#look at this pretty ancient elvhen baby

[an-established-butt-dent]

At home in the shadows. Forgotten dreams.

Solas: Dragon age

Ink on paper

[briarfox13]

So after 80+ hours I've finally finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard! And boy do I have some thoughts (it's going to be a long post, sorry)

SPOILERS AHEAD

Firstly what an incredible journey from start to finish, I laughed, rejoiced and cried along the way. I loved it so much! The main story was engaging, and some of the side quests are the best Bioware has ever made.

However, I do have some criticisms with the writing and some lore. The beginning feels rushed, I wish we had more time before shit hit the fan. The faction backgrounds sound awesome and I wish we'd played those as a prologue and met Varric through those rather that tiny scene we got.

And I do wish the game was darker in some aspects. It felt weird that as an Elf I could just wander around Minrathous without a single problem, even the Venatori didn't comment on my race? Which felt off. Never thought I'd say this, but I miss the dark political plot points that the other games had (Looking at DA II here).

Expect The Blight, that was incredible, disgusting was just what I wanted to see.

I also don't like the concept of Ancient Elvhen magic being like advanced tech? I'm not fond of that. I play DA for the fantasy not the sci-fi. But that's a minor nit-pick.

But damn, Act 3? That was an explosive, incredible set of quests, and those twists broke my heart 😭 IYKYK

Honestly though, it's hands down one of the prettiest game I've played since probably Metro Exodus.

The environments, the lights and atmosphere is top notch; I know it wont happen but I'd kill for an Origins remaster with this engine (and combat system). The combat is my favourite so far.

Music is pretty but kind of unremarkable, Trevor Morris' Inquisition music was a 100% times better and more memorable, they should have stuck with him.

No offence to Mr. Zimmer but all his music sounds the same to me 🙈

The Grey Wardens, my babies are back ❤️ They've been my favourite faction in gaming since Origins and I'm so happy to finally play another Warden.

The reactivity was just amazing, I felt so connected to the plot by playing as one, especially with the Blight plotlines. Declaring for the Wardens at the end made me cry 😭 In War, Victory!!

And finally some good Grey warden armour!! XD I hated DA II and DAI's armour for them with a passion XD

Emmrich my love 💚

While I think it's too short (please Bioware add more romance content, I'm begging 🥺) I haven't loved a Bioware romance like this since Garrus'. (Sorry Alistair I still love you but, you're now joint second with Emmrich)

His romance was so sweet and charming, it felt so real. And so beautifully written; as someone who finds necromancy and death in religion fascinating but the reality of death terrifying, Emmrich was perfect for me.

I just adore it so much, I'm way too attached to him and my Rook 💚🥹 And obviously Manfred my son

To let you all in on a secret, even before I booted up Origins for the first time (2015) I was originally a Solas girlie (thanks to the internet) and now just under 10 years later I am so happy to have a happy ending to his and Zephyr's story 🥹❤️

I wish they interacted more with each other, and we'd got more about Solas' love for the Inky but ultimately I am happy with what we got. After all it wasn't entirely their story.

But, what I am not happy about is the Inky's personality. I respect it's kind of a soft reboot, but only 3 choices and none of them about how the Inky was like? Zephyr would never in a million years work with Morrigan (even with her Mythal fragment). It just didn't feel quite like my girl (even though I was happy to see her).

I do wish we'd got a couple more choices when making the Inky to make them feel more ours than slightly generic.

So finally, I will say that personally I adore this game, it's not perfect by any mile but I had fun, and that's important to me. It might even be joint top with Origins as my favourite DA game!

I've always been a Mass Effect girlie, but Dragon Age is important to me too. And I'm so happy to finally see a new DA release that has somewhat succeeded.

Now I'm done, do expect Tabitha spam! I'll make sure to tag them with spoilers for those who haven't finished/played!

And to my non DA followers, I'm very sorry about my current hyper-fixation (blame the ADHD) but bear with me! I have some tasty Halo art pieces cooking in the background 👀

[seigeocs]

Ashia Laidir

Name: Ashia Laidir Age: 29 Race: Elf Pronouns: She/Her Class: Mage Specialization: Evoker.  She helped a Shadow Dragon mage get a small group of slaves out of Tevinter and taught her the ice magic in exchange. Family: Has a cousin, Mi'revasan Laidir, who is also a Lord of Fortune but turns to the Crows. She belongs to @shaken-veil Personality: Feral housecat pretty much describes Ashia.  She is prickly, doesn’t have a filter, and has a temper.  She’s also very caring and soft with those she is friends with.  She absolutely despises blood magic and she lets you know who have it when she finds out.  Easily bribed with food and/or shiny rocks.  Ashia prizes loyalty above all else given what happened to her in the Lords of Fortune.  She tries to find happiness in small things, grand gestures aren’t needed for her.  She also doesn’t like talking about feelings.  So when she falls for a certain dragon hunter, she gets all jumbled up inside about it.

Has been told she has the mouth of a sailor.  Cares for children and animals.  Hates seeing cruelty towards both and is a good way to get frozen by her ice.  She’s absolutely fascinated by Manfred and is comfortable around Spite.  Spirits don’t bother her being from Rivain.

Also hates her baby face so much, but does grow to accept it eventually. Ship: Taash Relationships with the Veilguard:

Bellara: Ashia and Bellara get along well.  Ashia absolutely pays attention when Bellara goes on about the ancient magic artifacts and ancient ruins.  One because it makes Bellara happy, and two she delves into ancient elven ruins for the Lords of Fortune so win-win.  Ashia absolutely gives Anaris a piece of her mind and none of it is fit for polite company.

Neve: Ashia respects the Shadow Dragons and what Neve is doing in Minrathous.  She just hates the choice she was forced to make, but does her best to show Neve she will always be there.  They finally reach a good point in their friendship and go kick Aelia’s ass together.

Davrin: Ashia likes Davrin and he patiently taught her how to carve wood.  After the final battle, Ashia continues carving the figures Davrin was working on.  She loved Assan so much and was devastated by what happened.  Ashia carries the guilt with her forever.  She carves a griffon that looks like Assan to carry with her too.

Harding: Ashia and Harding get along well.  Ashia has actually been to Ferelden so they bond over that since Ashia knows the culture.  They grow to be good friends through Harding’s journey as Ashia can’t apologize enough for what the elves did.  They vow to get rid of the rest of the evanuris and then go to Ferelden afterwards to help reconstruction.

Lucanis: Ashia has absolutely zero issues with the assassin and his demon roommate.  Ashia will trade stories with Lucanis about crazy jobs and the like.  She enjoys watching Lucanis and her cousin fall helplessly in love because they’re both so damn awkward it’s funny.

Emmrich: Ashia is absolutely fascinated by necromancy, she doesn’t understand it but wants to.  To help with any restless undead when she delves into ruins and the like.  She also loves Manfred and will not be teaching him any swear words.  That Emmrich knows.  She respects spirits and the cultural stuff around the Necropolis.  She has an idea of how it is to be outcast for your culture.

Taash: It was instantly smitten with Ashia and Taash.  Ashia just looked up at Taash and went whoa inside her mind.  The fact Taash is a fierce warrior who is struggling to find themselves and find acceptance in a multicultural identity is something Ashia respects.  They find they have a lot in common as they travel.  Ashia helps Taash learn elvhen and Taash helps her learn Qunlat.  Mostly the curse words though.  Ashia once slipped up and called Taash vhenan and Bellara never let her live it down.  Taash had to ask about what it meant later.

[pikapeppa]

Felassan/Lavellan modern AU: Habit

Chapter 3 of Inadvisable (professor Solas AU) is posted!

In which Tamaris gets pulled into an odd conversation with a strange man named Felassan, then pulls him back into something that involves considerably less talking. 👀

Drop-dead gorgeous art by @elbenherzart​!!

~3400 words; read on AO3 instead.

- TAMARIS -

Tamaris should’ve stayed home. 

She propped one elbow on the cocktail table and idly looked around. The campus bar was full to bursting with faculty and grad students. Many of the grad students looked younger than her, and all of them were bright and shiny and enthusiastic about starting their grad careers.

Good for them, she thought flatly. She took a sip of her whiskey and raised an eyebrow at Athera. “You’re drinking that cider awfully slowly, considering the day you had.”

Athera sighed. “I wish I could get buzzed, believe me. But the last thing I want to do is show up at work hungover tomorrow and have Abelas — sorry, professor Abelas — thinking I’m a drunk as well as an incompetent baby.”

Tamaris curled her lip. “I still can’t believe he insisted on you calling him ‘professor’. What a dick.”

“Shh,” Athera hissed. She elbowed Tamaris. “Keep your voice down! He might be here. Or one of the other faculty will hear you.”

“I don’t give a shit who hears me,” Tamaris said.

“Okay, then you can find me another research coordinator job at this university,” Athera said brightly. “Make sure it’s a history or social studies lab, though. I’m a little rusty in my organic chem. I wouldn’t want to go blowing up a building by accident or something.”

Tamaris rolled her eyes. “All right, all right, I get it.” She sipped her drink again, then glanced at Nare, whose big blue eyes were scanning the room as though she was looking for someone. She was also already nursing her second cocktail of the night, which was unusual for her.

Tamaris nudged her. “What’s up with you?”

Nare glanced at her. “Hm? What do you mean?”

“You’ve been weird all afternoon since you got home from the museum,” Tamaris said. “Did you have an artistic epiphany or something while you were there?”

Nare smiled distractedly, but her eyes were still shifting around the room. “Uh… um, no. It was a good exhibit. You should go.”

“I will,” Tamaris said. “But seriously, you’re being cagey as fuck.”

Athera snorted a laugh, and Nare finally turned to face them fully. “I’m not being cagey!”

“You are too. You look like you’re being hunted,” Tamaris said matter-of-factly. “Or like you’re hunting for someone. I can’t decide.”

Athera pulled a little face. “You are acting kind of weird, lethallan. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Nare said brightly. “Just excited! First day jitters, you know. Almost first day, I mean.”

“Uh-huh,” Tamaris said. She eyed Nare skeptically, then tilted her head. “I like your dress.”

Nare smiled and smoothed a hand over the short flowy skirt of her cranberry-red dress. “Thanks! It’s my favourite.”

Athera brushed a bit of lint from Nare’s shoulder. “Isn’t this the one you usually wear on first dates?”

“You’re right, it is,” Tamaris said. She raised her eyebrows at Nare. “Why are you wearing your sexy first-date dress?”

Nare scoffed. “You guys are such stalkers. It’s not a first-date dress, it’s a confidence dress.”

Athera shrugged affably. “Red is the colour of confidence.”

“Exactly,” Nare said. She took another sip from her drink — more of a gulp, really — then looked at Athera. “So you didn’t meet Solas today at the lab, then?”

“No, but Merrill said he should be here tonight,” Athera said. “That would be nice if you met him tonight, hey? Get it out of the way so it’s not so nerve-wracking tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” Nare said, and she drained the last of her drink. 

Tamaris narrowed her eyes at Nare, but before she could pick on her some more, Athera straightened up and tapped Nare’s arm. “Oh, speaking of Merrill, she’s over there with Dagna and Tamlen! Come on, you should meet them. I’ll introduce you guys.” She looped her arm through Tamaris’s elbow, but Tamaris balked.

“You go ahead,” she said. “I’ll wait here.”

Athera’s face fell. “Why? You should come meet them! We’re probably going to end up spending a lot of time hanging out with them.”

Tamaris shook her head and extracted her arm from Athera’s grip. “It’s all right. You guys go have your ancient Elvhen lab chat. I’ll be here.”

“Seriously, Tam, are you okay?” Nare asked.

Her expression was apologetic, and Tamaris frowned. Nare and Athera both knew she hated making small talk with strangers. “I’m fine,” she said testily. “Why are you asking?”

Nare pulled a little face. “I don’t know. I just… now I feel kind of bad dragging you here.”

Tamaris gave her a chiding look. “Don’t feel bad. It’s fine. You meant well.” She rolled her eyes. “Getting the fuck out of the house is apparently good for people sometimes.”

Nare smirked, then squeezed her arm. “All right, we won’t be gone long.”

Tamaris nodded and watched as Athera and Nare slipped away into the crowd. She sighed and finished her whiskey, then leaned her elbows on the table and watched the new students chattering with each other and making nervous attempts to talk to the faculty members.

“Well, you look out of place.”

Tamaris rolled her eyes at the strange male voice. Some men just couldn’t get the hint to fuck off even if it was practically stamped across the back of her leather jacket. 

She glanced dismissively at the man who’d spoken to her, then paused in surprise. He was a tall lean elf with unusual violet eyes and a cocky little smirk. But it was his hair that really surprised her. His midnight-black hair was long and lustrous, probably longer than Tamaris’s if it was loose, but it was pulled into a neat bun at his nape, with two understated braids that coursed from his temples back into the bun: a style that was both classic and foreign.

“Like you should talk,” she said. “You’re from Arlathan, aren’t you?”

The stranger smiled. “What gave me away? The accent? The sense of superiority?”

Tamaris smirked despite herself. “Definitely the accent. The superiority hasn’t reared its head yet.”

He chuckled and stepped a little closer to her. “Yet, you say? I’ll keep that in mind and try to hide it for as long as possible.”

She huffed. “Don’t bother. If you’re an asshole, might as well just admit it up front.”

“But then you would stop talking to me,” he said.

“Yeah, I would,” she said bluntly. “It would save us both a lot of time.”

His smile widened, and he held out his hand. “Felassan.”

She hesitated for a second, then shook his hand. “Tamaris.”

“Tamaris,” he said slowly. He released her hand. “That’s a classic Elvhen name. Do you know what it means?”

Oh boy, she thought ruefully. “Let me guess: you’re going to tell me,” she drawled.

“I could, if you like,” he said.

She eyed him skeptically, then turned to face him and folded her arms. “Go on, then. Tell me.”

He leaned casually against the cocktail table and folded his arms as well. “‘Tamaris’ means ‘my forever second’. The meaning is not unlike ‘best friend forever’ or ‘partner forever’.”

Tamaris barked out a rough little laugh. “What a line. How lucky for you that it doesn’t mean something unflattering like ‘thorny weed’.”

“It is lucky, isn’t it?” Felassan said pleasantly. “But then again, one man’s weed is another man’s favourite flower.”

She stared at him incredulously. That was smooth as hell. How had he come up with that response so fast? “I’m sorry, who the fuck are you?” she asked. “Are you a student?”

He lifted one eyebrow. “Do I look like a student?”

“No, actually,” Tamaris said. “You’re dressed like shit compared to everyone else here.” To be fair, Felassan wasn’t badly dressed; his black jeans and Converse sneakers were well-fitted and clean, and his Veilfire t-shirt was also a flattering fit that showcased his lean but muscled chest. All the same, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt when every other man in the room was wearing blazers or collared shirts.

He snickered. “I could say the same about you. I don’t see any other women here in combat boots.”

“Well, I’m not a student,” Tamaris said.

“Neither am I,” Felassan said. “Not anymore.”

“Oh,” Tamaris said. “Congratulations.”

He tilted his head. “Why do you say that?” 

“I…” She trailed off, feeling a little nonplussed. “I assumed you finished your degree.”

“What degree do you assume that I finished?”

“Uh… fuck, I don’t know.” She stared at him with growing bemusement. “Did you finish a degree?”

“I did, in fact,” he said. “I finished my PhD two years ago.”

“Oh,” she said again. Then she frowned at him. “Then why the fuck were you giving me such a hard time about saying congratulations?”

He smirked. “For the pleasure of seeing the confusion paint your pretty face.”

She stared at him for a second longer, then scoffed. “Fuck’s sake. You’re a real menace, you know that?”

“Thank you,” he said cheerfully. “I try my hardest.”

She huffed in amusement and reached for her whiskey glass, then realized it was empty. Felassan nodded his chin at her glass. “Would you care for another?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you talking to me?”

“Should I not be talking to you?” he asked.

She shrugged. Now that he was talking to her, she didn’t really mind, but it didn’t explain what had brought him over in the first place. “I don’t exactly look inviting,” she said.

“That’s true,” he agreed.

“So what then?” she demanded. “Why did you bother me?”

“Because I like the look of your face,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows. “My face? You mean my resting bitch face that you totally ignored?”

He smiled, but his tone was serious. “I mean that you weren’t smiling. Yours was the only face in this crowd that wasn’t smiling.”

She shot him a look of rebuke. “So what, you came over here to make me smile? Did you think smiling would make me more pretty?” 

“You mistake my meaning,” he said. “You were not smiling, but you looked as if you were seeking a reason to smile.”

Something in her belly twisted uncomfortably. She huffed and looked away from him. “Aren’t you a fancy fucking fortune-teller.”

“Not at all,” he said. “Just someone who recognizes the feeling.”

She glanced at him once more. For the first time since he’d come over to her, his expression was completely serious. 

She dropped his gaze again and shrugged. “All right. I could use another drink.” 

A small smile lifted his lips, and he gallantly ushered her to the bar. A minute later, he handed her a glass of whiskey before lifting his own. 

“Enansal’in,” he said. “Or ‘cheers’, as you would probably say.”

“Cheers,” she said. She tapped her glass to his, then eyed him as she sipped her drink. He was undeniably smooth, which instantly made her suspicious. He’d also obviously been watching her, since he knew exactly what she’d been drinking. 

Some women might find it charming. Tamaris found it creepy. On the other hand, he was hot and clever, and she hadn’t had sex since she and the girls had moved to Orlais a few months ago. And if Felassan wasn’t a student anymore, she probably wouldn’t get stuck running into him through Nare or Athera. 

She gulped down the rest of her drink, then placed her glass on the bar. “Do you smoke deep mushroom?”

He grinned. “Deep mushroom isn’t legal in Orlais.”

“I don’t give a fuck what’s illegal in Orlais,” she retorted.

Felassan chuckled. “You really are my kind of woman.”

She scoffed. “Come on, then,” she said. She pushed away from the bar and headed for the door, and a minute later, they were standing against the wall in the empty alley beside the campus bar. 

Tamaris pulled a joint of elfroot and deep mushroom from her purse and deftly lit it, then offered it to Felassan. He took it with a smile and brought the joint to his lips, then took a deep drag and released the smoke in a series of perfect rings. 

“Show-off,” Tamaris accused. 

He treated her to another handsome grin, then handed her the joint. “Where do you hail from, then, if you smoke deep mushroom with such impunity?”

“Kirkwall, most recently,” Tamaris replied.

He nodded. “Ah, Kirkwall. I’ve heard tales. Is it true that it’s possible to get anything there if you know the right people?”

Tamaris huffed in amusement. “Pretty much, yeah.” She took another drag of deep mushroom and handed him the joint, then eyed him thoughtfully as he smoked it. “You’ve never been there, then?”

He shook his head and exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Orlais is the only place I’ve been since leaving Arlathan.”

Tamaris nodded slowly. “Orlais is… honestly, there are better places to visit. You should travel more.”

“Are you well-travelled?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t say that, really, but I’ve visited a few places,” she said. “Rivain, Antiva, a few of the Free Marcher states…”

Felassan raised his eyebrows. “That sounds well-travelled to me. You have been many places more than I.” He held out the joint.

Tamaris took the joint and brought it to her lips. “Our reservation is just east of Starkhaven, so it’s pretty well-situated for making trips along the east coast.”

“Reservation?” Felassan said. “You’re Dalish, then?”

Tamaris frowned. She hadn’t meant to tell him that. She didn’t usually like getting into the ‘are you actually Dalish’ conversation with strangers.

Serves me right for smoking deep mushroom with a stranger, she thought ruefully. She took another deep drag, then held out the joint to him. “Yeah. I’m really Dalish. This vallaslin isn’t just a ‘cute aesthetic’.”

Felassan nodded thoughtfully. “That tattoo means something to you.”

“Of course it does,” she said. Then she gave him an appraising look. “I’m kind of surprised you don’t have vallaslin.”

He smiled slowly before exhaling a mouthful of smoke. “Why is that?” he asked.

“Vallaslin is an ancient Elvhen tradition,” she said. “I thought you Arlathani elves knew those traditions better than we do.”

He laughed softly and handed her the joint. “I would no more compare Dalish and Arlathani traditions than I would compare a dragon and a lizard.”

Tamaris narrowed her eyes. “And who’s the lizard in this scenario? Us or you?”

“Either,” Felassan said. “Take your pick. The dragon and the lizard are so far removed as to defy comparison.”

Tamaris lifted her chin. “You’re telling me you don’t think the dragon is more powerful than the lizard?”

He gazed at her in silence for a moment before replying. “I’m saying there might be a reason I am still in Orlais even though I finished my degree two years ago.”

Tamaris studied him wordlessly. His lips were curled at the corners with humour, but there was something about his eyes on her face that felt… piercing, somehow. Like he was seeing more on her face than just her vallaslin.

She looked away from him and took one last deep drag from the joint, then dropped the butt on the ground. She blew out the smoke in a long exhale, then turned back to Felassan.

She stepped very close to him and curled her fingers in the fabric of his t-shirt, and a wicked smile lit his face. “Is there something I can help you with?” he said.

His voice was laced with mischief and a hint of heat, and a little seed of lust bloomed deep in her belly. “Yes,” she said, and she kissed him.

His lips parted beneath hers, and Tamaris dipped her tongue into his smoke-perfumed mouth. His hands rose to cradle her neck before sliding into her hair, and Tamaris savoured the warmth of his palms on her scalp.

Felassan’s tongue slid smoothly around her own, a slow heated caress inside of her mouth, and Tamaris was surprised to feel her shoulders relaxing at the slow and soothing movement of his mouth over hers. Then his fingers tightened in her hair, and he gently tugged her head back. 

She gasped as a rush of lust fanned through her body. A second later, she was pressed against the cool alley wall with Felassan’s hands in her hair and his mouth at her throat. 

She gasped again and clenched her fingers in his shirt. His teeth and lips were trailing slowly along the tendon in her neck with a torturous sort of delicacy, and the frantic pulse between her legs was a total mismatch with how slowly and carefully he was kissing her neck. 

He lapped gently at her neck, and she dragged in a breath. “F-fuck,” she whimpered. 

He dropped another tantalizing kiss on her throat, then leaned away slightly and stroked her neck with his palms. “Tamaris, I thought you should know. I… don’t make a habit of this.”

“A habit of what?” she panted.

“Kissing strangers in alleyways outside of bars,” he murmured.

She scoffed. “Uh-huh.”

He quirked one eyebrow. “You don’t believe me?”

“With how smooth you are?” she said archly. “Of course I don’t fucking believe you.” Not that it mattered whether this was a habit of his or not; she was primed and ready for him, and she didn’t care if she never heard from him again after this, not if he was able to fuck her as well as he kissed.

He smiled slowly and stepped even closer to her — close enough that the hard ridge of his groin was pressing against her belly. Her eyelids fluttered at the feel of his hardness, and he chuckled softly. “I can understand your suspicion,” he murmured. “Words are cheap and easy, aren’t they?” 

She nodded distractedly, and Felassan tilted her chin up with one hand. “This is a conundrum, then. How to convince you that I’m not the playboy that you take me for?”

“I don’t care if you’re a playboy,” she panted. 

He brushed his lips over hers. “I do,” he whispered. He kissed her softly, then coaxed her lips apart with little careful laps of his tongue before sealing his lips over hers. 

Tamaris whimpered, but the sound was muffled by his tongue sliding smoothly along the length of hers. He was so gorgeous, and his kisses were so careful and delicious, and when was the last time anyone had kissed her like this? That anyone had taken the time to really kiss her, like the kissing in itself was an act worth enjoying in its own right rather than the necessary prelude to something more? 

Not that she didn’t want more – gods, did she ever want more. And her apartment was just a fifteen-minute walk down the street… 

She gripped Felassan’s hips and pressed herself firmly against his front. He broke their kiss and groaned: a gorgeous, bone-melting sound that trickled down her spine and lit a fresh pulse of desire through her core. 

Then he released her and stepped away. 

She stared breathlessly at him. His cock was a visible ridge in his pants, and he was smiling broadly.

“Goodnight, Tamaris,” he said. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” He bowed his head politely, then turned and walked away. 

Tamaris watched in disbelief as he turned the corner and disappeared. By the time she was able to move her lust-paralyzed limbs and step out of the alley back onto the street, he was gone. 

Un-fucking-believable, she thought. She stood on the sidewalk for a second, torn about what to do next. Should she go home and get herself off, or should she go back into the campus bar and get rip-roaring drunk by herself? She honestly couldn’t decide which option was more tempting or pathetic. 

She sighed heavily, then pulled her phone out of her purse to find a number of texts from Athera.

-Athera 22:37- Where are you? Did you go home?

-Athera 22:37- Nare abandoned me to talk to someone else lol  

-Athera 22:45- Taaaaaaaam don’t ghost me ilu ToT

-Athera 22:48- Seriously though I should probably get going soon, early work tmr ugh. Are you guys gonna come home with me? Hot choccy when we get home? I’ll make it :3

That was about ten minutes ago. Tamaris sighed and shoved back her hair, then tapped out a reply. 

-Tamaris 22:58- Just outside for some air. Coming back in

She dropped her phone back in her purse, then realized something: neither she nor Felassan had thought to get each other’s phone numbers. 

She froze for a second, then laughed bitterly to herself. Of course she hadn’t gotten his phone number. And of course she hadn’t gotten any sex. That was just her luck. 

“Fuck’s sake,” she muttered, then shoved open the door to the campus bar and went back inside. 

[thebookworm0001]

💒+ Ellana/Solas (no im not double asking that was uh my friend on my account >×<)

Are you one very tall grownup or two small children dressed in a trench coat? The world may never know.

Alrighty happy end Solavellan here we go:

-it’s a super small ceremony, with only the inner circle present, the remaining members of Ellana’s family, and a few ancient elvhen Solas knew could be trusted.

-It’s held in the Emerald Graves in the spring near the chateau Vivienne gifted her not long after Trespasser. So the location is just gorgeous. It’s also a way to honor the elves that came before them - especially Ellana’s lost clan.

-Keeper Deshanna, Ellana’s grandmother, presides over the ceremony and only threatens Solas’s life every other sentence. Ellana expected it to be every other word.

-Isera, Ellana’s you get sister, drools over stares at the ancient elvhen the entire time, much to her mother’s chagrin. She’s particularly enamored with Abelas. There is a… discussion regarding this after the ceremony. Ellana thinks her baby sister probably shouldn’t shack up with someone thousands of years older than her to which Isera gives a judgy look. Ellana does not win that fight.

-Ellana takes a long time to think about it, but decides not to wear a prosthetic the day of the wedding. While she knows Dagna would have made her a lovely one to match the dress she wore (ordered by Vivienne to reflect her culture and be the most gorgeous wedding gown ever designed because she can’t let her friend get married in just anything, now can she?) she thinks it’s important to acknowledge the hard parts of their relationship and her loss of her arm is pretty symbolic of that. (Plus it was kinda warm that day and the sleeve she wears to protect her skin can get kinda sweaty and she wanted to not be sweaty on her wedding day. That’s for the wedding night.)

[sarcasticstardust]

I have this stupid idea for an AU  where my levellan inquisitor finds solas in the year(s?) before the inquisition happens. I've never written the story of my inquisitor but have this whole convoluted plot and background. Little background on my Inquisitor is needed so trying make this simple as possible.

She touched an ancient elvhen artifact as a kid when her dalish clan was parked next to a ruin and went exploring doing the following the willow of the wisp sort of thing (think Brave and the lights in the forest leading to the witch's cottage).  Touched the cool glowing alter/idol/gem/staff etc and boom! Wakes up and she's mute talking without wound coming out and a bit unware of the fact. She also acting kind of strange, watching things off in the distance like a cat intently fixed on an object that you just can’t see if you look in the same spot. She is aware of her surroundings and responds to her name and getting her attention but shes half off in lala land.  She survived with no demon in her as far as they can tell so they let her stay in the clan. She tends to wonder off so much that her parents do the kid leash while they do their chores sometimes leaving her staked in a safe clearing.

Templars find her and strange shit goes down so they assume that the savages staked the  baby mage out to lure either something out of fade or them into a trap, best option is take the kid and bounce. So they get her to the nearest chantry get her cleaned up and fed before dumping her in the circle and off they go doing routine templar stuff having done their good deed. So she gets this awesome education despite being locked in the circle and and everyone treating her as Tranquil-ish. Getting all the academic and religious studies but when they came to study magic theory and practice she got sent to the practical arts of potions, alchemy, enchanting and gardening. So awesome at gardening and potions.  After a very complicated couple of years she winds up back with the dalish after offically dying in the Blight according to the chantry.

Btw she was not in Fereldran for longer then a year this is not a growing up next to the grey warden Amell story as my grey warden canon is Solana Amell with a Zevran romance.

So I can't recall who came up with this awesome headcanon of  traveling keepers but hot damn if that wasn't the best thing to play with. So she still gets twitchy and wonders off not quite fitting in, even with the very unconventional lavellan clan. They lay the whole wondering keeper tradition on her and give her a halla to guide her cause those critters are the homing pigeons of the dalish, they always find home.

They stamp a vallaslin of Jun on her, my own headcanon: each clans vallaslin design waiver on artistic styles, and whose applies it the Jun’s tend to stay a bit more uniform so that the clans that openly trade with the humans can identify the pictures and say "hey look! One of those trading elves!" As IB said "Gotta keep the name simple so the nobles will get it" ie keep the pictures pretty much the same and the humans are less likely to kill you if you wonder close too the town in you intend to trade.

Anyway she's really good at herbs and potions so she is a wondering apothecary with a covered wagon and a giant hart with antlers with dangly ribbons and bells, one to alert any everyone their coming not really scared of being robbed when you have a 800lb moose equivalent to pull your wagon, and it scares away predators in the forest.. She has contacts with the dwarves and also supplies illegal lyrium items to the clans but no one cares about the strange dalish smiling and waving everyone as they pass on the road. Imagine something like Dr. King Schultz from Django Unchained with his tooth wagon as he cheerily enters town and people just staring.

So getting to the AU she finds Solas sleeping in a ruin and she's read about they ancient elves that pulled a sleeping beauty in an ancient Tevinter book. They are isolated mages in a tower, the chantry didn't care that they had arguments via messages with Tevinter magisters as long as they didn't try to go to tevinter and no blood magic was mentioned while the letters were screened.

She can feel him moving around in the fade while being physically asleep in a mountain ruin, invested with spiders and possibly other beasties,  in the middle of winter, wrapped only in a blanket. yeah no. She got his half frozen in the wagon moving away from the mountain and he only woke up after they moved a considerable distance like he's out of wifi signal range. He wakes up and talks while she works around him which is how their relationship kind of is for awhile him talking and her acting until they develop a working sign language.

So other headcanon time: lyrium is so volatile that even the sound waves can set it off including talking. So being smart and enterprising, dwarves have developed a basic sign language called hand speech mainly made up of  directions (left, right, stop, go) and insults. This is a trade secret and Bramble only knows this due to having friends in the lyrium trade which is a story unto itself. This involves templars, seekers, a magical game of fetch, tea with the Divine and a daring escape. She uses this connection to get the lyrium supplies to the clans. Since no one cares about the crazy mute dalish everyone not a dwarf thinks she's just waving her hands. This means she’s excused from the basic punishment of using the speech among those not in the carta, cartal or other dwarven guilds, loss of limb or life.

Solas for reasons I have figured out travels with her as a crazy hobo apostate and dalish apothecary tag team arguing in public as the to academic nerds developed hand speech into a full blown language only known by them. Mostly is being strange elves out of place in the world elves traveling the length and breadth of Thedas getting into trouble and hi-jinks pulling the old married couple trope while falling in love.

Meh... have picture of outfits from the Inquisitor viking doll challenge, only two cause I'm lazy and need to go to bed. She has a natural afro of bouncy curls but not many dolls makers have this option so this is my best effort at creating a bit of the effect.

[stitchcasual]

Writer self-rec meme

“Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers.”

I was tagged by @barbex​ (who is wonderful and writes for Mass Effect and Dragon Age, so, y’know check our her self-recs here)

Rec’ing “Albatross” seems...idk, too easy or something even though I’m very pleased at how it’s continuing to evolve, so I’m going to skip it and hit some of my favorite prompts, drabbles, and one-shots.

1. “Regret” Voltron: Legendary Defender, pairing: Keith/Shiro/Alllura I’m honestly pretty proud of this one. It was written in response to a couple challenges: the word “regret” (which was the original challenge) and no dialogue (which was a challenge I gave myself after a friend commented that they’d still read something I wrote if it didn’t have any dialogue in it [and they really like the way I do dialogue, so]). It was also my first work of any length in that fandom (there’s a baby drabble in my “stitch fic” tag but it hardly counts). And finally, it lays the groundwork for the dynamic that I prefer in a shallureith ship, which is different from most others’ and involves an unbalanced triad rather than a three-person puddle.

2. “Die to Protect Me” warnings for gore and blood, heavy on the hurt part of hurt/comfort Dragon Age 2/Dragon Age: Inquisition, pairing: Hawke/Fenris This one got written as a three-part series on tumblr after I got really interested in what the hell could make Hawke show up without Fenris in Inquisition. (Lots of pain, turns out, and also lots of stupidity.) I touched on it briefly in an ask prompt and then expanded on the idea when it wouldn’t let me go. I also probably have to credit @gothic-princess-witch​ because she generally enables my gratuitous angst writing and since I can’t remember for sure, she was probably behind at least some of it. (I do know she spotted an inconsistency that I was able to quickly fix before anyone else saw.)

3. “Beautiful Like This” warning for explicit D/s flavored sex, NSFW y’all Dragon Age 2, pairing: Hawke/Fenris The credit for this one lies squarely at the feet of the amazing @ladygemini who sent in the ask for this. It also helped that like half of my writers’ group was writing smut at the time so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’m a fan of how this one turned out, with like 4k of pining buildup to 3k of fabulous smut. It and another drabble I did with Hawke/Cullen really helped me realize how desperately much I love a subby Hawke, like damn.

4. “To Be Content” Dragon Age 2, pairing: Hawke/Fenris A tumblr exclusive, which is a fancy way of saying I never threw it up on ao3, that I wrote one day when I just needed some goddamn fluff and to avoid some real-life nonsense. It is one of the fluffiest things I’ve ever written, which I suppose is not a hard accomplishment considering most things I plan to be fluffy end up with some angst in them. It’s also one of the drabbles that’s gotten the most attention and is, I think, finally my most reblogged/liked piece of writing here on tumblr.

5. “Lightning” Dragon Age 2, Origins AU, pairing: none Also a tumblr-exclusive fic, this began as a thought experiment with GPW over messages until finally I had so many ideas and feelings that I had to write it. I’m sure that was her plan all along. It’s an alternate timeline where the Blight never happened so Hawke never left Ferelden and Danarius comes to town, Fenris in tow, to look for ancient Elvhen artifacts (something that never actually got mentioned in the fic). It was an interesting exercise in keeping Hawke in character while not making him exactly as I write him in DA2 stuff because he’s obviously not quite the same if he never gets to Kirkwall. It was also interesting to imagine how Hawke and Fenris might interact if they met while Fenris was still a slave. I had more thoughts and ideas about it, but I think that fic is where it’s all going to stay.

I taaaaaaag...everybody. plzplzplz rec your wonderful stuff to the world!!