only from a distance. But intervene she does, and she makes up for her lack of movement and her vulnerability with a quick and cold ruthlessness. If there's somebody an attacker could convince to stop and talk it out, it's Zevran now.

As far as being protected goes... Astala only catches glimpses of it, but Zevran works very hard behind the scenes to help her navigate Fereldan politics and later also the Antivan merchant guilds (I am playing around with the idea to have Astala give up Amaranthine and to settle close to Antiva as a merchant, at least for a time. She'd try to create a market for artisans from the Fereldan alienages in Antiva and the reverse in Ferelden, and I think she'd do pretty well). He'd suss out business practices, potential customers, do networking, all of that. And Astala would shield him from his own demons. It's hard to live with yourself when you've let yourself down so often. Astala would remind him when he's being too harsh with himself, pull him back when he's starting to slip into old patterns and habits, just be something solid around which to reorient himself and remember that he's not the kind if man who'd kill his love for the Crows anymore. So yeah. They have each others' backs pretty consistently

57: Who's the serious one when grocery shopping and who likes to toss random thing in the cart?

At the beginning of their relationship there's a very notable difference. Except when she's in a serious need for something to lift her mood, Astala will think every purchase apart from the bare necessities over thrice. Very expensive things she doesn't even look at, because they're firmly in the category of not in her budget. Zevran is much quicker at buying and wanting things if he has the coin for it, tomorrow be damned. He's mostly succesful at pulling Astala along, unless it is a veritably silly thing like a gigantic nug pillow or an outright luxury item (like the expensive kinds of jewelry or some rare foodstuff from Seheron or whathaveyou). In those cases Mistress Woolsey is a surprisingly adept negotiation partner. She will show Astala the numbers and will assure her that she can afford it and once doesn't hurt, it's an investment rather than a frivolous purchase and, if the arlessa will allow it, she will point out that the jewelry Astala already has just doesn't cut it for an occasion like the 5th anniversary of the slaying of the archdemon. I imagine Zevran learns budgeting skills rather quickly, while Astala takes a bit longer to shake off the compulsion to hoard money for emergencies. But she relaxes with age, and in their senior years they can often be seen snooping around the market for interesting knickknacks and curiosities, maybe some new food to try or something small for each other. Sometimes Zevran will play the part of the frugal husband to tease her. It's worth stopping and watching these two bicker like the old married couple they are

60. Who pulls the other closer when they're sleeping?

(Not personal, don't worry ^^ I'm okay talking about fluff, smut is where it can get a bit too personal for my liking. Depends on the question and if there's ever a particular item in an ask game i'm not comfortable talking about I'll write it in the tags when I reblog said ask game)

Zevran, I imagine. Zevran seems to be the kind of guy to briefly wake up, drape one arm around Astala, cuddle up and fall back asleep. Or he straight-up doesn't wake up and reaches for her on instinct. I already told you, but physicality is important for Zevran. I imagine pulling Astala in is an unconcious reminder that she is there. I also imagine he'd crave closeness the most when he's just come back after a time of being apart, and would thus pull her in more frequently. It helps that Astala sleeps like a log: she doesn't move much and somebody pulling her in doesn't wake her up. In fact, her sleep is too deep to pull someone closer, which is an action that requires a lot of steps done right. If she seeks out Zevran, it will be via rolling over the bed until she bumps into him, and where she bumps into him she settles. Sometimes it makes for a terribly sore neck in the morning, sometimes it even wakes Zevran up (who I headcanon to have a very light sleep due to his experience as an assassin). The only time she'll actively pull him in is when he's being restless, either because of a nightmare or because he just can't sleep. Quick movements by her side is something that will reliably wake Astala up enough to do that. And it bears mentioning that both of them are very given to sleeping close to one another (although they do change from glued to one another to wothin comfortable arm's reach over the years) except during an Antivan summer. Nobody could endure any kind of body heat during an Antivan summer

---

And that's that! I hope you enjoyed the answers and the glimpses of them both as much as I enjoyed writing them XD They are so very close to my heart. Thanks for indulging me and I hope you have the most gorgeous of days yourself!!

[wild-houseplant]

hhhhhh I ran out of tags so quickly ToT I really thought I had more available my golly Anyway the rant continues here!

Them kids of theirs are going to have to marry the spouse of professional chefs or bakers or something... and I feel even then they’d be eating this slice of the baker’s finest plum pie and amid the VERY polite smile their hearts would both sink and become terribly smug because Mum and Dad’s pie is better by a country mile.

Also just? Cooking is great because you’re doing the food stuff, and you’re talking out the kitchen window with the neighbours and passers-by (who consistently half-joke that they hope ‘Stala and Zevvo have put a plate out for them too), and you can dance while you wait for the food to cook and ough the domestic scenes here are so lovely I’m wild about them your honour 8D

and BEACH????? T^T OHHHHH the water must be really good for Astala’s hip, too. Minimal strain on the joint because it’s not weight bearing exercise but it IS fantastic for building muscle and flexibility. Which will also help when they’re out of the water!! Plus everyone extols the virtue of salt water fixing everything and I’m sure that’s no different in Thedas. I imagine the beaches are much cleaner in Antiva than the port of denerim which must delight Astala to no end, too. Crystal-clear water, seeing the fish and plucking up a few gorgeous iridescent shells with Zevvo, who scratches around to find her one with the mollusc still living in it 8D And hey. If it’s edible maybe that goes in the dinner pot that night? impromptu frutti di mare chowder :D ough and those two being defined by-- mostly serious stuff but certainly with a healthy dose of Silly Sausage Hours sounds about right and HONESTLY. With all the stuff they’ve been through (and are going through) collectively and individually they need all those Big Things to get the solid foundation to weather all that. Seriously they must have the wildest workloads of just about anyone on the entire continent-- and those jobs are big enough. They have KIDS they have FAMILY they have the usual spouse gig and that house wont’ take care of itself OUGH. And they STILL have time for the good shit like cooking and hitting the beach and the things that inject a bit of pleasantness into it all.

Honestly I love the take that it’s not all fun and games BUT when the serious stuff comes out it happens privately. There must be so many people that want to undermine that relationship, and being reasonably public figures must put them under a lot of scrutiny. If not from the populace at large, then certainly from people who would love to watch them crumble. They’re so responsible and savvy about the whole thing it’s fantastic!! And as for putting the kids first... well if that isn’t on-brand for those two, I’ll eat my hat. It’s a hard thing to have to plan for but hey. Shit happens. Especially, it seems, if you’re a Crow or a Tabris 8( Also I’m not sure if I was surprised that Astala was the bigger crier of the two simply because I can’t picture her going to tears very often, if at all? I think that’s what it is. To be fair, your average Tabris really Goes Through It, but good for her honestly! Handy that she feels better handling that alone, for both her and Zev’s sakes-- it’s nice to not have to address every single thing that might warrant talking out or whatever (as it would be in Zev’s case handling those emotions). Thank you sooooo so so sos os so much for indulging me!!! You know I love Large Amounts of Lore-- especially when it comes to Astala my dearly beloved UuU What a treasure she is!! And what a treasure you are for showering me with the good stuff!! :D :D :D :D

HI hello I saw you share that ship ask game and I have come PREPARED with multiple rounds if permitted 😈😈😈😈😈

So if I may, for Astala (my beloved!!!!!) and Zev (her beloved!!!) Can I please ask:

- 4

- 10

- 23

And/or

- 37

You know the drill, best beloved. As many or few as you like, but the warning remains: allow me to pester you further and by God I'll do it 🤣🤣 hope you have a gorgeous day!!!

Hello my chlorophyll-filled friend!! The asks are permitted and encouraged!! I love talking about these guys XD XD XD Buckle up, this is a long one. Let's go!

4. Who initiates affection? Why does the other not initiate affection as much?

Both! They are both big on physical affection. Astala loves little casual touches, hugs, hooking arms or holding hands, leaning her head on Zevran's shoulder, or just bending over him and letting herself get heavy like a sack of potatoes. Zevran finds a font of neverending delight in casually affectionate touches that aren't means to an end and just exist because it's nice or because affection for him exists and moves Astala to express it.

As for other signs of affection, Zevran is the one who jumps to verbal affection quicker, and is very good at making Astala start blushing and grinning brightly. Astala's however pack a punch; she gets terribly serious and sappy, and Zevran needs a bit to recover from the onslaught of sweet words whenever the flood is set loose. Astala is quicker to jump to acts of service and little gifts: a food Zevran likes, a trinket that caught her eye and reminded her of him, that sort of things. This doubles when they are away; Astala makes sure to include something nice in almost every letter, and Zevran answers in kind.

10. Do they share any hobbies or interests? How do these things bring them together?

They share a passion for cooking and baking and generally making edible things! Food is a bit thing for them (yey for growing up without enough to go around) and one of the way they connect and share affection is by making sure the other is eating plenty good food. They both put on a healthy layer of fat once they retire from adventuring.

Fighting and swordplay is also something they share. While learned out of necessity and not always associated with the nicest memories, they do like to get out their weapons and spar from time to time. It keeps them sharp, it's fun, and, in Zevran's words, it gets the blood pumping. They also love to dance together. The injuries Astala has sustained from the Archdemon seriously limit the days they can do either of those things, but sometimes she'll take a worse pain day just for the chance of dancing or sparring with Zevran. Both are activities where they can take joy in each others' abilities, and that also require a certain amount of trust in each other (especially sparring, but also dancing with Astala's bad hip). And it's just fun.

Another thing they share is a love for the sea and warmer climates. Once they settle down in Antiva, they go to the beach or the shore often, take walks, run into the waves. Astala teaches Zevran how to properly ride the waves as they come into the shore. Zevran teaches Astala where to find the best seashells and stones. Sometimes they both just sit and soak in the sun or listen to the waves. They find that enjoying these things together makes them more beautiful (and, in turn, when they're not together, the sea makes them terribly nostalgic).

23. What are the defining characteristics of their relationship?

Loyalty - They've gone through a lot together, and while they can and do stay apart, breaking apart the relationship in any way would break a significant part of themselves. Technically, they could do it, but it would be an ugly and very bloody process. So, together they stay, and they watch over their relationship like a hawk.

Trust and teamwork - Look, when you're the Hero of Ferelden and the Black Shadow, you have to be able to trust your spouse and know they will have your back no matter what. Sure, they hold each other accountable and argue, but that happens exclusively behind closed doors. That is private. They have each others' backs first and foremost.

Respect and admiration - They are both very capable individuals and they know it. A big part of their ability to teamwork is knowing what each of them is good at: Astala has a solid head for plans and for keeping a group together and coordinated, Zevran is very good at making plans become reality and at improvising. A big part of having each others' back, without question, is also their respect for each others' autonomy and decision-making capabilities, even when the other doesn't agree with the decision that has been made. This is a quality asked of them when Zevran goes to Antiva; Astala would rather have him at the Vigil and safe, and Zevran would rather she didn't throw herself into her work as arlessa the way she does (and didn't neglect investigating a plot to assassinate her???? Astala PLEASE!!) But Zevran let her go and kill the Archdemon, and Astala has carried them through the Blight like nobody else could have. They remind each other of that when something the other does makes cold, cold dread settle in their guts. On top of that, the admiration goes past admiration for mere skill. Zevran especially is a master at looking at things and enjoying them as they are. Astala, too, has developed an ability to see beauty wherever she goes. It serves them well, especially when their relationship is going through a rough patch, to remember what they like about each other and rediscover each other anew.

Lots of silly moments - And I mean lots of them. Poking each other, making jokes about other people (where other people can't hear them, obviously), pulling one on their kids, messing with the other Wardens, climbing a roof to sit on the rooftop, you name it. Their silly bones are very well developed, bless them 😌😌 Zevran swears it keeps them young, and he isn't wrong at all.

Kids come first - They had that talk before taking in Virel, Perinella and Carlo. The kids come first. If there's not enough food to go around, if they're being attacked and need to get to safety, if they're in mortal danger but the kids are in danger too, if they have an unexpected day off and are deciding what they should do, if work is getting busy, the kids go first. That is not to say that they don't take some of their free days and go out on a date. Or that they wouldn't do crazy, stupid, reckless things for each other if they were in danger. Or that work doesn't keep them tied to the table or out of the house for too long sometimes. But, on principle, the kids come first. If one of them is bleeding out on the floor and the other is with the kids, the other has to get the kids to safety. They promised each other that.

37. Who’s more emotionally sensitive/cries more often?

Astala, but they both have their days. Astala in general is more comfortable with expressing emotions like grief, sadness, exhaustion disappointment and frustration (even though she's not as free in that expression as she could be). Zevran, by his upbringing, keeps a tight lid on all of that. Tears might even make him uncomfortable at first if they manage to reach that soft part of his heart that he has tried and failed to harden. Astala tries not to cry in front of him at first, because she can sense his discomfort and also prefers to cry in private, but with time the holds on both their emotions ease.

I will say though, Zevran cries of happiness more often than Astala. Happiness gets overwhelming.

-

And that's the answers!! Kudos to you if you've taken the time to read through all of this XD XD XD XD It has become a bit longer than I thought, but that's what we're here for. More information!!

Hope you have a lovely day Plant!! Thank you for indulging me!! I love these two buggers so much

[heniareth]

YOU SAW IT YOU SAW IT GOOD YES I AM READY WITH THE QUESTIONS I ALREADY HAD IN MY HEAD For Astala (my beloved): 🍾: Does your OC believe in luck? If so, do they have any charm or ritual they do before a stressful event? 🍟: What does your OC admit to be their guilty pleasure? What actually is their guilty pleasure? 🎂: Has your OC have any contradictory interests or traits to the first preception people have of the? How do they surprise people? And for Ilanlas (new beloved??? OoO): 🍇: What sort of friend are they? Where are they in the group dynamic? 🍻: What's your OC's favourite comfort ritual? How do they calm themselves down after a rough day?

Hi hello :D I’m so happy to finally get this to you, especially because Ilanlas has a rough time when he’s introduced and thus comes across as... not his best self. So I’m very happy to talk some more about him. Under the cut bc it’s long!

For 🌊Astala🌊:

🍾: Does your OC believe in luck? If so, do they have any charm or ritual they do before a stressful event?

(This is a veeeeeeery long one)

Astala would say she doesn't believe in luck. It's not luck that grants her good things, but community, effort, being clever, knowing when to throw a punch, when to negotiate and when to run away

But she's also reminded time and time again that there are things that are bigger than any effort she or her friends can conjure up

If the Maker weren't an absent god she'd chalk those bigger things up to him. As it is, he's not doing anything until everybody sings the Chant of Light, so it can't be him

And Astala doesn't like the idea of fate. Fate's not a nice concept when you're working very hard and often not getting anywhere, and it sounds very much like humans who see elves as born to be servants. Which is a belief that infuriates her to no end

She concludes that many of the things that are bigger than whatever she believes in probably come from the world at large. Thousands of people and circumstances and coincidences working together to weave that which is happening

But sometimes something happens that she can't explain as just the larger workings of the world or the doing of the people around her or herself. Like when Dilwyn and Gethon gave her all that money before her wedding right after she'd talked to her mother, and that money ended up being enough to help Nessa and spare some extra. There are just moments when everything fits together so neatly that Astala can only stare and wonder

(This can happen for good or for bad. In her eyes, it's a very ironic coincidence that she was recruited from basically the death row only for it to turn out that, ta-da! The Grey Warden who kills the archdemon dies. As if death wasn't going to let her go so easily. Again, the pieces fit together so neatly that it almost seems as if they were laid out and molded intentionally, but damn if she'd rather not have them fit together)

So when these kinds of things happen, Astala has the sneaking suspicion that there must be something that puts them in motion. Some kind of larger power. It's almost as if somebody's watching her as they prod and taunt her to see what she'll do (this is not intended as a fourth wall break, btw, Astala is not slowly developing consciousness that she is only a character in a story).

It all gets a little bit clearer when she's in the Fade during Broken Circle. It seems that spirits and demons have some influence on the material world from beyond the Veil. And maybe the spirits of the dead like the ones she encountered in the Brecilian forest can affect the world of the living as well? Maybe the old elvhen gods actually exist? And who or what even is Flemeth? Who knows? Certainly not she, although she does discuss the topic with Wynne, other mages, Ilanlas and Lanaya (Zathrian’s first). But suddenly there are a whole lot of very powerful players that could be moving the pieces to fit them together so neatly

She actually dips into that in Awakening when she takes on techniques from the Reaver discipline. And it’s specifically the Reaver subclass, not the Spirit Guardian, which could’ve been an option as well. The reason for that probably has to do with the fact that she’s in a lot of pain due to some lasting injuries she got out of the fight with the archdemons (the specifics are still to be decided, but it’ll probably have something to do with her lower back and legs), and the Berserker and Reaver subclass allow her to channel that pain into something useful

The idea that spirits and the dead still affect the living, material world fascinates her. She starts "talking" with her mother more often and has been known to mutter "screw you too, Howe" when the nobles loyal to Rendon Howe get too belligerent (poor Nathaniel gets confused a few times). It's not something she wholeheartedly believes in, but rather something that seems possible and plausible and does no harm to consider. Talking to her mother, regardless of whether the message actually gets across, is really nice and sometimes even helpful. It did help her to calm her nerves before that first wedding

Her personal brand of Andrastianism fits into this category too: Andraste was a powerful woman, and if she can actually sway the Maker to lend some aid, it’d be foolish not to pray to her. And if she’s not that powerful, well, Astala won’t have lost anything by trying

So to recap: she doesn't believe in luck, but rather that there are intelligent agents behind many of the major "coincidences" she experiences in her life, be they spirits, the dead, divinities, or others. The world is big and strange and she doesn't presume to have it all figured out

🍟: What does your OC admit to be their guilty pleasure? What actually is their guilty pleasure?

Whatever her guilty pleasures are, they tend to involve spending more money than she feels comfortable spending AND/OR picking the more expensive over the cheaper option

She'll readily admit to spending leftover coin she could've saved on the spices needed for her mother's fish stew. While these spices are a luxury, they're more than worth the boost to morale they provide for everybody in the household. Astala guards them like a mother hen guards her chicks

If pressed, she might also tell of how she sometimes got herself a glass of the fancier spirits served the tavern she worked at. She particularly liked a rum that the tavern's owner swore was from Rivain. Later she'd try real Rivani rum and discover that the owner's words had been nothing more than a marketing trick. At the time, however, it was very nice and helped her through more than one rough day

Her real guilty pleasure, however, are dresses. After the Blight, when she can afford them, she's conflicted every time she gets her hand on one because one part of her is extremely excited and wants to try it on immediately and relish in how beautiful it is

The other part of her however is horrified that she would waste good money (and so much of it!) on something so frivolous. Think of how much food that amount of money could buy! Sure, she's good on food, but- It just feels like an utter waste. But at the same time, she needs to keep up appearances in the Landsmeet at the very least. Seeing how much Zevran enjoys it when she wears the dress helps a bit. And she makes up for the amount of money spent by wearing the dress often (she always has at least two newer ones fit for the Landsmeet, but the older ones get worn until they literally fall apart), so it's all good

🎂: Has your OC have any contradictory interests or traits to the first preception people have of the? How do they surprise people?

It really depends on who you are and where you meet her, tbh 😂😂 Astala very much adapts to her environment

If a human encountered her on the street, they’d get to know her as defensive, brusk and probably somewhat aloof. At her working place, be it the docks or the tavern, she’d be more approachable (because she needs the job and can’t have customers complaining), but keep things very strictly professional. They’d probably be surprised to learn about her temper, how much she enjoys goofing around, singing silly songs, etc.

If an elf encountered her outside of work, they’d see that more genuine side of her. They’d get to see her be silly, get angry, laugh, but not cry. They’d probably be surprised at the degree to which she withdraws and builds up walls around herself when in the presence of humans

(Which, I’m just now thinking of it... Rhodri would be met with those walls at first too. Now that’s just sad :l But Rhodri’s a very authentic one, so I think she’d win Astala over quickly)

But something that’d be a surprise to everybody is to see her cry. She avoids crying in front of other people whenever she can manage, and when she can’t she’ll keep most of the tears back. It’s no good to infect them with her distress. To really see her break down is a sight that very few see (I think you could count them on one hand)

For 🦊Ilanlas🦊:

🍇: What sort of friend are they? Where are they in the group dynamic?

The (affectionately) annoying brother friend. And he'd specifically like to believe he's an older sibling friend but he's really really not XD

Ilanlas is the type of friend with whom you can goof around, who'd help you steal something for the fun of it or just to prove you can, who'll immediately try to cover for you when it looks like you're in trouble

But who'll also try to rile you up, call you out in a very blunt way if he thinks you've done something wrong, give you the silent treatment if he's angry with you and generally prefer what seems fun over what is constructive. In his defense (and I say this over and over again but it's true!), he's 19

In a larger group, he'll most likely be the one watching the leader. He's not often the leader himself because he's a quiet one and considers himself to be bad with people. There has always been somebody more likable and charismatic than him

He is the problem solver, however. He has a keen mind for problems, which is also why he's watching the leader: he likes aiding them by making use of his problem-solving skills and he expects them to make use of them

(If he deems the leader incompetent he’ll be very unhappy)

And, last, he’s also the friend that sometimes needs to be invited back into the group. He craves to be with people but isolates when he’s not okay (especially if he’s been conflictive). Isolating helps him calm down and get his thoughts in order, but he has a hard time rejoining the group because he... doesn’t really know how to do it without feeling really awkward, so he kind of tends to linger at the fringes of the group in a will-he-won’t-he sort of way. He’s immensely grateful to whoever picks up on it and reintroduces him to the group

🍻: What's your OC's favourite comfort ritual? How do they calm themselves down after a rough day?

His go-to way to calm down is some quiet time. As a kid, he was often sent into a corner for some self-contemplation when he got too rowdy. He’s kept that and turned into something helpful

He likes to just sit and observe and listen to everything that goes on around him: birds nesting and singing, ants collecting building material and food, a bumblebee tumbling from flower to flower, the occasional hare or fox that runs by, clouds rolling over the sky or waves lapping against the shore of a lake. He can sit like that for a very long time

He also likes whittling away on interesting pieces of wood he finds. Some he carves into people and animals, others become more abstract figures. He paints and varnishes them, then leaves them behind where he’s been sitting or where their camp was, as a silent sign that he’s come through this place and spent some time here

To wind down and finish the day he also likes to go over the day’s events with the Vir Tanadhal and the person of Elgar'nan in mind. The Vir Tanadhal is his guide and vengeance his quest. Assessing where he is with regards to both puts him at ease

The Vir Tanadhal for one is central to his identity as a Dalish hunter. As for considering his quest, he likes feeling like he’s making progress on something, or, if that’s not the case, if he feels like he’s taking steps back instead, having a plan gives him a sense of purpose and direction. It makes him feel more solid, if that makes sense

And he also joins the rest of the companions when they sit around the campfire and talk, but he’s more of a listener than a talker (except when the conversation evolves into a debate. He enjoys verbal sparring as much as the physical equivalent, if the opponents are worth their salt)

It’s thundering and raining right now, which has made for the most cozy atmosphere. Perfect for asks (and to blame for the fact that you get a huge essay in the form of bullet points) XD Thank you so much for this!!! (And for your patience) I had a lot of fun here

[heniareth]

HI hello I saw you share that ship ask game and I have come PREPARED with multiple rounds if permitted 😈😈😈😈😈

So if I may, for Astala (my beloved!!!!!) and Zev (her beloved!!!) Can I please ask:

- 4

- 10

- 23

And/or

- 37

You know the drill, best beloved. As many or few as you like, but the warning remains: allow me to pester you further and by God I'll do it 🤣🤣 hope you have a gorgeous day!!!

Hello my chlorophyll-filled friend!! The asks are permitted and encouraged!! I love talking about these guys XD XD XD Buckle up, this is a long one. Let's go!

4. Who initiates affection? Why does the other not initiate affection as much?

Both! They are both big on physical affection. Astala loves little casual touches, hugs, hooking arms or holding hands, leaning her head on Zevran's shoulder, or just bending over him and letting herself get heavy like a sack of potatoes. Zevran finds a font of neverending delight in casually affectionate touches that aren't means to an end and just exist because it's nice or because affection for him exists and moves Astala to express it.

As for other signs of affection, Zevran is the one who jumps to verbal affection quicker, and is very good at making Astala start blushing and grinning brightly. Astala's however pack a punch; she gets terribly serious and sappy, and Zevran needs a bit to recover from the onslaught of sweet words whenever the flood is set loose. Astala is quicker to jump to acts of service and little gifts: a food Zevran likes, a trinket that caught her eye and reminded her of him, that sort of things. This doubles when they are away; Astala makes sure to include something nice in almost every letter, and Zevran answers in kind.

10. Do they share any hobbies or interests? How do these things bring them together?

They share a passion for cooking and baking and generally making edible things! Food is a bit thing for them (yey for growing up without enough to go around) and one of the way they connect and share affection is by making sure the other is eating plenty good food. They both put on a healthy layer of fat once they retire from adventuring.

Fighting and swordplay is also something they share. While learned out of necessity and not always associated with the nicest memories, they do like to get out their weapons and spar from time to time. It keeps them sharp, it's fun, and, in Zevran's words, it gets the blood pumping. They also love to dance together. The injuries Astala has sustained from the Archdemon seriously limit the days they can do either of those things, but sometimes she'll take a worse pain day just for the chance of dancing or sparring with Zevran. Both are activities where they can take joy in each others' abilities, and that also require a certain amount of trust in each other (especially sparring, but also dancing with Astala's bad hip). And it's just fun.

Another thing they share is a love for the sea and warmer climates. Once they settle down in Antiva, they go to the beach or the shore often, take walks, run into the waves. Astala teaches Zevran how to properly ride the waves as they come into the shore. Zevran teaches Astala where to find the best seashells and stones. Sometimes they both just sit and soak in the sun or listen to the waves. They find that enjoying these things together makes them more beautiful (and, in turn, when they're not together, the sea makes them terribly nostalgic).

23. What are the defining characteristics of their relationship?

Loyalty - They've gone through a lot together, and while they can and do stay apart, breaking apart the relationship in any way would break a significant part of themselves. Technically, they could do it, but it would be an ugly and very bloody process. So, together they stay, and they watch over their relationship like a hawk.

Trust and teamwork - Look, when you're the Hero of Ferelden and the Black Shadow, you have to be able to trust your spouse and know they will have your back no matter what. Sure, they hold each other accountable and argue, but that happens exclusively behind closed doors. That is private. They have each others' backs first and foremost.

Respect and admiration - They are both very capable individuals and they know it. A big part of their ability to teamwork is knowing what each of them is good at: Astala has a solid head for plans and for keeping a group together and coordinated, Zevran is very good at making plans become reality and at improvising. A big part of having each others' back, without question, is also their respect for each others' autonomy and decision-making capabilities, even when the other doesn't agree with the decision that has been made. This is a quality asked of them when Zevran goes to Antiva; Astala would rather have him at the Vigil and safe, and Zevran would rather she didn't throw herself into her work as arlessa the way she does (and didn't neglect investigating a plot to assassinate her???? Astala PLEASE!!) But Zevran let her go and kill the Archdemon, and Astala has carried them through the Blight like nobody else could have. They remind each other of that when something the other does makes cold, cold dread settle in their guts. On top of that, the admiration goes past admiration for mere skill. Zevran especially is a master at looking at things and enjoying them as they are. Astala, too, has developed an ability to see beauty wherever she goes. It serves them well, especially when their relationship is going through a rough patch, to remember what they like about each other and rediscover each other anew.

Lots of silly moments - And I mean lots of them. Poking each other, making jokes about other people (where other people can't hear them, obviously), pulling one on their kids, messing with the other Wardens, climbing a roof to sit on the rooftop, you name it. Their silly bones are very well developed, bless them 😌😌 Zevran swears it keeps them young, and he isn't wrong at all.

Kids come first - They had that talk before taking in Virel, Perinella and Carlo. The kids come first. If there's not enough food to go around, if they're being attacked and need to get to safety, if they're in mortal danger but the kids are in danger too, if they have an unexpected day off and are deciding what they should do, if work is getting busy, the kids go first. That is not to say that they don't take some of their free days and go out on a date. Or that they wouldn't do crazy, stupid, reckless things for each other if they were in danger. Or that work doesn't keep them tied to the table or out of the house for too long sometimes. But, on principle, the kids come first. If one of them is bleeding out on the floor and the other is with the kids, the other has to get the kids to safety. They promised each other that.

37. Who’s more emotionally sensitive/cries more often?

Astala, but they both have their days. Astala in general is more comfortable with expressing emotions like grief, sadness, exhaustion disappointment and frustration (even though she's not as free in that expression as she could be). Zevran, by his upbringing, keeps a tight lid on all of that. Tears might even make him uncomfortable at first if they manage to reach that soft part of his heart that he has tried and failed to harden. Astala tries not to cry in front of him at first, because she can sense his discomfort and also prefers to cry in private, but with time the holds on both their emotions ease.

I will say though, Zevran cries of happiness more often than Astala. Happiness gets overwhelming.

-

And that's the answers!! Kudos to you if you've taken the time to read through all of this XD XD XD XD It has become a bit longer than I thought, but that's what we're here for. More information!!

Hope you have a lovely day Plant!! Thank you for indulging me!! I love these two buggers so much

[heniareth]

Hello friendo :D :D :D :D :D I'm very late to the party I know, but if it's still on offer, I'd love to submit a couple of the one-word prompts for the beloveds???? For the consideration of you and Ilanlas (my beloved): 30- Decorate, and 36- Comfortable? And for you and Astala (also my beloved!): 37- Gold, and 59- Charming? Any, all, none, whatever floats that marvellous boat of yours! Hope you're going well, you brilliant individual, you! :D :D :D

Hello there!!! It's always a joy to see you around XD XD XD XD I finally have these ready. They resisted to be written, but that has less to do with the prompts and more with the fact that I'm recovering from an intense (good intense, but still intense) few weeks and thus very picky with my writing. I've finally gotten enough quiet to appreciate what I've written again. Sooooooo 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 Shall we go ahead?

---

36. Comfortable

"This is a good place for my office."

Mistress Woolsey blinked and looked around herself. "Commander, wouldn't it be easier to occupy one of the empty rooms in the keep? Why build a new building?"

"Not a new building." Ilanlas gestured at the painfully few trees dotted within the confines of the keep's innermost walls. "You said I needed an office. I want my office to be outside."

"Outside?" For all her control over her facial expressions, mistress Woolsey was looking at him as if he was asking for a trained dragon. "Forgive me, Commander, but that won't do."

Ilanlas crossed his arms. "Why not?"

"Well, first, you have neither a desk nor a chair."

"That is not a problem. Our Keepers make do without your desks or chairs," Ilanlas said.

"You will have to illustrate that point at another time, Commander, because I fail to imagine how you would replace a desk and chair for paperwork," mistress Woolsey remarked drily. "For now, consider the second point: where will you store your paperwork?"

"Inside," Ilanlas answered.

"And you will ferry it from here to whichever room you select every time you decide to work on it?"

Ilanlas stared straight into her eyes. "I will."

"And you will carry everything?" Mistress Woolsey insisted. "The ledgers? The ink? The quills? The candles, when you wish to work at night?"

"I will not work at night," Ilanlas said.

Mistress Woolsey gave him a look that, if it could speak, would have said something along the lines of "oh you poor naive soul". Such pity normally ticked him off. Now, however, if set off a swooping feeling of worry deep inside his gut.

"How much of this paperwork am I expected to do?"

"Not as much as the arlessa, that's for sure," Mistress Woolsey said. "But you will be in charge of keeping your Wardens fed, fit, armored and armed, well supplied and, most importantly, keep morale up and violence down. This will require trade agreements, careful management of resources, overseeing relations between all Wardens in Ferelden and the nobility. Not to mention the planning of expeditions, the delivery of the promised support to Orzammar, the coordination with Weisshaupt and Wardens from other countries, as well as the-"

Ilanlas felt his hands ball into fists. He turned abruptly and walked away.

"Commander, what-?"

"A moment."

Be it because of his words or his tone, Mistress Woolsey stayed where she was. Ilanlas stalked over to the trees, gathered a few sticks and started breaking them into pieces.

Trade agreements.

Snap!

Managing relations.

Snap!

Coordinating.

Snap!

Being locked behind four walls in a place full of shems while the wind was blowing and the sun shining and his clan was Fen'Harel knew not where.

Snap!

Would he ever step outside the Keep again?

When he had calmed down somewhat, he returned to where Mistress Woolsey was still standing.

"Commander, with all due respect," the mistress said. "What was that?"

"I was angry. Am angry," Ilanlas answered. "This helps."

"I see." Mistress Woolsey nodded once and adjusted some papers in the crook of her arm. "Well, if the mention of paperwork works you up into a rage-"

"I will not sit behind stone walls for the rest of my life," Ilanlas said rather loudly. "I refuse. I am a Grey Warden to kill darkspawn, I am of the Dalish and will not stow myself away in a shem fortress!"

Mistress Woolsey looked at him and said nothing for quite some time. Finally, when he did nothing but return her stare, she nodded.

"It is good to know that, Commander."

She fell silent once more, turning her eyes sideways and looking off into the distance as if thinking hard. Ilanlas's anger meanwhile was still simmering. But, dare he hope, it seemed to be slowly cooling off.

With a snap of her head, mistress Woolsey stepped out of her thoughts. "Follow me, if you would. There is a place indoors where you might still be comfortable."

And so it was that Ilanlas occupied what had once been a plant nursery built by arl Howe's wife. It had large windows facing the wilderness of a garden on one side and the sheer drop of the cliff on which the Vigil had been built on the other. He could easily fasten a rope to some heavy piece of furniture and explore the gulley below if the shems started to be too much. He had everything in one place but could be outside with just one step. He might even be able to paint something on the white caulked walls. It was by no means perfect, and yet it was much better than expected.

30. Decorate

It promised to be a hot day in the forests that surrounded Vigil's Keep. The air still bore a memory of the chill of night, but the snappiness of his cousin was a better indicator for the weather than even the clouds in the sky.

"Why do you not decorate the place alone if you know so much better than I?" Velanna snapped.

"Why do you not watch and learn, da'len?" Ilanlas answered.

Velanna narrowed his eyes at him. "Stop calling me a child! I am only younger than you because you were born before your due day."

That had been the comment that had prompted Ilanlas to send her packing. Now he was scouring the grove of fir trees alone.

After the siege of Vigil's Keep it had taken a week and a half for the united forces of the Wardens (which counted three mages and thus a lot of firepower) to clear the area of darkspawn corpses. And even so, roughly five months later, there was plantlife that showed signs of Blight sickness. Had Velanna still been with him, they would have burned it and moved on. Such as it was, he had to memorize the spots, return to the Keep, recruit Anders' help, and seek the infected areas out again by memory. He had until midday to accomplish this feat. The odds were slim, but he had to succeed. Nobody would contract the Blight by accident on his watch.

He was about to head back to the Keep, the sun a bit higher in the sky than he would have liked, when a branch snapped in the underbrush to his left. Ilanlas froze and lowered his hand to his quiver. He did not need to encounter a bear or a wild boar today.

"You can leave your arrows be," a voice called out of the forest--Velanna. A moment later she stepped out from behind a bush. "I have come to- to apologize."

Ilanlas raised his eyebrows.

"Do not give me that look," Velanna snapped.

"Well, forgive me for being surprised," Ilanlas shot back. "Have you hit your head?"

"You are-! Argh!" Velanna threw her hands up. "You are insufferable and I will not say it again!"

"Then why say it at all?" Ilanlas said.

Velanna ripped her staff from her back. "I do not know why I even bother. Now give me something to burn."

Wordlessly, Ilanlas pointed to a patch of dark, throny brambles.

They worked backwards through the infected areas Ilanlas had identified. Creators be thanked, the nearby stream ran crystal clear and unsullied. The clan would have clean water.

"Just so you know," Velanna said as they approached the edge of the forest, "I did not know this was such a sensitive topic for you. I would rather have thought it a credit to your strength. Not many prematurely born children survive for long."

Ilanlas scoffed. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Do you want to fight when the clan arrives?" Velanna said and stopped walking. "Because they will expect you to maintain your composure."

Ilanlas stopped as well and took a closer look at his cousin. "And you failed to live up to that expectation, I take it."

"That is none of your concern," Velanna said.

"If there is a problem between you and them, tell me," Ilanlas retorted. "I will be the one they will come to if there is conflict. And they are here on your behalf."

Velanna said nothing; a rare sight, and thus significant.

"Well?" Ilanlas asked and tilted his head to the side.

"I called for vengeance against the shems. They cast me out. And now-" Velanna looked through the trees towards the horizon. "-now I’m clan and sisterless."

Ilanlas followed his cousin’s gaze. On the path winding up to the Vigil, sparks of red were visible. The aravels were approaching.

Velanna snorted, and the laughter was only half bitter. She finally turned away from the horizon and the approaching clan. "Ma serannas, Commander."

"They cast you out and yet you asked for my help when you heard they were again having trouble with shems," he said.

Velanna nodded. Ilanlas decided that he would rather have her fight with him than look so downcast.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I would think that a credit to your magnanimous and forgiving nature."

"I am your cousin, after all," Ilanlas said and brushed the thanks aside. "Family should not abandon one another."

37. Gold

When Zevran had first left for Antiva, Astala had insisted on accompanying him right up to the ship in Amaranthine that would carry him away. It had been a silent journey and an even more silent wait for the ship’s crew to finish loading up for the trip. The sea had been rough, the wind quick and sharp. It had chased a myriad tiny clouds over the sky, spinning the sunlight into an erratic dance as it tinted Zevran's hair the color of gold. They had stood side by side, hand in hand, and had watched the hustle and bustle that had filled the docks at such an early hour. The sounds of the sailors, the seagulls and the sea had reached Astala’s ears but not her mind. She only remembered them muffled. How different was that moment to this one.

She was standing in the same spot, rain pouring over her heavy cloak. She had found a corner that the wind didn’t blow into, thankfully, or she would’ve had to abandon the docks altogether. Things being as they were, she let the water slide off her best it could, didn’t mind her damp hair and held onto the hood of her cloak with both hands.

"They might’ve been delaid." Carrel, who had come along for protection and, Astala suspected, to keep her from jumping into the ocean and swimming out to meet the ship, squinted up at the clouds. "Remember when we worked at the docks? Ships got delayed by storms all the time."

"I know," Astala answered. "And we got drenched with rainwater. But now we have cloaks!"

"Still does you no good if you get a cold, Tabris."

"I never got a cold when we waited for ships," Astala protested.

Carrel threw her a disbelieving look from under his heavy hood. "First, that’s not true. You just coughed and sneezed your way through work. Second, you’re no longer eighteen. Or even twenty-three. "

Astala sighed in defeat and turned back to stare at the horizon. Or what passed for the horizon behind the clouds, the rain and the spray of sea water.

"Ship’s gonna make it, though, right?" she asked quietly.

Carrel stepped a bit closer and bumped his shoulder with hers with extreme care. "They don’t make ships to sink."

That got a snort out of Astala. "Or captains to drown."

"That’s it. And besides, Zevran has luck for two. Or ten, even. You’d think he’s been fed good fortune as a kid."

"He does get out of the most twisted situations unscathed." Astala smiled to herself. "Did he tell you about that time a fortune teller told him he wouldn’t die young?"

"It’s good then that you’re both still in the prime of youth," Carrel remarked drily.

"Hey!" Astala sacrificed her right hand to the rain as she smacked Carrel on the arm. "Thirty-two is hardly old."

"Life expectancy in an Alienage stands at about thrity-five years of age on average," Carrel said, pitching his voice high so that it almost reached an alto range before switching back to his normal deep tone. "According to Olanne, anyways. And then she’d tell you that it was mostly kids that died very young that brought the average down."

"And the occasional purge," Astala added. "Sweet Lady, I miss Olanne and her advanced mathematics."

"Me too," Carrel said, quietly. Then he straightened and readjusted his grip on the pommel of his sword. "I do not miss the purges, however."

"Same here, my friend," Astala said. "Same here."

Silence descended on them as they waited on in the rain. Today, nobody spared Astala so much as a second glance. In the terrible weather, she stopped being recognizable as the arlessa, stopped even drawing attention as an elf in expensive clothing, and just faded into the background of the city. It was a nice change of pace.

"Did I ever thank you for coming with me to Amaranthine?" Astala asked.

Carrel let out a low chuckle. "Of all the things you could've thanked me for, Tabris, coming to Amaranthine is not the thing that cost me the most."

"Well." Astala tilted her head to the side. "You did have to leave your family."

"My dad's golden-- thanks to you and your mage friend--and my mom and brother are doing good. I would've had to leave anyways to get married." Carrel gave her a grin. "So, I get to stay with what friends I have left, I get to travel and do some good, and I get paid more than enough to send money back home at the end of the day. Really, the one who should be thanking you is me."

"Not entirely," Astala said. "Because all this time-"

"And," Carrel quickly added with a laugh, "I can make fun of you when you get all lovey-dovey with that husband of yours."

Astala set out to answer when a dark shape in the horizon caught her eye.

"Flaming Andraste!" She first walked, then ran out of their shelter into the rain, straight to the edge of the dock.

"Tabris-! Maker's Balls."

Her cloak billowed around her in the wind before she could catch its ends and pull them together. Fine sea spray and rain made it hard to see. The ship was nothing but a dark smudge on the horizon. Carrel appeared next to her.

"Getting even more wet won't bring that ship in faster," he grumbled.

"Just help me look," Astala answered. "Is it them? Can you see anything?"

Carrel squinted at the dark shape slowly coming closer, dancing on the waves like a broken kite in the wind. Astala knew perfectly well that the ship was still too far away, and yet disappointment and imaptience nestled into her chest when he shook his head.

She didn't move until the ship drew into port and they had to make way for the dockhands. Then she almost threw everything aside to help them pull the ship in and tie it up. That would have been a sight: the arlessa of Amaranthine busting out her rusted skills as a former dockhand to be reunited with her husband a bit faster. Because this was the ship Zevran had boarded to Ferelden. If only she had spotted him already. But there were more people around her now, and even more approaching, all waiting for the passengers or goods the ship had ferried across the ocean. Astala had to stand up on her tiptoes when a cloaked but obviously human figure stepped right in front of her.

Then she saw somebody exit the ship and a flash of gold shining out from under their hood.

Astala surged forward. Nevermind the crowd, she had one objective and that lay before her. There were some shouts and yelps as she rushed past. She didn't have more than a quick 'sorry' for them, and then she had already reached the front.

A shem sailor, a woman with a large golden earring swinging back and forth and thus flashing out from under her rain-drenched hood, gave her a strange look.

Then-

"Amore!"

She couldn't see him, not yet, not with the crowd of people leaving the ship. But she did hear the shouts and yells his hurry was leaving in his wake, did see people stepping aside or stopping abruptly. Then finally he came forth out of the mass of cloaked and hooded figures: hair bleached wheat-white by the Antivan sun, sticking to his forehead with the rain, contrasting strongly with his darkened skin, his pack over his shoulder, eagerness in his step, running towards her. Astala opened her arms and let the rain soak through the fabric of her sleeves.

"Welcome home, love," Astala whispered back and tightened her grip on him.

He dropped his pack onto the ground right before they collided, arms slung around each other with no regard to the rivulets of rainwater running down their cloaks. Astala closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of Antivan leather, mild flowery notes and something she could never name but which was an unmistakable part of Zevran. Zevran buried his face, cold and wet from the weather, in the crook of her neck and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Por fin," she heard him whisper to himself, voice muffled by the thick fabric of her cloak. "Por fin, por fin."

Never had there been a better moment than right here, right now, with the rain pouring down on them and grumpy passengers passing them by left and right. Finally, Zevran had returned, and this time he had come to stay.

59. Charming

“Arlessa, do you have a moment?”

Nathaniel tried and failed to hold the mage back. Already, Anders was marching over to the arlessa, the papers with the Maker-damned list clutched in his hand and an equally determined Sigrun close behind. When Nathaniel looked to Velanna for help, she had already rolled her eyes and was following the duo at a small distance. The arlessa wrapped up her conversation with seneschal Varel far too quickly for him to do anything but hurry after Anders and then turned towards the group.

“What is it?” she asked, smiling and entirely oblivious to what awaited her.

Last chance!

“It’s nothing you need to be troubled with.” Nathaniel physically interposed himself between her and Sigrun and grabbed Anders by the collar. “They just-”

“-had an idea!” Sigrun said and weaseled past him. “A good one, too! We made a list and everything.”

“See, we’re… a bit concerned that you’ve been stood up,” Anders said.

“Because that boyfriend of yours never writes even though you write him thousands of letters,” Sigrun continued.

“So I, with Sigrun’s help and Velanna’s input on elven customs, have adapted the Circle’s tried and true method for getting over bad relationships.” Anders waved his list around. “You need to get to know new people.”

The arlessa raised her eyebrows until they disappeared below her fringe. Nathaniel meanwhile wished for the earth to open and swallow him whole.

“Arlessa,” he said, almost pleadingly so, “believe me, I tried to put an end to this-”

“Oh, it’s alright,” the arlessa said. Something about her smile was a tad bit unsettling. Not necessarily malevolent, just… knowing. “I’m curious now. Explain this method to me.”

“Well.” Anders didn’t even bother hiding the way his chest puffed up as he leafed through his papers and delicately cleared his throat. “The idea is quite simple, really. You set yourself a quota, and with your schedule I wouldn’t recommend more than one conversation per day, and you set up a list of eligible candidates.”

“That was the hardest part,” Sigrun chimed in. “This place isn’t exactly full of what one would call charming young men.”

“Which is also why my cousin is on the list,” Velanna remarked drily. “But you may strike him out. You deserve better.”

“Not to mention that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of chemistry between you and you’ve known each other for long enough,” Sigrun said.

“Once you have your quota and your candidates, you go through the list. Three is the magic number recommended here; three conversations before you move on to the next candidate.”

Anders handed the arlessa the sheet of paper. The arlessa actually set out to read it. Why Nathaniel hadn’t walked away yet was beyond him, but it was probably some kind of morbid curiosity. The whole situation was like watching a tower slowly crumble in upon itself while the guard still stood on top.

“Blond man, elven, tattoo, name unknown,” the arlessa suddenly read out loud. She gave Anders and Sigrun a questioning look. “Who do you mean?”

“This is actually who we recommend you talk to first,” Anders said with all the self-importance of a coach.

“He must have arrived sometime around last night,” Velanna said. “And he seems to know my cousin rather well, although he is not Dalish. I last saw them talking in my cousin’s office.”

“Wait, no.” Sigrun tapped against Velanna’s arm. “He’s over there.”

She pointed at the entrance to the training grounds, framed by wooden walls and with the main building of the Vigil in the background. The man in question had just walked in, immersed in an animated conversation with the Warden-Commander. He was dressed in simple but well-fitting trousers and a white linen shirt. To his companions’ credit, the man was exceedingly handsome, with brown skin and shoulder-length blond hair. There was indeed some sort of a black tattoo curled around the left side of his face. Briefly, Nathaniel asked himself how the Warden-Commander had come to know this man. Then he wondered how the fellow had gotten into the Keep in the middle of the night, and then the conversation was already picking up again and he forgot all about possible security breaches.

“He’s handsome, isn’t he?” Sigrun asked the arlessa with a conspiratory smile. “I’ve listened in on the conversation and he seems funny as well.”

“We don’t know how long he’ll be staying,” Anders added. “Better shoot your shot while the target’s still in sight, I’d say.”

“He is one of the only elvhen on the list,” Velanna helpfully supplied.

The arlessa gave the man, who seemed completely unaware of the machinations targeting him, a slow once-over. A small smile formed at the corners of her lips and her gaze softened. Sigrun nudged Anders in the ribs and mouthed it’s working!

Nathaniel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was far too early for all of this.

“And you don’t know how long he will stay?” the arlessa asked and turned around again.

Sigrun emphatically shook her head. “Just go for it! It’s worth a try and if he’s the Warden-Commander’s friend, he’s probably a decent fellow.”

“A fellow who writes regularly, at the very least,” Anders added.

The arlessa’s smile again had that knowing quality. Nathaniel frowned. Something was going on.

“Alright,” the arlessa said.

Nathaniel blinked in surprise.

“It’s not like I’d lose anything by trying, right?”

“That’s it,” Anders said. “You have nothing to worry about! We’ll keep watch so that everything goes right.”

“And to make sure nobody disturbs you,” Sigrun said.

The arlessa laughed. “How lucky I am to have such friends. Try not to gawk too much.”

Anders and Sigrun looked at each other.

“Gawk?”

“Arlessa! We would never!”

“It’s all right,” the arlessa said, still smiling brightly. “Enjoy the show.”

And she left. With a wink to Nathaniel.

Andraste’s burning britches, now he was going to stay and watch until the end.

The arlessa made her way over to the Warden-Commander and the unknown man. Lo and behold, the stranger perked up immediately when he saw her. Strange, really.

“Damn, he’s handsome,” Anders muttered.

“This is for the good of the arlessa,” Sigrun said. “If it doesn’t work out for her you get a try.”

“A man might dare to hope,” Anders sighed. “Have you seen that smile?”

“I have,” Sigrun giggled. “We definitely made the right choice.”

“What is going on here?”

The slight smell of rot should’ve warned him. Nathaniel turned towards the approaching Justice and gestured helplessly towards Anders and Sigrun.

“They were left without supervision.”

Justice fixated him with cold, dead eyes. “Are you not supervision enough?”

Nathaniel’s reply was cut short by an ‘oooooh, look!’ from Sigrun. He turned back towards the arlessa just in time to see the stranger straighten after bowing and—presumably—kissing the arlessa’s hand.

“Maybe it’s better for them to be together,” Anders told Sigrun. “There’s definitely something there already.”

“Yeah…” The trail of Sigrun’s voice was tinted with sudden doubt. “It’s almost like they- oh!”

Velanna let out a loud Dalish curse.

Over at the entrance to the training grounds, right in front of the Warden-Commander and the whole world, the stranger had leaned in and kissed the arlessa. And, from the sight of it, the alressa was kissing him back. Enthusiastically so.

“Wow,” Sigrun said. “That- that was quick.”

“Not how this was supposed to go,” Anders agreed.

“I had never taken the arlessa for a cheat,” Velanna muttered.

Behind the kissing couple, the Warden-Commander noticed the group staring at the arlessa, made a motion as if he was gagging and left the pair alone.

“I am confused,” Justice admitted.

“You’re not the only one,” Sigrun said.

The arlessa and the stranger broke apart, all smiles and tenderness. He said something to her, to which she responded with a laugh, and then they were approaching, walking hand in hand.

“Uh-oh,” Anders made. “This is going to be awkward.”

The tension amidst the group was palpable; everybody wanted to leave, but nobody did. In a refreshing change of pace, Nathaniel was the only one more intrigued than befuddled and bewildered, and thus awaited the approach of the couple with relative calm and the anticipation of one who watches somebody else get duped.

“You were right,” the arlessa said as soon as she got within speaking distance. Her smile was bright enough to dazzle the sun. “This was a very good idea. You guys have excellent taste.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Velanna asked harshly before Anders could step in.

“Maybe there was a slight confusion-”

“A confusion indeed,” the stranger said and laughed. “I think introductions are in order, my love.”

Nathaniel could only do so much to suppress a laugh. The rest of the group—sans Justice, who was probably still trying to decipher what was going on—stared at the man in shocked silence.

“Friends and co-conspirators,” the arlessa said and gestured to her companion with her free hand, “allow me to introduce Zevran Arainai: my husband.”

---

Aaaand there you go! This is almost payback for the lovely chapter you uploaded yesterday. I hope you enjoy some Awakening snapshots ^^ Astala's prompts are not necessarily in chronological order, because eight years is a lot of time and I imagine Zevran would drop by Amaranthine on occasion to visit, and there the Awakening companions would get to know him. It's also funny that you sent Gold in as a prompt, because now with all the back and forth I did on that one I already have an idea on what to post for the Gold prompt in the Zevwarden week (it also fits the Culture prompt, so I might post it for that instead. Either way it's a cool idea and I'm excited XD ). Take as long as you want with these, I sure know I did XD And have a lovely day!

[wild-houseplant]

couldn’t resist mate, you put a snippet in my head, sorry!!

In the doorway to Astala’s room, Shianni pauses and folds her arms. She watches on as her cousin’s feet and cane wear tracks into the protesting floorboards.

“I’m having a hard time believing you when you say you’re not nervous,” she remarks with contrived off-handedness.

Astala pauses long enough to raise an eyebrow. “Why would I be? No shems in the house, and Zev’s in the next room. I’d hear if someone came in through the door or window.”

“… Right. The fact that you said all that makes it clear you are carefree and haven’t given a thought to any of what you just mentioned.”

Her cousin shrugs. “What can I say? I like to be practical.”

Shianni fights the urge to roll her eyes. “Uh-huh. You like to walk back and forth while you’re being practical, too, don’t you?”

“Got it in one.”

“Riiight. Well, remember to shout if you get stuck in the hole you’re wearing into the floor, and I’ll fish you out before the Revered Mother arrives.”

Astala snorts, hobbling a little quicker. “How charitable of you.”

She takes a leaf out of her cousin’s book and shrugs. “What can I say? I’m that kind of person.”

Her witticisms are frustratingly unassuaging, and her hip-flask is empty. With a wave to Astala, Shianni excuses herself and darts into Cyrion’s room, where Zevran is perched on the end of her uncle’s bed, gripping the threadbare quilt with white knuckles. His smile looks like he bought it from a swindler.

Cyrion sits beside him as close as he dares. One spindleshank arm is out administering ineffectual, friendly pats to the groom’s back. They both look up as Shianni clears her throat, and she considers it invitation enough to march inside.

“I need to borrow Zevran, Uncle,” Shianni says simply.

Zevran’s on his feet before Cyrion can finish nudging him into action, and when she’s got the younger man out of there, she deposits him into her cousin’s room.

“I–Shianni?” Astala finally comes to a stop, holding a hand out to Zevran. He almost stumbles over himself to go to her. Their fingers lace together with remarkable ease, and the visible calm that comes over the both of them releases a breath Shianni didn’t know she was holding.

“Stay there, both of you,” she instructs, resisting the urge to tease their affection. “I need to get something.”

They frown, first at each other, and then at her. She offers no explanation, turning on her heel and striding into the kitchen.

Her work boots sit beside the dining table, precisely where her uncle exhaustedly beseeches her not to leave them, and she makes quick work of removing the laces and tying the ends together. With one long piece of leather, she smiles smugly to herself and makes her way back.

She can hear the murmured conversation from ten paces away, and when she turns the corner, Shianni catches them in the middle of all manner of tooth-rotting sweetness. She runs her tongue over her teeth for posterity and strides in. “Right, hands out.”

Astala’s go out first, cupped as if to receive something. Shianni tsks jokingly.

“Not like that, you fool. I’m not giving you any more presents. No, take each other’s hand and then hold it out to me. Yes, like that. Now hold still…”

“Shianni, we’re not even meant to be seeing each other before the wedding,” Astala protests weakly. “It’s bad luck.”

“Watching you two fret and stalk like a pair of stressed chickens is even worse luck for me, I promise you,” Shianni assures them crisply, looping the shoelace around their hands and wrist and tying it off. “Think of it as being for the greater good. You always were great at putting others first.” She smirks. “’Sides, don’t you feel better now?”

Zevran’s eyes dart down to their bound hands, and then over to Astala, whose own face has fallen into a suspicious squint. A wicked grin breaks out over his face, and he sidles a little closer to her.

“Oh, I am feeling the very best at the moment,” he purrs. In her periphery, Shianni catches Zevran’s fingers stroking Astala’s hand, and her cousin’s face goes brick red.

“Right,” she declares, not waiting for an answer. “I think my work here is done. If you’ll excuse me, I have to see someone about a cake…”

HELLO HI I was meant to be answering your @s but I saw this and veered straight into ya ask box x) SO! For Astalaaaaaaaa beloved Astaaaalaaaaaa can I ask for 15, 18, 27, 29, and 31??? 8D

Hi hello!!!!!!!! :D :D :D You can't see me bc I'm behind a screen but I'm waving like crazy!!!!!! Let's go get those asks!! (They're beautiful) But first we got a cut. It got long again U_U It also gets a heavy on the first question with Zevran's self-image (warning for extremely low opinion of himself)

Weiterlesen

[heniareth]

!!!!!!!! ASK??? INTERVIEWING THE BELOVEDS?????? Oh! OH!!!!!! QUESTIONS FOR THE BELOVEDS! QUESTIONS FOR THE BELOVEDS UNTIL I COLLAPSE (if the Lord lets me see it that will be approximately One Thousand Years)

For Astala (MY BELOVED!!!) if I may: 8. What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up? 17. What makes you laugh? and 25. (freebie) Do you have a favourite celebration? And for Ilanlas (ALSO MY BELOVED!!!) I'd like to request: 5. What's your favourite thing to do in your free time? 18. What's the best way to cheer you up? and 21. Describe your ideal partner Naturally, only answer what you feel like, if anything. I send my best wishes for a gorgeous day and about twelve crates of ripe plums (do you and Ilanlas like plums? I can supply other goodies as needed)

<3 <3 <3

"Plant! Hey there!" Astala grins and waves at you. "Come on over, have a seat."

Ilanlas greets you with a nod. "It is good to see you. We heard you had ques-"

"Oh look! Plums!" Astala hauls up a whole crate (without crouching down) and throws you a delighted grin. "You are the best, Plant!"

"Like I said," Ilanlas starts again, "we heard you had questions. Seeing that Tabris is currently occupied-"

"I'm showing Plant's very generous gift the attention it deserves," Astala says, tosses one plum over to Ilanlas and offers you one too.

"I am sure you are," Ilanlas says. "Nevertheless, I think I will start answering."

"Sounds good." Astala bites with gusto into her plum. "Maker's Breath, where did you get these? They're delicious!"

"Anyways," Ilanlas says, "the questions."

5. What's your favorite thing to do in your free time?

"Ah, yes. Free time. It is a very... how do I explain this?"

Ilanlas falls silent for a second and thinks.

"There is never nothing to do in a clan. Work has no set start or end save for that you set yourself. In a way, work is life."

From where she's sitting, the second plum in her hand, Astala wrinkles her nose. "That sounds like terrible drudgery."

Ilanlas shrugs. "Not for me."

"Of course not, you like your job." Astala takes another bite of her plum, then lowers her hand and looks off into the distance. "Huh."

"My point is that I have not really had to worry about free time," Ilanlas continues. "When I was out on the hunt, I had to focus, of course; other than that I was free to do whatever, whenever, wherever... So long as things got done, of course. I suppose that is what you mean by ‘free time’, right?"

"You sound like you’ve never had real free time," Astala says and laughs. "Don't you have that in the clans?"

"Maybe we do not," Ilanlas shoots back. "We Dalish have no ‘bound' time since we are not bound to anybody. Why would we have need for ‘free’ time?"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Astala lifts her hands in surrender. "Free time is another city thing. But, just so you can answer Plant’s question, what do you do when there’s no work to be done? Say everyone’s asleep. What do you do just because you like doing it?"

Ilanlas thinks for a second, then hesitantly pulls a small wooden figure out of his pouch. It’s clearly a stick, although it has been carved into shape, with four legs, a head and two stumps on its head that look like horns. It is painted bright red.

"I like to carve," Ilanlas says and sets the figurine down on the ground in front of him. "It is... fun. Not as fun as fooling around with my friends, but they are not here." He waves his hand through the air as if to brush the matter aside. "Let us move on, shall we?"

18. What is the best way to cheer you up?

"Set me a challenge." Ilanlas straightens up with an eager glint in his eye. "When I beat it, I will feel much better."

"When you beat it?" Astala snickers. "Now that’s highly mighty."

Ilanlas turns his nose up at her. "Go back to eating plums."

"I could challenge you to a plum eating contest if you want," Astala says as she selects her next target.

"No thank you. I know my odds." Ilanlas very deliberately turns so that he’s only looking at you. "Back to your question, Plant; a challenge will do the trick. It takes my mind off of whatever has been bothering me. I do, however, not appreciate it when people try to distract me immediately. I need some time. But I am sure you have already noticed that. You are an observant one."

He takes a deep breath. "Ar suledin nadas. Let us move on to the last question."

21. Describe your ideal partner 

"Fenedhis lasa, I have to ask: is this necessary?" Ilanlas pinches the bridge of his nose.

Astala adds the core of the fourth plum to the growing pile and leans forward. "I'm very sure Plant would be okay with you not answering."

"No, I will answer," Ilanlas says grimly.

"You literally don’t have to."

"No, no, I must." He looks up to the sky and sighs heavily. “Well... Let me preface this by saying that I have never given this topic much thought. Very few people have caught my attention in... that way." His ears grow slightly redder as he adds. "Those who have, however, have left behind an intense impression. Tamlen was not one of those people, by the way. He w- is my best friend, as much as others might have assumed otherwise."

He stares at the dirt at his feet for a while. "If I ever were to pick somebody to bond with, I would look for a person who was patient and level-headed, but who would also know how to have fun. Ashalle always said we should all look for somebody who would compliment us. Most of the Creators come in pairs: Elgar'nan and Mythal, Dirthamen and Falon'din, Ghilan'nain and Andruil, June and Sylaise. Only the Dread Wolf walks alone, and he is accursed. I suppose that means that I would do well to search for somebody similar to Mythal. Justice and Vengeance are not so different as to reject each other, but not so alike that they feed each others' flames to the point of destruction."

"You don't sound very happy with that last bit," Astala interrupts. She has a half-eaten plum in her hand (the fifth) and is observing Ilanlas with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I have never been very good at settling down," Ilanlas says and shrugs. "Nor at satisfying expectations. Right now, I do not care about these things. I am bound to the Grey Wardens. That is my place."

"Well..." Astala finishes the rest of her plum and adds the core to her pile. She seems to want to say something more, but in the end, she shrugs. "You know that better than I do, for sure. So, is it my turn?"

Ilanlas gestures for her to take the stage and finally takes a bite out of the plum Astala had given him at the start of the conversation.

8. What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?

"Hm." Astala cleans her hand on the grass as her gaze becomes distant. It lingers on the horizon for a while until it snaps back to you, as if she is pulling herself back into the present moment. "I could tell you about the day my mother disappeared, because that's absolutely what had the biggest impact on me. I don't feel like opening that can of worms today, however, and you've already heard the story. So." She leans forward and grabs another plum out of the crate, throws it into the air and catches it in her other hand. "How about I tell you the story behind my love for plums?"

"The winter after my mother disappeared was very rough, the roughest one I remember. There was a cough going around the Alienage and killing people. My father got sick and Shianni as well, and Soris and I cared for them until they got better. Once they did, I got sick."

Astala is once again looking somewhere into the far-off distance. The plum, round and dark and ripe to bursting, is still sitting in her hand.

"I don't remember much, except that everything hurt and I was hot and cold at the same time. But because my father had been sick before me, he had been unable to work. I'd spent what money we had and then some on food and a little bit of medicine, and now that I was sick there was... well, we didn't have food."

She flashes you a quick look and shrugs. "I survived, as you can see, and I'm okay. I don't know how my father managed to provide for us between the grief and the remants of the cough. He still has it, sometimes. But I remember bitterly crying because I was so hungry and everything hurt. When he tried to comfort me, his arms were way too thin. He asked me: if there was one kind of food I would wish for right now, what would it be? I wanted to say plum tarts, but those seemed so out of reach that I settled for plums." She laughs quietly to herself. "Plums in winter, am I right?"

"Anyways, the next day my father came home from work--he worked for Bann Rodolf at the time--and he was a nervous wreck. Constantly looking over his shoulder. So he sits down next to me and unfolds his handkerchief and inside it are five plums. Five whole plums in the middle of winter! He told me later that bann Rodolf had had them imported from somewhere, that they had been terribly expensive and that he'd just... taken them. This was the only time that I know of that my father stole something."

She takes a bite out of her plum and chews slowly.

"A couple of days after that was Satinalia and the bann allowed him to take home some of the leftovers from the feast they'd had at his estate. We got meat and everything and things got better from that point on. But it all started with those five plums that my father stole for me." She grins. "It's a nicer story than that of my mother, isn't it?"

17. What makes you laugh?

"There are lots of things that make me laugh-"

"Now that is true," Ilanlas mutters into his plum.

"It is! -so I’m... not really sure what to single out here," Astala continues. "I mean, I like really bad puns. The worse, the better. Rascal is very silly sometimes and makes me laugh a lot as well, especially when he's doing things like jump around trying to catch a butterfly. He makes the dumbest faces." She chuckles briefly. "And Leliana and Zevran put on a show at camp a few nights ago, some kind of extremely dramatic Orlesian play. I think it was supposed to be a tragedy, but they played it for laughs and they did really well. My stomach hurt from how much I was laughing!"

"To be fair, Tabris, you find everything Zevran says funny," Ilanlas says.

Astala frowns at him. "I don’t! I don’t laugh when we’re talking about murder."

"But you laugh about everything else."

"Well." Astala crosses her arms. "He is a very funny guy."

Ilanlas smiles a knowing smile. "Of course, that must be it."

"It is," Astala insists. She looks positively flustered by now and turns to you with an almost pleading look. "Next question?"

25. Do you have a favorite celebration?

"Okay, no, but this is not an easy question. Here’s the thing." Astala straightens her posture and lifts her hands to illustrate her point. "On one hand, First Day is the best. It’s a sorely needed bright light in the middle of the dark winter, there’s chicken and the rest of the food is also amazing, the ceremony is beautiful and when it’s possible we even get visits or travel to other cities to visit family. Not that I have ever traveled anywhere, I don’t know any of my mother’s folks. But on the other hand, it’s freezing cold during that time and Summerday exists. And Summerday is the most cheerful day of the year: it’s warm, we dance until the stars themselves set, there's lots of booze, lots of games... It’s amazing. Around that time we also celebrate most weddings. So, between those two..."

She thinks to herself for a while, then nods. "Between those two, I think I’d have to pick Summerday, as much as I love First Day. Nothing beats a celebration in summer."

"Keeper Marethari would find that very telling," Ilanlas says.

"How so?"

He shrugs. "Something about the prevalence of the outer world over the dreamt and hoped for world. I cannot replicate it, I am not the Keeper."

"Hm." Astala absentmindedly wipes her hands off on her trousers. "Valendrian wouldn't say much, to be honest, except maybe that Summerday is also a day of community and family and whatnot."

She nods quietly to herself, then turns abruptly to Ilanlas. "Hey, did I talk too much during your questions? I have the feeling I was interrupting you a lot more than you were interrupting me, so sorry about that. I just noticed now."

"I did not mind," Ilanlas says and shrugs. "I do not talk much."

Astala tilts her head at him. "Maybe you would talk more if I talked less? Maybe I'm talking over you?"

"No. I think I talked more than I would normally because you prod me with questions," Ilanlas answers. He starts turning his carved deer this way and that, observing it intently. "Don't let it get to your head, Tabris. The fact that you helped me during this interview-"

"I helped you? Aw, thank you for letting me know." Astala has a big grin on her face. "If you go on like that you'll turn into a big softie by the time we've dealt with the Archdemon."

Ilanlas throws her such a shocked look that Astala breaks out into loud laughter. Ilanlas stares at her for a few seconds before he shakes his head and turns back to you.

"Will you stay for dinner? I should be heading back to camp to start preparing the meat, anyways."

"Oh, please stay! It'll be so much fun. We can put some plums into the fire too!" Astala says, jumps up, and lifts the nearest crate of plums onto her shoulders.

Ilanlas shakes his head. "Not everything good must contain plums, Tabris. Let meat be meat."

"No, no, trust me," Astala says. "I have a hunch. Just you see, it's gonna be amazing."

"As you say," Ilanlas sighs. "I will save you one piece of meat to experiment with."

He turns to you and nods towards the distant glow of the campfire, from where the faint noises of chatter and of a barking dog travel over to you on the evening breeze.

"Ready when you are, lethallan."

---

TRANSLATIONS

Ar suledin nadas: Now I must suffer.

Fenedhis lasa: A common curse (exact meaning unknown).

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(Did I write a self-insert story here? Maybe so. I hope you enjoyed it ^^)