#da: red mahariel

[nazali]

wardens bc messing around with character sheets is fun & therapeutic

template cred.

[enlichened]

more screenshots of my dumb rook. his scar and face paint look weird in some lighting but also i love his nose and his shitty expressions..... and his stolen valor (v-neck crow outfit)

[grey-wardens]

okay, that vows and vengeance episode has gotten me very hyped

[lindenforest]

thinking about how wild The Events r from allens perspective.

imagine: you are suddenly taken away from your twin sister and moved far away as a child. you miss her terribly. many years after you receive news that she among other ppl in the clan has got the b/light. so shes dead and you will never see her again. you still hold on to the tiniest hope. you look for your birth clan on the next arla/thvhen. you hope you can ask what happened. they never come. you find out theyve been wiped out.

the national hero/warden commander/your spymasters girlfriend that shows up in sky/hold some more years later looks Suspiciously Like You but does not react to you in any way (beyond just da/lish solidarity and occasional irritation for her girlfriend being so overworked and stressed). so you deny yourself any possibility - you cant do this shit the Fourth time.

you do find out thats in fact her (and the reason she was not reacting is that she developed an untreated dissociative mental illness and repressed every memory of you)... and then you find out that in some-teen years she is going to die, like, the most horrible death possible.

imagine having to process all that.

[dark-elf-writes]

More for that mha/da crossover because I love these chaos children and @musicfeedsmysoul12 is once again enabling me

Izuku fell through an Eluvian and ended up in the crossroads. Keiran was actually the one to find him, having heard the whispers of someone moving through the mirrors

Keiran and Izuku claimed each other as brothers almost instantly, both being lonely children. Morrigan found no reason to discourage this and let them go around calling each other their twin

(Mahariel nearly has a panic attack the first time he hears that)

Izuku loves The Game. Loves the finery and the masks and twisting words that comes with it. He masters it at a very young age much to the annoyance of his brother who H A T E S everything about it.

When Flemeth called for Keiran Izuku was actually with him at the time and ran into the Fade after him. The shock to him is system from being in the fade and the stress of being 100% sure Flemeth was going to kill his brother just like his first mother was killed forced a dormant quirk to activate. It’s a version of All for One that was twisted by exposure to the Fade so instead of stealing quirks he stole a part of Mythal’s magic without anyone knowing. A fragment of a fragment. Almost too small to be noticed but when it’s the power of a god even that much is enough to make him a formidable mage

He has nightmares about Mythal’s memories that get worse after her death. That and her own new memories are what convinces Morrigan that her sons will be safer in a different world and starts searching for the Eluvian that Izuku originally came through.

Mahariel, knowing Morrigan has a role to play still, goes with them and has to both figure out the modern world from the pieces that Izuku remembers and Morrigan’s scouting and deal with how the Blight in him changed after he left Thedas.

Being unable to shake his training as a hunter and later as a Warden Mahariel takes to wandering the streets at night for secrets and starts a new branch of Red Jenny and also becomes a vigilante completely by accident (he swears.)

He also gets rumors of a Boogeyman and upon telling the boys they decide to become heroes to stop afo

[ghostwise]

may writing challenge day 6 - 283 words hamal 'you need some money faw da book?' mahariel

There is a heavy layer of magic here, and the air suddenly feels a lot less humid.

“The air is so dry,” Zevran says. “For the paper?”

Hamal nods. “It needs to stay pristine in our hold, even through storms. I think I saw some poetry there… might be lyrics among them.”

Zevran strolls the books with interest. He hadn’t expected such a thorough collection. Some well-read volumes of fiction, perhaps, or beat-up incomplete encyclopedias, like what he usually finds at the markets back home; but before him there are highly specific tomes on a variety of advanced topics in magic, philosophy, religion, mathematics. Books he could’ve only hoped to find at the university, where he had so desperately wished to gain admission to.

“So many!” Zevran exclaims. “More than I expected! I didn’t… I couldn’t have prepared for this.” He peeks into his pockets and digs out a coin purse. Perhaps he can buy one.

Hamal stands close by, smiling. He has a book in his hand, a fabric-bound little volume in red, but he doesn’t say anything as Zevran darts from table to table, reading the titles.

“Arithmetic from Rivain… Astronomy from Seheron… I cannot read this title! These are in a language I’ve never seen.”

“Tell you what,” Hamal says. “Pick one you like, and I’ll buy it.”

His words manage to wrench Zevran’s attention away from the books for a moment. He turns to regard him carefully.

“Are you coming onto me?” he asks. He knows, he just wants to confirm.

Hamal grins. “Kind of, yeah.”

“Because it is working.”

Hamal nods. Of course it is working. He chuckles as Zevran returns to the volumes in front of him.

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Twitter: scarlettoshee  |  Instagram: scarlettoshee

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 Scarlett O'Shee

Who was your first DA protagonist?

Celesteva Mahariel, warrior. White hair, black eyes, red eyebrows. She's one of those characters that one likes to repeat in every game, or at least in my case only in the first game, so she's not my canon Warden. Oh, and she had a romance with King Alistair!

What do you listen to while creating?

Generally fantasy video game music, also tributes and covers. I'm currently listening to The Witcher 2 and 3 soundtracks (which I haven't played!). I tend to prefer drama, as it's what matches my art the most.

What drew you to tackle a Big Bang?

Being new to the fandom, I wanted to collaborate with what I like to do, and this seemed like an excellent opportunity. Also, I've been reading exclusively DA fanfiction for the last year and I've been tempted to illustrate some. I should add that I've never read fanfiction before. It's terribly addictive!

[sunbreaking]

Hi!

3, 5, 17, and 25 for the DA Worldstate asks ✨️

thank you for asking!!

3. opinion on blood magic?

Saffron Mahariel: He doesn't understand it at all! Sometimes it's bad but other times there are uses for it so it really just depends on who the mage is. When Morrigan talks to him about creep rituals he's just like "ok! 😀"

Marian Hawke: Nobody should do it except for her and her friends who are totally the exception and are fine and nothing bad will happen.

Kale Lavellan: He probably used to worry about it more but since getting the mark and seeing red lyrium he feels like there are way worse things out there that could happen.

5. attitude towards the Chantry?

Saffron Mahariel: Ambivalent, he has a sort of live and let live attitude.

Marian Hawke: Hates it and views it as a beacon of corruption and abuse.

Kale Lavellan: Hates it and was very reluctantly dragged into the Inquisition as a result. The only improvement is when Leliana becomes Divine, he has a very respecting friendship with her and has more hope for the Chantry's reformation as a result.

17. what were they like as a child?

Saffron Mahariel: Wide-eyed, inquisitive but angelic. He spent a lot of time being quiet and following around older members of his clan, since his parents weren't around.

Marian Hawke: I would say a bad kid but I feel like Malcom would have encouraged his wild mage child, much to Leandra's annoyance. She gets the Eldest Sister syndrome later on after Malcom dies and she's had to be more responsible (while still retaining the attitude)

Kale Lavellan: He spent most of his childhood covered in dirt and finding bugs. Once he showed signs of magic he was kept super isolated by the clan to protect him and had a wise fear of humans drilled into him.

25. what did they plan for their life to look like before the events of the game happened?

Saffron Mahariel: He was going to be the best hunter possible, just go with the flow, and hope the Keeper picked out a nice girl for him to bond with so he wouldn't have to work that hard.

Marian Hawke: I think she always saw an expiration date on her life. Once Bethany and Carver were settled in their lives and her mother was taken care of, I think the rest of it was just blank in her mind and she didn't allow herself the luxury of goals.

Kale Lavellan: He saw himself honing his magical abilities and getting stronger. I don't think love or marriage ever entered his mind until getting with Dorian. He was a strong independent guy who didn't need anyone and never would.

[attractthecrows]

list post.

DA THEMES

for my ocs. sorry. not canon characters

Sylaira Mahariel: dead & dying trees. single, lost feathers. love lost. suicidality. bonds forged in grief. life lived to the fullest on borrowed time, with acceptance of - longing for - impending death.

Laure Amell: birds. A chick with its wings clipped. the pretty, empty life of a captured songbird. the call of the zugunruhe. the croaking squawk of the carrion crow. Rising wind, and the storms that come with it. determination, competence, confidence, pride, Valor. how many ways can an ego die?

Hahraka Aeducan: [incomplete] The savagery of Nobility as a class. The kindness that nobility might represent. The ignominious death of the Deshyr houses. The havoc that darkspawn wreak not only on a population, but long-term, as a culture.

Danie Hawke: birds again. simple joys and sorrows. loyalty and loneliness. Loyalty and loneliness. [incomplete]

Dominic Hawke: [incomplete]

Mara Hawke: Piety and compassion. [incomplete]

Brendan Hawke: [incomplete]

Asaaranda Adaar: mountains, colorful silks, the bonds of brotherhood. Cliff-climbing goats. Blood and sweat and laughter by the campfire once the battle is won. Shattering stone and your comrade's back against yours.

Haalide Adaar: broken weapons, re-forged sloppier but stronger than before the break. Fire and steel, stone and bone. Ease and assurance that comes with age and experience. Old wounds, old scars. Hurts and secrets buried by time. More than anything, though: forgework, be it forging the Inquisition, forging weapons for the Valo-kas, or forging a new future.

Revallen Lavellan: grief, guilt, fury, responsibility, failure, redemption. Fire and forest. Secret and song. The legacies of the dead and of the living. Curiosity, creativity, laughter, affection. Fathers that love their children. Lessons learned from the dead.

Orathari Lavellan: skill and patience. copper and gold. clever mechanical trinkets. stranglevine and morning mist.

Valovera Lavellan: anger and ambition.

Azimir Ingellvar: black, red, white, gold. cannibalism. brutality hidden under a veneer of gentility and academics.

[hiddenbeks]

ocs as types of suffering + tragic love archetypes

tagged by @hibernationsuit to do a couple quizzes for some ocs, thank u red!!

tagging @narrayya @grimhygge @famewolf @abetterbeginning to do one or both of the quizzes if u want to, no pressure! suffering quiz here, tragic love quiz here <3

did the first quiz for my da girls:

ANDRALE MAHARIEL - yearning

"the pain in your chest bubbles knowing that what you want may never be yours. You're lost in a fantasy world, or consumed by what you wish you were or had as opposed to what you do. it's hard to appreciate what's around you when you're appreciating the hope of what could be instead."

yknow i often consider andrale my most well adjusted oc. she had a relatively stable childhood with friends and loving family. and despite developing a resentment of the world that hates her people as she grows older and desiring a world where things are different she's still mostly satisfied with her life? but this all changes after she becomes a warden. the first months are especially difficult as she's still in denial about her fate and the fact that she's never going back to her old life and indeed yearns for all that she has lost. she eventually learns to live again and enjoy her new life as best she can but she will always carry that sadness and regret and longing with her i think. you may see her happy and content one moment and the next she's staring blankly at nothing, lost in her memories of simpler days.

FRIDA HAWKE - self inadequacy

"you crack under the weight of your own perceived inability. how can you be enough for anyone else when you're just barely enough for yourself? insecurity causes you to have little backbone, and so you fail to reach your full potential when it comes to what you're best at. you sabotage opportunities with fear you'll fail before you've begun. it hurts to never feel like your best is enough, but setting your standards too high or too low ensures it."

i was fully expecting to get 'the giver' as a result for frida but this is accurate too! she never believes she is enough as a daughter or big sister or stand-in parent to the twins or champion or. anything. poor gal believes it's her job to carry the weight of the world and blames herself for not being or doing enough when she inevitably fails. oof

CELYN SURANA - loneliness

"your heart feels full of the connection you feel you lack. no matter how many people are around, strangers or not... someone is missing. you don't know who, what, or if you'll ever find them. you're unsure if there's a person out there who'll really satisfy your life, so really what's the point of continuing to look?"

hmm! celyn was indeed lonely at the circle save for jowan but i have to wonder if it was her own doing. though to be fair i doubt the circle fosters an environment supportive of making friends and forming genuine connections. and obviously the fact that it's partly her own doing doesn't make it any less painful. anyway. celyn put friendships aside in favor of studying and being The Very Best, hoping that advancement in the circle would bring her at least a tiny bit of autonomy and respect. this all leads to a hopeless loop of "i'm lonely and want friends" "don't know how to make friends so i won't even try". she slowly gets better after leaving the circle when andrale and friends coax/force her out of her shell because they need to work togetheeerrr. there's no team-building exercise quite like the blight and the impending end of the world am i right haha

anyway next up some tragic love:

ISABEAU MONET - caníbales; devourer

"love's a knife to skin to you, a vein to woven muscle, blood puddle before you. you listened to all the promises of a stranger's relief and feel the drain of a shower head running it all down again. you committed another murder; kissed and bruised skin with a clench to a quivering wrist and went home in the deafening quiet of a taxi. there's mold covered rage within you. if to take a heart home with you, you'd bite your way through muscle and ribcage first. pleasure comes, but there will be no devouring past it. there is fear in settling down and being seen. there is a glass screen between these bodies and you. relax your tight jaw and feel the real canine fear beneath that scabbed up cavity. the sacrifice of opening up is needed if to be loved as you deeply wish inside. desire doesn't discriminate between hands and spoken word. why should you?"

wowie!! i rarely get serious about isabeau because she's mostly a fun and sexy menace and has convinced even me that that's all there is to her but like. i shouldn't forget that she too is damaged underneath it all 😔 what twenty years of emotional neglect and lack of support from parents does to a gal...

[psalacanthea]

A lil’ bit more of Solas hanging out with the Arainai-Mahariel-Tabris kiddos (and their mom).  Just a blood mage and a traitor god teaching four year olds about how change requires suffering.

Adaia   Ashalle  Cyris and Tamlen

...

Liana glanced up from her food as Cyris and Tamlen came barreling into the Skyhold kitchen, the courtyard door thrown wide.

The servants glanced over, but when it was only the Inquisitor’s children, they went back to work.  Much like Lia herself, her children had become an expected thing, as all of them preferred to use side entrances and be out of sight, rather than marching through that big noisy hall.  She wished desperately that there was an alternate exit to her rooms, but alas.

Her nearly four-year-olds were both scuffed and red-faced, but Zevran had kept his word and they weren’t muddy.  When they came to a stop at her side, Cyris beaming delightedly up at her, she returned the smiles and tilted her head.  The twins shared a look.

“Yes, loves?” she prompted.

Like usual, Cyris took the lead.  “Mumae, Tamlen wants an earring.”

“Can Tamlen tell me that’s true?” she asked, and then sighed and reinforced when the twins immediately looked at each other again instead of at her.  Creators that could be frustrating.  “I need Tamlen to tell me himself, please.”

“Tamlen says–”

“Cyris, let him speak for himself,” Lia interrupted chidingly, and turned her attention to her solemn, blond-haired, golden-eyed son.  He looked, much to everyone’s eternal amusement, almost exactly like his papa Zevran, but was the quietest and gentlest of their children.

All of their da’len were rather pragmatic apart from Tamlen, who would cry over a crushed flower and agonize over every mistake.  Instinctively, all the other children tended to protect him.  It was sweet, but it would make things difficult when they tried to do everything for him.

Tamlen nodded, eyes serious and calm.  “Yes.  Cyris too, mumma.”

“Like papa an’ da!” Cyris agreed, voice scaling up in excitement.

“Well, we’ve had this talk before, and you know the rules.  I will do your ears, or just one ear, but when you say stop, I stop.  Because it will hurt.  If you’re ready, you’ll be able to sit and not say stop for the whole time.  Yes?”  Lia smiled at their shared nod, giving one of her own.  “It’s okay if you need to cry, you can even yell!  Nobody likes pain.  But if you want to wear earrings, there has to be pain.  Yes, cubs?  Do you understand that?”

She got her ‘yes mamae’s before she would relent.  Lia had known this would happen eventually, all of the children loved to emulate their parents.  An earring wasn’t too far, in her opinion, they were so young that even if they healed the ears with magic, they would still grow over in time.  There was no reason to say no.  

Well, she doubted either of them would actually manage to go through it, but she’d been surprised too many times by children to rule it out.

Especially hers.

“Well, let us see if Hahren has time to help us,” she decided, before gathering up her chicks.

Once she’d retrieved her kit and informed Derry and Zevran of what was happening (and they’d bet on if the twins would go through with it), they found Solas and asked if he would come be their healer.  Lia was annoyed with the necessity, but she’d promised herself to limit her blood magic usage when in Chantry custody.  Every time she called it custody she knew Leliana would get annoyed, which might have been why she was still saying it.

They’d even forced her to be Inquisitor, she’d say what she wanted.

Things were…rocky between her and Leliana.

Solas seemed interested in the proposition, and they adjourned to a nearby balcony, where there were no witnesses to berate her for piercing her four year olds’ ears at their request.  Humans could be odd.  Even some city elves– their grandfather Cyrion still would fuss over the idea of the children getting tattoos.

As if she would deny them a perfectly reasonable request.

Clasping the brightly-dyed, felted piercing kit her foster mother had made for her, Lia gazed down at her sons, crouching before them as they sat on the balcony.  She met Cyris’ fearless brown eyes, and then Tamlen’s sober golden ones.  They still seemed steadfast, though Cyris was upset because he wanted a ‘ring earring, not a dot’.  But she had her limits, and risking a ripped earlobe on a four year old was one of them.

“Now,” Lia said once they were settled, Solas standing by with curiosity, his hands clasped behind his back.  “It is time for an important speech, because you decided you’re old enough for this, yes?”

The twins looked at one another, and then Cyris nodded firmly.  Lia waited, though, until Tamlen nodded as well.  It wasn’t hesitance, just his usual habit of forgetting that he had to speak for himself.  She returned the nod.

“You did not choose your body.  You were born with it, yes?”

“Not like Cole,” Cyris said, as quick as always.  “Cole was a spirit, mumae.  Like Justice!”  He confided this with the air of someone sharing a great secret.

“Mmh.  Like your friend Justice.  But we are talking of your bodies, little mischief.  A body is important for many things.  It keeps you safe, and can keep others safe, and helps you take care of others.  It lets you make life, like mamae and papa made you.  It lets you experience joys spirits do not understand.  Like sweets, and swimming–”

“An’ frogs,” Cyris interrupted, gleefully off-track as usual.

Creators, they were probably too young for this talk, but it had to be done.

“And frogs,” Lia said, and she knew she hadn’t hidden her exasperation as much as she’d wanted, because Solas smiled faintly.  “We must take care of our bodies, so it can bring us joy.  But sometimes our bodies don’t look the way we want, so we change them.  With clothes, art, or jewelry, or even bigger things, like when Uncle Gaharan from clan Lavellan removed his breasts.  Do you remember?”

Cyris shook his head, but Tamlen nodded hesitantly.  That was fair.  They hadn’t seen any of the clans since they were newly turned three, and a four year old’s memory could be quite short.  

“Do you remember when Tamlen cried because we had to cut off some of his hair that got caught in the bramble?”  This time she got very emphatic nods from both of them, and even a little tearing up from her most sensitive child.  Cyris took his hand firmly, a little protective gesture that softened her heart as always.  “It hurt Tamlen’s heart, but things like tattoos and piercings hurt your body.  Earrings will hurt.”

“A lot, mumma?” Tamlen asked nervously.

“It will.  To change is difficult,” Lia said, lifting the needle in two fingers.

“Mumae, does it hurt the frog?  To be frog?” Cyris asked, little voice stilted by his concern.

Lia understood why it was coming up again– Derry had told her frogs and tadpoles were a current obsession for Cyris’ very hands-on curiosity.  Very well, if frogs it had to be, frogs it would be.  “To change from a little pollywiggle to a frog?  I don’t know if it does, but…growing up always hurts a little, I think.  Do you think hurting a little to have legs and to be able to jump up is okay or–”

“Yes!  Up, up, up!” Cyris agreed, throwing both hands into the air.

“Sometimes to gain something we desire, it hurts,” Solas said quietly. 

Tamlen nodded, voice quiet.  “It’s trade.”

Lia beamed, all the more amused to see Solas’ proud smile as well.  She knew they would wriggle through his defenses eventually.  She’d known it all along.  He had a temperament to get along with children quite well, if he let himself.  Which he had.

“Very good, da’len.  You understood very well,”  Solas complimented Tamlen, who glanced down and fidgeted with his fringed belt shyly.

“When Addie got her t’too, mum said it’s trade for hurt, Hahren.”

Lia flushed, embarrassed to have been caught out.  Solas lifted his gaze slowly, and gave her a condescendingly knowing look.  With a little huff, she rolled her eyes to the side.

“Well, perhaps I’ve given this speech before,” she admitted, ignoring his silent laugh.  Creators.  It wasn’t like she could be blamed for some repetition, she was trying to teach the same things to four very different little people.

“Adaia has a tattoo?”  Solas asked, both eyebrows raising.

“A small one, in a spot that will be easy to cover over when it stretches as she grows,” Lia dismissed, finding it silly to hear Solas say things she’d heard a thousand times from Derry’s side of the family.  “Her da and papa are covered in them, it’s natural to her.  If a child is prepared for the consequences and the discomfort, who am I to say no?”

Solas didn’t bother to hide the subtle smirk that curved up the corner of his wide mouth.  “Their mother, perhaps?  She is only six, Lianalle.”

Lia lifted a hand and flickered it in dismissal, annoyed with him for the very rare usage of her full name.  She knew he did it on purpose.  Smug old man.  “A tattoo does no harm but the pain of receiving it.  Besides, it will be good practice to know what it feels like, for when she receives her Vallaslin.”

Solas’ silence was sudden and profound.  She glanced sidelong at his face, absently using a hand to pull Cyris away from the balcony’s edge.  Although Solas’ face was placid, there was a sudden tension in the muscles at the back of his jaw, a curiously pained emotion in his eyes.  He was hiding something.

She followed his gaze down to Tamlen, who was sitting on the floor still holding Cyris’ hand, gazing at his twin with a small, gentle smile.

Why did it give Solas such an uneasy expression?

“I'm going to poke your fingers with the needle,” she informed her sons.  If Lia was right, that would be enough for one of them to give in, which would make the other one give in.  “If you can stand the finger poke and still want your ear afterwards, I will do your ear.”

“And I will heal you,” Solas agreed.  They shared a look, and he shook his head slightly at her, obviously amused.

She wasn’t as certain as him that they would give up after a single poke.  While neither of them was nearly the bulwark of stubbornness that Adaia was, nor as carefully thoughtful, they were quite adventurous.  For four year olds.

They both took the needle to their cautiously outstretched finger quite well, though Tamlen immediately teared up when he saw the little drop of blood.  Luckily his brother was there to kiss it better, and then Solas to heal it afterward.  Much to her surprise, however, it was at that point that they diverged.

Usually when Tamlen decided to back down about something, Cyris would immediately follow him.  But this time, after their small twin conversation that involved more significant looks than words, Cyris decided he wanted to keep going.  And Tamlen…was all right with that, instead of immediately bursting into tears.

She was rather proud of them both for that choice.

Of course, she only got halfway through piercing Cyris’ ear before he gave up, left with a little bloody hole that Solas healed over.  Thankfully without judgment.  Solas seemed highly amused by the whole process, but interested as well, as she’d rather thought he would be.  

It was an endlessly fascinating thing to watch children learning the rules of life.

When the boys ran off after she dried their tears, unharmed and declaring they would be ‘brave enough soon’, Lia opened the soft felted case again, gazing down at the gleaming needles.

She had no doubt they would be ready sooner rather than later.

“Liana…”

“Mmh?” she asked, glancing up at Solas as she rose from the stone, knees chilled.

“The Vallaslin…” he trailed off, but not out of awkwardness.  More because he knew just how far to push her by now, she thought.  His face was still perfectly composed when she met his measuring gaze.

“Were you going to say something about ‘Dalish nonsense’ again?” she asked him mildly, not worrying too much about it if he were.  By now, at least, she felt comfortable scolding him.  “I thought we already agreed not to have that fight any more.  I let my children call you Hahren, Solas, don’t make me regret it.”

Solas chuckled faintly, the sound a hint strained.  But when she glanced sidelong, his face was placid, and his voice even as he spoke.  “I wonder, as a mother, do you ever fear that the teachings you impart to your children may be…wrong?”

Lia considered that for a moment, and then took a moment longer to filter it through her understanding of his mind.  He thought her gods a farce, or worse, dangerous.  He found Dalish culture to be a misshapen thing because it did not conform to the truths he thought he had seen in the Fade that contradicted it.  Yet he could not truly understand Dalish culture.

How could he educate that which he didn’t first understand?

She knew that he was earnest that the Vallaslin was what bothered him, but wouldn’t doubt for a moment that there was more to his distaste than the process of tattooing young people.  “The details may not all be correct, and I will make mistakes, and pass on some of the mistakes that were taught to me.  But what I worry about are the things the world will teach them when I am not there to protect them.  So I suppose, Solas, the best I can do is teach them to understand the world, how it works for ones such as they, and why it is better to live in it with kindness, nobility of spirit, and resilience.  So that when I, or their fathers are not here, they can pass through the trials and suffering of this world with those qualities intact.”

“Resilience.  Well, their mother certainly exemplifies that quality,” Solas said with an incline of his head.  And then he chuckled.  “Fathers as well, though with a great deal less…dignity.”

Lia laughed, not needing to argue that point with him when he was so very correct. “Zevran and Darian are far more good-hearted than I, however.  I am not kind.  Perhaps that’s why I need them both, to anchor me.  You know, if you found someone to temper your need to always be correct, falon, you might be a good father yourself.”

“You claim I require a partner to correct me?  Do you not find that sentiment as distasteful as I?” Solas countered, raising an eyebrow.

She hid her amusement that she’d needled him.  “Everything we do and everyone we meet changes us, doesn’t it?  Life isn’t a road, and it isn’t a lonely one.  It’s a pond that is constantly shifting, surface rippling with even the most delicate of contacts.  Everything we are touched by changes us, in curious and unexpected ways.”  Unbidden, she glanced down at her marked hand, forehead furrowing as she flexed her fingers.

Solas’ voice eased, softening as it always would when they spoke of her difficulties with the Anchor.  “You would know.  This is your second world-ending cataclysm, after all.”

“The Blight was…different,”  Lia said, troubled as always.  Would that saving the world twice followed the same pattern– she would have preferred it.  “We were so young, and we never had time to look at the scale of what we fought.  It was not so entangled in complications and Thedas-wide politics.  They claim they need these politics to garner the forces we–” She cut off, swallowing her many tearful, terrified speeches that she had only shared with her husbands.  Face and mind calm; emotions should not be so easily shared.  “I fear what ripples I am being forced to make.  And for whom I make them.”

“Yes,” Solas said, an echo of many other conversations they had engaged in, once she had trusted him enough to be honest.  His voice was sober and quiet, thoughtful.  “But necessity must drive us, da’len.”

Lia shot him a sidelong look, lips pursing.  “Da’len?”

“Ir abelas,” Solas said, with the faintest twitch of his lips.

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “You should be calling me hahren.”

“I beg your pardon?” Solas scoffed.

She lifted a needle, spinning it in her fingers.  “Will you be brave, then, Solas?  I’m here prepared, but with nothing to pierce.”

“I find myself in no need of decoration,” he replied, eyeing the needle in her hand.  “We struggle through a time of great change, and there are enough without my adding to them.”

“Or you could embrace the change, and let yourself change as well, falon.  Even if only a little, and frivolously.  In a way that brings you joy.”  With a sad smile she tucked the needle away into the felt case, voice slowing.  “Joys are in short enough supply.  We must take what small ones we can.”

Solas was quiet for a time, but when she glanced away from the vista of distant mountains to his face, there was a ghost of a smile at the very corners of his eyes, nearly reaching his lips.

“Perhaps another time,” he said quietly.

With a small nod, she turned back for the door, slipping the woven leather cord around the case and tying it securely.  She had a foot past the threshold when Solas spoke again.  She was pleased to hear a hint of humor in it.

“Were you aware that your husband cheats at cards?”

Lia smirked to herself, tucking the case into the front of her tunic.  “Oh my, yes.  Zevran mentioned you’d demanded another game.  He will cheat again.”  That thought was tinged with overwhelming affection.

“And he will lose,” Solas replied with calm confidence.

“I look forward to seeing it.  It will doubtless be very entertaining,” she said, smiling to herself as she departed.

A small joy– a brief reprieve from the pain.

[nazali]

transferring more oc inspo to this blog ignore this 🎆

[warden-wolfxe]

(main) aesthetic acc: @also-wolfxe dragon age acc: @warden-wolfxe (you are here!) everything else acc: @wolfxe

(i have an interactable keep! doesn't work on the app, though)

tag list below:

types:

talk tag (original posts)

meta tag

lore tag

oc tag

other oc tag (other ppls ocs)

art tag

favs tag

grey warden tag

da critical

character tags:

charming (alistair)

birdie (zevran)

feathers (morrigan)

cookie (sten)

granny (wynne)

pebble (shale)

nightingale (leliana)

keggar (oghren)

dane (loghain)

his majesty (maric)

golden boy (cailan)

bann (teagan)

gruff (riordan)

ponytail (duncan)

-

rose (velanna)

pigtails (sigrun)

lurch (justice)

shade (nathaniel)

blondie (anders)

seneschal (varel)

-

mr. tethras (varric)

sunshine (bethany)

junior (carver)

red (aveline)

broody (fenris)

daisy (merrill)

rivaini (isabela)

choir boy (sebastian)

-

seeker (cassandra)

chuckles (solas)

curly (cullen)

ruffles (josephine)

hero (blackwall)

tiny (iron bull)

buttercup (sera)

iron lady (vivenne)

sparkler (dorian)

kid (cole)

witch-kid (kieran)

lieutenant (krem)

-

slick (neve)

scout (harding)

scruffy (lucanis)

smokey (taash)

bangles (bellara)

slayer (davrin)

bones (emmrich)

arrow (felassan)

venom (viago)

orlesian (antoine)

pissy (tarquin)

oc tags:

warden (my warden - cain cousland)

twinkle (renan tabris)

hunter (veron mahariel)

buttercup (dean amell)

frosty (solona surana)

sage (natia brosca)

his eminence (duran aeducan)

ghost (caron)

-

killer (my hawke - muriel hawke)

giggles (killian hawke)

-

lucky (my inquisitor - arthur trevelyan)

brainy (theodore bayart-trevelyan)

fancy (mahanon lavellan)

lily (itheilia levellan)

trinket (strike cadash)

gloom (kaaras adaar)

-

rook (my rook - vali aldwir)

pawn (sylvain ingevellar)

bishop (cyril laidir)

knight (thorne)

king (jesse mercar)

queen (solaris "sol" de riva)

-

marcher (connor trevelyan)

stickler (salem trevelyan)

bunny (ellion)

loomy ("dion" devotion)

squeaks (ven'isa)

plucky (evander)

princey (casspian)

ship tags:

warding (warden/charming aka cain/alistiar)

roseden (rose/warden aka cain/dean)

killdie (killer/blondie aka muriel/anders) [with hawke being kind of a universal character, i tag handers art posts that remind me of muri & anders with their ship tag, but i don't use muri's name tag]

blurch (blondie/lurch aka justice/anders)

blurchler (blondie/lurch/killer aka justice/anders/muriel)

curky (curly/lucky aka arthur/cullen)

kook (king/rook aka jesse/vali)

kneen (knight/queen aka thorne/sol)

[justabrowncoatedwench]

I wanna preface my addition by stating that I unequivocally agree with OP that the Dalish get done dirty A LOT in DA by the writers, including their oversight about how a Lavellan would conflict with Morrigan.

However another element at play in these two examples specifically is the Blight/Taint.

The eluvian Merrill repairs is the same Tainted one that Mahariel and Tamlen come across and are poisoned by in the Dalish origin in DAO. It's *why* Merrill has to repair it: the mirror was shattered by Duncan to prevent it from hurting anyone else.

Similarly, the idol Bartrand betrays his brother and Hawke for? The only thing he takes from the thaig? It's an idol made of red lyrium, or consumed by the stuff anyway, and we know from DAI that red lyrium is Blighted lyrium.

The connecting element for me isn't whether or not the characters at play (Merrill, Bartrand) were taking selfish shortcuts (I don't think Merrill was, even though Bartrand definitely did); the connecting element is, as almost it always is, the Blight.

u ever think about how weird it is that in dragon age, every character who tries to recover their own legacy is punished for it, but if you recover or steal others, they get rewarded

consider -

bartrand goes insane then dies for finding an old dwarven thaig.

merill's exploration of the eluvian ends up with her keeper dead.

in DAI in the descent, valta goes to recover the story of the dwarven titans and goes insane or dies due to it

the only exceptions are humans, who get along fine even with their own shit.

but then on the other hand, hawke goes into the deep roads and steals a bunch of dwarven shit and gets rich. morrigan fixes an eluvian and lives in the fucking crossroads and goes unpunished for that somehow. its like when the humans do it its Okay™️ and nowhere else.

i wished they swapped morrigan for merill in DAI not only because i like her better but because it feels odd for this human to have so much knowledge about elven stuff, and then has the audacity to argue with the elven inquistor about drinking from a well that is the legacy of her people. like what a bitch.

i feel like the games do the dailish dirty lol

[cdhurricane]

The Wheel of Fortune or Flemeth

Tarot card from The Warden Mahariel’s Tarot Deck 

Other cards:

The Devil | The Lovers | The Sun | The Tower | The World | The Star | The Moon | The Judgement | The Hanged Man | The Fool | The Wheel of Fortune |

Ace of Swords | 2 of Swords | 3 of Swords | 4 of Swords | 5 of Swords | 6 of Swords |

Ace of Cups | 4 of Cups | 7 of Cups |

Ace of Pentacles | 5 of Pentacles | 9 of Pentacles | 10 of Pentacles |

3 of Wands |

[itsyasyall]

What's your canon world state for dragon age?

Hello🏃🏾! So, my Da world state is like a personal mess in my brain, because my first warden was my Mahariel and i consider it canon, but i full played Surana recently and it's also canon for me, like a branch in the timeline that became bigger than i thought, so I'll put Mahariel as an honorable mention:

DaO: Thaer Surana, circle elf, arcane warrior/blood/battlemage, 22yo, kind, a bit prideful and determined to survive. Saved the circle, *saved Connor, helped the werewolves and elves, Bhelen as a King, helped Jowan escape every time, didn't destroyed the Urn, didn't kill Flemeth, did the dark ritual because she trusted Morrigan (and is a scholar too), Anora and Alistair rule together, Loghain is alive, saved Amaranthine and the Keep, let the Architect alive and romanced Leliana.

(* for game reasons Surana makes a deal with Desire, but in my HC it's with Pride (after the Redcliff events), the same from the Harrowing)

Da2 (current playthrough): Inara Hawke, self taught mage who dabs into a bit of everything, 25yo, pretty straightforward and a mediator (blue and a bit of red), never felt at home in Kirkwall and is burdened by the loss of their family. Carver becomes a warden, killed the Arishok, Merrill's clan is alive, Isabela returned the tome, helped the mages, let Anders go and romanced Fenris.

DaI: Tharell Lavellan, Knight Enchanter and almost First Keeper of his clan. 40yo, serious looking and a bit of a bastard with a heart of gold (under all his pipe's smoke), didn't wanted to be there at all. Sided with the mages, let the wardens stay in Ferelden, Bull's Chargers alive, Celene dies and Brialla rules through Gaspard, Divine Leliana (softened), Hawke left in the fade, not drank from the well, disbanded the inquisition and romanced Blackwall.

NOW, the honorable mention of Mirthir Mahariel worldstate:

DaO: Mirthir Mahariel, Berserker/Warrior (and hunter alongside Tamlen) in the clan. 22yo and bright like the sun. Saved the circle, saved Connor, helped the werewolves and elves, Bhelen as a King, Killed Flemeth, Anora rules alone and Alistair is a warden, Loghain is dead. Loved Tamlen, romanced Alistair for a bit, then Zevran until the end. Did the ultimate sacrifice.

(I have a second Hawke (Tibalt) in my sketches and my first inquisition (Vena) Adaar so maybe this could become a future secondary worldstate!!)