#but then again i do love aeducan

[a-drama-addict]

me doing worldstate planning and seeing that I have two Aeducans: One of you guys is going to be made a Brosca

[invinciblerodent]

i'm futzing too much with my canon Dragon Age worldstate. i know that. but.

it's going to be really difficult to choose a canon Veilguard boo

[vigilskept]

what kind of love are you?

tagged by @dragonologist-phd to put some ocs through this uquiz. ty for the tag!

insomnia crept in so i decided to just run all my wardens through & genuinely thrown by some of the results (but in a good way!) excerpting some of the interesting bits below for the sake of brevity

Diya Surana: Love as a Choice Love does not come to you easily, but every day you wake up and choose it. It would be so easy, wouldn't it, to grow cold and callous and grim. But you rise to greet the world, making the conscious effort to find something, anything to love. When you fall for someone, you do not kid yourself of their flaws. Instead, you resolve to see them for who they are, mistakes and all and you love them all the same.

Roshan Mahariel & Qadir Amell: Love as a Threshold Your love is free, and unquestioned, and here for wherever needs it. When you fall in love, it is as gentle as a breath in the night. When you fall for someone, it is without strings, without conditions, without need. You love with a giver’s heart and a giver’s hands and are made so much stronger for it.

Chaya Tabris & Ylva Aeducan: Love as a Flaw When you fall in love, it is with alarm bells ringing. It’s a problem and you would do anything to pass it off, burn it away, scoop it out of you with bare hands, or carved out with hooked knives before it can destroy you.

Sindri Brosca: Love as Youth Your love is buoyant. Your love is bountiful. It is ageless, and it will never age. When you fall in love, it is breathless. It is joyful and endless, it is magnificent. Your love skips rocks and tells stories, your love roasts marshmallows over fires, and laughs freely. Your love does not take itself too seriously.

Gavin Cousland: Love as Religion When you fall in love, it is as a baptism. You are born anew, made a believer in the divinity of the one you love most. Being loved by you is an ascension; it is holy and golden. It is all-consuming, and all-faithful, loyal as the dog.

Daniyel Tabris: Love as the Dawn Love is new to you, isn’t it? A fresh discovery in a world you do not quite understand. Your love loves with bated breaths. Your love swoons and sighs and lingers under awnings. Your love romanticizes. Your love aches as tenderly as a bruise. You’re swollen with desire and idealizations.

[spellmage]

i finished my canon worldstate da:o playthrough today and the end made me FEEL THINGS. i hadn't played the dwarf noble origin until now and agh. my warden being accepted back into house aeducan AND being made a paragon. i want to give her a hug she doesn't want any of that

[etoilebinaire]

Taylor and Emerald for ockissweek #1: Dance! Taylor is mine and Ems is @aeducanka’s !

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

I need to gush about Origins and discuss Duncan okay, listen- DAO is so good for a plethora of reasons but it’s the origins, the thing that it’s literally named after. Which origin you play is the important decision on the players part that has an impact on everything you do, especially if you go hard into the roleplaying of it all, it makes me want to scream. I adore it so much.

So Duncan, right? Great character, love that dude. I read The Calling and he's one of the best parts of that book. If you haven't read it, I recommend it just for Duncan alone.

I enjoy reading opinion pieces on Duncan, especially when the poster mentions which origin their warden is. I find it so interesting because your origin can change your entire perception of him.

Playing as Aeducan or Brosca? Duncan has great respect for dwarves just as the dwarves do for the wardens. Duncan’s your hero. He saved your life. You would’ve been executed or left to rot in the Deep Roads if not for him. And since the wardens are so respected, it’s honestly an honor to join them, no?

Playing a Cousland? You’ve lost everything. Duncan not only does what he can to keep your father alive long enough for you and your mother to find him, but he saves you and gives you a shot to avenge your family by becoming a warden.  

Playing as Amell or Surana? Your best friend lied to you about being a blood mage and chances are you tried to help him escape rather than turn him in, and now he’s gone and Greagoir demands you be punished. But here comes Duncan to conscript you, to take you away from the prison known as the Circle of Magi.

And I know this can vary depending on how you play or what kind of character you’ve created, but I believe you’re waaaay more likely to have a better opinion of Duncan in these origins… but if you play as Mahariel or Tabris?

Mahariel’s more obvious, here. You’re Dalish, and odds are, you and Tamlen are on the same page about humans. Duncan, a human, dragged your ass back to your clan after the eluvian gave you the blight, and sure, that was nice of him… except when you go looking for Tamlen and Duncan destroys the mirror, he’s so dismissive. He doesn’t care about Tamlen. There’s no point in going looking for him, he’s dead. Also you have the blight and Duncan’s taking you away from your family to make you a warden and no, you have no choice in the matter. He'll force his hand if he needs to. Say goodbye, forget about Tamlen, you’ll never see your family again, you’re a warden now. Hope you have fun involving yourself in all these human affairs while everyone points out how different you are!

First off, I think most Mahariel players would agree that they’re still not over Tamlen. How many of you had the thought, “If we look just a little longer, we could find Tamlen and make him a warden, too!” only for Duncan to ruin that? I don’t blame any Mahariel for throwing a fit when he and the Keeper agree you need to go, nor do I blame them for any ill feelings toward him.

And Tabris? This one is personal; my canon warden is a female Tabris, Rosalie, and Duncan really gets to me.

Rose's already being made to marry a man she's never met, some human nobles made their first attempt to crash the wedding, and now here’s this other human waltzing in. Duncan is such a little shit here, too. When you try asking him to leave, he actively tries to push your buttons just to see what you’ll do. But that’s nothing. When Rose and the other women are taken by Vaughan and his buddies, Soris and Nelaros go to Duncan who pulls his bullshit “wardens can’t get involved, they must remain neutral, best I can do is give you a sword and crossbow, good luck.”

Duncan KNOWS what will happen to those women but nope, can’t get involved. Wardens must remain neutral, can’t upset the nobles. I firmly believe that if Duncan had gone with them, Nelaros wouldn’t have been killed and maybe they could’ve made it to Shianni in time, and that infuriates me.

And yeah, in the end it’s Duncan who saves Rose from the guard, but you expect me to be okay with going with him? Alone? After everything that just happened?

It almost feels like Duncan was more interested in testing you, to see if you COULD get out of that situation or what you’d do when the guard showed up. That gives me a lot of complicated feelings about Duncan, and the way the Grey Wardens do things in general. Because let me tell you, Rose hurls that “Wardens must not involve themselves, they must remain neutral” out the fucking window, even post DAO after the blight is over and things return to “normal” for the wardens.  

Side note, I like to think that the wardens out at Weisshaupt or wherever contact Alistair at some point like "What the hell is Warden-Commander Tabris doing over there??? She's breaking every rule we have??" and Alistair's just shrugs like "My wife killed an archdemon to end the Blight and survived, she gets to do whatever she wants forever and honestly, I love that for her."

But anyway-- I get it, Duncan. The Grey Wardens were booted outta Fereldan once before and we don't want a repeat of that. Sure. Fine. Makes sense...but also Rose doesn't give a shit about that? She may come to understand it eventually but that doesn't mean she accepts or forgives it, or would ever be willing to adapt the same attitude.

And I'm not even going to get into everything with the Joining and Ser Jory, because oh my god.

Everything Duncan does influences Rose's views on the Grey Wardens and their duty, like if there was ever anything she and Alistair have straight up argued about, it's Duncan and the concept of "being a warden is an honor."

And I think that's neat. Duncan's a consistency in every origin and even though he dies so early on, his influence remains with the warden no matter who they are.

[dragonologist-phd]

Introducing: Darvis Brosca

In Summary:

Grey Warden, Dark Wolf, Paragon, Wanderer

Casteless Dwarf

Rogue (Assassin/Shadow)

Main Weapon: Dual Daggers

Cynical; Resourceful; Protective; Sarcastic

Relevant Fic: Of Diamonds And Dust

more rambling:

Origin:

Joined the Carta young, where he acted as a pickpocket and lookout while Rica was training as a Noble Hunter. He eventually worked his way up to larger jobs and was especially known for his talent in thievery

Had a stubborn streak and a smart mouth, which often got him in trouble with Beraht. With time (and some pleading from his sister) he learned to hold his tongue and avoid attention

Became very pessimistic about his chances in the world. He focused solely on the survival of his family and on getting Rica out of Dust Town, and privately saw himself as an already lost cause

When Duncan recruited him, Darvis didn't really trust the goodwill of the gesture. In his experience, good things didn't happen so easily, and he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop- which it did, first with the Joining and then with Ostagar

He became a Warden alongside Marja Aeducan, who recruited herself into the Wardens at the same time

Major Choices:

Forced Dalish and werewolves to reach a truce

Sacrificed Isolde to save Connor

Protected the mages at the Circle

Helped Marja defile the Ashes of Andraste (long story)

Destroyed the Anvil and ensured Rica's place in Orzammar by putting her on the throne with Bhelen

Alistair dueled and killed Loghain at the Landsmeet. Anora took the throne alone

Performed the Dark Ritual with Morrigan

Party Dynamics:

Best friends with Zevran. On the surface, the two are very different, with Zevran's charm contrasting Darvis's abrasiveness. But their time with the Crows and the Carta left them with similar outlooks on life, and they bonded over doing crimes together

He acts really grumpy about the mabari following him around but he loves that dog so much. He names it Nug and whenever the Warden nightmares hit they cuddle together for comfort

Technically he's not in Awakening but Sigrun still gets a shout-out. They knew each other before she joined the Legion and always got along really well- they liked to steal things and cause mischief together

In general, he didn't bond with the party quite as much as Marja did; he's a very tough person to befriend. But he does trust them all, and when he trusts someone he'll do just about anything for them

Again: If I talk about Marja we'll be here all day but suffice to say they hated each other at first, then with time and growth on both their parts formed a very strong bond. They're narrative foils; they're reluctant friends; they're ride-or-die comrades; they're in-laws. They're everything to me

Romance:

He's attracted to Morrigan from the start, and they quickly enter a physical relationship. He fully agrees with her that emotions are foolish and they shouldn't fall in love (spoiler alert he falls so hard for her)

It takes a ridiculously long time for the two to admit their feelings to each other. Morrigan spends most of the game telling herself she's just using him and doesn't really care, and he spends that time convinced that of course she doesn't really care about someone like him. In reality they're best friends and close confidantes and one of the few people the other has ever felt safe around, and when they do finally acknowledge those feelings it's full devotion from that point on

Insert that "me doing whatever my hot witch wife tells me to" meme

Epilogue:

For all that I just talked about them, he almost doesn't go through the mirror with Morrigan. After she disappears, his old insecurities come back- on top of that, he's terrified of being a father. But Marja convinces him to look for her, and deep down he knows he can't abandon his son like his own father did to him

Morrigan invites him through the mirror, and he follows. They reconcile and travel through the Eluvians for years as a family, teaching and protecting their son together. Kieran ends up becoming the most important thing in Darvis's life

It pains him to separate from Kieran and Morrigan, but when the Fake Calling begins both he and Morrigan are worried about what it could mean. He sets off to find answers, while Morrigan and Kieran find refuge in the Orlesian Court

They reunite at Skyhold, where Darvis reluctantly acts as the Inquisition's Warden contact. He ends up going into Fade with Inky and Hawke, and depending on who I settle on as canon Inky gets left behind to fight the Nightmare

Misc:

He's very twitchy and fidgety; he never holds still, and is constantly messing with his daggers as an anxious habit. He takes up whittling to help with that nervous energy and ends up pretty good at woodcarving

He's also genuinely fascinated by magic. And okay, maybe it started as flirting with Morrigan, but it does evolve into a strong interest separate from that. He even teaches himself a bit of runemaking.

(He always assumed the Caste that would suit him best is Warrior, but in reality he'd thrive as an Artisan)

During the battle with Flemeth, he ends up with a near-fatal wound after getting clawed across the head. Wynne heals most of the scarring, but he loses part of his ear and his hearing is compromised afterwards. Marja teaches the party the Silent Signs used in Orzammar to supplement their conversations

He used to help Rica with her hair and is now really, really good at braiding

He also "helped" Rica memorize the poetry Beraht gave her by following along with the letters while she recited the verses. He thought it was a useless skill, but the sessions took so long that he picked up on the words without meaning to...which is how Rica tricked him into learning to read through elven poetry

[camelliagwerm]

okay so i realised the last ask game i reblogged would be perfectly suited to a poll :) and i think polls are fun :) Speculative routes under the cut so some of the lesser talked about OCs get a chance vs. say, the popular ones.

(Note: I did not include everyone as I figured some of these would overlap significantly, and each one would need something a bit unique about them. Sorry Byron)

Leonelle (she/her, human, lesbian, 25) — to win the pretty, petty (and a little bit pathetic) Chelish Diva's heart, you must understand she has a lot of baggage from being raised in a strict household with a Cardinal of Asmodeus for a father. She is angry, a bit immature, a bundle of nerves, but she is also vivacious, charming, and eager to explore thanks to her newfound freedom. She is also very opinionated when it comes to matters of the arts, particularly as a Chelish trained bard. Expect events at the opera but also... patricide :)

Valerius (he/him, dhampir, bisexual, 57) — a tyrant, a scion to a family fallen on hard times, a silver tongued prince. Valerius has been called many things, but the most accurate of them all is to call him a beautiful, honourable parasite. He keeps to his word, even if he may twist it to suit his agenda. He worships a goddess of gluttony and undeath, and understanding this is key to thawing his icy heart. Decadent dinners, blood rituals, cannibalism, obssession. A quintessential gothic romance awaits.

Magni (they/he, dwarf, polyamorous & queer, 27) — once, Magni was the favoured Prince of King Endrin Aeducan, and then it all went to hell. After being found guilty of fratricide (he did do it), they have become a Grey Warden on the surface. Ruthless, pragmatic and a political aspirant, Magni is open to a relationship of any kind - open or closed.

Arthur (he/him, human, biromantic asexual (sex favourable), 50) — dilf enjoyers, this is potentially one for you. Calm and compassionate, but grieving, Arthur's heart is mending after the loss of his previous partner and he might be ready for love again. He keeps his noble upbringing well but doesn't put on airs, instead using his position to try levy a better life for those suffering. Rank does not matter if one is in his care. Also comes with a beagle called Chutney.

Leto (he/him, human, pan & demiace, 23) — a young Navy Officer from the Navis Imperialis, Leto has never had much interest in people, preferring his star charts and travel journals instead. But with the right person, he might feel the stirring of something, and more inclined to go by the old courting manuals than think of something outside of the box.

Veszeth (they/them, drow bhaalspawn, aro lesbian, 62) — to court the Dark Urge is to court death. After all, Veszeth means bloody obssession. Flesh taker. They will keep you at arm's length, fighting against their nature just to love you. But that love is a twisted thing, warped by their perception of what love is by their quasi-divine father. Unless you manage to give them the courage to fight back against their destiny before it is too late, then this will be a tragedy. Thee Toxic Yuri Route™️

Luminița (she/her, changeling, demisexual lesbian, 26) — as a cleric of Pharasma who has spent her life being raised, tutored and working in Lepidstadt's graveyards, Lumi is a light and a balm to those who grieve for their departed loved ones. Patient, kind, and with a strong moral character. She will heal those who surrender to her, but allow no quarter against the enemies of her goddess and can have as much of a biting tongue as those who might test her patience. Expect tension if you were in any form sympathetic to the undead, but that makes the relationship all the juicier. Just don't worry too much about her hag mother coming to Call.

[choccy-zefirka]

We previously had a whole Discourse Session about x reader fic on this blog, but I just saw this in visual form on my dashboard (Blorbo hugging/kissing a greyed-out silhouette instead of the artist's OC), and I am back to thinking how being expected to insert my OC into the author-prepared slot is not my thing (and makes me a bit sad, actually) because... all my OCs fall for their love interest, even if it's the same person, for different reasons.

Isk and Wyll are childhood friends who keep being torn apart by circumstances but inevitably find each other. Mariposa and Wyll are gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast; he is the radiant guiding light that inspires her to rise above her Dark Urge. Wilhelm is a classic sad dad, so his partners Wyll and Karlach help him find joy and whimsy in life again. Or, for example, Alyrr stirs Halsin's heart because she is kind to him, while Cinder falls for Halsin because he is kind to *her*; same goes for Niamh and Zevlor vs Dee and Zevlor.

Likewise, in other fandoms, Azelma Cadash and Blackwall initially despise each other because she thinks he's a boring straight-laced fuddy duddy, and he thinks she's a spoiled princess luxuriating in her father's crime spoils and wearing a Stop Being Poor T-shirt, but as their friendship progresses, each discovers that the other is a more nuanced person than their first impressions might suggest. While Naali Adaar teams up with him as Protector of the Small, and Adiba Adaar turns his head with her incredible Nerd Powers (Nana Lavellan is somewhere at the intersection of that, because she is both a nerd and a professional babysitter in her clan). Thraer Aeducan bonds with Morrigan like a golden retriever excitedly following her around; and Revas Mahariel sits across the room from her like they are a cat and she is also a cat, slowly getting accustomed to each other. Nella Amell gets to Zevran with her sweetness and faith in people, and Zevran gets to Brianna Cousland with his roguish charms, even as she appears to have hidden herself behind a wall of ice and grief.

Alisa Shepard is a neurotic perfectionist, Natalie Shepard is an enthusiastic, confident space adventurer; Garrus loves each of them. And in my newest obsession, Cyberpunk, my current rough and tough but secretly artistic street kid V is going to employ different tactics when convincing Takemura to ditch Arasaka through the power of love (shhh, let me have my headcanon) compared to a hyper-stressed, disillusioned corpo V and a happy-go-lucky nomad V I also have planned. And so on and so on and so on.

Can all these different love stories truly be expressed through x reader fics? Even if x reader is mostly focused on smut, I am not sure how much maneuvering you can do while leaving it generic. Again, going back to my own OCs, Arryn Lavellan, a hot-headed 20-something Dalish First, is a virgin who pretends to be sexually experienced to win Respect Points, and then learns the lesson that he did not have to do that; while Elgara Lavellan, a Circle mage and ex-Tranquil, is also a virgin due to her life circumstances, and her lesson is that there's no shame in having a "first time" after 40. Cinder the Tav is a half-Orc, half-Tiefling, used to being fetishized by intimate partners because of her appearance, so she gets her mind blown when Halsin worships her body as a great gift of nature. Laulu the Tav is a half-Orc, half-Halfling, a humble farm girl with dreams of someone who will love her for her, not her glamorous elf bard persona (courtesy of Disguise Self), so she gets *her* mind blown when Gale takes her, the real her, on a journey through the stars. But Amaya, a full Halfling this time, is a vengeful paladin who used to be married to an evil wizard that entrapped her in illusions of love and bliss in order to manipulate her to do his bidding, so she opts for the humble tryst in the woods, blowing *Gale's* mind this time as he realizes that he can be wanted for more than his magic. So for all of them, even smut will flow differently.

Some anons I got argued that inserting your OC into a love story focused on a canon character is too self-centered; you have to give other people a chance to imagine *their* OCs in this blank spot! And I guess it works for some people (a lot of people, in fact), but I would rather write stories and make art about specific OCs and read stories and admire art with *your* specific OCs and all the endless ways they can kiss that Blorbo.

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @greypetrel  |  AO3: stridingcorgi  

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Q&A with Arja

What is your favorite origin?

Definitely the Mahariel one. I do think that all the origins in DA:O are well done and well thought, I do love the Tabris one. But there's something in Mahariel that makes me prefer it over every other one in all three games for how it drags into the game and cause -for me- quite a different view on the events of the game.

Mahariel, as a blank character, has not the same drive of all the other Origins to enter the Grey Wardens. Oh, sure, the alternative is dying... But it's sad that you *can't* take that alternative. You can't choose, you are still forced to go through with the ritual even if it's not your character's choice. There's nothing personal at stake for them, nothing that makes entering the Grey Wardens the best option. If Cousland dies, the family dies with them, Aeducan needs to settle things up, Brosca and Tabris would be caught and imprisoned, Amell and Surana punished with Jowan. Mahariel could lay in a ditch and die: they saw in a day their best friend/love interest possibly die, the clan doesn't want to look for him, not even to bury his body, you're kicked out of the clan and made to follow the convenient Grey Warden that was passing through.

And sure, the Blight would eventually reach the Sabrae clan as well if unchecked... But what has Mahariel to do with politics in Fereldan? What does Mahariel even care for a country that offers them as a boon for saving everything a patch of blighted land to the Dalish, a castle full of darkspawn to them as a thank you?

I do love how detached Mahariel is, it's more subtle of a tragedy as all the other origins, but... I see a small margin of win in all other origins. For Mahariel it's mostly losing. And losing, and losing and losing again, for a country that never cared and won't start caring now. I love how it's the origin that makes you see Duncan and Eamon as mainly negative figures, against the others. Duncan is the one that took away your choices and forced you to enter a cult, the one who left your friend for dead and didn't look behind. Eamon just uses you, as well as he uses Alistair. It may be more subtle on angst levels, but it's pervasive, you have a character with nothing much at stake and I'm chewing on this.

Forgive me the TED talk, I tried to keep it brief but I'm into an Origins replay and *I have thoughts*, ahahahah.

What is your favorite subject to draw or paint?

What I like to find and explore in any consumption of media: characters. I love to explore different sides of humanity (or lack thereof in a safe environment such as fiction - and we all know that liking villains in fiction doesn't equate to liking the same set of behaviours in real life, right?).

I tend to overconcentrate on expressions, characters and their emotion: how do they react to a certain environment, another character they're interacting with, a situation they're facing? That's what I like to draw. I come from comics, and storytelling keeps being important even in illustrations. Adding small details, focusing on the expression, that's my jam.

On a more trivial matter: I do *love* exploring clothes and different styles of dresses! It's a research every time and learning something new, which I really love. It tells a lot on the nature of a character: where do they come from, their personality, how practical they are, how showy, how much time they're willing to spend doing their hair in the morning... It's all connected to storytelling, still. Plus the research. I love researching.

And I do love painting dramatic lights best! Stark sunsets, bonfires under the moonlight...

What drew you to tackle a Big Bang?

The collaboration part, mainly.

Art can be a pretty solitary occupation, and even if I'm lucky to have friends whom I can talk with, and being private enough not to care a bit about fandom popularity... I do love a good collaboration and trying myself to illustrate something written by another person as the fic is being worked upon sounded really appealing.

So, the collaboration and meeting new people: fandom is for the community and for all "playing" together with something we all share and love, exchanging points of views and interpretations of the same character, hype each other and be merry together. I'm not the best at the social part, I'm shy, but the environment seemed focused enough on keeping interactions positive and constructive, and avoid drama, that I decided to take a try. I'm very happy I did and I can't wait to see the whole thing finished and see what the others have come up with. For the meanwhile I'm very excited about the fic I'm illustrating, and I hope it'll show in the final piece.

[lesbian-diana-cavendish]

Absolutely love this picrew so I had to make my wardens, hawke and Inquisitor! If you see this feel free to do it too!! (And maybe tag me, I'd love to see y'all's DA characters!!)

A bit about each of them:

Valda Aeducan x Leliana

Named after a former great queen of the aeducan house, Valda is a proud warrior with her mother's eyes and her father didn't even try to hide that she was his favorite, causing both brothers to resent her...(Also, all dwarves can grow beards! Most women in orzammar just chose not to... probably due to a human lover of a paragon at one point who accidentally made it a fad in her time lol...When she gets to the surface Valda starts to occasionally grow hers out)

Antoinette "Atton" Tabris x Morrigan

Atton is very butch and most non elves mistake her as a man, something she used to her advantage to survive the alliangae, she's a rogue with quick hands and a quicker wit. she has a lot of rage against nobles and she doesn't try to hide it (she and Valda exist in tandem and it takes *awhile* for them to get along)

Marian "Rain" Hawke x Isabela x Merrill

("Wow hawke, how come the Maker lets you have TWO GFS?!") To strangers she's a sarcastic ass who comes across as borderline lackadaisical, but her inner circle knows shes extremely driven and can be deadly serious when needed, had a twin brother who died at ogstagar to save carver so he in turn could save their family, it took her well over a year to even say his name again.

Pallegina Trevelyan x Sera (Trevelyan)

Youngest of seven, greatness was never really expected of Pallegina, who was always a bit quiet and socially awkward, she didn't take to politics as quick as her siblings, and was usually just ignored by her parents, but one of her older brothers trained her with the sword and shield and she proved to be a natural warrior, she was sent to the conclave as an expendable formality. Thanks to the support of her friends she's taken to being the inquisitor remarkably well... tho Josephine often has to work overtime to fix her many faux pas

[bharv]

Could you recommend a fic that is just beautiful prose? I love feeling immersed in the story as well as the beauty of language the author weaves. Also smut. Smut is a good bonus.

BG3, DA or PoE are fine, I'm not picky.

God, CAN I.

So the main issue is I'm probably going to want to recommend writers, not individual fics on the whole. Choosing a fic per writer is torture but I will try my best.

Starting off strong with @senseandaccountability AKA Lilith Morgana. You could do literally any of them (the current Astarion fic Blaze me a Sun is stunning, and the iconic one is the Blackwall/Trev fic there are names for what binds us) but I'm going to plump for so I wait for you like a lonely house which is Aeducan/Gorim and is just sublime.

NeverwinterThistle writes incredible Gortash/default Dark Urge Stuff. Ten Silver Pieces is incredibly written but very, very gory too so have a care. The prose is quite something though. The others are slightly less gory, but no less intense.

Noseforahtwo writes beautiful work. Out of the Woods is Blackwall/Trevelyan and has gorgeous smut and wonderful dialogue.

@popiellart AKA martyrologics again is somebody I could recommend everything of, and people are going to assume I will go for The Hunt (which I could) but I'm going to plump for The Dark Urge/Lae'zel fic the dark urge sleeps alone because it's beautiful, and romantic, and deserves more readers.

Again, @smoreofbabylon AKA Vashnoi has a gorgeous sensitivity across her work, but I'm very fond of More than Bodies

All of @gribbo/@jiubilant but I love this little Barcus Wroot centric piece

the one who bleeds by @des-no9 is beautiful

voyeur by @rowanisawriter is an exceptionally strong outing from a fab writer

And I'm going to sneakily rep one of my own pillars fics, Calm Seas.

[hellafluff]

@dalishious made a fun fillable chart (blank here) for your DA Faves. Gave my reasoning under the cut bc i love to talk

DAO Companion: Shale of course! If Shale has 1 fan its me and if Shale has 0 fans I'm dead, you know how it goes. Shale is sassy and delightful and I love that they're my nonbinary rep bc I for one LOVE non-human enbies as someone who feels pretty non-human.

DA2 Companion: I'm extremely basic and have been in love with Varric Tetras for years.

DAI Companion: DORIAN!!! His journey through the game and how involved the Quizzy gets feels more personal then any of the other companions and I love the banter the two have together. My Lavellan and him are extremely close.

Excited for Veilguard Companion: Emmrich Volkarin I am Deeply Attracted To You. I have his official art as my phone lockscreen right now. I love necromancers and older men and he's so goddamn cute. Plus, Skeleton friend!!!!!!

Favorite Other Media Character: I've been obsessed with Maevaris Tilani for years and if she isn't in Veilguard I am going to end up on the news. She's a queen and the scene of her and her husband in the fade in the comics makes me so sad.

Favorite NPC: Sandal because I decided to put the Architect in the antagonist slot! I do sincerely love Sandal and I'm excited to see if we get anymore lore on him in DATV. I love the theory that he's a Sha-Brytol.

Favorite PC: Warden-Commander Mirabelle Aeducan, Mira to her friends. I love my get-shit-done exiled princess. She put her brother on the throne but also punched him very hard first chance they were alone. She is still treated as royalty in Orzammar and keeps visiting and making surface trade agreements for them as she searches for a Cure for the Calling. Is she supposed to be doing all that? No but the Wardens sure as shit aren't gonna stop her. She misses Alistair very much but purposefully broke up with him so he could be on the throne. They still keep in contact whenever they can.

Favorite Antagonist: I'm going to kiss The Architect. If we do not see him again in DATV I'm. Well I'm not gonna end up on the news but I will be extremely sad. I want to see the rest of the Ancient Magisters very bad, I think they would make great side DLC content for DATV.

Fave NPC Ship: Wade and Herren are married and I am constantly upset that weren't in Inquisition as like a specialty weapon shop at the very least.

Fave NPC Friends: Blackwall and Sera. The goddamn... Weird Uncle and Weird Niece ass relationship they have. They have some of the best banter in the game. I wasn't a Sera fan for a long time but them together really makes both of their characters shine.

Favorite Romance: I'm extremely basic and want to commit terrorism with and for Anders. Krista Hawke can and will do everything in her power to protect this man.

Favorite Friendship: Dorian again! Seriously, him and my Lavellan are basically in a QPR. He really brings her out of her shell and she matches his energy and wants to help him anyway she can. If she wasn't with Iron Bull by Trespasser she'd probably have gone to Tevinter with him.

Favorite Quest: I like the back half of Paragon of Her Kind a lot, the final confrontation with Branka and Caridin especially. Throw Shale in there for lore and fuck yeah. A lot of it comes down to my Warden being Aeducan and my love of Shale but what can I say, if my Hawke could be a Dwarf she absolutely would have been.

Favorite DLC: I played Jaws of Hakkon as a reluctant mage elf on my last playthrough and fucking sobbed after the Ameridan Meeting. That DLC is absolutely life ruining if you play that kind of Inquisitor, it was all of Adana's deepest fears realized and it shook me how deep in character I got playing it.

Favorite Game: DA2! I love it's jank and story in a story nature and relationship mechanics. I really hope we get a rivalry mechanic in DATV or other games try something like that. I don't want to piss a companion off so much they leave I want them to stay and get bitchy with me in every dialogue! I wanna romance someone who curses my name! Also just has the best story of all the games.

Favorite Other Media: I really enjoyed Absolution! I think some parts of it are under written because of how short it is (Qwydion just being comic relief is the thing that really gets me) but the overall plot and animation is REALLY good! I haven't watched it since it aired tho. I'm hoping it gets another season to cover the Meredith stinger, because I don't know how they'd handle that in DATV.

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

Playing origins and I made it to the fade and tbh I wish they made an extra dream section for each of the origins at the beginning. I know that the fade is already SO long but I think even just a small little scene would add a lot.

Just 'cause, the companions get these dreams that are so personal to them that they can't break free without your help, and all you get is a conversation with a guy your character knew for all of... two days maybe (nothing against Duncan I love him I just don't think he'd be the emotional anchor for all the origins). Like idk it just makes it seem like Sloth just didn't try at all with the warden but then nailed it with the others? I get his whole thing is being lazy but if he's lazy with the warden he would be lazy with other people too right? Selective laziness...

Like I want my Cousland to be lured in to stay forever with their brother or their parents. I want Mahariel to see Tamlen again and never want to leave the fade. I want Aeducan to be caught in an eternal battle with Bhelen they can never really win. I want Sloth to try and convince my mage that they're in the circle tower, and not in the fade, and nothing is wrong.

I know they were also limited on what they could do and weren't even sure if anyone would like dragon age all that much when they made it but I think it has serious story potential. Anyway thanks for reading my little essay I just have so many ideas.

[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.

[vigilskeep]

out curiosity are their any pc backgrounds/hawke personalities/love interest match ups that just don't work for you? i tried to romance leliana as surana and it just...didn't click because my elf had been hurt by andrastianism far too much and that's a huge part of leliana's character. i tried purple hawke/merrill and there's a cultural divide linguistically which results in her not getting a lot of his jokes while hawke's purple responses seem more condescending to her than blue and red are

i think there’s something cool you can do with every single dao origin and romance pairing and i did a whole ask game on that basis! but there are a few i wouldn’t personally play, like i think everything that can possibly be said abt ali/cousland has been said and i’ve never come up with a tabris to suit ali, tabris or surana with leliana doesn’t do much for me, i’ve never really felt like doing an aeducan or mahariel with zev, i’ve never had a mahariel concept i feel like would work with morrigan, etc. etc. and those are all GOOD pairings and i see good content of them and i can totally see their potential, and some other people’s ocs who are in those pairings are beloved favourites of mine, it’s just not smth i’m personally drawn to doing myself

in da2... again i don’t think there are any “bad” ones it’s all a matter of taste. because the options are so limited its easier for me to come up with the one specific hawke variant i like for each romance than cross off everything i don’t. personally i prefer mage hawke for isabela and merrill and non-mage hawke for anders and fenris... as for the hawke personalities i think it depends how u play it. generally i prefer purple dialogue in the isabela and fenris romances because they respond well to that lightness and blue/red dialogue in the anders and merrill romances because they’re so rarely taken so seriously. but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t be purple in general, and i really do think there’s something fun in all hawke variants with each romance. i keep trying to think of one i absolutely wouldn’t do and then i’m like... wait... there’s something in this...

i do think there’s something kind of charming abt purple hawke/merrill specifically because purple hawke can’t rely on their usual joking front to win her over like everyone else. also in a relationship, purple hawke painstakingly explaining every joke to her to everyone else’s irritation and her a) laughing when she finally gets it or b) going “OH! but isn’t it supposed to be funny?”