#Brosca Aeducan or Cadash** I mean

[a-gay-bloodmage]

An ABGInk 2024 Fanfiction Announcement!

Hello, folks! I’d like to announce that, yes, I’m going to be doing Inktober again! After five long years! I’m using the official Inktober prompt list, which I had been hesitant about, but I think I’ve got a solid bunch of pieces planned and a bunch already finished. Throughout the month, I’ll have works from all three Dragon Age games, and works on a wide array of my Wardens and Inquisitors. 

Beneath the Read More, I’ve attached a list of the prompts and a small summary of what the fic is going to be about. I would love it if you gave it a read to see if anything sounds interesting! My goal is to get everything posted to Archive of Our Own on their assigned days with a tumblr post that links to the AO3 version. I’ll probably also be reblogging things the next morning in case anyone missed it the evening before! I really hope that you all enjoy my work. Likes and comments and reblogs mean the world to me! 

Here are some links to a post about my Wardens and my Inquisitors! 

Day 1: Backpack 

At the start of her journey with Alistair and Morrigan, Gemma Brosca is forced to learn how big things like backpacks are in the human world. It is unfair. And adorable. 

Day 2: Discover

Still reeling from the events of her botched wedding, Faelyn Tabris discovers what the world beyond the Alienage is like. 

Day 3: Boots 

Zevran doesn’t understand how Redren is so content to live his life barefoot. Redren doesn’t understand why Zevran really wants a pair of Antivan leather boots. 

Day 4: Exotic 

The mage-Warden, Redren, is a strange, foreign breed. Zevran can’t get a good read on him. He hopes things about the pale, exotic Warden will make sense in time. 

Day 5: Binoculars 

Cassandra doesn’t understand the strange, foreign words that Ozol Adaar and the Iron Bull use. The Inquisitor is supposed to be the Herald of Andraste, and all this Qunlat and Qunari technology like “binoculars” should be unacceptable. 

Day 6: Trek 

The Iron Bull is surprised at how capable the soft-stomached Inquisitor, Ademamar Cadash, is at going on long hikes. Ade does his best to explain his childhood of the treks from home to home without giving away too much about the reality of the casteless. 

Day 7: Passport 

On their way to Kirkwall, Anders and Justice try to comprehend what it means to be leaving Amaranthine with the Commander’s blessing and a forged passport. Homesickness is a new and uncomfortable feeling. 

Day 8: Hike 

Andrea Cousland is the Arl’s daughter. She’s not supposed to be hiking around the muddy Ferelden countryside like a common soldier. On their way to Orzammar, Alistair asks one too many questions. 

Day 9: Sun 

Duncan has saved Gemma Brosca from a death sentence, and is escorting her to the surface. He may have forgotten to warn the poor girl about the sun. 

Day 10: Nomadic 

Of course the Vint would have some stupid questions about the difference between Skyhold and the nomadic lifestyle the Dalish lead. Aelon Lavellan does his best to answer him while also trying to focus on helping Blackwall ready the stables. 

Day 11: Snacks 

Justice does not approve of how Anders is neglecting the nutritional requirements of their shared body. The Commander and Alistair always told the Wardens that they needed three square meals and snacks every day. He needs this to be fixed. 

Day 12: Remote 

As Orest Mahariel and Morrigan look for the best place for her to give birth, they talk about how they’re going to raise their baby. Even if the child will look human, Orest doesn’t want to deny the child a chance to grow up with a connection to elven culture. 

Day 13: Horizon 

At Ostagar, Hundir Aeducan finally gets a moment to stop and stare at the horizon. The Surface is seemingly an infinite sprawl of greenery. It’s a struggle not to be amazed. 

Day 14: Roam 

Alistair really wants to get to know his fellow Warden. Redren wishes to remain a mystery. After a bit of pestering, Alistair gets the mage to talk about his life roaming the Wilds after escaping from the Circle. 

Day 15: Guidebook 

Kiora Trevelyan is, on the surface, a very by-the-book Circle mage. After the rebellion, however, she struggles to adjust. Trying to lead the Inquisition without a guidebook is a struggle, and Sera isn’t exactly the most sympathetic friend. 

Day 16: Grungy 

Before they leave Lothering, Leliana insists that Gemma Brosca take advantage of the modest baths in the Chantry. She learns, quickly, that the grungy little girl has never had the privilege of taking a proper bath before. 

Day 17: Journal 

While in the Brecilian forest, the party stumbles upon a small, abandoned camp. Redren recognizes it as one of his own, and has to scramble to hide the journal that was left behind when he was made into a Warden. 

Day 18: Drive 

After returning to Orzammar, crowning his brother, and being spat back out, Hundir Aeducan is driven to the brink of madness. And cutting off his beard. 

Day 19: Ridge 

Still relatively new to the group, Zevran accepts Redren’s offer to join him in his tent. For just a plain massage. Zevran uses his time to study the ridges of the mage’s pale, thin form and wonder at what’s below the surface. 

Day 20: Uncharted 

Still reeling from their joining, Anders and Justice try to navigate the uncharted waters of being two people in one body. There's no going back. But is there even a desire to?

Day 21: Bronto 

Gemma Brosca grew up in Dust Town. As a result, her vocabulary is a little different from a Surfacer’s. To distract Alistair from his woes over Eamon’s illness, Gemma teaches him some dwarven slang. 

Day 22: Camp 

Sticking to his plan to keep dressing like a woman after being caught in the Conclave in his feminine attire sounded like a great idea at the time. Now, stuck out in a camp in the middle of the woods, Mallory Trevelyan is realizing just how tough it’s going to be. 

Day 23: Rust 

Joining the Wardens was a no-brainer for Gemma Brosca. Her life was one massive perk, and so was getting her first set of weapons that didn’t have any rust on them. 

Day 24: Expedition 

Most of his life, Hundir Aeducan wasn’t afraid of the dark. He was a dwarf, after all. But now, forced to go on an expedition into the Deep Roads to find a probably-dead Paragon, he’s forced to confront the fact that he’s not as put-together as he pretends to be. 

Day 25: Scarecrow 

There are rabbits getting into the small garden in the Skyhold courtyard. This is unacceptable. Thom Rainier, still living under the alias of the Warden Blackwall, watches as the Inquisitor, Aelon Lavellan, rigs up a scarecrow full of gears and runes. 

Day 26: Painting 

Mallory Trevelyan gets his official portrait painted as the Inquisitor Mallie. While the painting is undeniably beautiful, it doesn’t look like him. He reflects back on an old portrait probably hanging in a dark corner of Trevelyan castle, and wonders if he’ll ever see his real self on the canvas. 

Day 27: Road 

When the Anchor acts up in the Inquisitor’s sleep, Thom Rainier is pulled into one of Mallory Trevelyan’s dreams. He encounters a man he hardly recognizes in a tavern in Markham, on the road away from Ostwick and toward anywhere else. 

Day 28: Jumbo 

Ozol Adaar had gotten used to a select few things in the human settlement of Hercinia after fleeing the Qun. Now, stuck in Haven, he’s dealing with what it means for a jumbo-sized Inquisitor to come, quite literally, face to face with human doorways. 

Day 29: Navigator 

Aelon Lavellan is a Dalish elf, yes, but that doesn’t mean that he’s a natural-born navigator. When he and a group of non-elves get lost in the woods on an outing, he’s forced to clarify some unfortunate assumptions. 

Day 30: Viol 

When Maryden the tavern bard brings in another bard to play when she’s on break, Mallory Trevelyan is delighted to see that the man plays the viol. Iron Bull watches on as the Inquisitor Mallie draws upon some old lessons from her childhood she’s loathe to elaborate on. 

Day 31: Landmark 

Back in the Brecilian forest, Orest Mahariel tells his new friends about the places he remembers from his childhood. Some landmarks bring back good memories, some bad, and yet they all seem to be tainted by a sadness he can’t bring himself to speak about.

[illusivesoul]

OC Name Meaning

Was tagged by @alyssalenko and @nowandthane Thank you :)

I'll tag @drelldreams @messydiabolical @starsandskies @champagne-pain and @judithmactir Only if your feel like doing this, of course.

Rules: Google and post the meaning of your OC’S name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too.

My ocs under the cut cause the answer got long lol.

.

Olga Cousland

Blessed, holy; Successful. Meaning: Blessed, holy; Successful. Olga is a girl's given name of Scandinavian origin.

Serena Brosca. My canon warden.

Named her after a city in Chile.

Irene Hawke. My canon Hawke.

Named her after a chilean soldier from the 1800s. Irene Morales Galaz

Inra Cadash, my canon Inky.

"What is the meaning of Inra Name? The Inra Name meaning is Little human being". This is funny cause I named her Inra cause I came up with the name cause I liked how it sounded and I had no idead it had a meaning, and a fitting one given shes a dwarf lol

Uram, a non inky qunari.

Hebrew. "my flame, my light"

Boromir Aeducan

This one is funny cause when I made him, I thought of the name Boromir and I knew that I had heard it somewhere but couldnt remember where. Years later when I saw the Lord of the Rings I found out that it was from there.

Valentina Shepard

Meaning: Strong, healthy. Valentina is a girl's given name of Latin origin. It is the feminine version of Valentine and means "strong" or "healthy.

Manuel Ryder and Manuel Rodriguez Shep

Manuel is a male given name which means "God with us." It was reportedly brought from the Byzantine Empire (as Μανουήλ) to Europe, mainly to Germany, Portugal and Spain, where it has been used since at least the 13th century.

Katerina 'Katya' Shepard, my canon Shep.

Originating from Greek, the girl's name Katerina means “pure,” which derives from the Greek word katharós. You might've come across other variations of this name, including Caterina, Ekaterina, and even the short nickname Katie.

Estefania Shepard (and her wifey)

Origin: Spanish. Meaning:crown, garland. The Spanish girl's name Estefania which means “crown” and “garland” would be a lovely choice.

Magdalena Shepard

The mellifluous name Magdalena is a feminine title of Greek origin, meaning “woman from Magdala.

[nulfaga]

also slowly carding thru my da characters for which ones i actually want in my worldstate...i had a habit of making characters based on 1 throwaway thought/design hook and then they were just part of the pantheon but like...i feel no special desire to let some of them exist in my worldstate when they don't add anything narratively (and like outside of it being fun, my 4 hawkes and 6 wardens and 3 inquisitors don't have a personality between them except sumia and (partially) toni)

so what i think i'll do is have sumia (my babygirl. my everything) as the one inarguable truth of my worldstate. as in she is a surana, she lives, leliana lives, they're together by the time of dai, everything else is subject to revision. (i had a very complex reason at the time for killing off alistair but 1) i like him and 2) i don't think it was all that compelling outside of like. drama. so i'll see whether i want him to live)

i'm tending towards valentín as my canon hawke tm but all i ever said about him was that he was a depressed disaster of a blood mage so i need a narrative point b for him to get to...pending

and i can't really do otherwise for dai than to keep toni because i like the dynamic of sumia flitting in and out of skyhold to radicalize the inquisitor (a free marcher noble from a large templar family) re: freedoms for mages and elves and such while also engaging in loud and obnoxious pda with leliana wherever possible and giving toni the courage to approach sera. But then sumia & leliana try to put inquisition resources toward un-tranquilfying jowan (a blood mage) and the inquisitor never lets them off the hook for it and decides to appoint vivienne as divine rather than leliana. Like that just feels...textured. i would like to involve hawke in the drama somehow (especially if he is an unrepentant and kind of scary blood mage) but idk. as it stands he's kinda just There

As for the side characters i don't mind having them romp about if it's funny. solkr (amell) can stay because he's an agent of chaos and bc i'm keeping the tranquil jowan storyline and he's a large part of that. i have no strong feelings abt my aeducan or my (2) brosca(s) nor my mahariel. i have conflicted feelings about nyna (tabris). i think i have to relegate her to the alternate worldstate because her thing is Also being a warden and going thru the blight and making concrete choices that are different from sumia's...chamuel (cousland) runs into the same problem. leofric (andras) can stay, maybe, but i'm not that invested either way. it's him or mahariel idk.

then i see no reason for núnzia (cadash #1) to stick around but i don't mind gavril (cadash #2) rocking up to sumia's worldstate with his daughter & wooing dorian. sidonie (adaar) i might keep on if only because giving divine vivienne a milf qunari lover has at least some story potential. pyrrha (lavellan) has literally nothing to do in the narrative except wear heavy eyeshadow and be josephine's intense looking yet ultimately dorky love interest. ngl i'm inclined to keep her on for that reason alone. she has no social skills whatsoever. when uncomfortable she stands perfectly still and mean-mugs. everyone's like what could you possibly see in this offputting woman and josie's like ach. nae. i love her

[breadedsinner]

Alistair, The Iron Bull, and Blackwall when romanced by a lady dwarf

[sapphim]

there's a post going around about how you chose your dragon age oc names? anyway, I talk too much

~~elves~~

Sulina Mahariel Sabrae - derived from the elvish words suledin "endure"/sulevin "purpose" and the suffix -lin "blood." Sulina was my first dragon age oc and like many of my wardens I just gave her the first random name that popped into my head at the character creation screen, and then decided I hated it and gave her a better one later. I believe her name started as Canneia, but after playing the game I wanted her name to better match existing dalish names so I changed it to Candria. But the /k/ phoneme is just not present in elven words and names so I completely renamed her and took the opportunity to craft a name that is just a little bit too on the nose.

Shirae Istimaethoriel Lavellan - derived from the elvish shiral "journey" (with inspiration from the name of clan Sabrae). this one I actually came up with in advance before the game shipped, and I think this is around the same time I surveyed canonical elven names/words and renamed most of my earlier ocs too. keeper Deshanna Istimaethoriel Lavellan is her grandmother.

Rafael (Surana/Tabris) - Raf started out in the Surana origin, but I borrowed his headmorph to test a mod for the Tabris origin and that spun off into a Tabris AU that I got so attached to that I made it canon. similar to the canon dalish names Josmael/Rajmael (and I doubt it's coincidental that there are similar-sounding Hebrew names irl). Raf named himself after a dalish man his parents met once and told him stories about - when he was Surana origin, he saved one of Raf's parents from a bandit attack on the road when they were traveling between alienages to marry. I haven't decided yet if Adaia or Cyrion met him under different circumstances now that he's Tabris origin.

Ellaran - a dalish warden oc. at one point I'm pretty sure I came up with a reverse etymology for this name (hella "struggle" and ...?) but in truth this is really just the one remaining name that lives in my head and "sounds elven" and I'm pretty sure it's just a mashup of the tolkien names Elladan and Elrohir. whatever, it sounds fine.

Rowan - a half-elven warden mage oc. she was raised by her single mother in the gwaren alienage before being taken to kinloch hold and momma named her after Queen Rowan.

~~dwarves~~

Eydis Aeducan - started life as Olenka, I believe. when I renamed most of my wardens I tried naming her Agathe at first (based on the similarity to agate) but I ended up making her swap with my Cadash bc I felt the names fit better the other way around. eydis wasn't chosen for the meaning or anything, just the sound. I tend to generally favor nordic names when I have to name dwarves idk.

Rozi Brosca - started life as Brasi until I came to my senses and realized that Brasi Brosca sounded absurd. Rozi is just the spelling of Rosie I liked best for her. I think her name and her sister's name sound kind of aspirational? Rica and Rozi - riches and roses. does anyone else feel like some wardens probably shouldn't have surnames, Brosca included? oh well.

Agathe Cadash - see Eydis, above

Evender "Rumour" Cadash - idk I think this name just ~sounded right.~ I liked the default name Edric but I didn't want to use the default name Edric. and m'boy m'lad needed a cool nickname to strike fear into the hearts of his foes. or. into the hearts of those poor chumps whose kneecaps he was paid to bust, anyway.

~~qunari~~

Kataara Adaar - derived from the qunlat words katara "die"/katari "one who brings death" but more importantly, yes, she was named after katara "avatar the last airbender" watertribe. I saw the word katara on the qunlat word list and I was like "oh im naming her after katara watertribe and nobody can stop me"

Vaati Adaar - kat's daughter. derived from the qunlat word vat "fire" and yes I do like the "aa" found in some qunlat words too much and add it to every name it's a problem I just think it's neat

Taashath - kat's ex/vaati's dad. I didn't add the "aa" this time it was already there! just a qunlat word that means "calm" bc he's a chill dude

~~humans~~

aw jeez ah man too many of these mfers. incredibly rude of these mfers for there to be so many of them.

Gwendolen Elethea Cousland - wanted a celtic name to match Fergus. named after her faceclaim, Gwendoline Christie. middle name comes from one of her alamarri ancestors. gwen and spiro are I think the only two origins ocs who never needed to be renamed bc it took me so long to get around to actually making human origins ocs that I already knew the names of everyone in their families by then so I could select them with intention.

Spiro Amell - so I don't like to use the default names for my ocs but I do sometimes like to use them for inspiration and/or reuse them for other family members. the canonical amell family names are kind of all over the place but I decided to go with mostly vaguely greek/hebrew names (see: aristide and revka amell). so, dad is Andreas and the kiddos are Solona, Daylen, Spiro, Deborah, and Delilah. yes, i alliterated sue me. I could rename the default name kiddos but lbr I won't

Tabitha Grace Hawke - Tabitha was chosen to match bethany in the "biblical names on the slightly obscure side" category. and then I gave her a middle name bc leandra is at heart still a fancy lady even if she is also an irrepressible wild child.

Juniper Hawke - idk I just thought of this name and banked it for the next time I started a new hawke playthrough. she was never supposed to be promoted to canon over tabby but she's just so gd funny. I've since learned that juniper is an extremely trendy baby name rn so apparently I just caught the baby name brainworms in the air.

Alden Ewald Reinaldo Trevelyan - the default names maxwell and evelyn are both very english and have "el" in them so that was the rough theme for the baby name site jam session. half brothers Maxwell and Daniel, sisters Evelyn and Velda, Alden, and twin sister Amelia. originally I went with the name Anselm but I experienced severe buyer's remorse almost immediately and renamed him to something I liked better and that sounded less like a kingdom hearts villain. the other names in the family (father August, grandmother Magnolia, stepmother Oswin, mother Irene, and uncle Cassio Castida) are all just "sure that sounds fine" names that hit vaguely within the right naming tradition. oh! and the middle names. one for his free marcher side and one for his antivan side.

Amelia Trevelyan - speaking of Amelia, she's been through so many (so many) renames. I think I started with Felicia? hated it. then tried a few variants of Emmeline/Ameline but, christ, if the similarity to Evangeline/Aveline doesn't kill those names for me. so! right now it's Amelia! and I'll change it again! no middle names for her until she cooperates and manifests a name I actually like.

Finnola Magnolia Trevelyan - oh and the only Trevelyan cousin I care about. can't remember how/when I chose the name. but it's related to her dead name - she went by Finn prior to transitioning after which point she prefers the nn Nola instead. both given and middle names were family names and she wanted to keep family names after transitioning. grandma Bann Magnolia Trevelyan gave her blessing to take her name for her middle name.

~~mass effect~~

bonus round bc why not!

Roxene Shepard - the name on her save file is just Roxy and I SWEAR to CHRIST she's NOT named after a homestuck she's named after a homestuck it was the first thing that popped into my head when I booted up the game look it was 2007 it was a different time. later I came back to beef it up and make it sound more like a sci fi name and less like a chicago showtune. yes, her parents names are Hannah and John and most people in the future are named things like Ashley and David. you know why her name is Roxene and not something normal? because hannah and john shepard were fucking unhinged that's why. had a breakthrough moment several years later when I realized her nickname could be Xena warrior princess.

Deonna Shepard - same thing. named her Diana after wonder woman. first thing that popped into my head. started out at warrior princess that time rather than working my way around to it over the course of several years. went back later to make it fancier bc I can.

Polaris Ryder - I asked myself, before andromeda came out, if it would be too corny and on the nose to name my pathfinder after the north star and then I decided it was and then I did it anyway. you know why? bc ellen and alec ryder are also unhinged. my ellen ryder and hannah shepard are cousins so they clearly shared their baby name brainworms while brainstorming with each other.

Casper Ryder - needed a similarly unhinged name for the twin, obv. I think I started at Cassiopeia and then worked my way over to casper the friendly ghost from there. you know what, it fits him tho.

[sinsbymanka]

Writing Tag Game

Okay listen I’m on vacation XD hence why I’m ignoring everyone’s tags/taking forever to respond. But I’ve been tagged in this A LOT and I really liked it/wanted to do it so thank you to everyone who tagged me (oh my god I’m so sorry if I missed one of you there were SO MANY): @noire-pandora, @in-arlathan, @thevikingwoman, @morganlefaye79, @elveny, @kunstpause, @pikapeppa

I’m not tagging anyone because I’m tagging everyone since I’m too lazy to find my tag list (I’m on VACATION). If you’ve not gotten tagged and wanted to do this, say I tagged you. 

How many works do you have on Ao3?

147 - I have 145 linked to my profile and two in the anonymous collection. 

What's your total Ao3 wordcount?

1,468,248. Almost 1.5 million!! 

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Of Miracles and Heroes (FenHawke, Cadash/Varric, Varania/Blackwall): 269

Interspecies Relationships Have Their Ups and Downs (Shakarian): 145

Don’t Make it Hawkeward (Varric/Hawke): 135

The Ambassador’s Vices (Josephine/Adaar): 111

The Girl with the Arrow Tattoo (Cadash/Varric): 101

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do (but - to be honest - it takes me FOREVER). I love comments. It’s so much easier to not leave comments than leave comments, so every time someone leaves one I’m blown away. I feel like - for leaving me a comment - you’re definitely owed an answer! I do apologize that it takes me awhile though - I am very bad at answering because they mean a lot to me and I get easily overwhelmed by the AO3 inbox I don’t know why. Blame anxiety. 

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I’ll be honest, I don’t like angsty endings so I don’t have many of them. By far the angstiest ending I have is Flowers, Lies, and Forgiveness. This is a Bianca Davri/Varric Tethras fic set during the final act of DA2. I wrote it from Bianca’s POV - showing Varric unraveling under the pressure of Kirkwall and Bianca’s complicated feelings about infidelity to her husband who clearly cares about her as well. I wrote it for @hollyand-writes who always lets me lean into the tragic “fucked upness” of the pairing when I’m feeling like making Varric suffer.  

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending

I prefer happy endings so almost EVERYTHING has a happy ending. My favorite endings, so far, are for Cheating the Dread Wolf, which is my Varric/Cadash/Solas polycule (or as I like to refer to it - Solas has a dwarf kink) and The Viscount’s Mistress which is my Hurt/Comfort Cadash/Varric Trespasser bullshit. 

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I have not written crossovers - but I am very into AUs in another setting that belongs to a different fictional universe. Most recently I got back into my Downton Abbey bullshit and wrote Flappers for Fen’harel which is basically a Downton Abbey AU Solas/Cadash and I’m not taking comments about the outrageousness of it. 

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yep. Honestly though? Over the two years I’ve been active in Fandom, the shitty comments can be counted on one hand and usually came from the same people over and over again, who are easily blocked, and should stop seeking out clearly labeled content they don’t like. Me and my work are not for everyone - that’s REALLY okay. I’ve blocked people for no other reason than making things I don’t like - that doesn’t mean they’re bad people. 

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

GOD DO I.

I am extremely sex and kink positive. Because of this - a lot of my work involves sex in some way or another. I think sex is a beautiful part of many (although not all) relationships, and that it’s frequently glossed over in mainstream media (particularly queer, kinky, and polyam sex). 

This ranges from sort of vanilla slow burns (My Cole/Bea fic, Compassion for an Assassin, has smut which hasn’t been posted yet. It’s Cole’s first time and is fairly vanilla and romantic, and occurs approximately 40k into the fic) to some pretty dubious consent near 24/7 dom/sub dynamics with BDSM kinks (I’ve written JUST as much of the Sereda/Gorim problematic smut as @jarakrisafis has in our series Forced Moves). 

There’s very few kinks I’m not willing to touch at least to try out - even if I end up not liking them. And the ones that aren’t for me are 100% allowed to exist and I will fight for them to the bloody end. My only recommendation is CLEARLY labeling your shit and not being afraid to add a tag if someone asks you to. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of? I’ve seen ideas I’ve tried on picked up by other people - but I don’t consider that stealing and it’s hard to trace “who has been inspired by who” because we ALL have been inspired by thousands of other people and frankly more stuff for me when I pull you over to my weird AUs and rarepairs. 

I also think that’s a huge part of not getting stolen - I’ve got so much weird niche shit that only a couple people read that stealing from me is going to most likely be caught IMMEDIATELY the audience is so small. 

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don’t believe so!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I’ve got some co-written secret smut with @blarfkey which almost nobody has seen, I’ve borrowed @tightassets Hawke, Lavellan, and Shepard for fics that she has illustrated, borrowed @tuffypelly‘s Adaars for some great fics, and my most ambitious project - the Forced Moves series with @jarakrisafis. It started out as us just exchanging gifts back and forth but we’ve wrangled it into Gambits and Countergambits, an Aeducan-origin prequel, that I’m VERY proud of. 

I love co-writing very much, but it’s very important to find the right partner and for it to be someone you trust completely. 

What's your all time favourite ship?

This is a stupidly hard question because I am, at heart, a multi-shipper. 

I love Varric/Hawke and Varric/Cadash. I’m also a sucker for Solas/Cadash. My fandom pool noodle is Varric/Cadash/Solas which I adore, and I’m very fond of Cole/Cadash. 

Most recently I’ve been DEEP in Aeducan/Gorim Saelac, Bhelen/Rica/Vartag, and Aeducan/Brosca feels. Dwarf origins are the best origins in my opinion and those characters are PERFECT. 

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I fully plan on finishing everything. My writing style changed a lot, for the better, in a short period of time. I need to integrate my old style/new style and had to get a pep talk about how to do that. Now I’m ready to try as soon as I finish Compassion for an Assassin. 

What are your writing strengths? 

I write very sexy, hot smut. I also really like playing with character voice and making sure I get them “right” so I do a lot of experimenting before publishing a new character for the first time. 

I struggle to write action scenes - it’s like pulling fucking teeth - but people really LOVE my action scenes and they read well. So that’s something I’m proud of even if it feels like doing fucking pull ups. 

What are your writing weaknesses?

I never learned anything. My experiences with English and writing teachers were overwhelmingly negative. I’m unsure if I’m just not cut out for classes or if they were that bad, but I always left feeling like there was one “right” way to do it, and everything I liked was “bad”, so what was the point of “learning” anything? 

It turns out there’s this very pompous, pretentious thought process in writing where people “assume” things must be done, but GOOD writing teachers teach you the rules and then how to break them. I either never had a good writing teacher or got too intimidated to give them a chance before bouncing. 

So I’m exceedingly self-taught. I lack the vocabulary to discuss plot structure, characterization, grammar, etc. I instinctively know most of these things based on trial and error and reading, but I didn’t learn them and I miss a lot of nuance in the rules, but until recently I was still too intimidated and unsure of myself to admit that or take it seriously. 

So - my defense mechanism is NOT taking ANYTHING seriously. If my writing is a joke to me, it’s gotta be a joke to everyone else, but that’s been a shield to hide behind instead of being thoughtful about things. I’m here to have fun, yes, but there’s nothing wrong with learning a technique to the art. 

I’ve learned - mostly thanks to @blarfkey who is an amazing person and a wonderful teacher - that I am a good writer based on my self-teaching. And being intimidated of people who throw around impressive sounding words is a weakness that I am working on. 

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? 

Use sparingly and with good reason. It should be short and explained later or clear from context. 

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter on message boards back in the fucking day. Thankfully none of it exists anywhere anymore. 

What's your favourite fic you've written?

This is such a sappy answer and I’m so sorry. My favorite things have been written for and because of people I love and care about. When I read them, I’m not just reading the story, but remembering the relationships I’ve made and how important they are. 

So, my top three fics for THAT reason: 

1. Cheating the Dread Wolf - written for @blarfkey who inspired the idea and ruthlessly encouraged me to make it happen. This fic was so healing for me because it heavily features Fatherhood within it - and I lost my father in June 2020. I don’t know if I’d have been able to do it without her and it was so important for me to do. 

2. Gambits and Countergambits - written with @jarakrisafis and the culmination of a years worth of gifting shit back and forth and crafting a shared universe. The worldbuilding, smut, relationships, EVERYTHING about this fic is so deeply and passionately cared about by both of us and to our knowledge it is completely, totally unique.  

3. Relentless, Ridiculous, and Rakish - one of my only primarily gen-fics focusing on a forming brother/sister relationship between Maria Cadash and @tuffypelly‘s Otsar Adaar. I very much enjoyed writing it for her <3 

And then my overall favorite fic: 

The Viscount’s Mistress: I have a lot of opinions about how fanfiction treats the anchor’s meltdown and the aftermath. It’s one of the things in DAI that resonated with me SO much as someone who lives with chronic pain and a disability. I loved the fact my OC was in the same shoes and STILL saving the world. This is very much a fic that explores all the dark sides of trauma, pain, and the mental health effects of it. But it ends on a happy and hopeful note.  

[kyliafanfiction]

I think I might be kind of racist against dwarves - the fantasy race, I mean

[feeshies]

oc family questions: 4 & 5 for your wardens (minus juice) and your inquisitors (minus mourning glory)???

OC Family Questions

4.. Do they have siblings? How many? How old?

Kozda Aeducan: Two brothers (Trian and Behlen), she’s the middle child.

Mirynn Brosca: One younger sister (Rica).

Natascha Cousland: One older brother (Fergus)

Talassan Mahariel:  One younger sister (Liaren)

Zaryn Aeducan: One older brother (Trian) and one twin brother (Behlen)

Mihika Lavellan: One older sister (Lakmini), one older brother (Inesh), one younger sister (Anu)

Vekel Cadash: Four older brothers (Kamor, Lucvin, Emryrys, Fraso)

Shava, Akaas, Otho, Sumal: only children

If they have siblings, what is their relationship like with them? If they’re an only child, do they wish they weren’t?

Kozda’s relationship with her brothers is...complicated.  And by complicated, I mean, well look at the Aeducan origin.  Same with Zaryn, but the dynamic is different.  Kozda was considered a political threat because she was better than them.  Zaryn was considered a political threat because her incompetence could ruin the family name.

Mirynn is very protective over Rica and she feels closer to her than to their mother.  Rica was the first (and only, for a while) person Mirynn came out as trans to.  They were very open and supportive with each other.  Mirynn refused to leave Orzammar until she knew that Rica would be okay.

Natascha felt that her brother was the only person she could relax around.  Everyone else expected her to be a proper noble lady, so it felt nice to be the little sister every once in a while.

Talassan didn’t always get along with his sister during his youth, but things actually got better after he returned to his clan.  They both had time to mature and Liaren always took the opportunity to defend him when needed.

Mihika idolized her older siblings, but sometimes she worried that she wouldn’t be able to live up to their example.  She dealt with this by babying her younger sister constantly, which was not appreciated.  They all still love each other, though.

Vekel also had a complicated relationship with his brothers.  Being the youngest of five boys is already hard enough, but add dwarven politics to that and it suddenly becomes even more stupid.  He wasn’t close to his brothers emotionally, but he was pressured to join the Legion of the Dead because of them.  It’s complicated.

Shava: Hell no she doesn’t want siblings.  that’s more people she has to share food with.

Akaas: He would like some younger siblings, but he does hang out with some of the neighborhood kids so that kind of fills that void

Otho: No, his family situation is complicated enough

Sumal: Maybe, but she is not above fighting for her mom’s attention.

[kirkwall-on-fire-blog]

Obscure ask for your Dragon Age OC! (Or feel free to answer for multiple OCs!) What does your OC think about responsibility? Do they see it as a burden or is responsibility something they’re used to?

Did I mention I have way too many Dragon Age Ocs? Because I do. Also this question was harder than I expected. I hope I did your ask justice!

Origins

Leonora Amell: Growing up in the Circle, she’s grown used to the idea of someone else always being there to take the reigns. Oh, sure, she’s had her dreams of being in charge, but that was all they ever were. Dreams. She’s never taken care of anything by herself, never been responsible for anything more than her studies. The seriousness of her situation doesn’t set in until after Ostagar, when Alistair looks at her and says the responsibility for the world’s future now rests on their shoulders. She doesn’t do well with all this pressure, not at first, but eventually she does learn. By the time the mage takes up the mantle of Warden-Commander - not because she wants to, but because she must - she has accepted that responsibility is something she cannot escape. So she carries the weight, because then someone else doesn’t have to struggle like she once did.

Aedan Cousland: A noble son of the Cousland lineage is expected to know how to lead, no? Of course he is. Except that’s mostly a lie he tells himself because it makes sense. There is a reason his father refused to allow him into battle, and it’s because he is simply not ready. Not ready to lead, not ready to hold people’s lives in his hands. But now he is in charge, because Leo has no idea what she is doing and it shows. Her inadequate skills as a leader cannot get in the way of his mission - vengeance - Aedan thinks, and so he takes the responsibility for their mission instead. He likes to pretend he knows what he’s doing, but he doesn’t, and it stresses him out, because he thinks he should.

Elyon Tabris: Ew, responsibility? No, thanks. This little rogue avoids the concept like a plague. Oh, she does have talent for it - but don’t tell her I said so. The woman is responsible as they come, growing up at the Alienage where there was no choice but to own up and take responsibility for others. It was the only way to survive. But now, out of the walls of the hellhole she grew up in? Elyon doesn’t want to be responsible for any more suffering. Attachment in and of itself is a form of responsibility, and she avoids it whenever possible... and yet she still gets attached. It’s a wonder, really.

Theron Mahariel: He’s tried before to take on more responsibilities in his Clan, but every time he was met with a soft pat on the shoulder and a kindly-worded refusal. Merrill, the most honest one, laughed and said that he was too soft to handle it, too kind and too scared to hurt someone. It’s not until much later that the young elf realizes the truth of those words, but by then he is already part of something greater. The Grey Wardens carry a heavy burden and Theron isn’t sure he can handle it. So he sticks to his betters, follows the Warden-Commander like a stray puppy at times. It’s easier, this way.

Daylen Surana: He’s always seen responsibility as something to aspire to, a reward for good behavior and for following all the rules. People in power are respected and so he’s done everything in his power to get to a point where he is seen as a responsible individual, worthy of being tasked with the most difficult things. ...Then he learned the true meaning of the thing he’s so idolized, and now he would rather go back to being a nobody. But he can’t.

Tasha Brosca: She has had responsibility thrown at her for as long as she remembers. Take care of your mother. Take care of your sister. Take care of yourself. Growing up in Dust Town isn’t easy. Tasha learned to grin a bear it, because she must, because she has no choice. It would be nice, sure, to have someone else to throw all that weight on, like those snobby nobles do, but she knows that the moment she lets herself breathe, her sister will have to take all that responcibility onto her own shoulders. And Tasha would sooner die than let that happen.

Duran Aeducan: He was a Prince of Orzammar, raised and trained to be in command of its armies. Now he is a Grey Warden, and the responsibility is no less daunting. He handles it well, however, or at least better than others in this rag-tag team of misfits and outcasts. But the thought of command leaves him with a sour aftertaste, and so he takes on an advising position mostly. Let the youngsters take charge and make their bloody mistakes.

Dragon Age II

Garrett Hawke: It’s the oldest sibling’s job to carry his family, and Garrett believes that responsibility is something he has no choice but to accept. He thinks he does it by taking the blame for every stupid thing his siblings and friends do, by bailing them out and cleaning up their messes. He is the responsible Hawke, after all, the diplomatic one. 

Marian Hawke: It’s not something she thinks about, but rather something that comes naturally to her. She is the metal-cast rock that supports her family in the times of need, ready to make the difficult decisions and move on. It’s just the kind of person she is, and pondering it would only make her head hurt. This way of being earned her a high-ranking position in the King’s army at Ostagar.

Inquisition

Herah Adaar: She is a warrior and a soldier, she knows when to follow orders and when to give her own. Responsibility on the battlefield, or on a mission? She has that part down. It’s easy, it’s natural, she was all but raised to do the job. Responsibility for a small elven child with a weird magic glowy hand (holy dragons what kind of demonic craft is this even!?), however? She doesn’t know how to deal with this. An order of people united under one banner in the name of said elven child? Oh hell nah. But she has no choice, and it sucks, but at least she has her old mercenary leadership skills to fall back on.

Felandris Lavellan: When he thinks of responsibility, he thinks of what the Keeper told him when she began teaching him the old elven magic. The responsibility of a Keeper is to remember, to never forget. So that’s what he does. But he is a child, barely old enough to understand the complex politics of the world, and so he doesn’t understand just how much rests on his tiny shoulders, either. But people count on him, and he will do his best.

Elisse Cousland: Her brothers were all about responsibility and noblesse oblige, but Elisse just wants to have fun and help some people. For someone raised in a noble household, she certainly is bad at the whole... noble thing. And that includes being responsible. Her short-term memory is abysmal, she gets distracted by everything and anything, and her ability to stay still for more than five seconds is... well. I think you get the idea. She does take her responsibility to the Inquisition and her friends seriously, however, and she tries her best to carry herself in a way that shows it. Most of the time.

Shale Cadash: She remembers vaguely the weight of command, the responsibility for the lives of hundreds of men on her shoulders. Then there was the responsibility for the lives of her friends, the strange squishies that freed her - stronger, taller, made of stone - from the torment of immobility. This, she remembers better, but she is neither of those people anymore. She accepts her share of responsibility gladly this time, because she owes her friends this much. And now that she is so squishable as well, she has a higher stake in it all.

Maxwell Trevelyan: He ran away from home exactly because he didn’t want to bear the responsibilities that his noble birth forced upon him. He’s a lover and a fighter, but while he does his part well, he does terribly under pressure. In fact, he passes out under it. Dramatically. It’s actually quite funny.

[dgcatanisiri]

Cousland, Amell, Surana, Tabris, Mahariel, Aeducan, Brosca, Hawke, Trevelyan, Lavellan, Cadash, Adaar... These names are locked in.

I mean, if you mean given name... No, very unlikely. Like, sure, they offered that for Ryder in Mass Effect Andromeda, if you went with the default names, but I don’t think that really WORKS in RPGs like this. In inviting the players to build a character, this includes names. Maybe - MAYBE - there might be one optional default name, but it won’t be locked, it’ll be an option. Again, like Ryder - I’ve never played a “Scott” Ryder, so I have never had the characters using that particular name, no one is using my Ryder’s given name.

I mean, de Sardet had no given name - they were only ever “de Sardet” in game. And as for V... Well, I haven’t played Cyberpunk myself, but I really get the feeling that’s not a game to use as a model going forward, consider everything that went wrong there.

CONFESSION:

I kind of wonder if the next Dragon Age protagonist will have a fully locked-in name, like De Sardet in GreedFall or V in Cyberpunk 2077.

[reliciron]

Inquisition Dwarf/Qunari Gripes

Its always funny playing as a dwarf or qunari in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Most of the time it’s normal, no different than a human or elf, but then there are moments like these, where the camera forgets to adjust to your height.

Uh, Cullen? I’m down here, man.

The qunari addition is having your head out of the frame and everyone is calmly addressing your chest.

But the funnier ones are the more common instances where the camera is right, but nothing else is taking your height into account. 

My poor Cadash has to dance  with his nose practically buried in her chest, and I’m pretty sure her hand is floating several inches above his shoulder. 

The most obvious (and most annoying) are the kissing scenes. Half of the time Cadash is suddenly his partner’s height for a few seconds, then immediately back to normal, like there’s this magical box that poofs under his feet to boost him up so he’s eye level, then disappears a moment later. The other half of the time, he’s kissing his partner’s sternum and they’re making out with the air a foot above him.

There’s nothing wrong with the game of course, this is just laziness. For the romance scene issues, I wish they would have done what they did in Origins. When you play as a Brosca/Aeducan, your chosen love interest has a few extra frames showing them kneeling before they kiss you. Why couldn’t we have had that?!

I know dwarf is the least popular race for the Inquisitor, and qunari probably isn’t far behind, but that doesn’t mean they should receive less attention when the devs are finishing the game!

(Although to be fair, I blame EA for any lack of polish on DA:I. They seem to figure its better to shove a game out before it’s been fully finished, than give Bioware the time they needed to fix stuff like this and push the release date back.)

I still enjoy DA:I, despite it’s flaws, I just wish Bioware had been given more time to finish it properly.

[trulycertain]

celeritassagittae replied to your post

AND YOU HAVE A TABRIS. *waves tiny Corona flag*

Of course, yes! Kallian is actually one of my favourite characters I’ve ever written, it can just be tricky rounding up all the fic Wardens. I may also have a Surana, if you read Distraction’s protag that way. Also, yay, the Reply function is back?! *has just figured out how to do it again*

terrencetheycallme replied to your post: 3jarsofbees replied to your photoset: ...

Ooh, are we playing the “Dragon Age tricked me into making too many OCs and now I’m too far down the rabbit hole to get back out” game? I love that game! 1 Amell, 1 Cousland, 1 Aeducan, 1 Brosca, 1 Tabris, 1 Mahariel, 1 Hawke, 1 Trevelyan, 2 Lavellans, 1 Cadash, 2 Adaars, aaaaand 6 random OCs that are all a part of my worldstate but that aren’t actually DA protags. And more on the way probably… Oh! Also one crossover MEA character in DA verse…

aphreal42 replied to your post: 3jarsofbees replied to your photoset: ...

If we’re tallying… 6 or so Couslands, 4ish Amells, 2 Suranas, 3ish Broscas, 2 Aeducans, 1 Tabris, 1 Mahariel, 4 Hawkes, 1 Trevelyan, 1 Lavellan, 2ish Adaars, and maybe a Cadash. Unless I missed someone.

I mean, I wasn’t actually trying to turn it into a competition, but sure. *shrug* You both have me beaten.

[witchdoodle]

i think it’s totally and utterly ridiculous that duncan only recruited 3 new wardens, only 1 of which actually survived, and to say that every other origin just died. like, bs. in my hc, they were ALL recruited. just not by duncan himself. the grey wardens are not a sustainable military force if they recruit like 1 new soldier at a time. that’s dumb.

also i think it’s a waste to say all the other potential inquisitors just like died at the conclave. boring. so they all exist in my canon, too.

male mage lavellan is my canon inquisitor, but i also have a female archer rogue (lede) who is his cousin, she hooks up with josephine. also a male archer rogue who is from clan ghilain and prooobably gonna bang cullen, and a female mage who is from another orlesian clan.

i love iron bull/m!lavellan so so so so so so so much but i really, really cannot decide if that’s  my canon or solas/m!lavellan. they’re mutually exclusive in my head, bc i think if my canon m!lavellan hooked up with solas it would fuck him up WAY TOO MUCH to move on to someone else after. like... ever. he would just be totally fucked for life. trust issues out the wazoo.

my canon trevelyan is a female sword-and-shield warrior who joined as a matter of faith, and is frankly a little disturbed that the herald of andraste is an elf and a heretic. she’ll probably hook up with blackwall.

my canon adaars are a female 2h warrior and a male mage who are part of a mercenary company hired by the inquisition. male adaar hooks up with dorian, female adaar maaaaaybe with sera. it’s either adaar or cadash.

my canon cadash is a female dual-wield rogue who was initially sent as a carta spy but ended up being swept up in Inquisition Fever and defected. 

my canon surana is a female mage and the “canonical” hero of ferelden. 

tabris and mahariel both survived the joining and the battle of ostagar. tabris is a female dual-wield rogue, mahariel is a male archer rogue. after ostagar they were just running around ferelden separately like AW FUCK SHIT FUCK FUCK SHIT SHIT WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO NOW until surana, alistair and co collected them. tabris is mean and sassy and mahariel is a sweet precious angel. together they fight crime! 

amell is a male mage i THINK but i haven’t made them yet so i might say fuck it and make another lady. especially since i think the origin is exactly the same as surana so... i think i’m gonna say they died in the battle of ostagar though.

cousland is a female sword-and-shield warrior. haven’t decided if she died at ostagar or not, depends on how attached i get when i play out the origin. torn on whether she ends up hooking up with alistair. i like anora as queen bc i love Competent Women but i like alistair as king so i don’t have to let him fucking die in the fade. 

aeducan is a male 2h warrior and brosca is a female dual-wield rogue. i’m probably gonna say aeducan died in the joining or at ostagar probably, brosca again depends on how attached i get playing out the origin.

... i have no idea how to reconcile my 2 hawkes. warrior garrett hawke who hooks up with fenris is definitely my canon, but i really like the idea of mage marian who hooks up with either isabela or merrill too. hm.

[a-paragon-of-their-kind]

2021 Frequently Asked Questions

A Paragon of Their Kind is a fanwork gift exchange that showcases dwarf love in the Dragon Age Fandom. Any pairing is eligible as long as it contains at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom.

2021 Important Dates: Nominations: May 30th 12am US EST - June 6th 11:59pm US EST Sign Ups: June 7th 12am US EST - June 13th 11:59pm US EST Assignments Received: June 14th by 11:59pm US EST Assignments Due: August 2nd 8:00pm US EST Assignments Revealed: August 9th 10:00am US EST Creators Revealed: August 16th 10:00am US EST

FAQ:

1. What are the requirements for this gift exchange?

When signing up, you will nominate at least three pairs you would like to receive fanworks for (art and/or fic) and at least three pairs you would like to offer fanworks for. All pairs must have at least one DA dwarf from any DA media in it. You will be matched with a person according to what you have offered. You must then complete a fanwork for at least one of the requested pairs.

2. How do I participate in the gift exchange?

The exchange will be run through AO3 so you must have an AO3 account. Detailed instructions on how to nominate and sign up will be posted closer to the date of the exchange. You may also follow the official Tumblr @a-paragon-of-their-kind or join the official Discord. These things aren't required, but are EXCELLENT ways to stay in the loop!

3. What pairings are eligible?

The pairing must have at least one dragon age dwarf character in it. This character can be from any Dragon Age media - games, books, comics, etc. Pairings can be canon, non-canon, or sheer crack. We also allow poly nominations and crossover nominations as long as they contain at least one dragon age dwarf character.  

4. What should my completed fanwork look like for the exchange?

This exchange accepts art or fiction. You must complete one fanwork for the pair you are assigned by the deadline.

Works of fiction must stand alone and be no less than 1,000 words. You may include OCs you have used before, but this work must not be part of an existing series and must be tailored to the request you have received. There is no maximum word count.

Art can be computer or hand drawn and must be complete. Complete art is defined at a minimum as clean, finished line art.

Works can be explicit as long as the request you received did not prohibit it. Please tag your works appropriately if they are explicit (or choose not to rate according to AO3 TOS.) Works may also contain ANY content as long as the request did not prohibit it. Please tag works fully and appropriately to the best of your abilities.

5. How does this work exactly?

FIRST! Nominations May 30th - June 6th:

You can nominate up to 20 different pairings. The moderators will go through the pairings to check that each contains at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom. Any nomination that does not contain at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom will be rejected. Nominations may consist of homosexual, heterosexual, threesomes, moresomes, or platonic requests.

For the purposes of this challenge, the Dragon Age OC Dwarf Protagonists will be considered different characters based on their gender and surname. This means that there are three options (male, female, and non-binary) for Aeducan, Brosca, and Cadash. When nominating an OC Dwarf Protagonist, please keep this in mind and specify which option you want. For example:  

Male Brosca/Female Aeducan or Non-binary Cadash/The Iron Bull instead of Brosca/Aeducan or Cadash/The Iron Bull

Please do not nominate a custom/individual Dwarf OC Protagonist (IE: Maria Cadash/Varric Tethras). When you do your request and pick your pairings you can provide additional details, such as a preferred name or physical description, in your request. Requests are optional - the only part of your request that must be adhered to are the DNWs.

Other original characters are allowed as long as they are "general" characters. For example: "Carta Smuggler", "Merchant's Guild Member", or "Noble Hunter" would all be acceptable. If you have questions, ask the moderators.  

SECOND! Signups June 7th - June 13th:

After nominations, moderators will open up signups. Participants will complete a form on AO3 to request approved pairings that you would like to receive fic and/or art for. You do not have to request the pairings you nominated! On the same form, you will also make offers of pairings you would like to make fic and/or art for. You must request at least three pairings and offer at least three pairings. However - you may request and offer up to 30. You will only be asked to complete one piece of fanwork.

On the form, there is a place for you to go into details about what you want. This is a great place to put a prompt with your ideas for a fic or art! You do not need to go into detail, but you can go into as much detail as you like to give the creator ideas. You may also put this information on a third party site instead.

Good things to list: general likes, rating restrictions, prompt ideas, squicks/triggers/do-not-wants, or anything else you’d like the writer/artist to know. Make sure you list things you do not want. We are insisting Authors and Artists adhere to the Do-Not-Wants and the pairing, otherwise they have complete artistic license. Here is an example of a request:

Pairing: Blackwall/Female Cadash

Hello! I have a Baewall love that is deep. I'm okay with all ratings (I would particularly *love* an E rating if a threesome is involved), but I wanna see Blackwall going to lengths to please his lady love, either through sexy or sweet means. I also love AUs! No unhappy endings!

DNWs: Smut for pairings not listed, incest, angst with no happy ending, adult/minor, extreme gore, non-con/dub-con, humiliation

In your offers you must offer three pairings and can offer up to 30. You may also offer "Any". Any does, in fact, mean you can be matched to ANY request. Please use it wisely. There is also a box for any information you think the moderator team needs to know - ie if you wish to not be matched with another participant in the exchange. This information is confidential.

THIRD! Assignments - June 14th:

The moderator team will match you to someone based on interests. You are guaranteed to have a match on June 14th, if you do not by 11:59 EST, please reach out to the moderators.

Once matching is complete, you will receive an email with your assignment from AO3. You will be assigned to write or draw for someone who requested at least one of the pairings that you offered to write or draw for. Since everyone must put in at least three requests, it is likely that your assignment will include pairings that you did not request or parts of canon you may not be familiar with.  

FOURTH! Create a Fanwork: June 14th - August 2nd.

Pick one of the pairings/prompts in your assignment (it doesn't have to be the one you matched on) and start creating! You have a little over a month to work on your assignment. You must honor Do Not Wants and the requested pairing. You must also remain anonymous - the only people who may see what you are creating is your beta reader(s) if you have them. If you have a question for your intended recipient, reach out to the moderator team and we will ask it.

If you create a work with a Do Not Want in it, you will be banned from the exchange.

FIFTH! Posting and Review by Moderators: August 2nd - August 9th

All stories and art must be posted by August 2nd at 8:00pm US EST on AO3. You may continue to edit your fanwork until August 9th, but it is imperative that you have a complete work submitted on August 2nd. The mods will then go through posted fanworks to make sure that they are complete, meet the criteria, and do not contain DNWs. If there is a problem, the moderators will reach out to the creator and ask them to correct.  

FINALLY, the Reveal: August 9th - August 16th

All stories and art will be revealed anonymously on August 9th. You must have your final draft up by this time. Creators will be revealed on August 16th; after this point, you may post your work anywhere.

You are required to comment on any and all gifts produced for you. Anyone who does not leave a comment on a gift for them will be banned until they leave a comment on their assigned gift.

6. I'm in trouble and can't complete what I signed up to do. What should I do?

If you know you are going to have trouble meeting the deadline, reach out to the moderators and/or default as soon as possible. We expect people to complete the offer they've made, HOWEVER, we understand circumstances sometimes are beyond people's control. If the person defaults prior to the deadline, or informs us that they need to default, there will be no penalty. If we need to default someone after the deadline is passed, they will be banned from future exchanges.

We will be asking for a list of volunteers who may be able to step in and create content in case someone defaults. The exchange will not open until everyone has a gift. 7. I’m not able to commit to the exchange, but I want to be involved. How can I be?

We will be asking for volunteers to:

Step in if someone defaults on a prompt Assist as beta readers Promote the event and our creators

You can do any of those things or create treats!

8. Tell me about these treats?

A treat is any fanwork created for this exchange that is not a participant’s assignment. You do not have to be an exchange participant to create a treat and you can create treats in addition to your sign up, or only do treats. Treats can be any length fic or any completed drawing.

9. I have other questions...

We love questions! And talking! In particular, @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold really likes talking, but all the moderators are available to answer questions. Please use this information to contact us via Tumblr:

Official Account: @a-paragon-of-their-kind

[dapromptexchange]

Survey Results!

With 60 responses to the survey there's been some really interesting data. So what are people in the DA fandom writing?

The most popular character is: Fenris! / Anders!

The most popular ship is: M!Handers!

The most popular AU is: Modern AUs!

Our favorite trope is: Friends to Lovers!

If you're interested in the break down then follow the cut for all the boring statistical stuff:

The survey included all characters from Dragon Age: Origins, Awakening, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Unfortunately because I'm sometimes an idiot, Cassandra, Isabela, Loghain, and Nathaniel were missing from the lists - some people added these characters in the Extra section but it may have affected their standing in the survey.

60 individual responses were received but one was not counted for administration reasons (they were a troll). None of the questions were compulsory and individuals were advised to select only the answers pertaining to their writing history.

Selections with under 5 responses (or under 10 for Origins and Awakening) were removed from the final graph for space reasons.

As Anders was listed as both a character in Awakening and DAII and amassed votes in both sections there has been some crossover. If we treat each as an individual characters then Fenris has the most votes but if Anders in both Awakening and II are counted as one his votes would outplay Fenris, even allowing for some crossover votes.

Female Warden: 30 

Male Warden: 11

Mahariel: 16

Amell : 14

Tabris: 12

Cousland: 8

Brosca: 6

Aeducan: 2

Alistair: 19

Leliana: 10

Loghain: 1 (this response was added to the Extra section)

Morrigan: 10

Sten: 1

Wynne: 1

Zevran: 26

Anders: 28

Justice: 5

Nathaniel: 2 (these responses were added to the Extra section)

Sigrun: 3

Velanna: 5

Male Hawke: 28

Female Hawke: 27

Anders: 36

Aveline: 6

Bethany: 5

Carver: 11

Fenris: 39

Isabela: 10 (these responses were added in the Extra section)

Merrill: 19

Sebastian: 6

Varric: 13

Female Inquisitor: 26

Male Inquisitor: 23

Lavellan: 30

Trevelyan: 16

Adaar: 11

Cadash: 7

Blackwall: 2

Cassandra: 5 (these responses were added in the Extra section)

Cole: 9

Cullen: 21

Dorian: 35

Iron Bull: 19

Josephine: 8

Morrigan: 5

Sera: 10

Solas: 8

Varric: 9

Vivienne: 4

Anders x Karl: 17

Zevran x F!Warden: 16

Alistair x F!Warden: 15

Leliana x F!Warden: 14

Zevran x M!Warden: 12

Anders x Nathaniel: 10

Anders x F!Warden: 7

Morrigan x F!Warden: 7

Anders x M!Warden: 6

Alistair x Zevran: 4

Alistair x Morrigan: 3

Alistair x M!Warden: 3

Morrigan x M!Warden: 3

Nathaniel x M!Warden: 2 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Leliana x M!Warden: 1

Anders x Alistair: 1 (this response was added in the extra section)

Sigrun x Velanna: 1 (this response was added in the extra section)

Anders x M!Hawke: 27

Anders x Fenris: 23

Fenris x M!Hawke: 20

Anders x F!Hawke: 15

Isabela x Merrill: 14

Isabela x F!Hawke: 11

Anders x Fenris x Hawke: 11

Fenris x F!Hawke: 10

Merrill x F!Hawke: 9

Merrill x Carver: 7

Fenris x Isabela: 7

Fenris x Sebastian: 2 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Isabela x Merrill x F!Hawke: 2 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Bethany x Fenris: 1 (this response was added in the extra section)

Bethany x Sebastian: 1 (this response was added in the extra section)

Dorian x M!Inquisitor: 23

Dorian x Iron Bull: 18

Cullen x F!Inquisitor: 15

Dorian x Cullen: 11

Sera x F!Inquisitor: 11

Josephine x F!Inquisitor: 9

Solas x Lavellan: 8

Sera x Dagna: 7

Blackwall x F!Inquisitor: 6

Iron Bull x F!Inquisitor: 5

Iron Bull x M!Inquisitor: 5

Cassandra x M!Inquisitor: 3

Cassandra x Varric: 3 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Cullen x Alistair: 2 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Felix x Carver: 2 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Josephine x M!Inquisitor: 1

There were a variety of other responses that were added to the Extra section that only received the one vote and have not been added here for some kind of brevity, but included more F!Inquisitor, Cassandra, and Solas pairings not listed above.

Modern: 38

Historical: 24

College: 21

Monster: 18

Coffee Shop: 17

Apocalypse: 14

Pirate: 13

Prostitute: 12

Mermaid: 11

Actor/Model: 7

Time Travel: 2 (these responses were added in the extra section)

Other answers added in the Extra section included Crime, Wild West, Canon Divergences, and Hogwarts AUs.

Friends to Lovers: 42

Sharing a Bed: 32

Soulmates: 32

Enemies to Lovers: 32

Secret / Forbidden Relationship: 31

Meet Cute: 28

Fake Relationship: 27

Meet Ugly: 19

Marriage / Honeymoon: 18

Sick Fic: 17

Pregnancy: 13

Age Difference: 11

Kid Fic: 8

Student / Teacher: 8

Other answers included in the Extra section included Omegaverse, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Role Reversals and Body Swaps, and Reunions and/or Breakups. 

In the final section which asked for any other prompts writers would like to see there was a heavy emphasis on more angst and hurt/comfort prompts (y’all mean to your babies!), more platonic relationships, more diverse AUs, and lots of people demanded that Anders be Alive and Well (and Happy)! And to the one person who asked for more NSFW prompts, I'm sorry but this Exchange is SFW only - it says so in the About and FAQ - and if you want NSFW prompts then you might consider the Kink Meme which has just moved to DreamWidth.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

I hope these survey results have been interesting and it's definitely given me plenty of ideas for prompts. And, as always, remember you can submit prompts, too! At the moment 99% of all prompts are written by me and honestly, I could use some help. So either submit your prompts or send an Ask for shorter prompts.

[fluffymabari]

I started the Mass Effect phase of my year I guess, and that means I haven’t been on here that often. 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, hi. I hope you’re all doing well, especially all of you who post Aeducan, Brosca, and Cadash art/content. You are *chef’s kiss* and you deserve the best in life.