#if either of them had died. but especially carver

[gnawednoble]

adjacent to the last post, the most i have ever written for amelia was in a twin hawkes au and frankly i think she was much better off being the second-born, even with so little of an age gap, but jacek was probably doing worse

[annoyed-galaxy]

12 and 14!

12: Attitude towards Mabari

Warden: Feril Surana

Absolutely loves them! Being in the Circle was extremely boring for her, especially as someone who didn't really care for magic and didn't use it all that much. She had read books about various pets across Thedas and, being a Fereldan, had always dreamed of having a mabari. So when she was given the choice to find the Andraste's Grace to help the mabari in Ostagar, she immediately jumped at the opportunity and helped save the dog. Later on, on the escape from Ostagar, the mabari found her and she was so happy. She named him Asthen and had him by her side ever since.

Champion: Seth Hawke

He's Fereldan and a softie for animals, so of course he also loves mabari. The Hawke pet mabari went a while without a name because the twins and Seth would always argue about what to name the dog and Leandra and Malcom could never get them to agree on one. However, after their escape from Fereldan and living a year in Kirkwall, Seth decided to name the family pet Hero, honoring the Hero of Fereldan who saved their home, despite them not going back to Kirkwall. Hero became one of the last family Seth had in the end after losing his mother and his brother becoming a Warden.

Inquisitor: Willow Lavellan

She preferred Halla growing up as a Dalish elf and her clan shunning her. However, when she married Cullen and he got them a mabari, she fell in love with the dog. She admired its intelligence and its silliness rather than fragility like Halla.

14: who are they closest to from their family?

Warden: Feril Surana

Growing up in the Circle, Feril didn't get to know her family. She didn't even have that many friends aside from Jowan and Cullen and even still, Cullen was too flustered around her to hold a normal conversation and Jowan was too whiny sometimes. However, her found family, she was like sisters with Leliana and Morrigan, always teasing Alistair with them and then of course, Alistair himself being the closest she's ever felt towards someone. Once he became king, she wanted nothing but to stay by his side and sometimes she could, but duty always called. Either way, the king of Fereldan is probably the closest family she has.

Champion: Seth Hawke

Seth was close to Bethany, but then she died when escaping Fereldan and he was left with his mother and brother. Seth never knew why his brother disliked him and was sometimes sad about their feud, but he always joked it off and teased his little brother. Then Carver got sick and had to become a Warden. Then he was left with his mother, his last family and lifeline; literally. When she died, he thought everything would end soon: his affliction would catch up with him and he would die. But then he opened up about his ailment to Anders and Varric and they become his bestest friends. Already, Seth and Anders had been in a relationship and Seth was already becoming attached to Anders, a fellow doom and gloom man, but after his mother's death did he truly stick to Anders like glue. After the chantry, Seth declared that if he was to be seen as a villain for protecting Anders, then so be it. After Meredith was defeated, he and Anders ran off together and he would spend all his time he could with Anders.

Inquisitor: Willow Lavellan

Willow did not have friends until joining the Inquisiton. She was ostracized from her clan, hated and bullied. Her clan was very much paranoid about some prophecy that if a mage had been born into their clan, it would mean their end. But because of her mother's dying wish, she was kept in the clan. That was until she was possessed by a spirit of compassion, her only friend for a while. However, compassion turned to rage as it witness that abuse Willow went through. That's how she ended up at the Conclave. The Inquisition became her family and she became close to most of the companions. She didn't know how to lead and didn't like being in the spotlight, but she had lots of good people to help her out with it all like Cullen, Dorian, Bull, etc. But of course, Willow became closest with Cullen, marrying him, and managing to heal both their trauma born from magic.

[gutshift]

have some Nice Things about faye, because she has so many flaws and i talk about them so much.

she likes flowers and has an interest in arranging them, though no actual training. she can tell all different flowers apart, even uncommon ones.  hawke doesn’t gush, per se, but ask her about a particular type of flower and she will get going.

especially in act i ( before she gets Even More Depressed ) but occasionally elsewhere, she play - wrestles with her dog.

she named the dog carver partly to annoy her brother — but a lot of it was just because, when trying to think of a name her thought process was ‘boy names i like’ and carver was just the first one to come up.  she called them ‘carver’ and ‘human carver’ when they’re together as a 'playfully fucking with my brother' thing.

after human carver dies she lets the dog sleep in the bed with her like she didnt before.  they cuddle.

she donates generously to charity and gives a lot of money to beggars and the like in lowtown and darktown, even in act i when she really doesn’t have the funds for it.  people in lowtown and darktown really like her accordingly as a general rule, even if they also realize she’s Terrifying.

she is — not kind, maybe, but she isn’t mean to children and is generally good to them.  once she found a lost child crying in darktown and spent over two hours with her looking for her family until they found them.  she held her hand the whole time.

she can’t carry children, but if she was with someone who could and they wanted babies she would love them, even if she would also be afraid that she might hurt them ( because what doesn’t she hurt ).  she’d also adopt with a partner who also couldn’t have children or didn’t want to be pregnant.  faye doesn’t actively want kids, but she’ll have ‘em if her partner wants them, and would actually be a better mother than you might expect.  would love her kids SO MUCH.

if she isn’t left in the fade, post - inquisition she finally gets some positive fucking character development and —— she never gets totally better, but she improves.

bethany and she used to braid each other’s hair.  she keeps her hair long in bethany’s honor.

if she has children, assuming her partner doesn’t object, she wants to name her first daughter bethany or her first son carver.

when bethany’s magic first manifested, faye grabbed her hands and laughing and hugged her sister and twirled her around and didn’t stop smiling for days.

during the arishok fight, she was 100% certain she was going to die, and her only coherent thought was ‘last long enough to either kill him or let isabela get out’ because she loves isabela, despite all that isabela had put her through by that point.

whenever anders is too busy, she leaves out food for cats so they’ll come hang out with him.

she wrote lia fairly frequently for years after that whole mess, and her letters generally boiled down to ‘don’t worry about the nightmares; nothing can hurt you that i won’t stop.  i’ll always be there to protect you.’  she actually carried through on the offer more than once and spent the night either in lia's home or outside of it when the girl was particularly frightened.

[milesmentis]

I've been gone for a long time and I feel like I've missed out on a lot of things. Give me an update on how Daren's been doing. How many different timelines and AUs do you currently have and what are they? What's his one (1!) scene/adventure that you personally love the most? What's the one ao3 Daren fic that I just absolutely need to catch up on? What's the thing that makes this character so special for you? A long answer is very welcome ❤️

Daren is doing well - still both my primary OC fixation, tool for self examination, and all around Bestest Boy. I've gotten so much more art of him and Anora kissing, its great! Going to Twitter was generally a hellish experience, but I participated in a lot of ask games and found some really cool mutuals who helped me develop him ever further so thats rad!

Oooh, only picking one scene is tough but I recently wrote some of Alistair and Daren’s escape from Fort Drakon and GODDAMN is it funny! At the start of DAO especially, Daren is really reserved and focused because of his trauma, but closer to end game his sense of humor really comes out. And neither one of them are dumb, per se, but they honestly don't have any common sense either so leaving them without Heulwen to be the brains turns any situation into pure slapstick.

For something actually published, my recommended reading is definitely "Jealous". I wrote it for ZevWarden week last year and I'm super proud of it. Features ballroom dancing, mild espionage, and Daren thinking about his feelings on marriage/romance and how badly he wants to be holding hands with his wife and his lover.

Honestly I think the thing that makes him so special to me is his resilience. In the wake of trauma and regret he still finds a way to keep pushing forward, but he doesn't let it make him cruel: even at his most vindictive or pragmatic, he does everything he does to protect others. I spend a lot of time thinking about his trauma and PTSD bc he helped me to recognize my own trauma symptoms. He is in a lot of ways the ideal of what I strive to be: not perfect, but honorable, loyal, and always trying his best to do the right thing.

As for AUs and timelines ...

The FusionVerse with @galfrey that started off as a fun little AU has definitely become his primary canon in my mind, so much so that people continue to be surprised that he isn't "technically" a Zevmancer. The actual writing is so so slow, but we've plotted out the future trajectory all the way to 9:58 (though of course DA4 is probably going to throw a wrench in all this). This is the universe where he romances Zevran and then marries Anora and Heulwen has an enemies-to-lovers-to-friends-to-partners slowburn relationship with Loghain. Post canon, Daren and Anora have twins (to their great relief) named Gareth and Eleanora and they're a pair of precocious terrors. Heulwen is the official HoF and Warden Commander so she does all the Awakening and Witch Hunt stuff while Daren is in Denerim rebuilding the country with his wife. It's basically the happiest/best possible outcome AU where nobody dies (Alistair even stays in the Wardens and gets a boyfriend: Carver Hawke)

The biggest canon change has been biting the bullet and saying that I wanted Daren to be able to recruit and then kiss Jowan. So he has two "solo canons" actually: the in game version where he was with Leliana and Magnus (my earliest OC) is the Inquisitor, and the "What if" canon where he kissed Jowan and Hallapan Lavellan is my Inquisitor.

Beyond that, there is -

- WardenQuisitor: what if Daren was the sole survivor of the Final Battle and then 10 years later had the misfortune to become Inquisitor? Basically a huge character study about trauma/PTSD and how important it is to have love and support if you hope to heal

- RomoVerse: what if he and Heulwen were star crossed lover's who were pulled apart by circumstance but never fell out of love? It's extremely sad and tender and Daisy keeps coming up with *more au's* where they can actually be together bc they're such a good couple

- ModernAU: exactly what it says on the tin. Daren is a trust fund baby, Anora is a lawyer, and Heulwen and Loghain are negotiating the very complicated power dynamics necessary to have a healthy relationship when there's a large age/social gap

- WardenThrouple: a high drama AU where Daren and Alistair dated during the Blight, Alistair married Anora, and then Heulwen romanced Daren and Loghain. Daren is the Warden Commander, Heulwen his Constable, and Loghain their right hand man. Basically an excuse for them to all kiss in one timeline and give Heulwen two children and no responsibility

- No Blight AU: what if the Blight had actually never really started? What would have happened next? A fun what-if exercise about Ferelden politics and a Second Civil War (basically Couslands and Mac Tir's vs Theirins and Guerrins). Daren is engaged to Anora, but starts falling for Heulwen who escaped from the Circle and it eventually develops into a Heulwen/Daren/Anora throuple. Also features a Jowan who was made Tranquil and an Alistair who finished his Templar training

Phew... there are actually even more, but those are the big ones and the only ones that are actually getting fic or art content are FusionVerse and WardenQuisitor ... the rest are just cool to think about!

Thanks for the ask 💖💖

[king-maven-calore]

prompt #25 “your hair is really soft” for marecal please 😙

I did this and "10 cal and mare please. idc who says it lol"👀 in a single drabble, I hope you guys don't mind. It's a modern AU I guess

Cal had been volunteering at the Scarlet Guard summer camp for two seasons now, this would be his third. The first time he’d been here as moral support for Ptolemus, who’d been sent here for his community service sentence. Ptolemus had signed up again for the following summers for Wren, a med student in charge of the infirmary, and Cal kept signing up because he found out he loved working with children.

He always had a great time helping the kids, training them in archery and other sports, patting their backs when they got homesick, leading them on walks through the woods belting out marching songs, sitting with them at lunch, and making good use of his excellent puns arsenal. The kids had a blast, and he did too.

In this part of the Greatwoods Region, he found paradise. His dad disapproved and Maven did not understand but was he too happy to mind.

It would have been a shame if he’d proven them right on his third year here when he almost died out of sheer stupidity. But could he be blamed? Could he be blamed when the five new counselors got down from one of the early buses and one of them looked like that?

Among the newbies, there was a petite girl with golden skin that seemed to sparkle under the early morning sun. She jumped down from the bus and a cloud of dirt exploded around her already dirty Vans, her toned legs were generously exposed under her jean shorts, and the lines of her abdomen peeking out from under the camp’s counselor reglementary red polo shirt as she stretched and arched her back to tie her dyed brown and purple hair in a bun, scowling at her surroundings with something akin to distrust. She was the loveliest girl he’d ever seen in such a violent way... was it really his fault he didn’t pay attention to the lightbulbs he’d been changing at the side of the dining hall, perched atop a rickety ladder 10 feet above the ground? It wasn’t. Electricity didn’t give a shit about whose fault was it though when he blindly stuck his hand in the exposed wires next to the light socket.

A white explosion, sparkles, and a sensation of being pulled away at 1000 miles per hour.

Next thing he knew, he was on his back and there was a warm mouth against his. Warm, soft, insistent— on breathing air into him. And good god, this person smelled like heaven; jasmine and rain. Much to his dismay, the scent and the mouth left him and his chest started getting crushed in rhythmic, urgent motions.

Cal gulped air and shot upright. He was surrounded by 20 consternated young faces and one barely inches away from his face. Beautiful, wide brown eyes, thick long eyelashes that brushed against high cheekbones when the girl who’d just saved his life blinked twice.

“Dude.” Kneeling next to him, the girl with the purple hair knitted her brow. “What the fuck?”

And Cal couldn’t help but smile at her. A reflex. She was even prettier up close.

“I think we should check for brain damage,” a blond with bottle green eyes muttered.

Oh, but his brain was fine. It was his heart he should get checked, for he’d just been struck by Cupid’s arrow.

And electricity, of course. The smell of burnt hair, clothes, and flesh reminded him.

The result of that encounter turned out to be quite positive. Yes, he got a second-degree burn on his right hand and a dislocated shoulder from the fall but he refused to be sent home, it had been worth it to get to meet Mare Barrow.

She was 18, from Albanus, only here for the money, best friends with the blondie jokester and— as he learned after a dubiously moral social media stalking session —single and interested in men.

The only thing he regretted from that “meet cute” was that he’d been mostly unconscious (technically dead) for 99% of the time her lips were on his.

He lived for the moments they crossed paths during their daily activities around the camp. His heart grew in size about five times when she teased him and lightly punched his stomach or ruffled his hair.

Ptolemus cocked a brow but kept his mouth thankfully shut when Cal decided to start sitting on the counselor’s table during dinner instead of with the kids, as he had grown accustomed to.

It was miserable and extraordinary how he even found the way she ate her food endearing. More often than not, miserable because he couldn’t A: get her to like him, for she was too laser-focused on doing her job efficiently and getting the hell out of the camp; B: touch her as casually as she did with him because his hand was bandaged, and C: relationships between counselors were strictly forbidden.

By the time his hand was healthy enough to be of any use, three weeks had passed and he was head over heels, neck-deep (to not use other body parts for reference), stupidly in love with the sarcastic girl who had put her own breath into his lungs, challenged him every time they got the chance and looked at him like she wanted to sink her hand into his ribcage to take a bite out of his heart. Needless to say, he wanted to touch her. Badly. Ok, maybe do a bit more than 'touch', but you get the idea.

His excuse was handed on a silver platter by one of his favorite campers, Luther Carver. The kid who was usually off-standish and grim— just misunderstood, in Cal’s opinion – had signed up for the braiding lessons that Mare was unhappily in charge of.

On his way back from the lake, his crew of kids trailing behind him, he passed along the group of girls and Luther taking their lesson, sitting in a circle on the grass between the pine trees. An idyllic image of children focused on their task, and Mare’s poorly concealed discomfort as she sat on a log bench and supervised the activities, biting the inside of her cheek, elbows on her knees. It should be illegal to be that beautiful without meaning to.

“Hi, Cal!” Luther chirped as a girl behind him stared with furious determination at her handiwork. “How does my hair look?”

Cal signaled for his group to keep walking back to the camp and approached the small clearing.

“It looks amazing, buddy!” Cal gave him a thumb up. To be honest, his braid of long black hair was slightly (very) crooked to the left, and Mare noticed. She hid her laugh behind cough and a fist. “It is very original.”

Luther beamed and turned slightly to wink in his fellow camper’s direction. The girl blushed and giggled and Cal wanted nothing more than to give them a bear hug and tell them how smart and kind they were. Kids were the best thing in this world. Especially when they said things like...

“Mare’s hair is still the same,” Luther sighed wearily. “Someone should do something about it.”

All the girls hummed and nodded in agreement and Mare closed her eyes and Cal could read her thoughts as she counted to ten.

“Fine, you guys win.” Ah, so her untouched hair had been a recurring topic. “Cal can braid my hair!” she said with fake excitement that went over the kids’ heads, thankfully. “If he knows how to, that is.” Her brown eyes locked with his in camaraderie, fully expecting him to turn down the task with some excuse to appease their audience.

“Ok,” he shrugged happily as he walked over to her and her smug face dissolved into a confused frown and the kids cheered.

He made a shooing motion with his hand and she moved to sit on the grass awkwardly while he took her place on the log bench, sitting with his feet placed on either side of her body.

“What the hell are you doing?” she whispered through gritted teeth so only he could hear her, craning her neck up to glare at him, when he started cracking his knuckles for dramatic effect.

Were this any other context, he would savor the warmth her body radiated to the inside of his legs. Not this context. Absolutely not.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he smirked down at her. “Now stop moving and let me braid your hair.”

With one last suspicious look, she heaved a breath and stared ahead as he tugged the scrunchie off her hair and let the brown and purple waves spill down her back.

Cal had no fucking clue how to do braid but how hard could it be? It was like a knot with hair. Right? He looked at what the girls sitting on the grass were doing. Ok, that seemed doable. He combed his long fingers through Mare’s hair to loosen any knots and... Holy. Fucking. Shit.

He successfully hid a shudder while Mare uninterestedly hugged her knees to her chest.

He was choking on his own breath. Her hair was so soft and the scent of it was so amazing it pierced his fingertips, reached his bloodstream, and shot to his head. Jasmine and rain like that first day. Cal stilled for a moment and blinked forcefully to regain some semblance of rational thought.

“What is it?” Mare muttered curtly. Was it his imagination or did it sound more like a gasp than scolding?

“Nothing,” he said and started imitating the nearest girl’s technique. No point in lying, he bent down to whisper in her ear. “Your hair is really soft.” It wasn’t meant to come out so raspy and needy, and still...

Mare turned to the side and they were face to face. She seemed offended, but not really, with a confused glare darkening her burning gaze, a lovely red tint spreading all over her cheeks and neck, slightly parted plush lips.

She looked on the verge of kissing him or punching him. Cal prayed and ached it was the former because she licked her lips, leaving a glossy sheen and he wanted nothing more than to...

“OHHH Mare and Cal sitting in a tree!” A girl squealed, pointing at them from across the clearing and suddenly 10 pairs of devilish eyes were on them and chanting. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

They jumped away from each other so fast one might think they had been electrocuted again as they rushed to explain that “No, they were NOT doing anything of the sort!”

[norahastuff]

Bucklemming are the ones who wrote Cas using emojis!

Yeah, they nailed it with that one.

Unpopular opinion ahead warning!

I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I genuinely think Bucklemming have been writing Cas really well since s13. I mean don’t get me wrong, their episodes are disjointed as fuck, the pacing’s usually really jarring and the excessive exposition drives me up the wall. They don’t seem to know the meaning of show don’t tell - see the weird ass scene where Sam and Dean, reveal their big plan to Chuck in 15x19 - but I do think they’ve given us some good Cas content.

For instance:

13x07 - Cas getting to be bitchy and condescending to Lucifer and just generally getting to make fun of him and act superior. Dean being really worried about him and able to tell that something’s wrong because Cas is being overly affectionate over the phone. This is also the episode where Ketch pretends to be his own evil twin and Dean punches him in the face, which yes, is really stupid, but it’s so ridiculous it swings right back around to being hilarious and I’m obsessed with it.

13x13 - Kind of a forgettable episode and I hate all the Lucifer stuff but Cas is just so done with everyone and he gets to do the flippy angel blade thing and knock Ketch out which is pretty much the content I’m here for.

13x18 - Nothing major for Cas here, but he’s once again pissy about Ketch and completely done with everybody, which, I’m easy, that’s pretty much all I need.

13x22 - Honestly there was some amazing Cas stuff in this episode. He got to meet an AU version of himself that was so completely broken from years of torture because he’d never met Dean and had never been able to fully rebel. I mean this exchange in particular:

AU Cas: Don’t think that you are better than me. Well, we are the same.

Our Cas: Yes. We are. (Stabs him.)

Cas isn’t surprised in the least about what he became in a world without Dean, and it’s really satisfying to see Cas have his choices validated and to see him be good with where he’s at in his life. I mean they even have the whole juxtaposition of AU Cas torturing Charlie on heaven's orders and our Cas torturing someone on Dean's. It's still Cas, it's just his allegiance and what he's fighting for is different.

Unfortunately this all becomes much less poignant because Misha decided to do that weird ass German accent for AU Cas, (love you dude, but no) but the writing for him in that episode is pretty good. Plus he gets to say he vastly prefers humans to angels, which is always nice to hear.

14x02 - This episode is full of excellent Cas content. He parents Jack, gives him a monologue about how he found self worth when he was a human, talks to him about Kelly and just generally coaches him on being human.

He also gets to talk about vessels and his feelings about the whole Jimmy thing. Plus he dunks on angels again, is the smartest person in the room and is very clear that his priority is always Dean.

14x07 - My favourite thing is Cas getting to act superior and condescending towards people he can't stand and it’s there in spades in this episode because this is where Cas meets Sergei. He hates him so much and its hilarious. There’s also a long shot of Cas failing to look dignified when sitting on a pouffe. Oh and he dunks on Ketch again when he finds out Sergei and Ketch are buds.

14x12 - Cas is annoyed as fuck with Dean about his whole “lock myself in a box and throw it to the bottom of the ocean” plan so he dresses up as a doctor and has a ridiculously intense conversation with Dean that seems like it could lead pretty much anywhere before they get interrupting moose’d.

14x19 - There’s some good Cas/other angels stuff in here, just further cementing that heaven is very clearly not his home anymore. Also the Cas and Jack stuff is good too.

15x02 - Holy shit, I love this one. That whole conversation that Cas and Dean have about how Chuck has been manipulating them but Cas refuses to accept their decisions haven’t been their own because he knows what free will is and he’s fought and given up everything for it, is one of my favourite scenes in the entire show. That whole scene is just such good characterisation, for Dean yes, but especially for Cas, because he has such a complicated relationship with destiny and grand plans, and he, more than anyone, knows what it truly means to free because of how hard he’s had to fight for it. And you know:

“Dean you asked what about all this is real. We are.”

That’s a banger of a line, if I’ve heard one.

15x08 - Dean and Cas go to hell and get couple’s therapy from Rowena, actually their whole dynamic in this ep is very well done, what with the whole “I can’t look at you but I can’t be away from you either” thing they’ve got going on. There’s also some really good Cas and Michael stuff and he actually says “You had an entire oak tree shoved up your ass” so yeah.

15x13 - Cas going to the Empty, he’s once again just done with everyone, especially Dean and I love it. Plus there’s the Dean and Cas marriage symbolism in that church, I mean they have to do some really contrived storytelling just to have Dean and Cas stand at that altar together.

15x19 - Yeah this episode is clunky af, but Cas’ importance is repeatedly emphasised. There’s that cut scene where Jack prays to him, Michael expressing condolences to Dean about Cas’ death (also cut I know but they still wrote it), Dean yelling at Chuck to bring Cas back, the whole Lucifer pretending to be Cas thing(he impersonates people’s dead lovers when he’s asking them to let him in) and finally the big moment at the end where Dean internalises Cas’ big speech in 15x18, and decides to see himself as Cas did and be the man Cas loved and died for. 15x19 is too much of a mess for me to call it a good ep, but that scene was really satisfying.

So yeah, there’s plenty of stupid in BL episodes and I found all the Lucifer and Nick stuff really tedious but at a certain point they did get kind of good at writing Cas, his characterisation is pretty consistent throughout their episodes in the Dabb era which I don’t really think was the case back in the Carver seasons. Guess they at least learned something.

(10x21 is still some of the worst writing in the entire show though.)

[sir-silly]

TWDG S2 First Playthrough

E1 - Omid’s death is always such a bitchslap. It’s so stupid. Literally, why did they send her in there on her own? Are you kidding me? It’s ridiculous. Omid didn’t have to die. 16 months later?? What??? It would have made way more sense to have made the DLC about those sixteen months and then start at Christa’s camp with no baby or Omid instead of what we got instead. Bull. AND WE STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO CHRISTA.

I think out of the entirety of season 2, Clementine and Luke’s relationship in the first three episodes is my favorite. He becomes an alien after episode two, but he becomes intolerable after three. He’s just such a big brother to her and knows that she can take care of herself. Their relationship is similar to what I think Clem and Ben’s would have been if they ended up alone together after season 1.

I stole Nick’s watch, I’m not sure if I’ll give it back yet just because I think it’s hilarious that you can take it and not give it to him. Speaking of Nick, he 110% sees you when you look through the kitchen door if you never back out and he doesn’t say anything. I decided to go with Pete at the end just because I’ve never seen it played out before.

E2 - Well, ironically enough I prefer going with Nick. The first few times I saw it, I hated it, but it’s really grown on me throughout the years. Pete’s just didn’t feel as emotional or like it had much of an affect on Clementine. I also prefer him telling her about his mom in that shed rather than later on.

Another thing I love about Luke and Clem’s relationship, even though he knows she can take care of herself, he still tries to protect her. He holds his arm out in front of her when Matthew is approaching them on the bridge and is the one that pulls her down to keep her from getting shot. The banter they have is just really sweet and I miss that dynamic between them, I wish it carried throughout the rest of the season.

I was thinking about a missed opportunity the writer’s had while I was playing. Instead of having Walter die no matter what and Nick either die in episode two or four, whether you tell him the truth and/or convince him to forgive Nick should have a different outcome. Only one of them makes it to Howe’s depending on what you decided. You couldn’t convince Walter to forgive him? Nick goes out of his way to save Walter and Carver kills him. You told him Nick was a good guy? Walter sacrifices himself for Nick and gets killed instead. It would give a bigger variety and it would be really interesting to see how Walter would deal with being at Howe’s.

E3 - Troy makes me so uncomfortable. I know they were planning to have him do a lot worse, but he’s still just so ugh, you know? I’m physically incapable of liking Bonnie the more I see season 2. I just know that literally everything is because of her. She finds the group at the ski lodge, she blames Clementine for Luke’s death if she shoots the walkers LIKE HE ASKED, and she’s fully prepared to fucking leave her with a couple maniacs and a baby. Just her presence pisses me off.

I know I’m talking a lot about Clem and Luke, but I don’t care because I just love their relationship before he becomes an alien. I had her hug him which was really cute but I also want to see his reaction if she hits him which I think I’ll do next time. I know he pushes her to do things like every adult in this season, but he still actually seems to worry about her because he is hesitant about sending her to turn on the PA and he stands up to Carver when he says that Clem has seen more things than they could imagine.

E4 - I had no clue what I was going to do with Sarita, but I did end up chopping off her arm. I will forever hate how the adults are like "Kenny's being so scary, he's yelling, I thought he was gonna shoot me" and then they force Clem to go over there even if she says she doesn't want to.

I didn't know this until I looked it up just now, but apparently Nick died from a bite on the neck? This whole time, I thought he somehow just bled out from the gunshot to his shoulder, and I honestly don't know which is worse. His death is such bullshit. You know what else is bullshit? Alien Luke. Literally Rebecca shows more emotion than he does, and it was for all of 2 damn seconds. You know what I would have preferred?

Have Luke start breaking down. Make him just as unable to move as Sarah. Let him lose his mind over the fact that he just lost his best friend of "damn near 20 years" and make us decide whether we convince Luke or Sarah to escape. It's not convince Sarah or leave her, it's you can only save one of them. Again, more variety for those who aren't a fan of Luke and actually make it a hard decision because I feel like I would have a WAY harder time with that than whether to leave Sarah (I didn't by the way).

When Clem looks at the cannon and Jane says, "check the muzzle, napoleon" I really wish there was an option to be like, "Jane, I have a first grade education. I don't know my times tables, who the hell napoleon is, or what the fuck versatility means OR how to spell it. Keep yo damn nail file."

Another thing they could have done with Sarah, is if you saved her in the trailer park, she could have potentially saved herself. And this would be a really interesting one, because the determining factor would have been a thing that appeared as a dialogue option, not a choice choice. In episode two, you can teach her how to use a gun if you pick the right choice. Instead of having her die no matter what, if you showed her, let her actually show that she learned something and is capable of learning how to survive.

Rebecca’s whole situation is bullshit, too. You know, I’d be okay with it if it was changed. If you didn’t give her the pills, the coat and you left the observation deck early, I could buy her dying from hypothermia, exposure, blood loss, etc. But if you give her those things and you stay a few days, I would rather her have died in the firefight. It would have made way more sense. Like, I know a hell of a lot of things can go wrong during giving birth, especially without medical care, but after THREE damn days? I don’t know about that. Whatever you wanna say it was, a placental abruption, hemorrhaging, whatever - she would have died way quicker, not taken three days.

E5 - The writers had two good opportunities to get a chance to kill Kenny before the rest stop was ever a thing. They could have made Natasha go for him and you have the choice of shooting her or not. The could have been done later on when they’re walking through the woods and one comes up behind him. So, say you don’t let him get bitten the first time, but you’re seeing how unhinged he’s becoming, so you let it happen the second time. After that, you don’t get another opportunity.

Another thing about the pills, they’re so annoying. Like, you can only give them to one person. Rebecca, Luke or I think maybe Kenny. Because apparently there were only two damn pills in that bottle that shook like it was full. It’s so annoying. You should be able to give it to whoever you want, not just one of them.

I have so many problems with the ice scene. Yes, Luke, there are in fact TWO ways around. You see those trees? There’s these things called GAPS between them and the lake isn’t so damn big that you couldn’t walk around the damn lake. GRRRRR. When the ice started cracking, where were the choices to tell Luke to throw his gun away from him and to tell Bonnie to keep her fat ass put? “The small child is light, let them do it!” small child: no “Guess I’m just as light as her!” FUCK YOU BONNIE! THEN YOU HAVE THE FUCKING AUDACITY TO BLAME CLEMENTINE WHEN IT WAS CLEARLY YOUR FUCKING FAULT! YOU LITTLE WHORE ASS BITCH-

Sorry. I’m never going to get over Luke’s death or how fucking pissed I am at Bonnie and Mike. They can get fucked for all I care. Can I say, it’s also BULLSHIT that Bonnie makes it out of the ice but Luke doesn’t. Are you kidding me? She can find the hole, but he can’t (😳)?! GRRRR.

I was dreading that rest stop this whole damn game. I had no fucking clue what I was going to do when I finally got there, but I did end up deciding to shoot Kenny and leave Jane behind. I really struggled with deciding and I almost ended up not picking anything (which results in Jane’s death anyway). As much as I despise season 2 Kenny, I also despise Jane for what she did. I kinda wish I had looked away and then shot Kenny afterwards, but it is what it is.

[charcubed]

I agree with your opinion on ?no thing and wanted to ask what do you think of jackles saying his number 1 reservation about 10.05 was destiel mention. People also use that as a proof that he is/was homophobic, which I tbh can't agree with, bc there's like a million reasons someone can dislike a ship involving their character and it's not fair to immediately make the worst conclusions possible? Idk, can you share your opinion on that?

Part 2:  Forgot to add: and even saying that those reservations mean he dislikes the ship is already an assumption anyway - 10.05 anon

Hi anon! 

First thing I’m going to say is that I think it’s frankly bonkers for anyone, in any fandom, to call someone homophobic for not loudly supporting or maybe not understanding a gay ship. Of course this is a blanket statement and in some ways it can still depend on the situation, because could someone be outright homophobic about a queer ship? Sure. But that’s not always (and tbh, probably rarely) the case in situations like this. As you said, there are a million reasons someone can dislike a ship or simply not understand fandom culture with that kind of stuff; if one is unfamiliar with it, it does take a certain level of PR coaching to understand it more fully. I’ll go back to that though.

I looked around for ages, and for the life of me I can’t find a source on Jensen saying that the Destiel mention was his number one reservation. If that was something he said, can you (or anyone reading this lol) point me to a source?

All I know of–and found in my search again–is this video / article, where he talked about his initial reaction to the episode.

"I didn't have a positive reaction," Jensen Ackles told E! News. "The first time in I think 200 scripts I went and sat down in the showrunners office and said, ‘What in god's name are you doing?! Why? I need to understand why this is happening.'"

It took some convincing from executive producer Jeremy Carver for Ackles to finally come around to the idea.

"He gave very eloquent answers and did a great job of explaining why we were doing what we were doing," Ackles said. "I guess I had been aware of this 'fan fiction' for a while and I felt like maybe if I ignored it, it would eventually go away. When I read it in the script that is what I do for a living and is my work—I'm very protective of these characters and the story and I think we have a right to be—I wasn't angry. I just wanted to understand why and what was the message we were ultimately sending with this script and story. By the end of it, I felt good and it gave me all the confidence I needed. It was better than I could have ever hoped."

He continued, "I never should have even sat down in that office, so Jeremy, I'm sorry."

So from the perspective of this quote (if that is indeed the quote in question):

No part of this is anti-Destiel lol. I think it’s very clear what he meant by having concerns about this episode. I’d even go as far as to say that if he has said something about worrying about the Destiel name drop (if there’s a source on that I don’t know about), then it was still in this context: he wanted to know what message they were sending with this story. 

I think it’s also key to remember that he’d been aware of fanfic and ignoring it. Why? Because he was also primarily aware of w*ncest fic and J2 tinhatters and the like. There’s a sordid history there, and it’s not unrealistic to say that it caused problems. That was Jensen’s first and primary encounter with fanfic and shipping as concepts, and it makes sense that his method was trying to ignore it and not focus on it. 

Then, the flip side: maybe he didn’t want the fans to feel ridiculed either. What kind of message were they sending with this episode? aka is this going to be a nod to fans, or be seen as making fun of them or even getting their hopes up about a ship?

Then clearly things were explained to him, and he understood, and felt good about it. That counts for a lot. After that conversation, he clearly liked 10x05 and often said as much in other interviews too.

Overall, look, ultimately... I don’t know Jensen as a person, obviously. I wouldn’t ever claim to. But I think he seems to be the kind of person who just doesn’t like being back into a corner, especially very publicly such as at conventions. I think he–like all other actors–know they don’t write the stories and can’t promise things on behalf of the writers’ rooms. This applies to any instances people dredge up across the board.

I think he also–especially in the early days–didn’t understand what fandom wanted from him when they asked him leading questions about Destiel... because even at the best of times sometimes fandom doesn’t know what they want, and because without being coached in the best kind of responses no one would know how to answer perfectly especially back then. A mere 5, 6, 7 years ago, social media was still growing, talk of queer rep was still actively evolving and becoming louder, and fans were becoming emboldened (not necessarily in a bad way) to demand more of stories–but that didn’t mean everyone (especially actors) were engaged or educated on what that all meant for the ways they had to respond including on the spot.

SPN season 10 aired in 2014. Same sex marriage wasn’t legalized country-wide in the US until 2015. Lexa died in The 100 in 2016, and I mention this to put in perspective where queer rep conversations were at the time, using a marker many people know about. 

Is it so surprising that an actor in a show from the early 2000s–with the baggage of w*ncest shipping debacles, network pressures, inability to speak for writers, and already many years’ worth of playing a character who felt personal to him–wouldn’t have known that fandom wanted to hear the exact phrasing of “I’m not sure Destiel is where the story is going but all interpretations are valid and if you think Dean is bi then of course he is” anytime he was asked a question practically designed to trip him up?

It’s not homophobia to have a cocktail of concerns surrounding a topic like that, in context like that, and especially in very public spaces like conventions. (Homophobia is shit like “not everything is about the gays, okay gay people?” Lol.) There are many reasons an actor could dislike a ship, but even more so, there are many reasons an actor may not understand fandom culture or not know how to perfectly address a ship / queer question because they didn’t know what the fans wanted to hear.

Basically, in summary: I agree with you and I’ve never personally seen anything from the backlog of history that Jensen’s said that struck me as either homophobic (a big word people should stop slinging around!!) or deliberately anti-Destiel with malice.

[jellydishes]

I wonder how Bethany would handle being Champion of Kirkwall instead of Hawke? I'd love to see that idea in a fan fic but I don't know if there is one.

I don't know, either! I would assume there is, because it's actually a thought I've had A Lot, even if it's not a fic I've actually gone out of my way to write. However, have some thoughts! Or many! SO MANY.

•Bethany naturally feels guilty for the loss of her sibling, partially because she places a lot of responsibility upon herself for things that she really has no control over in an attempt to compensate for that very thing. If it's Hawke, she'd be very shaken by the loss of the last real protector figure she had left, and realize just how much Hawke did to shelter all of them and that these were burdens she would now have to accept and handle - with Carver's help, which she is is very grateful for, and leans on him for comfort a lot, even though they would probably bicker more than usual due to stress.

However, if Carver was the sibling that died, Bethany is as usual devastated. She'd taken his presence by her side or slightly in front of her as something she could rely on without thinking about it. He was her twin, one half of her whole, and with this loss she's left floundering for a long time to really find who she is without having him there as a reminder, to compare and contrast and to compliment each other's positives and negatives

•Combined with Leandra's moment of lashing out, she would start to hold back even more from showing negative emotions than she usually does. I've gone into this before in various ways, but Bethany has this tendency towards bottling up these negative emotions out of that same sense of responsibility and guilt that has been dogging her since her magic emerged. She feels intense guilt for the constant instability and danger in her family's lives, which would only grow after the death of her sibling

•The prologue proceeds as usual, with Bethany meeting the companions alongside Hawke/Carver. It's been demonstrated in game and in the World of Thedas books that Bethany was very isolated growing up, which could very well mean that this would be the first time since she was a very young child that she's had anything resembling a social circle. If it's Hawke that survives, she withdraws somewhat behind them with some measure of relief, unless someone pays particular attention to her in one way or another such as when fenris remarks upon her magic and Bethany snaps back at him.

If it's Carver that survives, she shows a bit more of that confidence she does in fact have but doesn't always have the opportunity to show. With him at her side, she feels more sure of who she is. Between that and a sense of newfound responsibility, she takes more risks, small and large- the latter leads to more fights with Carver due to his concern. The twins can feel this distance between themselves growing larger and harder to navigate, and Hate It but have no idea how to stop it, so it just continues, despite -or because of- this

•Bethany accompanies her sibling to the Deep Roads (Hawke, because she was brought along because of her own insistence, and Carver because she needed his reassuring presence and the knowledge of his skills), where they fall prey to the taint. For the sake of argument, let's say Anders has also been brought along, and that Hawke/Carver are sent to the wardens. The foundations of Bethany's world are once again shaken, and that deep weight of responsibility only grows heavier. Stricken with grief for someone who is still alive, Bethany stumbled out of the Deep Roads and back into a city she isn't fully prepared to know how to deal with

•If Hawke had initially survived, Bethany would absolutely flounder initially among the companions, who she had assumed to be more Hawke's friends than her own. Either way, she finds comfort and a sense of belonging among them that she hadn't expected to ever have. She outright tells each of them this at some point during the time skip

•Whether Bethany and the companions clash on various topics also depends on Malcolm Hawke to be honest, such as his attitudes on blood magic. Let us say though, that he believed as he does in game by default, which is that blood magic is a matter of last resort and to be avoided at all costs until that point is reached. (However, these exact thoughts aren't known until the events of Legacy.) That said, Bethany would be uncertain of how exactly to handle Merrill's use of blood magic and the mirror at first, but successive talks with her lead to a shaky understanding. That said, Merrill is much more confident in her place as a mage, and that could only help Bethany in the long run

•With Anders, Bethany finds more common ground and even a sense of purpose she'd still been missing, if she helps him in the clinic. She largely agrees with him about mage freedom, but is at a loss for how to handle some of his thoughts. She'd never really met mages aside from her own family members before. That uncertainty, however, is met by Anders' willingness to discuss his own thoughts, and as Bethany remarks in the prologue, he reminds her of Malcolm Hawke in more than a few ways, which I choose to interpret as mage freedom sympathies that Anders would help to nurture in Bethany

•With Varric, she finds more of that stability she's been missing. He always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else, and she would confide more in him than she might the others for this reason, among others. The fact that he would persist in calling her Sunshine where others in the city would call her Hawke would be another source of comfort in the coming days

•I won't go into every companion just now, but I WILL say that she does in fact disagree with Fenris about the danger of mages as she is shown to in game. I would say that after the Deep Roads, she might be a bit sharper at first than she was initially, but they would soon settle back into an easy friendship that is occasionally marked by these disagreements

•Okay I lied, because you know, you KNOW that Isabela would take it upon herself to help show Bethany some of the lighter parts of the city, and in so doing reassure Bethany that she is in fact her friend too, not just her sibling's. Bethany is somewhat fascinated by her approach to life, and yes, Isabela nudged her bisexual awakening along with those comments on men and women

It's the second act! Qunari tensions! Sister Petrice doing how she do!

•Bethany is Absolutely staggered by living in the estate snd having the security of large amounts of money, especially when combined with the guilt of having sssentialky traded it for her sibling

•Bethany does her best to put out small fires along the way, but as it is in the main game, is utterly unable to stop the uprising and the showdown with the Arishok. Isabela returns, but even that does not stop the fight to the death that ensues. As with Hawke, I am going to assume she barely survives this, and is shocked to discover later that she's been named Champion of Kirkwall

•The city knows her as Hawke, which she would at times feel guilty for and darkly amused. That she has recognition of her own only when she stands almost entirely alone of her family. She has this weight of increased responsibility on her shoulders all over again, that she has to not only live up to her own expectations, but that of an entire city. I'd say she manages to live up to it, but privately admits to the companions that she feels that she never has or will

Finally, we get to the chantry explosion. Everything has been leading up to this moment in time. Bethany of course chooses to side with the mages, and is staring down Anders with the ashes of Meredith Stannard drifting around her feet

She lets him live. Helps push him to his feet, hands clasped together as friends and as fellow warriors in this moment, bonded by grief and responsibility and necessity. Whether she goes with him depends on who you personally would think she would have romanced. I have no own opinions, but what I will say is that she becomes a large name for the mage rebellion during and after this time

[emerald-amidst-gold]

10, 16, and 24 for the DA OC ask? :)

*waves excitedly* Hello, hello! :D Welcome to my curiosity shop, but instead of selling curiosities; I supply them! >:D

Thank you so much! Let's ramble! >:3

10. Do your protagonists share the same opinions on the Chantry?

For the most part, yes. Fane is simply the more volatile of the three. He just...does not do good with religion or faith or divinity in any capacity. His kin suffered under the hands of beings who believed themselves gods, and he doesn't want see the same thing happen again. He's also very, very sensitive about Tranquility, the whole Chantry's habit of turning their gazes away while still spouting that, 'We're here. We'll protect you. The Maker will see us through this.', and the self-righteousness, the corruption, the double standard. He also doesn't like the whole act of racial profiling, how the Chantry makes one faction greater or lesser than the other and practically signals them out every time something goes wrong on their end. Fane may refer to most by their race (elf, qunari, dwarf, human, creatures), but that's only because he's laying the base; he's seeing the natural aspect. He never means it as an insult or a slur. Sadly, his tone can come across that way, but it's something he does work on. People are people. No more, no less.

Fane values freedom of thought, of a world where people can think and depend on themselves rather than run to a priest or cleric for certainty. He wants people to believe in themselves. That's all. He knows what it means to be met with silence, to cry and cry and cry for mercy and receive nothing from those that are said to answer with swiftness and benevolence. He doesn't want that to continue. The world is weeping from that kind of attitude, and Fane will do anything to see those tears dry up.

And well, he's also very bitter on the military side of things, too. Templars that get within even a five mile radius of Mhairi or Solas get a claw to the face, especially if they manage to silence or smite them. Fane sees nothing but ruin with the Chantry in place. Rylen and Elise see its importance, its relevance in some capacity, but even they can agree it needs to either change or just go.

Rylen would probably be more close to Fane's reaction though. The Chantry fucked Rylen royally before and after his mother died, and now they continue to play innocent, like everything was his fault? Yeah, no.

Elise is devout. She believes in the Maker, looks up to Andraste and follows her guiding principle to some length, but Anders' predicament before Awakening and after, and the Circle Tower during the Blight had her shaken, had her eyes opening. In those moments, she didn't see magic as the villain, the cause. All she saw was the Chantry, hands bloody, but a smile on their faces and a brand waiting along the sidelines.

'It's to protect you, and those from you. Magic must serve man, and never rule over him.' Elise used to find comfort in those words, believing it was a well thought out plan to ensure everyone was on the same page. Now, she wonders who truly rules over who. It most certainly isn't magic or mages. And motherly smiles of clerics and vacant eyes of those she once knew for their passion, their fears, their hopes and dreams, don't feel like safety anymore.

16. Would your protagonists have the same Hogwarts house?

I'm not too versed in Harry Potter-esque stuff, but I know the houses! And I think I can safely say that, no, they wouldn't have the same house. XD

Fane would probably be Slytherin or Ravenclaw. He's ALWAYS two! I can never just go with one for him! XD

Elise would be Ravenclaw. Without a doubt. She's curiosity and learning incarnate. More than Fane, honestly. PFFT!

Rylen probably Gyrffindor, if I had to choose one for him!

Me: You're a wizard, Fane! >:3

Fane: ...I'm a dragon.

24. How do each of your protagonists handle loss?

Elise:

This girl becomes a mess. Not joking. She's lost so much in such a short amount of time. Her family, who she can't even remember, Jowan, Alistair, Anders. The list goes on and on. Loss to Elise doesn't just mean in death. It could mean someone parting ways with her, whether through an argument or just cruel, cruel fate and the flow of the world. She has a hard time letting go, and even ten years later she still thinks about Jowan and how she wished she could have helped him more, done right by him. And it takes a while, but Nathaniel helps her learn how to let go, to restart and look forward, not back.

Rylen:

...Heh. Rylen also has lost a lot in a short period of time. His losses were like a domino effect, too. Malcolm, then Carver, then Bethany, then Leandra. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Each lost, each one given a silent burial. Rylen never had time to grieve properly, so he bottles all of it, holds it tight and close. He's actually amazed he's been able to keep the cork on his heart for so long, but he knows eventually it'll burst; all the pain and sorrow finally getting a chance to scream as he wants to. Until then, he smiles, he jokes, and he crumbles in silence. Fenris and Sebastian, especially Sebastian, help coax Rylen into caving eventually, but the man's stubborn and prone to holding up a front.

Fane:

Like Rylen, Fane bottles his emotions. He encourages others to let their emotions out because he understands from a practical standpoint that it's detrimental, but it's harder to make himself let go. When his mother died, Fane went mute for several months; no one could get him to speak. He had receded into himself, only acknowledging others with a sidelong glance and a contempt twitch of his mouth. He wouldn't pick up a book of poetry, he wouldn't look at Mhairi half the time because of her eyes and hair, and he wouldn't go near the halla pen or the tree she would guide him to when a bout of rage took him at a young age.

Fane had reconnected to his nature without knowing after her death. He chose silence and vacant observation to cope. But, all it did was sow the seed of resentment and disassociation. Eventually, Fane began to speak again and look at his sister and run his fingers along a stanza of measured words and reach a hand out to a halla, even knowing it would spook, but his mother's absence lingers like the ghostly eyes of his kin and all he wishes is for her to appear one day, maybe just in the Fade, and tell him, 'It'll be all right, da'len. I love you. I will always love you, no matter what. You are my da'isenatha (little dragon)'. She didn't know, of course, but when Fane hears that term in her voice, he breaks and he weeps until he's numb.

...I made myself cry agiaaaaain! *wails*

[much-obliged-timothy]

Whumptober #2

Dragon Age - #2 - “Pick Who Dies”

*

“Thank you,” the woman whispered, tears in her eyes as she embraced Anders. “You saved her life.”

Anders hugged her back, knowing that sometimes the parents needed more comfort than the children. “It’s what I’m here for. If she has any complications at all, bring her right back here.”

“Thank you, thank you!” She wiped at her eyes and pulled away from Anders. “Without you she would’ve...I couldn’t afford a doctor and…”

“It’s alright.” Anders offered her a smile. “Why not go take her outside for some fresh air before it gets dark? I’m sure she’d like that.”

“Yes, of course.” The woman turned and lifted her young daughter into her arms. “Kaitlin, what do you say to the nice doctor?”

“Thank you, mister,” she said, her voice weak but her eyes bright. 

Anders ruffled her hair. “Take care of your mother, okay?”

“Okay!” She wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and snuggled against her.

Anders watched them go, waiting until they were out of sight before sagging against the wall with exhaustion. The girl had gotten injured, and the wound had gotten badly infected. Anders hadn’t even been positive he’d be able to save her, but he was beyond relieved he’d pulled it off. 

He straightened up as two people entered, but then slumped back again when he realized it was just Varric and Fenris. Fenris looked him over and raised an eyebrow.

“Looking rough, mage,” he said.

Anders wasn’t in the mood for him today. “I just spent hours pouring my magic into a little girl to keep her from dying of an infection. How was your day, Fenris?” 

“Not now, you two,” Varric said, putting his hands out. “Anders, have you seen Hawke?”

“Hawke?” Anders furrowed his brow. “No. I left early this morning to come here, and he was still asleep. I haven’t seen him since. Why?”

“We can’t find him or Junior,” Varric said. “We asked around- not that the Templars are fans of us -but no one has seen either Hawke brother. Last we knew, they were meeting up this morning.”

“We sent the others out to search for them,” Fenris said. “No one has returned yet, so I’m assuming they’re still missing.”

“But,” Varric said, holding up a note. “I did find this very ominous note.”

He held it out and Anders took it. He unfolded the note, and on it was simply written, “Mines, nightfall”. 

“It’s almost nightfall now,” Anders said, looking up at them. “Do you think this is related?”

“Do you think it’s not? I wouldn’t put it past Hawke to get himself kidnapped,” Fenris said.

“Hawke, yes. Junior tends to be a little more vigilant, though. That’s what’s got me worried,” Varric said, taking the note back and pocketing it. “I say we go check it out. It’s too late to round everyone up, but the three of us should be enough if we run into any trouble.”

Anders wasn’t so sure about that. His magic was weak from saving that little girl.

But if Hawke was in trouble, he had to go. “Let’s go now. We’ll just make it in time if we hurry.” 

He grabbed his staff and followed the two of them out, fighting past his exhaustion and struggling just to keep up as they hurried through the streets. Still, he pushed on, worry creeping in.

Hawke was known for a lot of things, but disappearing without a word wasn’t one of them. After what had happened to Karl, Hawke was always sure to let Anders know when he’d be going somewhere so Anders wouldn’t worry. 

And Varric was right; Hawke might not always be vigilant, but Carver usually was. Especially since he’d joined the Templars, he’d be hard to catch off guard.

The closer they got to the mines, the more Anders worried. The other two had grim expressions on their faces, probably thinking along the same lines. 

Night had just fallen when they reached the mines, and Anders didn’t care for the darkness. It would be too easy to catch them by surprise, and with his magic depleted, he wouldn’t be much help in a fight. If Hawke was injured and Anders couldn’t heal him…

No. No, he’d give himself over to Justice before he let his own uselessness cost Hawke. 

They cautiously entered the mines, prepared for anything. It was quiet in there; far too quiet.

“This is bad news,” Varric muttered.

“And once again, we need to rescue Kirkwall’s beloved hero,” Fenris said with a sigh. “How does he get himself into these messes?”

“Wait.” Anders put an arm out. “Listen.”

Sure enough, after a few moments of silence, they heard the faintest sound of footsteps coming from one of the side tunnels. They glanced at each other and nodded, readying their weapons and creeping towards the footsteps.

They rounded into the tunnel, ready for a fight. Instead, they all froze.

“About damn time,” a man said, a blade held to Hawke’s throat. Next to him stood another man, his blade to Carver’s throat.

Both brothers were bound at the wrists and ankles, their mouths gagged. A thin line of blood had bloomed on both necks from how close the blades were pressed.

And Anders knew, with a sick certainty, that Hawke had complied with his capture only to keep his brother alive. If he had used his magic, he could’ve free himself, but risked getting Carver’s throat slit. 

“Let me guess, someone hired you to kill them?” Varric said, slowly lowering Bianca. “How original.”

The one holding Hawke hostage scoffed. “You lot have been meddling where you shouldn’t. Our employer wanted to send a very clear message.” He tightened his hold on the knife. “So, since you three showed up, you get to make the decision. Pick who dies.”

Anders felt cold.

He pictured Karl, dead in his arms. He couldn’t do it again. He couldn’t bear it. 

Not Hawke. 

“Now hold on-” Varric started.

Both knives pressed closer to their throats. Blood began to drip down in a steadier stream, and both winced.

“No negotiations. You have two minutes to decide, or we slit both their throats,” the man said. “This is what you get for sticking your noses where they don’t belong. You’ll have to make a sacrifice.”

Hawke caught Anders’s eyes. He flicked a pleading gaze to Carver. 

“You’re not making it out of this alive,” Fenris promised both captors, tightening his grip on his sword.

“Neither is one of them. Or both, if you can’t hurry it up.” The man smirked. “The troublesome Hawke, or his little brother who got caught up in it all? Clock’s ticking.” 

Anders tried to see a way out of this, but he couldn’t. And he could tell by the slump of their shoulders that neither could Varric and Fenris. 

One wrong move, and both were dead in an instant. Anders didn’t have enough magic in him to heal them. 

Hawke kept flicking his gaze to Carver, silently pleading with his friends to save his little brother’s life. He’d already lost so much. Anders knew that losing Carver like this, knowing it could’ve been him instead, would kill Hawke just as surely as any blade. 

“Time’s up. Pick, or watch them both die. Doesn’t matter to us,” the man said.

And the terror in Hawke’s gaze as he looked to his brother broke something in Anders.

He felt everything drowning out, a rush of anger and power surging through him. He had failed Karl, but he would not fail Hawke.

“What the hell?” one of the captors cried.

“Not him.” The voice was booming and furious, a mix of Anders and Justice.

Hawke was a friend to the mages, the spirits. Justice would not let harm come to him. Anders would not let harm come to him.

Their power erupted.

The magic was powerful, blinding. Anders heard screams, though they rang distant in his ears as he struggled to cling to some part of his mind as Justice took over.

And then he blinked, and he was on the ground, body trembling.

“Up, mage,” Fenris urged. “They need your healing.”

Anders’s head ached terribly, his body stiff and sore. But he let Fenris drag him over to where Hawke and Carver laid, still bound and gagged. Their captors were dead behind them, and Anders knew the work of magic when he saw it.

“C’mon, Chuckles, stay with me,” Varric said, getting the gag out of Hawke’s mouth and tackling his bindings. “Fenris, get Carver.” 

Anders dropped next to Hawke, but Hawke shook his head weakly. “Carver first.” 

“But-” Anders started desperately, aware his magic was fading again. He’d gotten the burst from Justice, but he didn’t know if it’d last.

“Anders,” Hawke said, looking him in the eyes. “Please.”

Anders loved Hawke. And so he turned and used the rest of his magic to heal Carver, who had gotten caught on the side of his throat by the knife.

When that was taken care of, Carver slumped back in Fenris’s arms. “Bloody mages.”

“I hear you,” Fenris said. “What even happened?”

“Garrett and I met for breakfast to discuss a matter concerning our Uncle, and one of those men ran for us, saying something had happened to Gamlen and we had to come quickly. We were ambushed after that.” He looked to Hawke. “Garrett?”

“Dying,” Hawke said, his voice strained in pain. “Bother me later, you pain in the ass.” 

“Later?” Carver said hopefully.

“Dying, but I’ll be fine in a few days. Probably.” Hawke reached out a hand, and Anders caught it. “You alright?”

Hawke was bloodied and exhausted, but he was worried about Anders. Anders put a gentle hand to Hawke’s face.

“If you ever put us in a situation like that again, I will gladly end you myself,” he assured. 

“Yep, you’re fine,” Hawke said. 

Anders carefully examined his injuries. He was hurt, but nothing looked fatal. Anders pulled Hawke up so he could hug him, mindful of his wounds.

“You’re okay,” he said quietly, more to assure himself.

“Thanks to you. I owe you,” Hawke said, dropping his head on Anders’s shoulder. “But first I need stitches and a nap.”

“So dramatic,” Carver said, but he looked relieved. 

“We never even got to have breakfast,” Hawke said miserably. “I’m starving. They kept us in here all damn day.”

“Let’s get you back to the clinic so I can look after your wounds,” Anders said, but found himself struggling to stand. “Sorry, I...I used a lot of magic on a sick child earlier.”

“‘Sorry I saved a kid so I can’t fix up your cuts, Hawke’,” Hawke mocked. “Honestly, just shut up and let’s both go take a nap. The stitches and breakfast can wait. I’m as exhausted as you look. Fenris, Varric, Carver, help us, uh, move.”

“So needy,” Carver said, but carefully helped his brother up, his grip tighter than necessary. “You’re okay?”

“I will be,” Hawke assured. He held a hand out to Anders. “Up. I can’t pull you up, but I can hold your hand while Fenris gets you off your ass, at least.”

“A true romantic,” Anders said, but allowed Fenris to help him up. 

“I’ll go find the others and let them know we’ve got them back,” Varric said. He put a hand on Hawke’s shoulder. “Glad you cheated death again, Chuckles.”

“It is my favorite hobby, afterall,” Hawke said. 

Their group left in a huddle, trying to support Hawke and Anders. With their heads so close together, Hawke lowered his voice.

“Thank you. You saved my brother,” he said quietly.

“I don’t want to lose you. And I don’t want you to lose those you love,” Anders said. 

“You are one of those people. So as indebted as I currently am to Justice, try to keep yourself in charge of that body,” Hawke said. “Also, I’m glad blood doesn’t bother you. Because I am going to cuddle the ever-loving shit out of you and I’m not bathing first.”

“Oh, Hawke,” Anders said, but gave him an affectionate smile.

He’d never forget the terror of that moment, seeing that blade pressed to Hawke’s neck and the pleading in his gaze. But Hawke was okay, even as the blood began to dry on his neck. He was okay, and Carver was okay, and Anders would cuddle the ever-loving shit out of Hawke as they slept safely in their bed together, and he wouldn’t take a damn second of it for granted.

[hildagirl99]

The wrath of Winter

Part 9 and End

"The baby? Now ??" Bill writes.

"I'm sorry to stop your mourning!" she said, addressing the Indians.

With compassion, they interrupt their prayer and head for Penny.

"No time to waste!"

Everyone takes him under the village shaman's teepee.

"Come on now, don't panic! Breathe calmly and start pushing!" said Lorelei at her side. Aiyanna even agreed to join the delivery.

"Come on! Penny! Come on! Penny! We're pushing"! Sing along Bill to cheer on Penny.

"Bill! For heaven's sake! Shut up! Aaaah! It's too hard!" she writes, sweating.

"Don't give up darling! Go on! Hold my hand as hard as you can!" said Lorelei, shaking her hand tightly.

"And breathe between each push!" said Aiyanna who was standing in front of her, between her legs, long cloths of linen in her hands.

"I'm ... I'm scared! Gnnnh!" breathes Penny, worried.

"No, don't be afraid! We're all here! You're strong Penny! Go on!" exclaims Bill.

After several intense minutes, a head finally comes out.

"The head! There is a head!" writes Aiyanna.

"Do you hear? This is the last step! Put all your strength into it!" said Lorelei, encouraging Penny.

It did not take me long to take the baby out, little cries are heard, he is there and very much alive.

"Ooh! My god Penny! You did it!" Bill writes with tears in his eyes. He walks towards the baby, Aiyanna was starting to cover him.

"So? Sex?" he asks.

"You lucky, this is Wicicala." Aiyanna replies.

"This is … ?"

"It's a girl." she said smiling.

"Oh my gosh! Lorelei! She's a girl!" said Bill, taking his daughter in his arms, he was the happiest of dads. He hands the baby to Penny.

"Hello my sweetie!" said Penny, positioning her against her chest. But it was cut by another violent contraction.

"Aaaah! It's coming back !!"

"Huh? What's the matter? Darling!" Lorelei panic.

"I think ... it's not over." whispers Aiyanna.

"What? A second is coming?" Bill writes, his eyes wide.

"Ya, I can already see the head!"

Penny had twins! To the delight of all. Finally the second is out. She was also a little girl!

"Twins! We had twins!" cries Bill, happier than ever.

"Mos Iwayake (* twins girls) !!" Aiyanna writes to the tribe.

They were all happy, especially it was the first time they saw two babies born at the same time.

"Do you want to be alone?" Aiyanna asks Penny, Bill and Lorelei.

"Just a moment, thank you Aiyanna." replies Penny, exhausted.

Calm back, Bill and Penny held their daughters in their arms. Lorelei looked at them with tenderness.

"They are very beautiful." she says.

"But how can we tell them apart?" Bill asks.

"Look, one has red hair! The other has brown hair!" replies Penny.

"And you found first names?" wonders Bill.

"It was not easy but after long thought, the one who is red will be called ... Marilyn!" said Penny chuckling.

"Marilyn Hemsworth? She will take your last name!" said Bill, happy.

"Yes! Lorelei, I leave you the choice for the second!"

"Me? But ... I haven't thought about that." she said, embarrassed.

"She's our daughter, I'm sure you'll find it! Go darling!"

Lorelei looks at the second little girl, at length.

"What do you say about ... Barbara?" she said calmly.

"Barbara? How cute!" Penny replies with a smile.

"It sounds very ... serious woman! I love it! Like you!" exclaims Bill.

"Welcome to the world my little Marilyn, my sweet Barbara." said Penny, hugging her two moaning daughters.

"We are proud of you." say Lorelei and Bill, taking Penny's hand.

"The family is growing, it is thanks to you that I was able to hold on, I was so afraid of losing you."

"We will always be there for you."

The two of them approach to kiss her on the forehead but they knock on the forehead, making Lorelei and Bill blush.

"Sorry…"

"No hehe it was awkward on my part."

"Hey, I see your little game!" interrupts Penny.

They laugh in heart, outside however, it was another atmosphere. Aiyanna preferred to isolate herself from the tribe, wanting to mourn. She was holding her brother's archer, his weapon of war.

"What to do without you? I'm lost ..." she said on her knees. She looks up at the sky and bursts into tears. Her brother died for her, he died a hero for his tribe. Then like a light noise, leaves surround it followed by a dust of stars. A huge autumn colored horse stands in front of her. She is afraid of the size of it, she moves back nervously. The horse watches her for long minutes and advances slowly. Aiyanna notices a familiar stain on his chest, an arrow pointing down. Slowly, the horse transforms into a human, and not just any: Suka.

"Mitaksi ki (* little sister)" he said looking at her.

"Sukawaka!" she rushes against him, she against his chest and cries with hot tears.

"Why are you crying ..." Suka asks after a long minute of silence.

"You're no longer there ..." replies his sister, unable to look up.

"You forgot what I said? I will always be there for you, watching over you." he said, stroking her hair.

"I can't seem to be strong, mourning too complicated to bear."

"One month you have to last, and you're not alone anymore."

"Take revenge! I must avenge you!"

"Hiya ... revenge is not the best solution."

"Who taught you that?"

"Wasicu, right?" Suka smiled, thinking of Bill.

She fell silent, thinking back to everything they had done together, what he had taught her.

"Ate (*dad) and I are looking at you. Promise you will be strong." he said, backing away gently.

"Ya ... I promise." Aiyanna responds gently, trying to wipe away her tears.

"Maybe I never told you, I always thought so, I love you ..." he breathes before becoming a mustang again and disappearing into the sky in a dust of stars.

"I love you too ..." whispers Aiyanna, her eyes still fixed on the sky, acquiring a small smile.

Under the teepee, Lorelei was preparing the last things before leaving.

"Are you sure you want to go now? In the middle of the night?" Bill asks.

"The tribe is in mourning, I think we should leave them alone, and then for the little ones, it would be better."

"Okay, but don't we say goodbye? Do you want to sneak out like this?"

"Okay, okay ... But don't hang around, Penny has to rest." she replies.

At the same time, the Indian chief disembarks.

"Are you leaving already?"

"Great Wakicuza ... Ya ... I accomplished my mission. As promised, we are leaving." said Lorelei, bending down. He puts her hand on his head.

"Alkoun Na, you have shown great courage, you have brought Wakayaja Bloketu back alive, the seasons are now finally reunited. You and his people are saved."

"I did it to save those I love, and the whole country."

"You and your friends are free to leave, you will always be welcome in the tribe. We have repaired your cart."

"Thank you again Wakicuza…"

They all go out, Penny goes upstairs with her daughters, both asleep. Bill hesitates for a moment, he must say goodbye to someone important.

"Wait a moment Lorelei ... I'm coming back."

Aiyanna was not far away, she had heard of Lorelei's departure.

"Bill, are you leaving already?" she asks.

"Yes, you don't hold it against me? I have to stay with the girls." he replies, taking her both hands.

"Hiya (*no) , I don't hold it against you. You have your fatherly duty." she said smiling.

"I'm sorry for your brother, I wish I knew him a little more."

"You don't apologize. He protected us, he understood who you were."

"He will always be there ... In your heart." he takes her in his arms for a long time.

"I promise to come as soon as I can. Otherwise, I will write to you."

"I'll wait for you, Bill…" said Aiyanna looking him in the eye.

He puts his hand on her cheek and they share a last kiss.

"Take care of yourself."

"I love you, Bill."

"Me too ..." he said smiling.

They let go of their hands, not wanting to leave the look. All say goodbye with their hands. Farewells are painful but keep the best moments and promise a close return.

Finally arrived in the Showdown Valley, the landscape magically changes, the snow melts and the sun reappears. Summer has returned. The villagers could not believe their eyes, the grass grew back, the snow gave way to the stone paths. In the distance, the summer child looked at them, in the twinkling of an eye, it disappears in a cloud of dust. Lorelei, Penny and Bill look at each other, deciding not to say anything about this sudden change in the weather.

"Ah! Miss Hemsworth! Miss Undertaker! You are back!" Doc Carver arrives at them.

"Yes! Well, time flies, summer is here." Penny smiles.

"Oh but ... I see that you are not alone!" he said, staring at the babies.

"Yup, I gave birth in town, even if I had to give in, thanks to Lorelei, it was the apocalypse outside. It's two little girls, Marilyn and Barbara."

"They are beautiful. Two little desert flowers." compliments Carver, smiling.

"Yeah! They got it from me!" boasts Bill.

"They don't have your ears, either." said Lorelei, mocking.

"Hehe, anyway, congratulations to the three of you." said Carver.

"Now I have to go to rest, thank you very much, Doc."

"I hope you don't hold it against me for ... You know ..." said the doc, a little ashamed.

"Come on my dear, it's over, I don't hold it against you." Penny replies with sincerity, before entering the house.

Later that night, Penny and Lorelei stayed together for a while, watching their children.

"I have never been so happy, a dream come true." said Penny, blossoming.

"We were hoping to have one, but lucky, you had two." said Lorelei, near her.

"Take one in your arms."

"Are you sure? I'm going to wake them up ..."

Gently and with great delicacy, Lorelei takes Marilyn in her arms, holding her head well, she looks at her with love, the little one opens her eyes at the same time.

"Oh… Hello Marilyn, are you finally opening your eyes?" she said with a soft voice.

Penny was both happy and surprised that Lorelei acted so kindly to a child when she did not seem at ease in front of them.

"I have never seen you so caring for a child."

"I'm progressing, hehe. I also believe I have instinct."

"I wonder what made you so motherly." said Penny, resting on her shoulder.

"Oh, let's say a certain child made me understand this." she was thinking of the summer child, who had made her understand who she really was, a woman with a strong but endearing character. She vows to protect her children, to be an exemplary mother.

"It almost makes me want to be a mom, and put my work aside."

"Oh darlin '..."

"Sorry to interrupt you, I want to see my little girls too." said Bill, hopping up to them.

"I'll leave you, I'm in the living room, if there is a need." said Lorelei, leaving the room.

Bill takes his two daughters in his arms, his gaze was that of a happy father, his eyes filled with tears of joy.

"They're so beautiful. Like you Penny." he says.

"Oh Bill, it touches me, they look like you too."

"It remains to be seen their characters when they grow up."

"For the moment, they have just been born, give them time." said Penny, taking them back.

"I listened to you and Lorelei a bit, and ... would she be ready for her too, having a child?" he asks.

"I don't know, but it looks like she would be ready to assume her role as mother. She insinuated him quickly. Why? Are you in a hurry?" she said laughing.

"No, not now, hehe. But if someday she would like, I'll be there. I hope she trusts me now but I don't intend to force her."

"Take your time"

"Rest for the moment, sweetie." Bill answers with a little kiss on the forehead.

He leaves the room to finally join Lorelei.

"What an adventure ... isn't it?" he asks, arriving near her, the latter looking out at the horizon.

"Better than the time I fought Faceless. There, I had your lives in my hands, I learned a lot during this journey."

"I hope you will forgive me for what I said about you, we were pissed off and ..."

"It's been a long time since I've forgiven you. On everything ..." she said, still staring outside, smiling.

"Even if I look like a bandit?" he said, teasing her.

"Yes, dear…"

"And now, I ... could I live with you two a little?"

"You are free to be here when you want Bill." she said turning her head, looking at him with a slight blush.

He approaches her, blushing just as much.

"I heard you wanted to be a mother too."

"Oh, well, if you think about it, I would like, yes, but not here now."

"I know, dear. When you want." he said, putting his hand on hers.

They keep looking at each other until a thought brings them back to reality.

"Sorry, but I'm going to prepare the crib for the little ones." said Lorelei, withdrawing her hand.

"Do so, beautiful undertaker." said Bill with his charming smile.

She rolls her eyes, laughing. Once gone, Bill searches for a sheet and picks up a pen and ink.

"Dear eternal flower, you know who is writing to you, now that we have returned, Lorelei, Penny and I, you remain in my thoughts, the letter will be very short but sincere. Since I met you, I have not been that an uncultivated bandit, after your acquaintance, I felt human, after having kissed you, I feel new and in love. I don't know when I will see you again but I will think of you. Now I take care of my daughters, and I'm watching over Lorelei and Penny. Hoping to hear from you soon, I hope you can read me.

I love you.

Bill, Showdown Bandit.

he folds the letter in 4 and leaves the house. A little gust of wind came to take his letter from his hands, he quickly understood that it was the spirit of the wind, the autumn child who was going to bring his letter to Aiyanna.

"Ah, that will save me from taking a horse." does he think.

The letter quickly reaches Aiyanna. After reading it, she places it against the chest, a smile on her face and her heart filled with joy.

"I understand you, Bill, hope to see you again soon." she said looking at the sky, dreaming of the near future, with her love.

End

(To be continued)

I hope this will have you more ;) the next episode is still being written. Be patient ~

Part 8 :

[regolithheart]

Do you think that maybe in the new book about Nessian, Koschei the deathless could appear? If yes, then would it be possible to ship him with Nesta?

Okay, so I read ACoWaR when it came out in 2017, and I’m a little hazy on the details*, but Koschei is supposed to be Stryga and the Bone Carver’s brother right? And he’s the one that cursed Vassa? Or am I making that up?

Either way, I think it’s interesting that if he is alive and in this world, that both his brother and sister died for Feyre and Co.’s cause. I don’t know what sort of relationship they had, but it makes for an interesting set-up nonetheless. Is he revengeful? Is he glad they’re gone? Why did he curse Vassa? And if he has so much power over her, why did he allow her to go over to Prythian to fight with Rhys? Especially since her going against the other mortal queens is the reason why she was cursed in the first place? So. Many. Questions. 

Honestly, I have no concrete opinions on this at the moment. Shocker, I know. But it’s because we don’t have enough information. He could play a huge role like how Hybern was mentioned in ACoTaR and then became the big bad of the first trilogy or he could just be a throwaway adversary like Stryga who was in one scene in ACoMaF and then ended up being killed in the battle against Hybern. 

As far as shipping them, anything’s possible. Listen, I am a huge Nessian shipper. I mean, I don’t think anyone has any doubts about that. But Nesta is my stone queen first and foremost so if she decides she doesn’t love/want to be with Cassian, then I support her 100%. Do I think they love each other? Yes. Do I think they’re mates? Probably. I mean, I want them to be, but also if anyone were to reject the mating bond, I would have put my money on Nesta Archeron. I actually kind of hate the soul-mate trope in general because it feels too easy to be like, “Oh yeah, the universe says we belong together.” I think it’s a much more powerful/romantic statement to decide that you want to be with this person and that you’re choosing to love them. 

But hey, if you want to ship Nesta with Koschei, go for it. I support you! I support all ships because ship wars are dumb. Yes, obviously there are ships that I like and some that I don’t (or downright hate), but people liking them has zero bearing on me or my preferences. So if people wanna ship Neshei...

*Is anyone interested in doing a re-read re-along? I was thinking of doing it in December, but maybe we could do it in June when the new edition books come out? Thoughts? 

[supercilium-sulcos]

Fictober: Day 2

Prompt number: 2 - “that’s the easy part”

Fandom: Dragon Age 2

Rating: T

Warnings/Tags: blood, language

-

Carver Hawke was born to be more than his brother’s shadow.

Little Hawke. Junior. The baby brother. Maker, it never ends. It’s all anyone ever sees.

His mother made it especially easy the day Carver made for the Gallows alone. “What would your brother say if he knew?”

What would he say— piss on it. He’d be furious. He’d ask if a Gallows Templar is what he’d wish on their father, on Garrett himself, maybe he’d even have the audacity to bring Bethany into it.

Carver doesn’t give one moldy shit what his brother would say.

He will be more than his brother. He will define himself as his own man. For all its faults, Kirkwall is a chance for them all to start over. Even if Garrett and his mother squander their chances, Carver won’t follow them.

Knight-Captain Cullen is a good man. A good soldier. Carver hopes his armor may fit as well as the Knight-Captain’s does someday. Unfortunately, Cullen spends less time training recruits these days. It’s not with him that Carver learns the ropes, but under a sergeant — Malden, he’s called. Some of the more experienced Templars avoid Malden, and Carver’s heard whispers that he’s hard. Too hard. From the outside he’s rough, sure. And perhaps none of the girls at the Blooming Rose catcall to Malden like they do to Cullen and even Carver, but what does that matter? Carver braced for the worst, but Malden is fair to the new recruits.

“You’ve pledged yourselves to a worthy cause,” Malden had said. “The city guard may uphold the law, but we are the order.”

Law and order. Carver likes that. If Kirkwall must be his home, then he will make it a home to be proud of.

It was Malden who eased Carver through his first lyrium dosing. Malden who clapped him on the back, told him he was proud, knew Carver was tough enough to endure it easily. Thinking back on it, the moment still makes Carver’s chest swell.

He’d turned some heads with his swordplay already. Even the Knight-Commander took notice. Sergeant Malden had told him, “Keep it up, boy. You’ve got a future here.”

Carver clings to those memories. To the thought that he can be somebody — and that someone else acknowledges him. Carver clings to them more tightly than he’d ever clung to his mother’s hand when he learned to walk, to Garrett’s shirt when he was scared, to the wild hope of glory at Ostagar.

He clings even when he sees her across the training yard: a young girl, no doubt a mage, brought sobbing into the Gallows with a five-Templar escort.

They have to half-carry, half-drag the girl in; the tears come so hard she can’t even walk. Behind him, a couple of the recruits chuckle at the spectacle. But not Carver. Nor Sergeant Malden. He watches them drag her into the Circle tower. For a moment, he swears he hears his sister’s voice in those horrible cries.

He shakes it off, disquieted.

Sergeant Malden exchanges a few words with another Templar, who then passes him a small scroll. Malden looks it over, not a twitch of expression on his face, and immediately looks to Carver.

“Boy. With me.”

Carver follows at Malden’s heels. Part of him grumbles his frustration at being spoken to like Garrett summoning their mabari, but he shushes that inner voice. The less he thinks of Garrett, the better.

Here, his only family is the Order.

Malden leads him into the Circle to a small holding room on the first floor. The mage girl from the courtyard is shackled to the wall. Her small hands look like they could slip right through the manacles, but all the fight seems to have gone out of her. Two Templars man the inside of the cell, and two more guard from the outside.

Bit excessive for her — she can’t be more than ten, maybe twelve — but Carver has seen enough by now to know he can’t ever let his guard down. Malden nods to the guards, who let him in the cell. He beckons for Carver to follow.

“This is how we separate the strong from the weak,” Malden says. “You can sing the Chant, you can best your peers on the training pitch… but when it comes time to wet your blade, do you have the stomach for it?” Malden pauses, looks Carver straight in the eyes. “Do you, boy?”

“I did that plenty at Ostagar, ser,” Carver says. He squares his shoulders, but Malden notices him glance uncertainly at the chained up mage girl.

“So they tell me.” Malden nods to one of the Templars, who unfastens the girl’s wrist. She sniffles and flinches away, scrabbling at her dirty tunic with her free hand. “Today is the day we test you in the only way that matters. Carver Hawke, you will make your first phylactery.”

The grizzled sergeant pushes a rounded contraption in Carver’s palm. A ring of gold encircles an empty glass vial. At one end is a small hole in the metal to allow the vial to fill.

It’s… smaller than he expected. He’s never seen a phylactery in person before.

Whether or not the girl knows what a phylactery is, she knows enough to be afraid when she sees bare steel. Carver unsheathes the small dagger at his waist and her eyes go round. She shrinks back against the wall, blunt nails scraping at the stone. She cries out for her father, sobbing when the other Templars yank her back around and hold out her shaking arm.

Carver stops. He considers putting his dagger away. Again, he hears something of his sister in those pitiful wails. Then he sees Malden. It’s like the sergeant reads his mind. And Malden does not order him to do it — does not get angry or yell or even berate him for being weak.

He is disappointed, but not surprised. And that — that is worse than anything else.

“Leave her,” Carver says to the Templars. “Just let go of her. I’ll handle it.”

They don’t listen to him, but look to Malden. When the sergeant nods, they back off. The girl still cowers and cries. Carver kneels down in front of her. “Hey,” he says. “It’s all right. It’s scary right now, but it’ll get better soon.” He’s never exactly had a comforting personality, but he has to try. “My name’s Carver. I’m new here, too. Can you tell me your name?”

She peers down at him, glassy brown eyes bloodshot from smoke, by the smell of her. She reeks of fire and ash. Her tunic is singed, and so are some bits of her hair.

“Kira,” she says.

“Good to meet you, Kira,” he says. “People say some bad things about the Circle here, but we’re trying to help. It’s better for everyone if you learn to use your magic safely. Better for you, too.”

He trails off, unsure of how to transition the conversation towards cutting her before Malden gets impatient. She mumbles, “You talk funny.”

“I get that sometimes,” he says. “I’m Fereldan.”

“They have dogs in Fereldan? Those big ones?”

“Mabari. Yeah. You like dogs?”

Her jaw trembles but she nods.

“I have a mabari. Well, my brother does. Maybe the next time I visit home, I’ll bring the old mutt up here to meet you.”

“Does he bite?”

“Not even if I was getting pummeled in the street,” Carver assures her. “Big coward, he is. Got the brains of a mouse.”

Did she just smile? No, he’s probably imagining things. Trying to make himself feel better about this, too. “Kira,” he says, “we’ll make sure to get you some fresh clothes and food soon. First, I just need to take a bit of your blood. Can I have your hand?”

She doesn’t ask what for. She doesn’t ask if it will hurt. Clearly she knows the answer to both already. She flexes her fingers and looks down at them with her lower lip between her teeth. The Templar to her left lets out an irritated grunt. “Andraste’s tits. We haven’t got all day. Give him your fucking hand, you little hellbeast.” He gives her a shove for good measure.

Carver nearly snaps at him, but Kira extends her shaking arm to Carver. She ducks her head against her chest, silent as the grave.

The blade is sharp, so it hurts less and heals cleaner. But it doesn’t make Carver feel any less guilty for pressing the blade against her wrist. He holds the phylactery under her wound to catch the blood, holds her hand steady so she doesn’t squirm away and make it any harder on herself. And he talks to her. He tells her about the mabari, about how dumb and goofy he is, how much he likes it when he gets scratched behind the ears. Maybe it doesn’t make it better. But he hopes. Maker, he hopes.

When it’s full, the phylactery magically seals itself shut. The blood inside of it glows a bright, piercing scarlet.

“There,” he says. “All done. See? You’re all right.”

He wraps a clean cloth around her wrist until a healer can see to her. The worst is over now. She can settle in, clean up, and be around other mages who will help her acclimate to her new life. She’ll be all right now.

The Templars take her from the cell, but Sergeant Malden stays behind, so Carver does too. He cleans his dagger off without looking up.

“You look rather green, Hawke.”

“I’m fine,” he says. “It’s just — she’s a child. It’s hard.”

“Hard?” Malden says. “That’s the easy part.”

Maybe somewhere in the back of his head, Carver knows that. He tries to ignore it, but he knows.

“We’ll begin the Harrowing shortly.”

And just like that, Carver knows nothing. He jerks his head up. He must have heard wrong.

“Her Harrowing?”

Malden lifts an eyebrow.

“She’s a little girl. She’s not even properly trained,” Carver says. “And she just got here. She’s tired and stressed and — if you make her do this now, she’ll fail.”

“Three of your brothers-in-arms died in Darktown trying to subdue her sister, who became an abomination. That ‘little girl’ killed one of them herself, defending the demon,” Malden tells him. “Sympathy is weakness, Hawke. It is silent death. Either cut that weakness from your heart like a tumor, or it will kill you first.”

With that, Malden strides out of the cell, leaving Carver alone within. He cannot will his legs to follow. Then the footsteps stop, and Malden calls back, “You will attend the Harrowing. If she fails, it will be your blade that fells her. That is an order, Hawke.”

[whereismywarden]

kiraia replied to your post “@kiraia Omg! I can barely keep up with all the details of my seven...”

there's /exactly/ ten, which means that the wait for DA4 will be even longer now that I officially don't have any more space free for the other games 🙈🙈 also, I also had it easy making sort of all the worst choices in what basically amounts to the "evil" universe >> ofc, I don't love my evil babies any less

I can make two extra worldstates then since I already have my seven, plus my “discovery” worldstate. So I guess I could make that one non-canon warden after all ^^

I’ve always wanted to do an evil playthrough too but I’m just incapable of being mean to everyone, lol. It was already difficult trying to pick rude dialogues in DAI with Violette and there aren’t even that many in this game. So she somehow ended up befriending half of the companions, lmao.

how would it work with a non-warden origin? Alistair is the only one that was saved from ostagar? or is there a second warden (one of the other seven worldstates) but who doesn't make it to the end? or leaves? or doesn't survive the joining? Chasind could also technically link to Morrigan or Flemeth, cause isn't at least one of them Chasind-blooded in canon? I don't remember.

I haven’t given it much thought yet, but yeah, either Duncan didn’t recruit anyone or something happened to them. Mahariel is the most likely to either die or run away before they even reach Ostagar (she really didn’t want to abandon her clan). And any of them could have died during the Battle, especially the mages who are really inexperienced when it comes to fighting.

I think they are both supposed to be Chasind? Alistair says that Morrigan looks Chasind when you first meet her. And Flemeth is an old legend amongst the Chasind iirc so she might be one as well? So yeah, a Chasind protag meeting Flemeth could be interesting too.

Poly is very valid, and makes even funnier to find matches and play with them. uu also, like, same, tho I do try to consume the canon romances first, the empty romance slot in the tapestry stresses me. :'D and even then my stuff is pretty "vanilla" Surana/Anders, Cadash/Varric.. tho I do have OrlesianWarden/Cole and Cadash/Carver too :'D

In my defence, I do try to have canon pairings that I can put in the tapestry, even though some of them end with heartbreak. I did put Alistair and Anders in the Sad Mages worldstate for example, even though both relationships ended in a breakup. For some others, I try to find a good substitute if possible. I put Blackwall for Violette since I used a Blackwall swap for that playthrough and thought it fit pretty well.

Also, overall, I don’t think I have that many non-canon pairings lol. Or rather, they’re mostly post-canon or with non-canon OCs, so I don’t actually have to put them in the Keep, lmao. Right now, the only empty hearts I have are in worldstates I haven’t quite figured out yet tbh.

[kita-lavellan]

Beyond The Veil Discord OC-Asks

We have an OC-Question-Time channel on our Beyond The Veil Discord, and I keep forgetting to Copy/Paste my answers from there to here, so I’m about to do a single large post! To those of you still waiting on answers from my Ask Box, I’ll get to them I promise ^_^

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Q. Why might someone dislike them? For kita -- From @rivainisomniari A. She's stubborn. She knows she's stubborn, but Kita doesn't often realise when she's crossing the line from stubborn to just being bull-headed. Nel, her sister, is often the one to call her on this behavior and force her to back down.

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Q. What Hogwarts House would they be in? -- From @rivainisomniari A. Kita would be a Ravenclaw

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Q. When bored, how do they pass time? For Kita -- From @rivainisomniari A. Running. Kita loves running. As a child she would spend hours running through the forests and wilds with Nel. She misses it while at Haven, but once they reach Skyhold she often runs around the battlements, people getting out of her way with the assumption she is rushing to speak to an advisor.

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Q. When publishing a book it is wise to make comparisons with well known published works, to help a publisher see your understanding of the market, and also to help them decide on the best way to market your manuscript. So, that thought in mind, whom can you compare (from other popular media) your OCs too? -- From @mrstethras A. Oh nice question!! Kita is a cross between Elsa from Frozen, Loki (Marvel) and someone I'd LIKE to be :D ... Ghilana Mahariel, my Warden, is a bit of a blend with Natasha Romanova (Black Widow from Marvel), and Rupunzel from Disney's Tangled...  Malia Hawke is a Self Insert, but with a dash of Killian Jones from Once Upon A Time for some sassy Hawke-Sarcasm

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Q. What do they value most in others? -- From @noire-pandora A. Honesty! Kita would rather you outright tell her you don't want to speak about something than LIE about it.

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Q. Who is your inquisitor's best friend in the Inquisition?  -- From @rivainisomniari A. Kita's favourite people are Dorian, Leliana and Varric. Dorian wormed his way into her heart very quickly by being so protective of her during the Redcliff mission. She found it amusing, but also sweet and endearing, and the whole mission was a fast-bonding experience for the pair. Watching Leliana be willing to die for her to, washed away the wariness and caution Kita had carried for the inquisition up until that point, but especially for Leli when the woman was so clear in telling her she would do it again, once they're back in their proper time. Varric was the first person, after her sister, to ask how SHE was, which made a soft spot for him, and honestly, who can't like Varric eventually?

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Q. Is there any situation in which they would make a deal with a demon? -- From @noire-pandora A. Tough one! Kita has always been very connected to the Fade and the spirits within! She would probably barter and/or bargain with a spirit, because she is familiar with in her interactions with them, demons are still spirits but corrupted, so she would probably either avoid them or try to help them, especially after she learns more about spirits and the Fade from Solas throughout the Inquisition timeline.

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Q. Name one big flaw for your ocs? -- From @mrstethras A. Kita is slow to trust others, especially humans. She is aware that she distrusts people outside of her clan, but Kita doesn’t see it as a flaw, simply being cautious. Sometimes overly cautious, but she tries to balance her distrust with logic where she can. Ghilana's automatic response to someone showing any interest in her is to be abrasive, abrupt, and rude. She doesn't give people the benefit of the doubt, or chances, if they want her companionship they need to work at it and/or earn it. She comes across as a cold-hearted bitch, but if you persevere and crack that outershell she's a marshmallow. Malia's flaw is thinking she could have stopped or prevented anything and everything that goes wrong around her. Usually something Lydia has done, that she feels she could have predicted and avoided.

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Q. Do they have any family? -- From @rivainisomniari A. Kita has her sister, Nel (@mrstethras‘ Character) and their grandmother, Deshana, other than that, no. their father died when they were young, and their mother died during the War Table mission/attack on wycomb. Ghilana doesn't have any family that she knows of. Her father was killed by humans and city elves, and her mother wandered into the forest never to return when she was a baby. Ashalle raised her, and she considers the woman family, but she's not blood family. Malia has her older sister, @mrstethras‘ Hawke, Lydia. There's also her brother Carver and her sister Bethany, both of whom survive the trip to Kirkwall.

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Q. Are they close to their family? -- From @randomfallout4posts A. Kita is VERY close to Nel. She was fairly close to Deshana, but felt like she had to keep some of her magical talents hidden from the woman, because they weren't strictly "normal". Once she was able to be more free with herself with the Inquisition, and with Solas and Nel in particular away from the Clan, she began to feel less close to her grandmother and more judged for the ease with which she communed with spirits. Ghilana is not particularly close with her family. She struggles with the idea that Ashalle is not her "real" mother, and feels guilty for thinking like that. Tamlen was the closest thing she had to a 'real' family in her mind, and she had to abandon him, it took her a long time to begin to trust Briar and Alistair and instantly latched onto the first elf she saw with tattoo's (Zevran). He becomes her family, and as soon as the Darkspawn Threat is under control, she follows him to Antiva to kick his ass for being gone for so long. Malia... *sigh* She is SUPER close with Lydia, and despite being the younger of the two, she feels responsible for the other girl, especially since Lydia  struggles with their father's death the most. Having no one older to share her magical talents with was difficult too and so Malia did her best to support and back up Lydia as much as she could. She struggled to connect with Carver, and they disagree on a lot of things, but they love each other despite it and they bond particularly closely during the battle of Ostagar, helping each other survive what was otherwise a slaughter of epic proportions. Malia adores Bethany, and coddles the younger girl, giving her anything and everything she can. She picked up pick-pocketing to buy Bethany birthday presents, and it's how she fond her way to learning a rogue's skill set. Malia does not get on with her mother, and often goes out of her way to annoy the woman so that Leandra will aim her vitriol at Malia instead of Lydia.

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Q. Where's their favourite place to be kissed? -- From @mrstethras A. Kita loves the tips of her ears being nibbled on, and the junction where neck becomes shoulder. Ghilana loves the back of her neck being kissed, especially once her hair grows out and Zev has to push it out of the way to reach it. Also kisses trailing down her spine. Malia ends up a shivering wreck if her hips and thighs get kissed, but also the palm of her hand while her eyes are locked with her lovers.

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Q. Your OC’s favourite pastimes when they're not gallivanting, murdering or hunting Dread Wolves? -- From @mrstethras A. For Kita; Running, Reading, and/or singing. Post Trespasser she's learning how to control using a god damned foci, and pretending to be dead, but that's an essay for another time Ghilana's favourite pastime used to be huntng... until she had to spend the whole blight hunting for their party since no one else knew how. How her favourite pastime is annoying Brair, and sitting quietly/stargazing, while Zev braids and/or plays with her hair. Malia's favourite pastime used to be pick pocketing the Templars and Chantry Sisters and redistributing the wealth amongst the citizens of Lothering. Once they reached Kirkwall, she enjoyed hanging out with her friends, and helping them with what they were doing, when she had time. Keeping the patients at Anders clinic entertained until he could see them. Helping Merrill go shopping. Helping Fenris rearrange the furniture in the mansion etc.

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Q. Name one regret of your OC’s?  -- From @mrstethras A. Kita: Not going to Wycome herself and keeping her mother safe. Also, for not doing/saying/being enough so that Solas could feel he could trust her. Ghilana: Not insisting that she search for Tamlen. Ghilana regrets letting Duncan talk her into leaving with him immediately. Malia has lots of regrets, but the biggest one is that she didn't push Anders for more answers, when she knew the ingredients he'd collected were intrinsic components for an explosive.

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Q. Are they tall or short or somewhere in between? -- From @randomfallout4posts​ and @silvanils​ A. For a modern Elf, Kita is Tall. She's on the upper end of the height range for MALE elves at 5'8.... having said that, it's one of the first things that draws her attention about Solas, he's one of the only elves she's ever met taller than her, and he's taller than her by a fair margin. // Kita is tall for a modern elf. Tall for a MALE modern elf. Ghilana is small, around 5'1 and slight. She can, almost literally, hide behind a tree. It helps with her stealth abilities, and her speed, but it's why she focused mainly on a bow to keep a distance from stronger opponents. Zev fixes that, telling her she needs to know how to defend herself, and teacher her to dual weild daggers.  // Ghilana is average for a female modern elf, but she comes across as looking smaller because she's slight as well. Malia is average, around 5'6/7. A little taller than her older sister, but not by much. // Malia is average for a human female.

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Q. Has Varric given them a nickname? If yes what is it and how did they get it? -- From @this-basic-mage​ A. Varric HAS given Kita a Nickname ^_^ It's Satina! She's a night owl, and so often wanders Skyhold late. Plus her whole colour's/aesthetics are blues and silvers.... Satina is, also, canonically the name of Thedas' moon. Malia finds it hilarious the Varric calls her sister simply "Hawke" and it annoys Lydia no end when he starts giving Malia the nickname "Copper". She's considered a bit of a "bad penny" by many, especially whenshe spends a lot of her time in Darktown, and is known to be a prolific pickpocket, but Varric also chose the name because of the burnished copper undertones to her otherwise dark brown hair.

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Q. Pick any god from greek/norse pantheons for your o.c to "be" -- From @rivainisomniari​ A. I'm not sure I know enough about mythology off the top of my head to say for most of them. Kita has some Loki in her, with her playfulness and love of wolves (even before the whole Fen'Harel reveal, she's always admired the Emerald Knights) Ghilana would be Athena, goddess of the hunt. Owls for nightime and stargazing, and the stealth aspects of her character etc. Not sure who Malia would be. Is there a mythological god or goddess of chaos and disaster OTHER than Loki?

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Q. Since the game has them: A tarot card for your o.cs. -- From @rivainisomniari​ A. After some research, I think Kita would be the High Priestess, meaning Intuitive, unconscious inner voice. Ghilana would be the Hierophant Reversed, meaning Rebellion, subversivness and new approaches. Malia would be the Tower, meaning sudden upheaval, broken pride, and disaster. Research Source: https://labyrinthos.co/blogs/tarot-card-meanings-list

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Q. What is it that drew y'all's OC’s to their LIs? -- From @bratwurstprophecy​ A. Tough one because it was me drawn to Solas before Kita was. I think it was the way Solas almost immediately told Cassandra that Kita couldn't have opened the breach. She read it as an elf defending an elf, a mage defending a mage, and it made her respect him very quickly. His opinions on the Dalish were painful but didn't surprise her. At the Keeper's first she's been to the meetings of the clans and knew how unwelcoming some of the other clans were towards outsiders, but it made her want to show him not all Dalish were like that... then she began talking magic and the fade and spirits with him, and a lot of his opinions on those aligned with what she'd always felt but had been told was wrong, and that was it, she was basically a goner. Ghilana was drawn to Zev, despite the fact he tried to kill her, because he was the first elf she'd seen since leaving her clan, and she figured he might be useful, help her hunt for the party (Ahahahhahaha). His warmth and easy going attitude though is what endeared him to her, he easily let her abrasiveness roll off him, and that was something she'd encountered only rarely and valued highly. Malia saw a lot of her sisters in Anders, a mage run ragged hiding from the Chantry, but still a kind soul wanting to help. She wanted to help him, to find a way to separate him from Justice so neither of them became corrupted in spite of their mutual good intentions. She can often seen the glimpses of the man he was before he merged with Justice, and while she loves him as he is, she wishes she could see more of the lighthearted and playful man he was before because it's those glimpses of gentle care and humor that draw her in like a moth to a flame.

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Q. What's your OC's favorite food? -- From @randomfallout4posts​ A. For Kita Lavellan, an Elfroot based stew her mother used to make, and Lemon flavored frilly cakes from Val Royeux For Malia Hawke , she never thought she's miss it, but a simple ferelden vegetable pie brings back happier memories of family meals with her siblings and both her parents in their cosy kitchen in Lothering. Ghilana Mahariel used to love roasted rabbit, but she hunted and cooked so many of them during the 5th blight she now can't stomach the sight of them. She loves exploring antivan spices, and the different flavors they can make when being mixed together in different combinations, and on different meats, so although it's not a "food", Antivan Spices would be her answer.

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Q. CAFFEINE. I must know what your ocs first reaction to coffee was. For inquisitors, their first taste was likely when Bull offers it in the Storm Coast, unless they came from noble roots and got lucky. -- From @lacrymosa-of-lavellan​ A. Kita firmly believes that coffee is a creation of the gods. Perhaps Ghilan'nain. It finally means she can stay awake long enough to get through the stacks of paperwork that Josephine keeps leaving on her desk, and still have enough energy to go and fall asleep read a book on Solas' couch. Ghilana doesn't drink it, unless Zevran serves it up with a metric tonne of sugar, and at least half the cup being made up of milk. Malia Hawke takes coffee as part of her regular morning ritual, but only if she makes it herself. Too many times has she picked up her sister, Lydia’s, coffee, only to splutter on the strong taste of whiskey or rum that's been added to it.

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Q. If you could use a song (or entire album if you like) to sum up one of your OCs in terms of personality and whatnot, or even just similar vibes, what would it be? -- From @bratwurstprophecy​ A. Kita Lavellan would get the Frozen 2 Soundtrack, but specifically "Into The Unknown" or "Show Yourself"

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Q. The most important oc / otp question: Who shares their thinmints and who tells the other to go heck off? -- From @lacrymosa-of-lavellan​ A. Kita would share, and Solas would not. We know he has a sweet tooth! Between Malia and Anders, I think both of them would share. They both know what it's like to go without, and how a little treat can bring someone's mood up. As for Ghilana, Zev would spoil her with all sorts of exotic foods and sweet treats, and Ghilana would not share them (even if he asked) ;-)

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Q. If your oc was in a modern time (or if they're brave as heck in da times) do they have any (non-vallaslin) tats or piercings, and if so, where? -- From @lacrymosa-of-lavellan​ A. Kita would not have a tattoo. Apart from the fact her mother really doesn't like them, Pre-Crestwood her Vallaslin are important and meaningful and she wouldn't want to take away from their importance by getting just 'another tattoo'. Post-Crestwood, when she knows that the Vallaslin were slave markings, she wouldn't want to be permanently marked in that way again. Ghilana does have other tattoo's besides her Vallaslin, all of which were done by Zevran. He has given her a vine that wraps around her ankle and curls up her leg with little symbols hanging from it, like charms, each charm marking an important event in their life together. Zev has also tattooed matching bands on their ring fingers, instead of wearing rings. Ghilana also has one ear pierced, to wear the earring Zev gave her during the 5th blight. It's the only piece of jewellery she regularly wears. Malia Hawke does not have any tattoo's or piercings. Her philosophy is that she does through enough pain without subjecting herself to more of it willingly.

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Q. Wood smoke or ocean breeze? -- From @lacrymosa-of-lavellan​ A. Kita hates the smell of the ocean. She got seasick on her way from the Freemarches to Ferelden, and the salt air always makes her feel a little queasy now. Woodsmoke on the other hand is food, and warmth and comfort and she misses the perfume of crackling pinewood. Ghilana has always loved woodsmoke smell, but when she travels with Zev and on her Grey Warden duties, she learns to love the smell of the ocean. Malia Hawke can take or leave woodsmoke. It's not terrible but after fleeing Lothering with the village burning behind her it has some difficult memories attached to the scent. Living in Kirkwall though, the fresh sea air waking her every morning was something she grew to love.