#raven amell

[cairorenaud]

[astrariums]

I was tagged by @sebvael to do this picrew of my canon romances in da, here they are :)

raven amell & leliana

eleanor hawke & isabela

samantha trevelyan & sera

[leadershiplooksgoodonyou]

The nightmares in DAO would be different from each of them and I think personally believe that Vie is the only who can break out of hers just like in game:

Rory Cousland: her perfect dream world is one with her parents still alive and her brother not missing. She’s found playing with her nephew as her family watches on bantering. Kind of like Leliana they beg her not to go but turn on her and attack her immediately afterwards.

Kailan Tabris: It’s not the fact that the wedding happened in her dream but more that she is becoming a vocal leader in the Alienage. Personally I think she’d have to be knocked over the head a good time to break out of it.

Oran and Raven Mahariel: Oran is with Tamlen and Raven talking amongst themselves as the other Dalish interact with others around them. Tamlen has an arm thrown over Raven's shoulders and she’s leaning into him smiling.

Yaviel Amell: Tbqh I think the only thing the demon could come up with IS the grey warden dream in game. There is no other preference. Life with her mother would have been miserable and not lasted as long. The circle was a house but a prison doesn’t a house make. Breaking out of the demons grasp is easy, when you have no dream of your own.

[mumms-the-word]

Love Letters

Alistair and Lucy Amell

These letters were written as a collaboration between @callmethebrightness and myself for the lovely @elspethdekarios's birthday. callmethebrightness wrote the AMAZING letter from Alistair (and I'm obsessed with it, she nailed his voice so well) while I wrote Lucy Amell's reply letter <3 This was so much fun to work on and I am in awe of the talent my friends have in this little corner of tumblr. Thank you @elspethdekarios for trusting us with your OC! I hope you have the happiest of birthdays and that you adore these love letters!

Full text under the cut!

Alistair's Letter by @callmethebrightness

To Warden-Commander Lucy Amell, Hero of Ferelden: Lucy, I love you. I know, bad form to start a letter like that; without even a hello and how are you, but it's literally the only thing that comes to mind when I think of you, so I had to write it down first. I love you. There. Now to the rest. We're making strides looking into the Wardens and Corypheus, this "false Calling" he's managed, though it's not the sort of progress I'm particularly excited about. Every time I think I've figured out the worst of it, more bad news rears its ugly head. I'm a bit less skeptical now that we have some proper allies: not only the Champion of Kirkwall, but Inquisitor Sulah Lavellan, who has all her people putting their heads together to do something about all this. We should consider having an army at our disposal for all our problems, it's really marvelously convenient. Skyhold is an amazing place. Not just the fortress itself, where I've gotten into all sorts of places I shouldn't be ("Oh, I haven't seen this door before" -- surprise, it's a dungeon. No, thank you.) but the people and the activity here. It feels like everyone from the servants to the Inquisitor herself is committed to working together. I've met Fereldans, Orlesians, city elves, surface dwarves, ex-Templars, mages, farmers, nobles, Chantry sisters, Dalish spies, qunari, Tevinters...I could go on. If anything might be able to actually unite all of Thedas, the way the Chantry says it does, it's this thing. It's this place. Maker, I wish you could see it. Every time I see something incredible in my travels, I think that, you know. "Lucy would love this, I wish she could see it." And every time I see something horrible I think, "Maker, I wish Lucy was with me." You get the idea, don't you? You, with me, all the time, no matter what. Sometimes you're all I think about. But you knew that already. We're going to figure this thing out, Lucy. I'm going to make sure the Wardens have nothing more to fear from this Elder One, even if I have to fight him myself. And when you return, whether you've found what you're looking for or not, and I see you again -- I'm going to take you in my arms and never let you go. I mean it. That's not an exaggeration. I never want to be apart from you again, Lucy. Nothing is more important to me than that. What else? I love you. I miss you. Leliana is scarier than ever, but in a good way. I've eaten Orlesian cheese and do not care for it. I miss you. I told the Inquisition's ambassador I would include a small note in their missive to the Hero of Ferelden but my letter is now longer than the official one. I hope those creepy ravens of Leliana's can carry a little extra weight. When you see it, write her back and tell her it's creepy; she won't listen to me. There are less terrible birds, Leliana. Maker, I miss you so much I don't want to stop writing to you. Is that odd? Probably. But you wouldn't say odd. "Alistair, you're too sweet." That's what you always say when I'm being a fool, especially a lovestruck fool. Can't say I don't appreciate it, though. I'll write you again soon. There's talk of the fortress at Adamant, a potential siege. All sorts of military talk I do not care for. Whatever happens, you'll hear from me soon. I never can stand to wait long. Yours forever, Alistair

Lucy Amell's Letter (by me)

To Warden Alistair: [In a smaller script] Leliana, don’t be nosy! You’ve got your own letter! My darling, I love you. I don’t care if it’s bad form, just seeing those words at the start of your letter gave me so much joy and comfort that I couldn’t even read the rest of letter at first. I just wanted to linger there on those words and imagine them in your voice. I love you. I love you. I love you. And, Maker’s breath, I miss you, too. As my journey out west bring me farther and farther away from recognizable society, I find myself traveling alone more often than not. There are good people out here, and plenty of interesting distractions, and more than enough danger to keep my mind occupied, but again and again I wish you were at my side. I know taking down the Elder One is important, but these days I wish I had been more selfish and brought you along. But what’s done is done, and it’s good that you’re there, trying to shake some sense into our fellow Wardens. Someone has to.  What you’ve told me about the situation, and what little Inquisitor Lavellan has included in her letter, troubles me. It sounds like Corypheus is more dangerous than we thought…but if the Inquisition has the army and the resources that you say it does, then I trust them to succeed. And I trust you to survive whatever comes your way. We’ve gotten out of worse scrapes, the two of us, haven’t we? Regardless, I’ve asked Inquisitor Lavellan to look after you. I know, I know, you would say I’m fussing over you too much (but I know you love it). But if she’s your ally, then she’s my ally too, and I feel no shame in asking this much of her. I want you in one piece when we meet again, my love. Be good for me. Don’t wander into dungeons that you can’t wander out of. Avoid the Orlesian cheese if you hate it so much. Remind Leliana to eat every now and again. I know her work keeps her busy, and I can only imagine that the death of the Divine has shaken her more than she’s letting on. And take care of yourself, too.  Oh, and I’m not telling Leliana that her birds are creepy. Just be glad she’s not sending missives via nug, or we’d never get letters to one another. I’ll write soon, my darling. I love you. I miss you. Yours always, Lucy [below, in a messier scrawl, as if added to the end of the page in haste] Alistair, I’m glad I didn’t send this letter right away! I’ve got big news. I think I’ve found something, and if I’m right, it means the end of this journey is in sight. I don’t want to say what it is just yet, but…I have a really good feeling about this. This might be the cure we’ve been hoping for.  But if not, I don’t care. If it’s not this, then I’ve got nothing else to investigate out here. If this isn’t our cure, then the silver lining is this—I’m coming home, and nothing is going to stop me. Meet me in Redcliffe when all of this is said and done. Whether I’ve found the cure for our Callings or not, I will be there, in the place we first started to fall in love, at the start of the next summer. And once we are together again, my love, I swear that nothing will ever separate us again. With all my love, Lucy

[rosella-writes]

Hap fri ro!!!! I'm here to hurt you with some Amell/Morrigan, "i know i can’t protect you from everything, but i wish you’d let me protect you from the things i can control." (preferably said by morrigan???? maybe???) (from the yearning prompt list)

>:D why thank you. For you (and @dadrunkwriting) some Inquisitor Amell shenanigans at the Well of Sorrows, feat. canon dialogue from the @daitranscripts project. 💚

Pairing: Amell x Morrigan Rating: G Words: 1170

~~~

“I did not expect the Well to feel so… hungry.”

Eilonwy Amell dragged her worried gaze away from Morrigan, towards the water that lay still as a mirror in the tiled pool before them. With a soft inhalation and a relaxation of the barriers that remained around her magic, kept taut like a sucked-in belly, she reached her awareness towards the Well. 

The Well reached back. It probed, much like a spirit of Curiosity… or Envy. 

“Seems like that should be a concern, love.”

Morrigan scoffed, but when she glanced back towards the Warden-turned-Inquisitor, the corner of her dark mouth was twisted into a knowing smirk. “Knowledge begets a hunger for more.”

Eilonwy’s heart thumped in her throat — to swallow it down seemed as futile as an attempt to swallow a fluttering bird whole. 

“I am willing to pay the price the Well demands,” Morrigan continued, her voice stilted away from that of a lover and towards that of an advisor once again. Eilonwy was reminded of those days in the hot Fereldan sun with a much younger Witch of the Wilds, one who impatiently taught her how to take shape after shape. “I am also the best suited to use its knowledge in your service.”

Solas’s snort behind Eilonwy was like an agitated druffalo’s. “Or, more likely, to your own ends.”

Morrigan lashed out. “What would you know of my ‘ends,’ elf?”

Birds chirped. The sun beat down. Solas gestured and bubbled over with rage. “You are a glutton drooling at the sight of a feast! You cannot be trusted.”

Morrigan turned away, the gentle arc of her neck twisting like a swan’s as she placed her attention wholly upon Eilonwy again. “Of those present, I alone have the training to make use of this. Let me drink, Inquisitor.”

Her love’s pleading smile was not enough to soften the arrogance and dismissal in Morrigan’s words. Eilonwy gazed into the witch’s golden eyes and remembered how they pleaded a decade ago for her to steal knowledge for her — this time at the price of her mother’s life. She remembered how those eyes had morphed into the eyes of a raven as the witch changed shape and flew away, not to teach but to impress. She remembered how the witch had disappeared after the battle with the archdemon, only to chase mysteries through eluvians — all when Eilonwy had so desperately needed her.

“You alone?” Eilonwy’s voice rasped with pained incredulity. “You’re not the only mage here. I drank from the well in the temple we found in the Brecilian Forest. I too can take the shape of beasts. I carry mysteries taught by demons and spirits alike. I carry the Power of Blood from the Taint itself.”

She drew nearer to Morrigan, nearly enough to kiss her. Their armour rasped where they touched, hip to hip. As if by habit, Morrigan reached up to push a sweaty strand of Eilonwy’s straw-blonde hair behind her ear, and that pained and enraged Eilonwy all the more.

“I hear the Calling,” she whispered, “and not the false one Corypheus planted within the Wardens to drive them mad with fear. You already took a great power into yourself to help me defeat the archdemon. Why should I let you take such a risk yet again?”

Morrigan inhaled sharply through her nose. “I have studied the oldest lore. I have delved into mysteries of which you could only dream! Can you honestly tell me there is anyone better suited?”

“The mysteries I stole for you?” Eilonwy hissed. “Don’t forget, you could not face your mother alone. You sent me in your stead.”

The pain in Morrigan’s eyes was hard to detect, hidden as it was behind the anger that came so naturally to the woman Eilonwy loved. “You lead the Inquisition. This is not a risk you can take. I have the best chance of making use of the Well… for everyone. Let me drink.”

And when Eilonwy hesitated, taking a moment to rake her gaze over Morrigan’s face and memorise every mark, the witch’s steeled expression broke. 

“I know I cannot protect you from everything,” Morrigan whispered, her voice a shell of its usual tone, “but I wish you would let me protect you from the things I can control.”

Eilonwy’s control snapped. She grasped Morrigan’s arms and nearly shook her, nearly shouted in her face — the bird in her throat choked the scream back down. “You’re not concerned about the price? ‘Bound forever to the will of Mythal’? I fought to keep you free!”

Morrigan’s wry smile struck more rage into Eilonwy’s heart. “Bound to the will of a dead god?” she scoffed. “It seems an empty warning. Perhaps a compulsion yet remains. Who can say otherwise? I do not fear it, even so.”

As the two fought, the voices of the Well had grown. Eilonwy could no longer ignore the push and pull of the will that lay within the water — it rivalled even the Calling’s song in her skull. She dropped her hands from Morrigan’s arms and gestured towards the Well. “Looking at it, listening to it… that’s not just knowledge from the ancient elven priests. It’s their will.

Morrigan was silent for a beat, then spat, “Are you certain?”

“That’s what Abelas was telling us. The collective will of the priests puts anyone who drinks under a compulsion, a geas. Can’t you feel it?”

The witch paused, her eyes flicking back and forth between the Well and Eilonwy’s outstretched hand. “That… would match the legends, but it does not tell us what the geas entails. I would still use the Well, but you are right. We must be cautious.”

With that admission, Eilonwy’s heart slowed. The beating wings of the bird stilled. She reached for the woman she loved and laid her hands on her cheeks — Morrigan allowed her to pull her close, until they rested forehead to forehead. 

“My love,” Eilonwy whispered in the space between their mouths. “If anyone is to use the Well, it will be me. I cannot let you willingly entrap yourself, not when I worked so hard to free you.”

She could hear Morrigan’s teeth grind together. She braced herself for the vitriol Morrigan so often spewed instead of admitting sadness or fear. “So you will take what little knowledge you can understand, and let the rest go to waste?”

“And who’s to say it will go to waste?”

Morrigan’s eyes flicked up to meet Eilonwy’s. The anger in them slowly faded away.

“Perhaps,” she finally said, her body wilting into Eilonwy’s outstretched hands, “it is better this way.”

When Eilonwy drew Morrigan into a kiss, she could practically taste the regret on the witch’s lips — regret, sadness, fear, and the one salty tear of a scared woman who was once a scared girl. She kissed the taste deeper into her love’s mouth, then pulled away.

“Do as you will with the Well of Sorrows, my love,” Morrigan breathed against Eilonwy’s lips. “But be careful.”

[lyntergalactic]

9 people you want to know better

i was tagged by the lovely @lasatfat!!

Three ships: hmmm... i'm a huge multishipper so it's hard to pick just three. but, uh. currently on the brain: maze/ordo, jason todd/kara zor-el, warden amell/alistair theirin

First ship: oh lord. if we want to go with ships i didn't know were ships, peppermint patty and marcie from peanuts. for ships i knew were ships, it's either beast boy and raven from the teen titans cartoon or batman and wonder woman from jlu

Last song: technically a dope guzheng cover of hotel california but other than that... brothers on a hotel bed by death cab for cutie no the emo was not actually a phase lol

Last movie: i... have no idea, actually. it's been a while since i've watched a movie

Currently reading: true colors from the republic commando series, for fic purposes

Currently watching: law & order: svu alskdjfasd

Currently eating: honeycomb cereal, part of this complete breakfast!

Currently craving: a nap. yes i know it's not even 10am shush

Tagging: no pressure, buttt... @bisexualdinahlance, @bilbosmom-belladonna, @hawthornsword, @cacodaemonia, @aerjnn...?

[valandhirwriter]

Snippet fresh from last night

Usually I don't share snippets that I just wrote, but as a certain someone is going around whining again, I decided to put out something that is actually fun. @tigerlyla-of-metinna and @laurikarauchscat, this is especially for you, as you were impacted by the latest wave of nastiness. @regis-favorite-raven knows the story idea already, because we talk story ideas every chance we get. This is a story beginning, who knows where it will lead.

Watchers and Hunters

Hello, hello, is there

Someone there who cares

For godforsaken souls

And godforsaken men?

Is there someone there who cares?

(MonoINC: Across the Waves)

Duny stumbled through the forest, hand pressed against his wounded flank, trying to duck behind bushes and boulders. Behind him, he could hear the baying of the hounds and the creaking of branches as the hunters followed him deeper and deeper into the forest. His three months of relative safety, hidden on an almost abandoned estate just south of the Amell Mountains had found their abrupt end through betrayal. Of the very few loyalists remaining another had decided that it was time to buy himself influence by betraying him to the Usurper. Duny had been warned, Ardal aep Dahy had again learned about the threat and warned him, but also letting him know that it was too dangerous to do anything more for him. Early in his flight, he had helped another man, saved him in fact, but had been forced to move on, once he had tended to his wounds. He was on his own, his feet carrying him further north, hopefully away from the hunters, hopefully, he would reach Cintran territory just soon enough for them to pull back or run into a Cintran border patrol. No such luck was forthcoming at the moment. 

The baying came closer and he could hear the sound of hooves, the hunters were catching up to him. Desperately he leaped across a boulder, racing uphill, deeper into the mountain forest. The huge trees offered little cover, and the underbrush wasn’t yet fully green, so he could not hide. The air burned in his lungs, as he reached the hillcrest, and looked panicked for a way down, the hillside was steep, and the woods stretching ahead of him, like an endless sea. Carefully he stepped downwards, maybe he could find an overhang, to hide under. 

The soft wet earth gave way under him and Duny lost his footing skidding downhill, his body thrown against rocks and bushes, unable to stop the tumbled until landing hard inside a mountain stream, the icy water soaking his clothes. The greater shock although was the head of a horse, standing beside the water to quite obviously drink, with a second horse only a few steps away. Beside the horses stood two warriors, one of them seemingly ready to go for his weapon, while the other had his blade already in hand, both of their eyes were trained on Duny. 

His stomach lurched, they had found him. The man with the sword was of medium height, appearing still tall to Duny’s eyes, with short dark hair and a short cropped beard, eyes hard and distrustful. Duny would have been frightened of him already, had his companion not been even scarier. Seven foot tall, broad shoulders, packing heavy muscle, with long slightly unkempt brown hair, and hands like paws. He didn’t need a sword to be scary. In broad daylight, Duny had no hope they could not see what monstrosity had just fallen into the stream, even if they were not with the hunters, who seemed to be on the other side of the hill at the moment. 

Duny scrambled backwards, falling over his own feet and landing in the water again, panic rising inside him. “Make it swift, please,” he whispered. He had been in a torture chamber once, he had no wish to repeat the experience.

Strangely the warriors did not attack him, nor did they show any fear or shock. The tall one looked up, his chin pointing towards the hill. “They after you?” he asked in Northern Common.

Duny had learned the language as a boy, a Prince had to understand the tongue of the neighbouring countries, but he had never had reason to use the language so far. “Tá, ceapaim… yes,” Duny struggled to use the correct tongue. 

The tall warrior suddenly advanced, faster than Duny could see, grabbing his arm, and pulling him out of the water, pulling him to their side of the stream. “Get behind me,” he said, his voice a deep resonant baritone. 

The next moment Duny saw why: hooves thundering came their way, the riders had moved around the hill and came towards them. Their hounds first baying, but then falling back and whining in fear. Surprised Duny watched as the huge hunting hounds slunk back behind the riders, who halted their horses in a few steps distance of the two warriors. He searched their ranks and his heart sank. They were led by Islwyn of Betws-y-Coed, and he hated Emhyr’s family with a vengeance. 

Still Islwyn stopped his horse and raised his to signall the other riders to follow suit. “I have no quarrel with you strangers,” he said in Northern Common, “that one,” he gestured distainfully towards Duny, “is a fugitive from Nilfgaard, with a high price on his head. Let us have him, and the coin will be yours. How do 5000 Florens sound?” 

Duny bit his lip, the sum was large enough to entice much wealthier people, and these two warriors were most likely mercenaries, who wouldn’t say no to easy pay. He peered around, assessing where to run, when the tall one spoke. “Fuck off,” he didn’t waste any more words on the riders.

“Look around you,” Islwyn replied, seemingly unfazed, “we are a dozen men, and you are two. Why seek a fight with us, over a boy you just found?” 

The smaller one gave him a sardonic smile. “Forgive my comrade here, for not being a man of many words,” he said, in almost cultured tones. “What he meant to say is: Go fuck yourselves. There is a cave a mile east of here, that we can recommend for such activities.” 

Duny felt his mouth fall agape, when he heard the rude recommondation spoken in perfectly calm tones. Islwyn’s eyes widened, he obviously was shocked by the rudeness too, but he reigned his temper in, with visible effort. “This is my last offer, give us the boy and live, resist and you will die.”

The tall warrior slowly drew a long dagger, flipping it around in his hand. “Why don’t you come here, and we insert this into your pert little ass, see if you can take it like a man?” he asked, and Duny shuddered, was it possible that the warrior was spoiling for a fight?

Islwyn certainly was, because he spurred his horse forward with a scream, into attack. The dagger left the warrior’s hand, hitting the horses’ neck, making it fall, colliding with a second rider, pulling him down, a third horse falling over the corpses. The tall warrior sprinted towards them, drawing his blade, Islwyn never came back to his feet, he died from an almost casual hit to the neck, a second rider followed. The tall warrior moved with a speed and strength that seemed impossible, he whirled between his attackers, weeding them out faster than Duny could count. One, another, a third… 

It was over before Duny could truly process all that had happened. The last hunter was brought to his knees and beheaded with one clean strike. The tall warrior stood, his breath even, he wasn’t even panting and his eyes went to his comrade. “I know, you are still hibernating, Ivo, but why don’t you wake up and give me a hand here?” he asked. 

The smaller man - Ivo - barked a laugh. “You were having fun, Axios, and you are always itchy after a winter. And what do we want with those idiots? They were crow bait now.”

Axios had sheathed his sword and pulled Islwyn’s corpse from under the horse, swiftly searching him. “Mighty fine, cowbait, there’ll be coin, clothes, and boots, at the very least. Look at the mite over there, does he look well geared to you?” he asked. 

Duny felt the heat rise in his cheeks, about the offhand comment. “I am not a mite,” he said, pride refusing to swallow mockery. He might be a cursed abomination, but he would not be belittled. 

“No, you are a cute little hedgehog,” Axios replied, “and you won’t get far in those rags you are wearing,” 

Instinctively Duny touched his chest, the clothes he wore, were still the ones, he had worn three months ago, when he escaped. They were his last link to who he had been, to all that had been washed away in blood. He wanted to dispute the words, but instead he sneezed loudly, as his body began to register the icy wet clothes. 

“C’me here,” Axios got up, waving Duny close, as he slid his own cloak, a thick monstrosity made of fur, from his shoulders and wrapped it around Duny. “There, that’ll keep you from freezing, until we have you at a fire. Now Ivo - move it, or I will leave you in some heap of leaves to sleep for another month.”

The two warriors swiftly searched the corpses and saddlebags, collecting gold, a few other items, weapons, clothes, a saddle-roll, working were swiftly, they soon had stashed the haul on one of the horses. “Come,” Axios gently nudged Duny to approach one of the horses, it was a huge hairy animal, with a shaggy mane, shaggy tail and shaggy fur. It huffed, when he came close. 

“Horses don’t like me,” Duny said, knowing how this would go. He had tried to steal a horse, twice, and learned that tame animals disliked him with a passion. 

“He knows better,” Axios replied. “Get on the horse, let’s be gone when they friends show up, and they are only a mile out.” 

Duny mounted the huge animal, and Axios followed suit, mounting behind Duny. One arm wrapped around Duny, securing him, while the other hand took the rains, before he clucked his tongue, and the horse began to walk. Soon both horses were trotting steadily along a winding paths deeper into the mountains, miles and miles falling behind them, as they moved further and further away from where they had found Duny. 

Duny had closed his eyes, he was still shivering, but the warm cloak helped a lot, as did the warm arm, securing him. He wanted to sleep, let his exhaustion claim him, but he couldn’t. Since his escaped he could count the moments when someone had honestly helped him on one hand. And that was counting the man who had given his life to allow Duny to escape at all. Those others who had helped him, all had known who he was and hoped for some kind of reward or leverage later. The two warriors, Ivo and Axios, made no sense in that regard. 

“Only Nilfgaard after you, or the bitch in Cintra too?” Axios asked after a while. 

“Nilfgaard,” Duny replied, his mind racing. “I don’t… I am not sure whether Cintra would count too. I do not know what happened recently, whether they ventured forth with the trade agreement, and what conditions they added. There might be a bounty in Cintra too, depending on that.” 

Ivo made a face. “Tell me again, Axios, why we had to rescue this little chatterbox?” he asked with growl, before looking a Duny. “A simple: I don’t know, would suffice.”

“But that’s incorrect,” Duny found himself saying. “There are factors that weight both ways, after the Uprising. Involving Cintra into the hunt for survivors, would yield a valuable ally in the North, but also expose the names of Nilfgaards enemy’s to the Queen of Cintra, which in turn could be used against Nilfgaard. Not sharing that information on the other hand, would guard Nilfgaard’s secrets but would almost certainly open chances for people to escape north.” 

“Oh… shut up, will you?” Ivo grumbled, and Axios gently squeezed Duny’s arm with an amused chuckle and Duny fell silent.

They rode for hours, until the sun began to set in the west and the two horses stopped near a small mountain pond. Looking around Duny wondered how far from people they were, it felt like they were deep in the woods. In spite of still feeling cold he began to make himself useful around camp, all too aware that he was dependent on the two warrior’s good graces. When he returned from refilling all waterskins at the stream feeding the pond, a fire was merrily burning, and Ivo was busy throwing something into the small kettle hanging above. 

Axios waved Duny closer. “Let’s get you into some decent things, these mountains aren’t as warm as the plains down there,” he said, unrolling the things he had taken from the dead men, or extricated from their saddlebags. 

Duny was hesitant to get rid off his damaged clothing, a part of him wanted to hang on to it, to somehow keep that last connection to his home in existence, but he knew it was useless. He needed warmer clothes, and sturdier ones as well. He nodded slowly, and took the things Axios handed him. The black tunic must have belonged to the elf among the hunters, because it fit Duny’s fine-bonded frame well enough, the breeches were a tad too long, but otherwise serviceable and the boots Axios handed him, surprisingly worked too. 

A sudden wave of pain hit Duny, and he crashed to his knees, as he felt his body convulse and his human form assess itself, as the night came. He shuddered, trying to not make a noise. Huge hands clasped his shoulders, steadying him. “Breathe,” he heard Axios say. “In… out… the pain is just the wind, brushing past you…”

Duny panted, as the pain slowly abated and his human form fully emerged. He looked up, surprised to see Axios face free of disgust or revulsion. Why did he not react to Duny’s monstrous existence. In the semidark warm hazel eyes shimmered softly. The breath fled from Duny’s lungs when he realised what he had not seen before. “You are a vatt’ghren, a Witcher,” he said softly. 

“And the little Nilfgaardian get it,” Ivo replied wryly, while stirring the cauldron. “Name’s Ivo of Belhaven, School of the Bear.” 

“My name is Axios,” the taller one said, “also school of the bear. And what might your name be?” 

For a moment Duny was tempted to say the truth, to just admit who he was and be done with all of it. He was dead anyway, crow-bait as Axios had called the hunters earlier on. But no, he wouldn’t give himself away. “Duny,” he replied. It was a name from a story he had loved, and that he had chosen, because it made him feel somehow a little better.

“Duny,” Axios replied, “why don’t we go over, eat a bite, and you can tell us about your curse, or spell gone wrong, if you like.” 

Slowly Duny followed him to the fire, accepting a jar of soup from Ivo. The hot liquid felt good and only now he realised how hungry he had been. “I’d… I’d rather not talk about it,” he said softly, after a while. “You’ve seen what it does. I am human at night, and a monster by day. I am grateful you helped me, but… there’s nothing you can do.” 

He was grateful neither Witcher pressed him for answers. Instead they left him to eat in peace, Ivo handing him another cup of soup after a little bit, and with the food in his belly, Duny began to feel tired. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep by the fire, warmly snuggled under Axios’ fur cloak. 

[omg-snakes]

Is it weird that I hope the extra timy baby grows like Clifford? (Not THAT big. But, yeah)

It'd be weird if you didn't hope that, honestly.

If anybody remembers Scout, the extra itty Amel babe who was a ravenous devourer of worlds, outpaced her siblings in growth, and ended up going off to a great home, that's pretty much the ideal teeny-wee scenario.

[mooreaux]

Out of curiosity, what’s your cannon play through for dragon age?

Oof which one???

But if u mean all three I will try to be v brief.

Origins: either Tyne Surana as Alistair's lover and court mage when he's king. Or Luka Amell as warden commander bossing around everybody in Amaranthine whilst writing smutty letters to Zev from across the Waking sea.

Da2: Mary hawke is my default despite NEVER drawing her lol. She's in luv w Varric and a mage so she got the heck outta Kirkwall as fast as she could w templar carver. Still has excellent relationships w all her friends tho because she's blue/purple hawke combo and a chronic people pleaser w terrible depression in secret.

Inquisition: Sasha Lavellan is my default inquis since I moved Sunny off to dnd. She's a solas mancer unfortunately lol. But defo has a thing with bull once he leaves. Nothin ever comes of it tho because she is absolutely GONE on egg wolf. She's v soft and sad and caring and wishes she coulda seen him for what he was sooner.

All my da charas have animal companions cuz Im Like That. Tyne has a lil kitten that hides in her hood. Luka has his giant Mabari foot warmer. Mary has a raven. And Sasha has a red hart who acts like a guard dog.

Thank u for the ask!!! Luv my kids..

[scriptores]

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 : asteria amell , dragon age: origins

overview: in the world of thedas, the darkspawn are orc-like creatures who dwell in an underground network of tunnels known as the deep roads. every few centuries, they rise to the surface in a hive-mind attack led by an archdemon. these apocalyptic scourges are known as the blight. out of the darkspawn's tainted essence, enhanced warriors known as the grey wardens were created to kill the archdemon and put a stop to the blight no matter the cost. it has been over 400 years since the last blight, but the fifth blight finally takes root in the country of ferelden. asteria is a newly initiated mage who was conscripted into the order at the eve of the first battle against the blight. political treachery lost them the battle and killed the king of ferelden, as well as nearly all the grey wardens. only asteria and alistair survived. with ferelden's borders closed and political ambitions still taking precedence, these two rookies and their motley crew of unlikely companions are thedas' last hope to stop the blight before it spreads beyond control.

CANON VERSES.

✧ origins : the events of the first game unfold and ultimately end with asteria being the warden who kills the archdemon. she survives the ordeal albeit changed, having incidentally absorbed the archdemon's soul unto her own, a fact that is evident to anyone who sees her violet eyes (as further explained here). [ alt. companion verse ] asteria can be picked up (or snuck out) during the circle tower crisis and join the warden's party. afterwards, she'd either live as an apostate mage or request to join the wardens as a new recruit during awakening. [ full bio ]

✧ awakening / da: 2 : asteria becomes the new warden commander of ferelden tasked with rebuilding the order. however, tensions are high as her survival and rumors of her absorbing the archdemon's soul brew resentment among the ranks. after she vanquishes the darkspawn threat in amaranthine, tensions begin to smooth over. she establishes the silver order and comes the new arlessa of amaranthine (although actively seeking a means to separate the two roles). when the mage-templar war starts, asteria receives an influx of mage and templar refugees alike seeking to join the order. she sets out looking for a cure for the taint so that those who chose this path in desperation could someday reverse it. ( a good crossover verse, since asta's search can take her to all sorts of places even outside of thedas )

✧ inquisition : my default is that asteria gave up her search for the cure and went straight to skyhold upon learning of the breach from a wisp in the fade. this happens sometime after warden commander clarel and the wardens of orlais are killed. after adamant, she becomes the temporary warden commander for the surviving orlesians and leads them in tandem with ferelden's warden forces against corypheus, should the inquisitor accept their aid.

AU VERSES.

✧ greek myth : asteria is the titan goddess of fallen stars and nocturnal oracles. she was a commander leading her father's northern celestial forces during the titanomachy, but was spared from being locked away in tartarus by her daughter, hekate's appeal. after being pursued by zeus, asteria fled to the underworld, and has been nyx's ward ever since. [ full bio ]

✧ dnd / critical role : asteria is the matron of ravens who presides over fate, winter, memories, and death. she was a mortal mage during the age of arcana, but ascended into her position after killing the previous death god. her name and her story has been wiped from historical memory. any remaining legends about her are varied and conflicting, but the one thing that is certain is that she has a disdain for orcus, the demon prince of undeath (or koschei if we decide to integrate his au here too). she actively seeks champions to defeat his undead forces and cult followers.

✧ fae verse : asteria is a faerie from the unseelie court and/or winter court. lots of flexibility here, but my default is affiliated with maeinade's unseelie queen, whom asteria assisted in usurping the previous monarch. she also has a proclivity for sorcery outside of faerie magic that she doesn't frequently employ in fear that it could raise suspicions that she isn't fully fae. [alt. acotar verse] also flexible. default is that asteria is illyrian, secretly a witch, and was one of the girls who joined the ranks in book 3. she fights in the battle against hybern, and uses her magic to save some but unfortunately not all of the illyrians who were caught in the cauldron blast.

DOSSIER

name. asteria amell diminutives. asta pronouns. she/her titles. champion of redcliffe, hero of ferelden, warden-commander of ferelden, arlessa of amaranthine (verse dependent) age. 19 (during origins), 31 (during da:i) origin. free marcher (w/avvar roots), identifies as ferelden etymology. human mage, spirit medium (spirit of command incarnate)* sexuality. bisexual alignment. chaotic good / neutral

relations. revka amell ( mother, presumed dead ), aerick ( biological father, presumed dead ), ethan amell ( father, deceased ), leticia amell ( half-sister, deceased ), diana amell ( half-sister, deceased ), apollonius amell ( half-brother, deceased ), hawke (cousin, alive)

height. 5'7" build. athletic & mesomorph hair. black & smooth as a river stone, usually kept back in a long braid. eyes. originally blue; now an unnatural violet scars. multiple faint scars, but the most prominent one is from the arrow she took at the tower of ishal. it sits right on her left shoulder, just below her collarbone, about the size of a coin and shaped like a gnarled silver star. there's an identical one on her left shoulder blade where the arrow pierced through. scents. rosemary, deathroot blossoms, & bergamot. 

abilities / skillset .

entropy & necromancy specialization.  the school of entropy deals with spells that attack the life force of an enemy and includes: creating death clouds to drain life energy (which can be absorbed to heal herself & companions), drawing residual spirit energy from the surrounding dead to replenish mana, paralyzing, disorienting, spirit bombing etc. necromancy allows her to call on and bind spirits from the fade to dead corpses and command them to attack on her behalf.

spirit medium . not a specialization that can be learned, but one she was born with. mages can interact with spirits and demons in the fade in their dreams, by physically summoning them with spells, or through their possessed vehicles, but spirit mediums are mages who have one foot in each of the two worlds. they can see through the veil and communicate with the beings on the other side at any given moment. 

grey warden abilities . wardens undergo a ritual (the joining) where they infuse darkspawn blood (the taint) with their own. this grants them: enhanced strength, durability, immunity to blighted illness, ability to sense when darkspawn are near, a connection to the darkspawn hivemind controlled by archdemons during a blight. typically, the archdemon can be seen & heard through dreams

archdemon soul absorption . after absorbing the archdemon's soul in the final boss battle, asteria essentially became an archmage, with an increased capacity for mana storage. she refuses to tap into that extra powerbank for a variety of reasons

restrictions .

other schools of magic . asteria was one of the top students of her class in the circle, and had to learn all the schools of magic at some capacity, but in the years since she's become a warden, she's been out of practice, and relies almost exclusively on entropy & necromancy if not her weapons.

high risk of possession. as a spirit medium, she can see through the veil in the waking word, but likewise those entities can see her. demons are often drawn to mediums like magnets and chisel away at their peace until their will is weak enough for a possession.

the calling . while the joining grants wardens increased abilities, it does not come without consequence. the taint is a poison which corrupts and overtime her mind will become more darkspawn than warden. this process is known as the calling. eventually through delusions it draws a warden to the deeproads where they are sure to meet their death or worse. it usually takes up to 30 years after a joining to hear the calling, but wardens, like asteria, who are active during a blight have this process accelerated, bringing it closer to 10 years.

archdemon soul absorption: although asteria has an increased mana powerbank to draw from, she still has a human body and to tap into that powerbank will take a massive toll on her physically. to draw on it completely might actually kill her.

themes. battle cry, imagine dragons / ezio's family, assassin's creed / to the stars, tyler bates / female robbery, the neighbourhood

[milesmentis]

Whichever oc is eating your brain the mostest:

Name one thing their parents taught them.

What recurring dreams do they have?

Thank you for asking and waiting so patiently for me to open my inbox again. Although I don't talk about her much at all, I've been thinking again about Solona Amell and since I never include her on OC lists for these it only seems fair. From this list here:

13) Name one thing their parents taught them.

Poise is everything. The way you are perceived by others dictates your own treatment so you must always present yourself to your best advantage. Never give anything away - not your respect, not your disdain, certainly never your opinion - and you will never find yourself in another's debt.

29) What recurring dreams do they have?

No surprise, but Solona is frequently beset by demons. She is like catnip to them: proud, ravenous, bitter, jealous ... and so very afraid. She frequently has lucid dreams which often (though not always) have a demon at the center of them. Most of them revolve around her aspirations: becoming Grand Enchanter and then breaking from the Chantry is a big one. And then of course, there are the Archdemon nightmares. But of her normal dreams, the most common one is "waking up" in a field of wild flowers. Sometimes she's alone, sometimes she's lying next to Heulwen or her mother. That one becomes less common during/after the Blight, but when it does come back the person she's lying next to is always Alistair (or one time that woke her in a cold sweat - Jowan).

[littledead-ridinghood]

So glad to meet another person who dislikes both the DCEU and CW! They really ruined my favorite heroes, Raven and Barry Allen 😔

so I already don't watch a lot of TV and movies because I think it's boring (I say like I don't love video essays....) but live-action superhero media is even harder for me to get into because it's so uncanny. Like why are their domino masks 3D? Horrifying. (DC animated stuff is usually pretty chill and great though)

Anyway: My biggest qualms will always be Arrow. What do you mean that's Oliver Jonas Queen? I always make myself feel better with that rumor that the showrunners wanted to make a Batman show but couldn't get the rights so they projected Batman onto Ollie. Does it help that that's Green Arrow's biggest exposure? Oh Hell No. But at least I can look at the show and go "Wow, Bruce Wayne Sucks Ass" Is that rumor true? I don't care because it's the only thing keeping me sane and I'm too afraid to lose that comfort. Also, Ollie would be horrified by what Stephen Amell said about the writer & actor strikes as well as unions. Hashtag not my GA

I may force myself to watch Titans one day, if only the first two seasons for that sweet, sweet Jason angst and to revel in the unfairness of it all. (Side note: oh my god, Anna Diop and Curran Walters got way too much hate for their roles. Jesus Christ, all the racism towards Anna and all the body shaming towards Curran that I saw as well as the people faking tweets and whatever to get him canceled...just the harassment towards the actors was and still is vile)

I never watched it, but I know Supergirl was also super reductive to Kara's character. Apparently, they strip her of her anger and other core character traits and tried to make her into Clark instead. It's so sad.

Anyway, live-action comic media is not my friend.

[wyvernscales]

Alaric Amell always had a fondness for the messenger birds in Kinloch Hold. Fascinated at the birds that could be sent one hundred miles away and still flit home on iridescent wings. Through the sun and snow, rain and breeze. They would always find their way back home.

In his early days at the Circle--when he still cried in the arms of the Senior Enchanters for the embrace of his mother--his nightly journeys to the Fade were marked by the fantasy of being rescued from his stone tower. He would leap upon on the warm and soft back of a pigeon every evening. Together they would soar over the lake and the docks and the Waking Sea all the way back home to Kirkwall.

After his Harrowing, he was made apprentice to the culverhouse that maintained the wellbeing of the birds. He was an old, old man with a spine that curled in on itself and a tangled grey beard. Without a word, the man turned to lead Alaric to the Templar Quarters.

It was a mystery how the old culverhouse regularly climbed up the deep steps and walked across the uneven cobblestones to the dovecote. The tick of an old man's mahogany staff and the squeal of Templar armor were all that accompanied their journey until a door to the balcony was opened and the whip of the wind and the coos of doves joined.

The sun that shone across Lake Calenhad blinded him. Beyond squinted eyes, he could just make out the noble Frostback Mountains to his left and the fields of the Bannorn to his right. He felt a light breeze--not just a cool draft--wave through the fabric of his robes. He stopped for just a moment, taking in the warmth of the sun. A Templar pushed him over to the culverhouse, who never stopped for Alaric. They continued towards a small turret on the balcony with rows of nesting holes going through the walls.

On the inside, pigeons from Denerim, Gwaren, Redcliffe, and Amaranthine were hung up in iron cages affixed to the walls. They cooed at the birds on the other side of the round room who only preened themselves in their nests. There, they waited until a message needed to be sent; for only then were they released.

High above the ground, he learned how to take care of the birds. When his mentor returned to the Maker's side, it became his responsibility. The dovecote became his sanctuary, the first time he was left alone with his thoughts since his imprisonment when he was first brought to the Circle.

In truth, he enjoyed his time at the dovecote, meandering along to feel the sunrise upon his face. He enjoyed the modicum of freedom it offered him. He enjoyed having the power to slip in letters of his own after the Templars had checked them over. He enjoyed knowing who everyone in the tower was communicating with.

Everyone desires control, he mused. And when one has control ripped away from them, one must take it from something else in equivalent exchange. He liked keeping the birds captive. He liked sending them away from their nest. He liked having the power to cage another being as he was caged. These symbols of peace and revered messengers. Choking on their olive branches.

Character Notes: First off, this guy's a bit of a freak, and enduring the Blight doesn't help. He only gets worse from here, and there's a reason I call this my "Evil Worldstate". He's weird about the birds. Being their caretaker, he also becomes an expert on many bestiary tomes and has requested leave of the Circle to study them. He's been denied every time.

There's also some canon divergence in the prologue. I see it as a timeskip between the Harrowing and Jowan. There's probably a few years between both events. Jowan isn't his childhood friend, but one of his apprentices in the animal sciences.

Research Notes: Ravens have never been used for sending messages. The depiction of ravens/crows as messengers is a mythological one. Messenger birds are pigeons and some doves because they have great homing abilities. Several theories have been introduced for how they manage to get home, from being able to detect the magnetic field, to being able to identify landmarks, but we really don't know.

In a similar vein, the birds weren't able to fly out to different locations with letters. They’re smart, but still just birds. Someone would take a caged bird to different location, and when a message needed to be sent, it would fly back home with a letter. That's why they're called homing pigeons.

Pigeons within Thedas would likely be housed in a dovecote or pigeon tower. Some were actual towers, and some were carved into a caves. Dovecotes nowadays often look like large birdhouses with many holes for different pairs.

"Culverhouse" is a surname that means "a person who tends to or lives near a dovecote," so that's just the title I'm going with.

[leadershiplooksgoodonyou]

RULES: post a 24-hour poll containing two truths and one lie about your oc. have your followers try to guess which is the lie.

Was tagged by: @thedascharlatan (thank you I had to think hard for this)

Tagging: @starrysketches @sleepiestmothman @theredtrails and anyone else willing!

[silver-horse]

OC Picrews!

I was tagged by @grandmaswormsoup​

Images created with Picrew’s “TOON ME!

Okay, so in my main playthroughs I usually create characters who look like me, that’s a bit boring, but I had fun with this so I made slightly different versions to fit each character.

Still, I only made the Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls main characters because the hair and clothes I picked already started to get repetitive. Anyway here they are...

Dragon Age Origins - Warden Amell all dressed up and celebrating after the battle of Denerim, with a local cat because of course she likes cats

Dragon Age 2 - Marian Hawke wearing purple and chilling at home with an orange cat this time (might be Ser Pounce-a-lot...)

Dragon Age Inquisition - Inquisitor Lavellan wearing the ardent blossom. She is befriending one of the ravens from Skyhold’s rookery (Baron Plucky, is that you?)

TES Skyrim - The Last Dragonborn, Imperial Archmage and sneaky archer. Likes to run around in snowy Skyrim wearing nothing but her underwear for the Lols

TES Oblivion - The Hero of Kvatch, Imperial Mage who only wishes she could be good at archery. Alas, too clumsy...

TES Online - The Vestige, Altmer Sorcerer with Caramel ,the abecean ratter cat who is her actual constant companion in the game

Bonus: A potion I created with this potion craft picrew

[the-darkness-does-not-bargain]

(pls tell me if this gets annoying)

i played origins last but i love the variety of the spells. i mean, yes, it was A Lot to deal with but once you got your combos down it was like those streetfighter games where you just line up your shots like a sniper & destroy every encounter. but yes Hasted Bea would be !!! 

oh yeah. i mean i was toying with the idea of Ava being tranquil & the Breach curing her but your idea is so much better imo so instead healing it = very cool. & yeah maybe when Lilith finds out it’s kind of her Big Trust Moment with Ava & Ava immediately goes a bit nova over the feeling she gets - from Hope - that she could do something like that.

& like, tranquility is so messed up & she definitely had loads of her friends taken by the Templars & made tranquil because Ava would make friends with the most downtrodden/ disobedient kids in her Circle for sure. & like, it’s a very OCS thing, right? watching everyone you love get taken from you, & Ava constantly getting left behind because she’s a spirit healer which makes her juuuuust barely too valuable to be casually made tranquil, hence the fact that she’s killed once the Circle falls. (oh no Diego?? i think there ARE some standards in the circles of not making anyone tranquil before they are a certain age, but maybe he’s not a very strong mage and it would have been almost guaranteed that he’d be made tranquil. kinda like how frances would have killed Diego too). i just... I love the surana/amell origin & i really love the idea of Ava being a circle mage and now being able to reverse tranquility. hell yeah!

coooould Dorian just be an advisor? i mean, i think Ava would rarely bring Solas with her, so in a similar vein? i think Ava would like half the time want to hit Dorian over the head with her staff but he’d introduce her to good wines and food & take her seriously when she wants to talk shop so she’d be like …. alright.

& yeah, Michael as Felix but idk if the blight sickness is a thing with him? or Mary could be like…. yeah i have a solution for that but ur not gonna like it (cue her sending a raven to Shan like ‘ayyy is anyone on this continent in possession of archdemon blood so we can make warden-potion?’) & yeah Bea would Heavily disapprove of all things Tevinter but again they would have things in common & Dorian is pretty responsive to ppl calling him out on things. (some poor writing in-game aside) Bea would be like 'reluctantly.... perhaps i can fix him?' & Ava would be like 'oh when he starts to sound too Tevinter i just mess up his hair. it works really well!'

it would definitely make the Hinterlands shorter if they were, y’know, delegating lol. & then you get all the party dynamics and also the smaller group dynamics when they split up. (oh, the Exalted Plains mission. what’s it called? All New, Faded for Her. Ava would be genuinely devastated - as a spirit healer she’d understand exactly what was done to the spirit & would be so angry & probably Bea would need to calm her down to stop her from drop-kicking the mages responsible through a wall - she’d never kill them but ‘i could be okay with seriously injured, Bea. i could.’ 

AW YIS Josie & MS!! fjghdkskhgd yes MS getting Leliana’s out & out mischeivous side, mediated through Josie. oh, and would we have MS follow Leliana’s arc of either being ‘hardened’ or ‘softened’ based on the decisions in her personal quest? bc i feel like s2 MS is soft Leliana whereas s1 MS is very post-Justinia Leliana.

i agree i don’t think Ava would use the Well of Sorrows - being beholden to a sketchy elven god? she is too atheist for that shit, & besides the kick that Ava would get out of Morrigan realising who Mythal is and the ‘lmao so now u have to do whatever ur mom says?’ is too good to pass up. :’D and i think ava is already thinking that she has enough things contending for possession of her body - what with the anchor/ Hope/ the Inquisition, & previously templars. she’s finally *somewhat* free and she’s not about to give an inch of it away. 

hmmm. in HLtA no Bea yes for angst reasons, watching her fall, not necessarily seeing her tear open the Fade. Bea bloodying her fingers and draining her magic lifting the rubble, sifting through for their bodies, finding nothing. :((((

Ava has to be there, naturally. I think Lilith (fuck, could they… like… leave Lilith in the Fade? to fight the nightmare/ do the Stroud thing? and that’s yk the whole getting killed by the Tarask and coming back?? and she does! step out of the Fade, but she’s different? she can’t be possessed because Seeker, but there are other Fade shenanigans that might be possible, and imo bonding with a spirit is not the same as ‘being possessed’. just a thought but like... seeker Lilith who Came Back Wrong but also has this different view of the Fade and of mages and possession and everything her order has scaremongered about for years... hmmm)

so, if that, then Lilith for sure in HLtA. and then since lil is warrior we could have mary or cam (i like mary, because parallels to lilith’s ‘death’ + her worst fears being HoF Shannon going to her Calling in the Deep Roads is very drama). after that i’m not sure. Solas is always a funny pick because he acts like he’s at the beach & it’s very side-eyes of him to be so at home in the Fade. plus he knows things, but also Dorian because Ava needs someone to joke with or she’ll freak in there (i imagine coming from Aeonar she has some potent nightmare material). 

oh shit! Hope in the Fade. remember Anders and Justice? it was just Justice when they went into the Fade! I wonder if that is optional, though i would think… not, but again it’s kind of different because Ava is not dreaming, per say, she’s physically in the fade in her physical body, so i don’t think abomination rules work quite the same, but I think Hope would be more present, & she should glow. as a treat. 

do you think that Ava would let the Wardens stay after HLtA? i get the feeling that she would, mainly because imo sending them away is kind of … not the best option. better to keep an eye on them if they’re sketchy, or have their aid if they are not.

and the Winter Palace! who is she siding with? i can see her being ‘yuck Gaspard’ but ALSO ‘yuck Celene’ once she realises that she burned down a whole alienage when the Halamshiral elves tried to campaign for rights/ ‘rebel’.

so i could see her giving a big middle-finger to Orlais and appointing Briala, or making Gaspard/Celene puppets of Briala. (have you read The Masked Empire? it’s like, the one Dragon Age novel i will heartily recommend. also the Cole one (called Asunder i think) because Cole my bby my precious and also Aeonar! anyway in TME Celene and Briala are SOOO fucked up and it’s honestly kind of amazing).

but yeah, Ava being very ‘then perish’ at Halamshiral & taking special pleasure in actually fucking dazzling the court, much to Bea’s astonishment. 100% court-approval Ava Silva. she totally duels someone. : D

If Ava learns how to reverse Tranquility, then she could work with Lilith to reform the Seekers with the added function of acting like an appeals court, where they could determine if the Rite was used appropriately and reverse it if not. They could also act as a kind of rehabilitation service for newly un-Tranquil to help them adjust without causing problems (I'm picturing a mind-body wellness retreat on steroids). Mages would be allowed to join the Seekers as they once tried to in Ameridan's day. They wouldn't have Seeker powers necessarily but they would balance the overwhelming Templar-ness of the organization and act as investigators and judges. This would do so much for Circle reform as well.

Dorian and Solas are probably equal in how often they're called on for missions. Ava respects their insights and maybe takes them on short jaunts or specific missions, but long journeys might just create unneeded friction. Maybe Dorian goes somewhat more frequently so his Thing with Bull can develop while the party watches in embarrassment. And yes, when he starts rambling on about all the ways Tevinter is better than the South, Ava steals his jewel-encrusted mustache comb.

Does Lilith get stuck in the Fade??? Maybe... If she does, then maybe she meets a Spirit of Faith, or even the Faith that made her a Seeker in the first place, and bonds or otherwise interacts with it to become, like the most Seeker-y Seeker to ever Seeker (which is literally what she's always wanted given to her in the most Traumatic way possible, poetry in motion). She reinforces reality so hard she gets punted straight out of the Fade (You KICK Lilith? You kick her body like the football?!) Consequently, this means she can never physically go back to the Fade again, so no Trespasser galivanting for her, and she might even become like the Dwarves, unable to dream or connect to the Fade in any way (big implications there).

Ava definitely glows in the Fade, and everyone is like, "Don't you have a dimmer switch on that thing? You're alerting the demons." She would let the Wardens stay too (exiling them is just a silly decision, don't fuxking alienate the only people who can save Thedas from the Blights, okay? YOU STILL HAVE TWO ARCHDEMONS LEFT!)

I don't think Ava would just let Celene die, but she wouldn't cry about it either. If it happens, then she uses the blackmail on Gaspard to give Briala the true power over the Empire.

The ways you win approval in Halamshiral are so hilariously arbitrary that yes, Ava, with her natural charm, is surprisingly proficient. The only time things might get tricky is if Bea's parents are there, because hoo boy. But then! Vivienne (who is there of course because what's the point otherwise) swoops in before Ava can start throwing hands and so tactfully humiliates them that it's an instant +20 Court Approval and they immediately leave. Afterwards, Ava will thank Viv sincerely with a "you were pretty cool back there" and Viv will preen and act smug like "Of course, my dear, hohoho!" But she is genuinely pleased to help Bea and know that her efforts have been appreciated.

Actually, a note on Viv. Getting possessed is one of Viv's greatest fears, and so Ava's whole deal is like a full existential crisis for her. If Viv goes to the Fade in the HLtA, maybe it helps her get over that fear a little. One because, hey, she just fought her way through the freaking Fade and didn't get possessed despite being surrounded by demons. And Two, she sees Ava and Hope together in a tangible way and realizes that they have a genuine, positive bond, so maybe, just maybe, Viv doesn't need to be scared of every spirit that crosses her path for fear of it trying to control her. I love Viv so much, she's so nuanced, she has The Range.