#yes both are about solas apparently who am I kidding

[rosella-writes]

OCs as Siken Poems

Saw this one going around and liked it. 🥰 Tagging it forward to @breninarthur @rakshadow @plisuu @dreadfutures @cleverblackcat @mxkelsifer and anyone who likes poetry that I’ve missed.

Virelan Lavellan: Saying Your Names

your breath on my neck like a music that holds / my hands down, kisses as they burn their way / along my spine — or rain, our bodies wet, / clothes clinging arm to elbow, clothes clinging / nipple to groin — I’ll be right here. I’m waiting.

Tilda Cadash: Straw House Straw Dog

I don’t really blame you for being dead but you can't have your sweater back.

[xihaveaplanxx]

The Storm (Pt 2 of 2)

“Dutch, do you want to go to Mcdonalds with us?” Hosea asked his friend. He and Arthur were going to stop by and get a few burgers and fries and a McFlurry since it’s what Reverend Swanson wanted. He was going to come in later as he was busy at the church. Overly so. It was almost time for the annual Christmas play and he and Sebastian Vael were losing their minds trying to get the kids prepared and what not. Rehearsals were almost getting violent apparently. “Dutch?” Hosea poked at him and Dutch just looked at him before shaking his head no and taking his papers into his room, slamming the door. “It’s been a few months. It’s getting scary now. What? Is he just not going to talk anymore ever again?”

“He talks at work, I’m sure.”

“No he doesn’t. He writes everything down and hands it out to everyone. She really messed him up. Jenny’s friend really messed him up, badly.”

“I haven’t even seen Dreama in some time.”

“I think Jenny mentioned she was taken before the mage council.”

“She was taken before the council?”

“Yes. Apparently she did something to that Burger King manager and she is in trouble. It was only a matter of time. I always told Erandur since she was young, to instill values in her. Not give in to all she wanted. To actually tell her no and look at how she is. I mean I adore the girl, I do but she’s not all there. Clearly. I don’t wanna be the one to say it but Anders made it worse. She’s only acting out because she can’t have him, because she can’t have something she wants. A tantrum that could end in deaths if she’s not stopped.”

“You really think it’s so bad, Hosea?”

“Look at Dutch, Arthur. It really is that bad.”

At Erandur’s house/Teldryn’s pov

“Dreama, you can’t stay locked away forever.”

“Sure I can. I have no interest in leaving this room, not ever. You and Dad told Solas about what I did to Cullen as if he fucking matters. Now I have to report to fucking Solas at least once a week and he is measuring my magical reserves to make sure I’m not over using it.  I am so fucking angry. If you just let me fucking be with Anders this wouldn’t happen but no, you guys hate him and in favor of fucking Dutch. I heard you both saying you kind of like him. He’s a nobody! He’s worthless. I hate everything!”

“You know for 30, you are mighty dramatic. Quite the child.” I sighed. “I always told Erandur to be careful with how he raised you and I see his willingness to not accept sometimes you can get off the rails is affecting you even now.  You know Dutch really likes you or likes you. He doesn’t even talk anymore because you hurt him so bad but I know you don’t care. You are too immature to care and far too deep inside of your mind over Anders to care for who you hurt.”

“Fuck off.”

“Child.” I shook my head. “Being this way won’t get Anders out of jail. He’s being watched by strong mages now. They won’t let him out. It must hurt you to know he is going to be locked away forever but if you want to waste your life hanging up on him, you go right ahead and keep hurting people who wanna be there for you. Won’t be long before you push away John or Dorian or even Jenny. You at least should apologize to Dutch for hurting him.”

“He can fuck off.”

“Fine.” I gave up. Trying to reason with her. She was still a child. I didn’t want to blame Erandur but....this was all him. Even when he got Anders rearrested, he still was thinking how to coddle Dreama and tell her it was okay and it wasn’t her fault. Though she was the one who got him broken out of jail, she was the one who bribed Geralt to let him out. She was the one who lied with this man in the first place but no, Erandur coddled her even now. I feel we need to get him in check before coping with her but it just seems everything was too late.  I left from her room door and headed downstairs. Valdimar had finished cleaning up and was watching Maury...again. I never understood why he loved it so much but he was very interested in baby momma drama and trying to figure out why people would much rather broadcast the fact they don't know the father of their baby rather than addressing it privately.  “Valdimar, I see you finished the housework. Thank you. You know even if you are the house steward, we can help you with the cleaning. You are more like a friend living here if anything.”

“It is my job to keep the house protected and clean. I know I don’t have to do much , but I like to. I like to keep things in order so I can feel like I’m doing something other than getting fat and watching MAury.”

“You aren’t remotely fat. Watching Maury though.....”

“This lady tested 20 men and none were the father. How do you let it get that bad?”

“That..wow...”

“Oh looks like number 21 isn’t the father either” He said as we watched a guy break into a dance as this girl ran to the back practically screaming. “Maker. How do you allow that to happen? 21 men...that’s.....”

“You’d think you’d stop coming to the show after five men but allowing yourself to keep coming back...I’d figure it’s just attention.”

“I don’t know if this is the type of attention I’d want.”

“Not many would.” I patted his arm. “Dreama is being a brat.”

“Don’t let Erandur hear that.” Valdimar lowered the volume on the tv “But she is. She’s been nothing but mean even to me. I made her her favorite meal and she tossed the plate at me.”

“She’s an adult. There is no reason for us to stand by this behavior. I have an idea. Erandur won’t like it but it’s for her own good.”

“What is your idea?”

“Well she doesn’t pay for anything ever. She barely works. If she wants to do what she wants, she can do it not here.”

“You can’t toss her out. She is you guy's daughter....”

“I’m doing it because I care. Erandur doesn’t have the fucking balls to stand up to the monster he created so I will. He might hate me for it and he’ll talk shit about me for it but I’m doing it for her own good. He won’t see it at first, hell he might not ever see it but it’s just how it has to be.”

Two hours later

“Are you seriously throwing me out? I’m telling Dad.”

“You don’t do anything but be immature and it’s time you are on your own. You have your job. You’ll be fine. You have fanboys right, ask them to let you live with them.”

“I....you know, you were always my least favorite dad.”

“I wish that hurt me but after being married to Erandur, nothing you say can hurt me. I’m sure you’ll be fine. You want to do what you want, if you aren’t here you can do what you want. Hell go be with Anders if you want to. I don’t care. You won’t be doing it here so go do what you want.”

“Dad will be upset about this.”

“And I’ll deal with him when he comes in but you need to go. There are tons of apartments and I know you can afford one. Even better, I’ve been saving up money from the military, I’ll get you a place. I’ll pay the first month's rent. How’s that?”

“Really?”

“Yes. Maybe it’s harsh to just toss you out on your ass though you deserve it.”

“You know what, no. Keep your money. I’ll be fine on my own. I’ll pack up my shit and get the rest when I find a place. For what it’s worth, if you and dad fight again, I hope he leaves you for good. He deserved better.”

“You’d say that, you are mad.” I shook my head. “You can never hurt me, little girl.” I looked over at her. “Besides, I know you wet the bed til you were about 12. With that kind of information among other  things....nothing a child like you can say will truly ever hurt me.”

Outside Hosea’s house/Dutch’s pov

I didn’t expect to see her. It had been some time since we spoke, since I spoke in general and yet here she was. She had a suitcase and she looked angry. I was a betting man yes and I can bet she got tossed out by Teldryn. Erandur wouldn’t do such a thing but Teldryn he would and frankly I didn’t blame him. I could also bet that she wanted to stay here. Probably hoping the others weren’t here  in hopes I’d just say yes to her.  That’s unfortunate to assume.  She came up the stairs and knocked on the door. I guess I’d break that vow of silence but I knew nothing I said would be what she wanted to hear. I opened the door and she glared at me, already annoyed. I guess I took too long to answer the door. Oh poor thing. Poorly demanding possibly evil things. Hosea got on me for hanging around Micah , should have warned me of her as well. She’s worse than him in ways I can’t even word.

“Hi.”

“Dutch! I’m so glad to see you”

“Oh, are you?”

“Yes! Teldryn tossed me out and I need somewhere to stay and I want to stay here with you and Arthur and Hosea and Reverend Swanson.”

“Well John did move out to live with his boyfriend but....I’m sorry, you can’t stay here.”

“Why?”

“Why?  Did you really ask me why after what you did to me?”

“Oh come on, you can not think I’d actually like you. Please Dutch, I have morals.”

“Oh yes, morals that made you go after Anders. The same morals that say you flirt with Micah because you wanted his knife. He’s a weak, terrible man, course he gave you it but I saw you that day. I did. I never told anyone because I mean who would want to admit they were like that with him but you were. You are just....too old to be like this . I never wanted to say that to someone but you are. You are legit a child in an adult body. Throw fits when you can’t get what you want, manipulate people and for what?”

“You are an asshole, Dutch.”

“Oh you’d know all about being an asshole.” 

“You are legit mad that I don’t like you. For no reason.”

“No, I'm mad that you used me and got what you wanted and discarded me. You knew I loved you but you didn’t care. You never care. You just want to climb on people and dump them off. It’s the fate of anyone but Anders but he’s locked up forever now isn’t he? How unfortunate for you.”

“I hate you, Dutch.”

“I think I might hate you more.” He looked at her. “How about you just don’t bother me anymore. I won’t bother you, you don’t need to bother me. How’s that? We’ll just go on like we've never met.”

“But where will I go? I need somewhere to stay”

“Why is that my issue? You don’t give a fuck about me....I am not required to care about you....not anymore.”

[modernagesomniari]

Fic ‘I am Changed’

Part of the Mala Suledin Nadas Series (Eli Lavellan).  You can read it on AO3 here.

The parallels between In Hushed Whispers and Solas' situation have always made me unneasy (which shows good writing tbh) but I wanted to explore how different Eli and Solas' attitudes are towards this sort of thing, how it's a natural part of who they are, which is why they'll oppose each other eventually.

PG-13, ~1750 words

I Am Changed

It was the new sparkly kid who told them what had happened, not their Eli.  This was the first thing that set off the warning bells in Varric’s head.  The second thing was that, within minutes of Dorian starting the story, she’d quietly warned him off exaggeration.  The third thing was that he then did what she asked.  In Varric’s opinion, men like this one didn’t tone down their exaggerations for anything.  He should know.

Not that wasn’t like Eli to be quiet - she’d spent a good deal of the first week or so barely saying a word unless you spoke to her first, but Varric could understand that.  She’d just been thrown into a situation so far from anything she’d experienced, anyone with any brains at all would take a few days to take the lay of the land before they started throwing their weight around.  She’d picked up about day eight, starting to initiate conversation and get to know her new surroundings.  Cheered right up, if he was honest, he couldn’t fault her strength.

This was different.  She was sat in the circle they’d made around the camp fire down the King’s Road from Redcliffe.  None of them had particularly wanted to stay in the town, so they’d kept walking and camped halfway between the town and the camp.  Once the sun had set and they’d eaten, inevitably they’d asked what had happened.  She was playing with a piece of leather in her hands, twisting it and tangling it only to thread her tiny fingers through it and smooth it out before starting all over again.  She watched the fire, something violent in the way it reflected in her huge green eyes, but there was nothing on her face.  This had moved her, deeply.

He kept his eyes on her as he listened, mostly horror struck, at what Dorian was telling them.  The red lyrium clenched his gut, but the new kid’s description of who they found and how was worse, far worse.  Poor Leliana.  It was a sobering thought, the idea that a world where he himself was dead had existed.  Not for long it seemed (only it had also lasted a year?  Only it hadn’t?  There was no way he was going to be able to put this into any book, was there?), but still the reality of it was a cold slap in the face.  No one liked imagining a world where they were dead.  Eli, apparently, had seen and experienced it.  Watched some of them die.

It was only when Dorian was finishing the story, trying to tell them that it was all ok, that they’d found the amulet, sent themselves back, none of it ever happened, it was all a bad dream etc etc that Eli looked up, something wrong and fierce in her eyes now.

“It wasn’t just a bad dream, Dorian.”

Her voice was low, but something about it quietened the whole damn camp.

“Well it might as well be.  Otherwise I’d have to live with the reality the whole rest of my life and nightmares do play havoc with age lines…”

“We can’t just pretend it all didn’t happen because it’s easier.”

Now her voice was raised and she’d sat up, leather clenched tightly in her fist.  “Dorian.  It happened.”

“Technically, no it…”

“Yes.  It did.  To us.  If it hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be here.  Alexius still sent us forward and then we came back, so if it hadn’t happened, we’d still be gone.  And then it would have happened.”

Varric considered himself a clever sort of bastard, but he was having trouble keeping up.  There was something frustrated but pained in Sparkler’s face.

“I see your point.  But that doesn’t change the fact that they don’t fit into this world any more.  For us to be here now means they never have to exist.”

“That doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.  Just because they don’t fit anymore doesn’t mean they didn’t exist when we were there.”

Andraste’s ass but there were tears in her eyes now, not falling but glinting just enough in the firelight he knew they were there.  He could never stand it when people cried, damn it.

“Then where are they?  I know you think I’m being cowardly about this, but what do you want me to do?  Cassandra is sitting right here.  Solas has as impeccable a skin routine as when I first met him, not a red vein to be seen.”

“So they didn’t die?  Is that what you’re saying to me?”

Varric definitely preferred it when she’d raised her voice to this quiet fury she’d switched to now.

“I didn’t say…”

“But that’s what you want to believe.  What’s easier to believe.  They died, Dorian.  They died so that we could come back.  And they were real.”

She shook her head, her face crumpling slightly as she couldn’t keep the tears in anymore.  The brokenness of her voice did nothing to the ferocity in her eyes as she stood across the fire from Dorian, not flinching even as the tears ran down her face.  “I am changed, Dorian.  Their fight, their death, their sacrifice.  They have changed me.  And I am real.  So they are, too.  Think me foolish for mourning them if you must, but I will.  And I will not forget.”

She turned, refusing to wipe her eyes but clearly not wanting them to see any more.  They let her go.  Silence fell over the fire as they all watched her take herself to sit on a rock at the edge of camp, looking down the ravine at the hinterlands below.  No one said anything.  It made Varric respect the new Tevinter mage slightly, that he just nodded solemnly and poured himself another drink rather than try and continue to fight his corner now he had no opposition.  As for Varric, he took a sip of his own drink before casting a quick look around the fire.  Most people were staring into their cups, uncomfortable and pensive.  One of the few who wasn’t was Solas, who was looking after where Eli had gone like he couldn’t look away, something unreadable but deeply uneasy in the expression on his face.  Varric’s inner alarm bells started going off again.  This didn’t bode well.

“Was it so bad?” The Seeker asked after a while.  Clearly tired, Sparkler just shrugged and nodded.

“I know what you look like after being speared by a Terror demon, if that paints a picture.  And I’ve seen the difference between human and elven eyes when exposed to truly horrific amounts of red lyrium, which tops it all off nicely.”

“There’s a difference?” Varric asked, immediately wondering why he always asked questions he didn’t want the answer to.  Dorian’s gaze was slightly haunted to match his hollow laugh.

“Elves are apparently more susceptible, or perhaps it’s just the same thing that makes their eyes glow at night.  I don’t know.”

He took another swig of his hip flask before gesturing over to Solas.  “You were a bloody breath of fresh air.  Barely had to explain anything - caught on quick as a whip.  Have you known her long?”

Solas looked as confused by the last question as Varric felt, eyebrows drawn together as he shook his head.  “No.  Didn’t think so.  You get on though, don’t you?”

“If you are suggesting some sort of elf connection…”

“No.  No I’m not.  It’s just…”

Dorian paused, flicking his gaze over to the silhouette that was Eli, back at Solas and then back at the fire.  Finally he just shrugged.  “Oh, she’ll tell you if she wants to.  If I were either of you, though, I’d find a few moments on the journey back to Haven to remind her you are both, in fact, still alive.  She took your deaths pretty hard.”

No one said anything after that.  No one really moved either.  Varric wondered what it was - the horror, the reality of this Elder One, or just the realisation that their Herald wasn’t strong because she was all-powerful, but because she didn’t let her fragility shatter her.  She would mourn, she would let her heart break for this world that should never have been and then she would allow it to make her stronger.  Varric had seen it before, watched a person take more pain than he thought possible and turn it right back into fierce determination and unshakeable loyalty.  Maker’s balls, but he was going to get in way over his head again, wasn’t he?

Solas got up first, quiet and graceful, stepping around them all as he angled towards the tents.  Varric watched him go, wondering at what Dorian had said and hoping that what he suspected was going to happen wasn’t going to.  Because he’d been there before, too, and there was nothing there but hurt, he knew it.  So some part of him started silently willing Solas to keep heading towards the tents, even as he watched him slow down.  Knew that there was a suspicious squint to his eyes as he watched Solas draw to a halt, looking over at where Eli was sat at the other side of camp.  Felt something release as he turned away, back to the tents and clench right up again when he hesitated.  If a low ‘Don’t you dare, Chuckles’ left his mouth under his breath, he couldn’t be blamed.

His heart sank as Solas changed his mind again, something reluctant in his gait even as he turned once more towards Eli and started walking towards her like it was despite himself.  Honestly, Varric would almost say that the man was even more irritated at himself than Varric was for not being able to leave her.  He watched him hesitate one more time, just behind her, before he took one more step forward and sat close beside her.

Varric couldn’t hear what they were saying.  Knew damn well that he wouldn’t be wanted there even if he could.  He watched her body sway slightly before she let it lean gently against Solas’ arm and his heart was heavy enough he actually sighed into his ale as he watched that arm come up around her shoulders, pulling her in.  Damn that man for being an idiot, damn Eli for being, well, Eli and damn himself for seeing so much and caring even more.  He’d seen this play out in Kirkwall, seen it a thousand times in every tale of every hero in Thedas.

There was no way this was going to end well.

[blarrghe]

Lavellan Bros pt. 2

The other side of the Lavellan Bros au, where Theo  ( @serphena ) is the Inquisitor and Taren has remained First of their clan. The two grew up together, but drifted apart as Theo's work took him away from the clan for long stretches. Now, he's supposed to lead an army and save the world, and it's a lot to handle. A visit from an old friend helps, a little.

AO3 Link or read more under the cut!

Theo sat perched on a high branch over the soldiers’ encampment, just outside the great gate that marked the entrance of the village of Haven. He shuddered, hearing the familiar clash of steel on steel, but he remained in his hidden spot, watching. He was supposed to trust these “former” Templars with his life, now, and he wasn’t about to do that without at least watching how they trained.

Because of his unusual choice of vantage point, it took the messenger who ran from the Chantry at Josephine’s order some time to find him, and when she did, calling up to him with hesitant deference, he scowled at her. But, Theo obliged the request, nimbly hopping down to a lower branch and then hanging from that, his tall frame closing the distance between the lower branch and the ground so that he had only to let go, and drop the remaining few inches onto the ground.

He did not enjoy spending time in Josephine’s office, and attempted to do so as little as was possible. It wasn't her fault, of course, but it still made his skin crawl to be around her, and anyway, whatever she wanted him for probably had something to do with appeasing snotty shems. So, he took the long way around Haven before arriving at the Chantry, putting at least twenty minutes worth of time between receiving the message and actually walking through her door - not to mention however much time the messenger had wasted looking high and low for him, before that. For this reason, when Theo did finally discover the reason for his being summoned, he was suddenly filled with a palpable sense of guilt. For there, sitting straight and proper across from the ambassador, holding a tiny porcelain teacup and laughing with a light, jingling, laugh, was Taren Lavellan: First of his clan.

 Shit.

“Taren?” He balked at the way Taren seemed to have made himself eminently comfortable in the small, dim office, carrying on in easy conversation with the Inquisition’s ambassador. “What are you doing here?” 

“Aneth ara, da’len.”

It was funny, Taren still calling him da’len, he had long since outgrown the other elf, and he was far from a child. It being funny was the reason Taren had never ceased using the term. That, and endearment. And right now, he was in desperate need of both the love and humour that came with an old friend. He just wasn’t about to show it. 

“Keeper Deshanna sent me,” he explained, taking Theo into a quick embrace before continuing, “she thought someone should check on you.” 

Taren smiled, rising from the chair and placing his teacup delicately on Josephine’s desk with a grateful little bow, and jumped into the quick speech of his people - another welcome sound. 

Theo looked away, cheeks flushing slightly. Of course. “Don’t you have better things to do than come all the way out here, First.” 

Taren shrugged, ignoring his mood, “couldn’t think of any. So, are you going to give me a tour?”

They exited the office into the body of the small chantry building, now converted to house dining tables and crates of supplies for the villagers and Inquisition forces. Taren thanked the ambassador as they did, turning to offer her words of gratitude in formal human speech, as she attempted poorly to return the gesture with broken Elvhen. Theo tried not to roll his eyes. 

“I like her.” Taren commented as they walked out of earshot, and this time Theo really did roll his eyes at him. Of course he did, Taren liked everybody. 

“Why did Deshanna really ask you to come? Don’t tell me you’re here to take over.” He said it with a bitter pride that he hoped sounded confident, but secretly some part of him hoped that he was here to steal away the position. Taren had leadership experience and patience, two things that Theo always felt himself distinctly lacking when he tried to tend to his duties.

“No,” Taren replied, frowning, “I’m only here to help. I can’t… I can’t stay very long.” 

Theo tried not to show any disappointment at that, he was still pretending to be annoyed at him, after all. He crossed his arms and kept walking, silently leading them out of the Chantry and stopping to look over the village from its steps. “Well, this is Haven.” Beside him, Taren sighed. 

“First we hear that you’re their prisoner, and something about being responsible for...that.” Taren gestured at the gaping hole in the sky, swirling with green energy and terrifying blackness. The rift was not a pretty thing to look at, and Theo did not follow his gaze. “Then, you’re the herald for their goddess,” 

“Prophet.” Theo corrected, grimacing. 

Taren continued, “and apparently you’re doing magic now.”

Theo shook his head, and held out his marked hand. “This thing’s magic, not me.” He muttered.

Taren took a long look at it, deep lines of concern nestling between his brows. “Either way,” he said finally, “the Keeper - I - was worried about you.” 

He couldn’t help but finally soften a little at that. He hated to admit it, but it was nice to be cared about. “You should meet Varric.” He offered, gesturing to the spot down the stairs a ways where Varric stood chatting amiably with some villagers. Varric was by far the friendliest of his new companions, and that seemed a good place to start.

Varric was more than happy to answer Taren’s many questions, and Taren was beyond enthralled by tales of the dwarf’s personal relationship with the Champion of Kirkwall, but soon he was looking curiously out toward the other buildings in Haven, and asking, in quick Elvhen, if there weren’t any other of their own people around. 

Theo decided to introduce him to Solas, and almost immediately he regretted it. He had to all but tear Taren away from the mage, as their intellectual conversation on topics of various arcane arts shifted toward the subject of Dalish traditions, and threatened to grow tense. 

“Well, he’s…” Taren reached searchingly for a word as Theo led him away. 

“Smart?” Theo offered, Solas struck him as impossibly wordy, but interesting enough. 

“Yes,” Taren agreed, genteel, “but also… sort of arrogant.” It was as close to an insult as Theo had ever heard from him, and he almost laughed. 

That was about as much of a tour as Theo felt like giving, he didn’t particularly feel like seeking out either the Templar Commander or the Seeker, and he felt almost protective of Taren, wandering around as an elven apostate mage in this place full of mistrustful humans. Unfortunately, it seemed that avoiding Cassandra wasn’t in the cards, as she came angrily stomping up to them from the Chantry, another lecture ready on her lips. 

“Herald!” She stopped him, irate. “You cannot continue to simply take things from the Chantry without asking.” 

Taren shot Theo a curious look, and stepped slightly off to the side. 

Theo knew already what this was about; the pastries. He’d taken a large pile of them from the kitchens to distribute among some of the hungrier looking village children, and it had been one of the only pleasant experiences he’d had in days. He returned her glare. 

“I didn’t take them for myself,” he protested, “they were for the kids.” And the elven servants, too. But he didn’t expect a shem to understand that bit. 

“There is food enough for everyone in Haven,” Cassandra continued her lecture, finger wagging, “but those were set aside for Josephine’s meeting today. She has important people to entertain, securing aid for our cause.” 

Theo did not appreciate the explanation. To hell with important people. “It’s food, Cassandra! What is a Chantry even for if not helping the hungry?” 

Cassandra was midway through scolding him again when Taren cautiously interrupted. “Josephine? You mean the Antivan ambassador I met when I arrived?”

Cassandra blinked, seeming only now to notice the other elf standing beside him. How like a shem, to ignore the people right in front of her. “Yes.” She said quickly, composing herself, but still huffy. 

Taren made a thoughtful sound and offered her one of his gentle, crooked smiles. “When we were speaking earlier, she told me that she once convinced a baron to donate a large sum of his fortune over a game of Wicked Grace and some sour ale. I’m sure she’ll be fine without, uh, pastries.” He remarked, “she seems a very competent woman.” 

Cassandra stuttered, apparently unsure how to refute this argument without also insulting Josephine. “She is, but -” 

Theo took the opportunity, “- you aren’t implying Josephine’s nobles needed pastries more than children, are you, Cassandra?” 

Cassandra huffed again, shaking her head at Theo. She returned to Taren, looking now slightly offended. “And you are?”

“An emissary from Theo’s clan,” Taren introduced himself cheerily, not dropping that lopsided smile, “Taren Lavellan, I am the clan’s First.” He said it like he assumed she should know what it meant, and Theo could tell from the look on Cassandra’s face that she was embarrassed that she did not. “Tell me, do all visiting diplomats receive pastries upon arrival, or just the important ones?” Theo snorted as Cassandra stuttered again, introducing herself in turn while her face grew red, and quickly excusing herself. 

As she walked away and Theo continued to chuckle, Taren let out a long whistle, and elbowed Theo in the ribs.

“What?” Theo asked, noting that the amusement on Taren’s face was now more directed at him, than at the Seeker. 

“Nothing, da’len.”

“What?” Theo demanded.

“You like that one.” Taren remarked teasingly. 

“She’s a Seeker.” Theo refused the remark, “near as I can tell, that’s like a Templar, only even more high and mighty.” 

Taren nodded in agreement, but he was giving him a look; the kind of look that only Keepers and Firsts can give, that says “I have known you since you were knee high, and you cannot keep your secrets from me - not even the ones you don’t know you are keeping.” 

Theo grumbled something about disliking shems, and changed the subject. “Come on, there’s a tavern.”

“You don’t drink.” 

“I do sometimes.” Theo muttered. He didn’t, not really, but the accusation made him feel young and immature, and he wanted to see Taren’s reaction to Sera. There, finally, would be a person that even Taren would dislike. 

Sera was just as disdainful as he expected her to be, reacting to Taren’s face full of elaborate swirling tattoos and speech that was heavy with the affect of Elvhen. But, she somehow knew already about the argument over pastries, and she laughed - long and loud - while doing an impression of a flustered Cassandra, and Taren joined her. 

“I love her.” Taren commented when she went to the bar for another round of ale. 

“She hates elves.” Theo pointed out in surprise. Taren shrugged. 

“I don’t think she knows any elves.” 

Taren stayed only a few days, but he was helpful, as promised. He ran countless errands, helping to craft potions and aiding sick villagers while Theo made his frequent escapes out into the forest, and by the time he left he had forged a lasting friendship with Varric and managed to have at least a couple of civil discussions with Solas. Varric sent him off with a signed copy of his Tale of the Champion, and Sera admitted that he was “pretty alright”, which was high praise for a Dalish elf, from her. He had kept his distance from the Templar, and from the Circle mage, Vivienne, but Theo couldn’t blame him for that. And even they, at his parting, offered friendly farewells. 

He was sad to see him go, knowing that Haven would be that much lonelier once he became the only Dalish elf to inhabit it again. 

“If you need anything, anything at all -” Taren offered, hugging him once more as he stood by the village gates. The offer should have been given the other way around, Theo was the one amassing an army, after all. 

“I’ll write, don’t worry. I can do this.” He doubted it, really doubted it, but he still wasn’t ready to reveal all of that uncertainty to his First. 

“I’ll visit again, when I can.” Taren promised, “next time though, I want pastries.” 

----

[BONUS SKYHOLD VISIT]

(Theo technically isn’t in Skyhold yet, but when he gets there Taren visits again, and meets a new fascinating mage...)

“A library? You have your own library?” Taren asked breathlessly, his excitement written all over his face. 

“You absolute bore, yes.” Theo rolled his eyes at the elf. Taren had come to visit Skyhold following the exodus from Haven, and he was dutifully giving him another tour. Taren had already met and appreciated a number of new people, though he looked a little less comfortable in the large fortress than he had seemed at Haven some months before. 

Theo showed him to the library, leading him up the stairs past Solas’ study space. Luckily, Solas was sleeping. Taren looked around wide-eyed and open-mouthed as they entered the large, circular room lined with shelves of ancient texts. “I’m never leaving.” He joked, a grin spreading over his face. 

“Can you even reach the shelves?” Theo joked back. It was nice to see him again, after everything. 

He spotted Dorian, leaning intently over some tome with a look of deep concentration, and figured he should be a gracious host and offer an introduction. 

Dorian introduced himself with his characteristic charm, and Theo saw Taren twitch at the mention of Tevinter. But he was also looking at the mage with an expression of something else; fascination, maybe. Dorian took Taren in with a long look and a coquettish tilt of his head. “You’re related to Theo? This Theo?”

“Not by blood.” Theo answered, “we were clanmates.” 

“I am the clan’s First.” Taren explained, and Theo wasn’t quite sure why he was flaunting the position. 

The reveal got Dorian’s attention. “A First? That’s in line to be a Keeper, right?” He wasn’t aware that Dorian knew anything about how clans functioned, but he was always reading. Taren nodded. “Fascinating!” Dorian was suddenly excited, “so that means you’re a mage, doesn’t it? I’ve never met a Dalish mage, there’s so much I’d love to -” He stopped. Was Dorian blushing? He didn’t know Dorian could blush. “-sorry, I’m being too presumptive. I should let you settle in. But if you wouldn’t mind, perhaps sometime during your stay here you and I might look through some of these texts together? There are some elven ones which I can’t decipher, and to have the insight of a real Dalish mage would be just...incredible.” He offered, sounding shy. Another thing that Theo wasn’t aware Dorian was capable of. 

Taren was stuttering when he answered, his cheeks growing awfully close in colour to that of his hair. “Of course, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to look through artefacts belonging to our people.” 

Theo led Taren away to the next stop on his tour - the Tavern. Varric had asked about him more than once, and he had been storing up jokes to make once he had the small elf standing next to the Iron Bull since the day he had learned Taren was coming. As soon as they were out of the library, Theo let out a long whistle, and nudged Taren in the shoulder with his elbow. 

“What?” 

“Nothing, little brother.” Theo smirked. 

“What?” Taren demanded. 

“You like him.” Theo remarked, teasingly. 

“He’s from Tevinter.” Taren protested, his cheeks still flush, “do you know how they treat our people there?” 

Theo shrugged. “Supposedly, he wants to change all that.” 

Taren glanced back over his shoulder toward the library, curious. “You trust him?” Hopeful, and more than a little eager. 

Theo nodded, and Taren smiled. 

[greensconnor]

i’m asking about your dragon age characters

molly i would KILL for u im ur personal hitman now

anyway i said my city now because the entire bioware writing team sucks shit xoxo and i’m so much smarter than all of them but also fully incapable of having a normal amount of ocs for anything (see: the time i made 20 rwby ocs in less than two weeks) so i have. five worldstates here r some assorted thoughts

uhhh so the worldstates r as follows

eira mahariel (two-handed berserk/champ spec), rhett hawke (two-handed berserk spec), alas lavellan (mage knight enchanter spec), romanced alistair/fenris/dorian respectively

shiv tabris (dual wield duelist/assassin spec), radella “rads” hawke (mage spirit healer spec), kat adaar (two-handed reaver spec), romanced morrigan/isabela/cassandra respectively because im a pc gamer and i think i should be able to date whatever video game woman i like because im infinitely better than cishet men

this world state said yeah i respect mens rights. mens rights to shut the fuck up

twins bronson (sword/shield reaver spec) & bryant cousland (archer ranger spec), carmine hawke (archer assassin spec), syracuse trevelyan (dual wield tempest spec), romanced zevran/anora/josephine/bull. if ur wondering how that works my city now and the warden, hawke and the inquisitor should all meet and so they do because i Said So

riva amell (mage arcane warrior/battlemage spec), graham “gray” hawke (mage force spec), hellathen “hela” lavellan (archer assassin spec); romanced cullen/anders and later blackwall because hawke only likes men who will break his heart. hela doesn’t have a romance because she’s literally 20. who let her lead the inquisition (me it was me). also it should be noted the version of cullen i have in my head only vaguely resembles actual cullen because i write better than dragon age writers ever could and i gave him an Actual Cohesive Narrative and he gets bullied relentlessly for being scrawnier than his mage boyfriend

malien “mal” surana (mage spirit healer/keeper spec), jules hawke (sword/shield reaver spec), ash adaar (mage rift spec), romanced leliana/merrill/krem because i should have been able to kiss krem and its a Crime that i am not allowed to

knight enchanter is a Very op specialization and by Very op i mean it makes a mage with their built-in low constitution stats able to solo the biggest baddest dragon in the game on nightmare mode in under five minutes so like. alas lavellan fist fights dragons for fun send tweet

i think lavellans should be able to hit ppl with bricks for all the shit they endure. thus solas gets pranked by mahariel and alas by which i mean they just tip buckets of water onto him from the rookery

kat might be my only competent inquisitor but she did also try to knock out the right hand of the divine and attempt to gap even tho there’s fucky magic burning up her hand so does she have a brain cell? you decide

also its fantasy land and i do what i want so kat has blue/gold sectoral heterochromia

gray “mage rights” hawke is best friends with fenris which surprises literally everyone. their friendship started because they got into a fist fight and then they were like okay i respect u now. hawke is like hey fenris give me ur sword i have a fun trick to show u [uses his sword as a foci to zap carver in the ass with lightning]

i am Always thinking abt like how cullen could have been one man anti-chantry propaganda machine if he hadn’t so blatantly been shoehorned into every game past origins so anyway bioware forgot about a wholeass moon i can write what i like. [holds up cullen by the scruff of his stupid armor] not only are you bisexual you are also a bottom

i also Hate the whole uwu mage haters get fixed by romancing a mage

unlocked secret dialogue option where my inquisitors verbally cuss out dorian’s dad instead of whatever sympathetic narrative the writers were going for cuz its bullshit.

riva is a showoff and a Menace about being as good as he is because he unabashedly loves being a mage and hes like oooh look at me im sexy i dont need to use my hands to cast magic because i’m just that good ;)) and you know what. hes right.

gray, on the other hand, does Not want to be mage. he wants to be a druffalo farmer and retire in the hinterlands and be left the fuck alone. unfortunately he is gay and has one brain cell and terrible, terrible taste in men. ribbed relentlessly for this by riva (altho does he have room to talk hes been hung up on cullen since he was like 13)

shiv is trans n kieran is the result of doing the dark ritual with her wife and he looks a Lot like shiv (dark skin pointed ears, shock-white hair) and morrigan always just Assumed she dyed it or did something magic with it so seeing their kid come out like that was a WEIRD time for her

leliana almost Murdered by cassandra in worldstate 5 because the warden is Actually There The Whole Time, but its been 10 years, mal’s cut off all her hair and gotten full facial tattoos and she’s like “no one will know its me its fine” and she’s right. she gets away with it. only cullen like, Knows, because he knew her before the blight but he doesnt have a death wish n he like. will Not piss her off

shes dalish by birth n she was stolen from her clan by templars and thus is vehemently anti-circle and anti-chantry in general

uhhh the vallaslin (elf face tattoos) of my 4 dalish characters are:

eira = ghilan’nain (chose em cuz shes rlly interested in the navigation aspect of the goddess)

alas = falon’din (god of the dead n he picked them because he’s Also the god of fortune and alas is like tee hee fun but also he can and will kill u if u fuck with him so yk its fitting)

hela = june (god of the craft bc she likes to Make things but june is also the god who taught the elves 2 hunt and hela is. a hunter.)

mal = elgar’nan (allfather/god of vengeance bc. she is Vengeful. she is Angry. but yk fucking with shem politics and fucking their divine is like. mal may have little a retribution. as a treat.) yes she has the full half-face solid colour tattoo she does NOT fuck around.

bronson and bryant r not genetically identical but they Look similar enough 2 anyone who doesn’t know them well enough 2 play spot the distance. anora and bronson think this is a super fun game to play, especially when nobles realize they’ve swapped out the king but they’re too nervous to say anything

eira mahariel has two hands. one is for holding hands with alistair and the other is for throttling elven gods, apparently. she’s killed one before so solas she’s coming for your bitch ass next. watch urself.

speaking of eira and alistair are married thru dalish tradition and humans don’t recognize it n alistair loves 2 re-propose to her with random things. he’ll just pick up like. a bit of cheese and be like “marry me ;)” and she’s like GASP but whatever will the chantry say!!!! all of their friends r sick of them

“vhenan if you love me bring me a sword” “you think i could do better than a sword made out of space rock?” “:)”

eira is my youngest hero at 18 at the start of her game and kat is my oldest at 32 at the start of her game.

none of my hawkes are under six foot. rhett is the tallest (6′8″) and rads is the shortest (6′2″).

syracuse trevelyan would have been the Perfect inquisitor if he were not a pretty boy himbo and a gay bastard who does Most Things just to spite his parents.

[corypheus pointing at syracuse’s visage in his crystal orb thingo] i want that twink obliterated

i love the companions from older games return thing i truly do so i make it a point for Every companion to return in inquisition so the gang rlly is all here because i am a Slutte for found family

i lie in my keep worldstates because i dont want to choose between hawke and alistair during here lies the abyss but i never make him king and every time i play inquisition and cole has the wicked grace line it makes me Scream. alistair baby im so sorry i did this to you but i didnt actually do this to you

yes this is my everyone lives au but like. all the time. i have never left hawke in the fade and i do not intend to.

fuck whatever nonsense about wardens not being able 2 have kids. by sheer divine power (me) anora and bryant have three daughters; eleanor, sabina & cecelia n both bronson and zevran make Excellent uncles because i think anora deserves good things because i’m tired of bioware being like women bad, actually,

so like most of the time i have the warden & hawke turning up after the move to skyhold n then staying on, with the exception of bryant, carmine & mal. mal is as mentioned previously just There the whole time with her girlfriend. bryant steps in as king of ferelden w/ interests in closing the big hole in the sky spewing demons in2 his kingdom yk. carmine shows up because she wants to help & she wants protection for bethany but she outright says she’d rather die than be inquisitor so cassandra is shit out of luck.

“CHANGE HER MIND VARRIC” “she once doubled down on insisting amaranth was a shade of blue because she didn’t want to admit to being wrong. no one’s changing her mind seeker”

alas is the middle child of eight and is thus very good with children and also bossing around people older than him. 2 of his older siblings come to the inquisition when stuff in wycome has been settled

i left ash with the basic canon background with Some variation (he grew up under the qun and left of his own free will when his magic was discovered n he realized he couldn’t take living as a saarebas

kat on the other hand was raised tal-vashoth and has bounced around basically all over thedas and leads her own merc company when the conclave blows up. she also speaks multiple languages. is there a language she doesn’t speak? probably not

just realized how long this got so im gonna like. stop my general rambling now but lmao yeah theres some basics. waves hands.

[midnightprelude]

An Orlesian Interview

I’ve been going through all of Lethendralis’s old posts on her OC Eris Hawke and found this wonderful little gem. I couldn’t not do it for Aryll as a warm up for DA DWC! Tagging forward to @thesaltyhealer and @faerieavalon as well as anyone who’d like to play! :)

Aryll of Clan Lavellan, warrior, budding mage, Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor, and High Chancellor and her (bodyguard? manservant? friend? remember to clarify later) apostate mage Solas were supposed to be on holiday in Orlais. To their dismay, they have been cornered by an incessant Orlesian journalist in Val Royeaux and sat down in a secluded garden alcove for an interview. Aryll remembers that she had agreed to this meeting months ago, but it had slipped her mind. Aryll decides not to mention this fact to Solas. Solas seems to already be well aware.

1. What’s your name?

Were you not the one who asked me for this interview? I would think that a journalist would do a touch of research before asking their subjects questions.

[The journalist blanches]

[Solas eyes her curiously]

[Aryll laughs] Oh, I’m just kidding! You Orlesians are so serious. I’m Aryll, born from Clan Lavellan. I’m sure you’ve heard of me and my many names. I shall not bore you by listing them all out.

2. Do you know why you are named that?

Aryll? I’m an elf. We like vowels and odd spellings of things.

[Solas adds: Ari means circle in Elvhen and el means our. Literally her name means “our circle”, but as the circle is the center of all magical runes, the metaphorical meaning is something along the lines of “our world”.]

[She looks at him, head tilted to the side] You’ve never told me that! That’s exceedingly lovely.

[He nods, smiling and adds: As are you.]

[A hint of blush colors her cheeks]

3. Are you single or taken?

[She laughs heartily] What do you think?

4. Have any abilities or powers?

My disarming wit. And this four foot long blade. I can also do some barrier work and simple conjuring, but I’m no great mage.

5. Stop being a Mary Sue.

I would like to point out the exceptional number of male characters who appear flawless that are not called out for being so. It is typically women, I will have you note that, bear the responsibility of being flawed, likeable, exceptionally beautiful, and also perfect in every way. It is an unattainable paradox. If we come up short, we are derided. If we achieve greatness, we are again brought low.

I must correct your misconception of me. You should not believe all of the stories. I err as much as any other. I anger quickly, I forgive too easily, and I am hopelessly naïve to believe that I can change the world. If not for my companions, I would be dead a thousand times over. I am not the best warrior, the strongest mage, the quickest study, or the greatest leader. But I do surround myself with those who are, so it is easy to mistake me for such.

6. What’s your eye color?

Green or blue, depending on the lighting and my mood. Solas swears they go red when I’m angry, but I’ve never seen it.

7. How about your hair color?

Light blonde, bordering on white. If it wasn’t apparent.

[Solas takes her hand in his and she visibly relaxes.]

8. Have any family members?

My Keeper, Deshanna, raised me after my parents were killed by humans. She taught me that love was more important than vengeance, a lesson that took my entire childhood to learn.

The rest of my family is the one that I chose. Solas and I have built a life together, traveling Thedas and trying to make it a better world. My dearest friends, Eris and Fenris, and their daughter Ariadna are the closest I have to family otherwise. As well as those who served with me in the Inquisition and those who serve my country.

9. Oh? How about any pets?

[She laughs] We were gifted a puppy, Mirae, after a particularly harrowing experience. She imprinted on Solas and will hardly leave his side.

10. That’s cool, I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like.

Inanities.

[Solas frowns, looking at her]

So serious, again! I hate oppression in all of its forms. Clearly. I’ve spent much of my life trying to stomp it out.

11. Do you have any activities/hobbies that you like to do?

[She tilts her head towards Solas]

[The apostate chuckles]

[The interviewer shifts uncomfortably]

12. Have you hurt anyone in any way before?

If you’d believe the stories, I’ve killed a high dragon with my own two hands!

[Solas adds: She did do that.]

13. Ever… killed anyone before?

You really should have done some reading on me, shouldn’t you? I killed Corypheus, for starters. Though I’m not sure I’d consider what he was as a person.

14. What kind of animal are you?

Hmm, probably something majestic, like a phoenix.

[She turns to Solas] Thoughts?

[He adds: She’s a cat. Just try waking her up in the morning.]

Hey! As I recall, you don’t like to wake up either?

[He nods and adds: I am also a cat.]

15. Name your worst habits?

[Aryll and Solas speak simultaneously:]

I am too hopeful.

She forgives too easily.

16. Do you look up to anyone at all?

My Keeper.

[She turns to Solas] And him.

[His eyes widen and he adds: No… You shouldn’t… I am no model of anything]

[She laughs] The way you look in leather makes me quite disagree on your modeling skills. [She winks]

[His face reddens considerably]

17. Are you gay, straight or bisexual?

I can be convinced of nearly anything.

18. Do you go to school?

Certainly not. Though I’ve never stopped learning.

19. Ever want to marry and have any kids one day?

[She stiffens visibly] I am married. As for the other question…

[She stares at Solas, eyes wide]

[He squeezes her hand and adds: You don’t need to answer that question, vhenan]

[She nods] Let’s move on.

20. Do you have any fangirls/fanboys?

[She rolls her eyes] Yes, thanks to those fools in the Chantry. I mean…[She looks around]

21. What are you most afraid of?

Losing those I love.

22. What do you usually wear?

Silk, if I’m not fighting. It’s dreadfully comfortable.

23. What one food tempts you?

[She giggles] Sangria

24. Am I annoying you?

Wow, you really can read a room!

25. Well, it’s still not over!

[She grins] Nobody can keep me against my will. That’s sort of where I am in life.

26. What class are you (low/middle/high)?

I was born of nothing and now I have more than I could ever want.

27. How many friends do you have?

The perfect number. I would take a crossbow bolt for each and every one of them.

28. What are your thoughts on pie?

Fruit pies, sure. Meat pies, no thank you.

29. Favourite drink?

I was spoiled with Tevinter wine for many years and I find it hard to go back.

30. What’s your favourite place?

Arlathan. And the Fade.

[The interviewer stares] The… Fade?!

[She nods] I’ve had some of my best sex there.

[The interviewer’s eyes widen]

[Solas shrugs]

31. Are you interested in anyone?

My husband.

[The interviewer looks confused]

Are you an idiot?

[Solas laughs before adding: she is referring to me. You thought I was her servant, didn’t you?]

[The interviewer looks for an escape route]

32. That was a stupid question…

[Aryll lightly fingers the pommel of her greatsword]

33. Would you rather swim in the lake or the ocean?

It was a long time before I had ever seen the ocean. One day, I hope to live there.

34. What’s your type?

…seriously?

35. Any fetishes?

[She winks at Solas] Sweets and light bondage

36. Who is who in that scenario?

And spoil that for your imagination? I would never.

37. Camping indoors or outdoors?

I’ll take an evening under the stars or one warm in a bed. I am not particular and have grown accustomed to both.

Are we free to go now? We have tickets to see an Orlesian opera and your people put on such the show.

[She pushes her chair back, stands, and wraps her arm through Solas’s. She walks away without a glance back.]

[The interviewer frowns and sighing, picks up his papers, and exits the garden.]

[ranawaytothedas]

I have a bunch of little HC for Tamaris that really doesn’t have a place in anything else I have planned ATM, so I am just plop it here because it’s fun little stuff about her and there has been some love for my girl... which is amazing.. so here is some more about Tamaris.

Her Name is very Poetic and holds a lot of hits towards her story - So I pulled both her and Mathras’s names from Project Elvhen’s book of names. Her name means “Forever your Second” or basicly your best friend forever or partner forever. *looks at Solas* Yeah um...Mathras’s name means Shadow’s Nurishment.... this holds meaning too.

The Twins are inspired a little by Dirth’a’min and Falon’din - I have nothing more to say than yes about this without giving any of my fic’s plot away... but yes.. *shifty eyes* 

Of the twins Tamaris is the younger - This is just something that Mathras’s holds over her, often calling her “Little Sister” and claiming to be “Older, wiser, more experienced...” Tamaris does not find this amusing always pointing out it was just a few moments older. 

Varric calls her Bubbles - this really does deserve a much longer explanation but the long and short of it is Tamaris gets very giggly and excited when she finds some new shard, mosaic piece, puzzle, riddle, tidbit of info... she loves that. Varric thinks she has the sweetest laugh (...Solas agrees as well) and it’s like the first time a kid sees bubbles from soap flying across the room. Hence... Bubbles. 

Tamaris loves Nugs - Okay.. this was just something really random I wanted her to have. Like she has always wanted one as a pet, never allowed as a child. Ends up talking Nugs with the resident Nug Breeder, Leilana, who gives one as a pet for Tamaris her birthday. Tamaris names the little thing Fluffy (an ironic name), but Mathras suggests The Dread Nug because apparently Tamaris had some affinity to a story as a child that involved Fen’Harel... Solas is not amused.... at all... I have a one shot planned around this... it’s very amusing. Set during the main game, while Tamaris and Solas are still together... good times...

Going to the conclave was the first time Tamaris ever saw humans - Tamaris, more so than Mathras, was raised very protected by the Clan. I am still trying to work out the finer points of how Clan Lavellan would treat/raise a dreamer (this is something that is requiring much lore digging to get right) but what I do know is they wouldn’t have ever let her leave the Clan as a child... the only reason I HC she is being sent away now is because the Keeper was too ill to travel travel themselves. Tamaris being the first, was sent with Mathras, who I think is called a “hunter” but is more like a “master of whispers” and very adept at dealing with the outside world.

She hates fighting and killing - This is something that I think fits her personality the most. The girl is happiest in the library with books and blankets (mood right?) but because she has the anchor she is forced to go out and fight for the first time in her life. I think while she is a very skilled mage naturally, she has little to know actual combat skills for much of early part of the main story. Most of her study prior to the whole Inquisition, was in healing magic. Which the Keeper thought would be the safest path for her. Shocker though, Tamaris is actually far more talented with elemental magic, particularly lighting and fire. Most of the skill she posses by the end of the game is taught to her by Solas or Dorian. Even though she developed the skill, she still doesn’t like it any more. In the end it’s why she asks Mathras to be named Inquisitor and she is just wants to be the “Lady with the glowing hand that will destroy the world”

[marquis1305]

A poet’s heart

For my dear @saffyre-viral, who not only let me borrow their dear Inquisitor, Saturn Lavellan. But has also been more than patient while waiting the week that it took me to write this piece. Set directly after Damaia witnesses the Inquisitors shape-shifting ability for the first time. 

Saturn was always more than willing to entertain Damaia’s curiosity, without ever realizing exactly what might come of it. 

Damaia had accompanied Saturn back to Caern Bronach after they had finished cleaning out the old Crestwood caves. She found herself absolutely fascinated by the Elvhen, more so than when she had first learned what Saturn was. She could feel the questions swirling through her head as she watched the petite elf.  

Apparently, Saturn could feel those same questions.  

"Come along, Damaia, I already know that you are nearly buzzing with curiosity. I would rather be able to relax while you ask. I find that shifting forms takes more out of me than it once did," Saturn smiles, but Damaia can see the weariness written all over their stance.

Damaia can find she has only one plausible response to this.

She leans down and lifts the elf, cradling them against her chest, one arm supporting their back, and the other wrapped under their legs.  

Before Saturn can begin to protest, Damaia smirks down at her. "What can I say, I wanted to practice sweeping you off your feet."

Saturn could only shake her head and roll her eyes. Damaia carries her into the rooms near the loft, shooing out the agents playing cards. Promising them that they could have the room back after the Inquisitor had had a moment of rest. Damaia gently sets Saturn down into one of the chairs.  

"I am not a fragile creature for you to coddle, Damaia," Saturn chides, chin lifted to stare down the Qunari kneeling before her.  

"No, you are strong, and proud. Two traits I very much admire, my dear Inquisitor. But two traits that often do not allow for weakness to show, and with me, you don't have to worry about it. Because I will do my best to care for you and support you either way,"Damaia huffs a quiet chuckle, then strokes a hand over Saturn's pale hair. "What can I say, it's in my nature to act like a mother hen, clucking away at her chicks."

"I would like to remind you that I am quite a bit older than you, Damaia," the playful tone indicates to Damaia that Saturn has allowed this small act.  

"Yeah, and that is one of those things that I want to ask about, if you are feeling well enough."  

"Perhaps some water first?"

Damaia stands, scanning the room for any sort of liquids besides the liquor that the agents had left behind. Finding a jug of water in the corner, she goes to quickly fetch it, offering it to Saturn. Letting her drink her fill as Damaia fetches another chair to sit beside her. Damaia lets her gaze slip over Saturn's face, once more committing it to memory.

"You are staring again, Damaia."

"I have always had a fondness for beautiful things, for powerful things. You are both, I can't help wanting to capture each moment you allow me close to you in my mind. Unfortunately, I don't have an artist's hands," Damaia shrugs, her gaze warm as it continues to scan over Saturn's face.

"Just a poet's heart. You would have done well among my kin. They too appreciated such things," Saturn's face softens slightly, handing back the jug of water to Damaia. Who sets it off to the side. Pulling out some rations from her pack for the two to share. "Now, ask your questions."

“I will take that as a compliment," Damaia chuckles, then thinks for a moment, trying to get her questions in an order that might make sense. "What is your favorite memory?”

Saturn pondered, there are plenty to choose from considering. After a while they met Damaia’s eyes and with a wistful tone, “My favorite memory would have to be when I climbed one of the spires in Arlathan. The Elders were so pissed! See, I had a rebellious streak a mile long when I was around, what, 19? That was when I went by “she”, before I knew I had a choice in how I presented myself.”

"No wonder I never hear you complain about the Storm Coast's cliffs," Damaia smiles widely. "I would have liked to see that, and your rebellious streak. Might be fun to witness it. What did Arlathan look like?”

“That…is hard to describe... considering I don’t remember much about it besides that spire I talked about.”

Damaia shrugs, while curious, she wouldn't obsess over things that she had never expected to be able to learn about.  

“Was it easy to adapt to the changes of learning to live in modern times?”

After a beat Saturn responded, “Depends on what you mean by that. When the Veil was created, things changed. It wasn’t as easy to summon our magic anymore, our dreams became riddled with temptations from angered spirits, and many of our people died. When I fell into our “deep sleep” later on we missed a few things but it didn’t really seem any different.”

That catches Damaia's attention, honing in on what Saturn had said about sleep.

“Do you have to sleep?”

They blink a few times before they burst out laughing, “Of course I have to sleep! Just because I sleep for centuries at a time doesn’t mean I don’t have to sleep in between!” After a few seconds they caught their breath. With a slightly embarrassed look from Damaia, Saturn rushed for something to say, “Though, I get where you are coming from! We sleep for a considerable amount of time, yes… but I haven’t fallen into Uthenera in a very long time. I doubt I ever will.”

"I love the way your laugh sounds," Damaia lets her embarrassment over the question fade. Huffing a short laugh even as she runs her hands through her hair. “Were there schools?”

“They were optional. But we all had to learn to control our magic with ease. We also had training for the other fighting classes. That’s why you see me fighting with a sword or with daggers on occasion.”

"Which I find that your ability with weapons is rather impressive. Far better than my just smashing people with my staff, at least."  

"Do not discount your ability, you have a knack for catching your opponents off guard. It is quite the talent to be unreadable on the battlefield," Saturn leans forward to press a hand on Damaia's knee.

"I don't know if I would quite rank that up there with your finesse with both magic and weapons, and your ability to shift into the creature. It was amazing to watch," Damaia cannot help the awe that pushes through her voice. She catches Saturn's hand and presses a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "But we can talk about that another time, when I have properly romanticized the moment."

Saturn laughs again, "Very well, do you have any other questions?"

"I think only one more that has been pressing on my mind, as Summer's eve is approaching. Did you celebrate any holidays?”

“Not really, no. Though we all practically worshipped the spirits. We were too proud, I think, to celebrate anything. If you meant me, then I’d love to celebrate but I have absolutely no idea how.”

"No idea... what do you mean?"

"I have never had the opportunity to celebrate anything."

"What about with the Lavellan clan."

"We had not been with them long enough to celebrate any of their holidays."

Damaia suddenly stands. Pulling Saturn up with her, drawing them close. "Then I shall simply have to find a reason for us to celebrate, my liege."

Holding Saturn close for just a moment longer, Damaia releases them, pressing one more kiss to their knuckles. "I should stop pestering you with questions. You need to rest before we head back to skyhold, especially now that I am certain of your need for sleep."

Saturn nods, feeling their weariness after the events of the day. "I am always happy to answer your questions Damaia. But it has been a long day, yes."

"Then, by your leave Inquisitor." Damaia's eyes twinkle with mischief. She watches as Saturn leaves, knowing that she would have to work quickly and borrow some of Leliana's agents to follow through with the plan quickly taking form in her mind. Damaia heads over to the requisition desk, borrowing sheets of parchment. Her near illegible scrawl skittering over every sheet, save one.  

That one, she brought back to her own tent. Where she kept the supplies that Master Vincento had given her. She would need quiet to finish this particular piece of the puzzle.  

The next morning, the group was ready to leave for their home. Damaia took her place walking next to Saturn's mount.  

"You are particularly quiet this morning, Demona." Varric's voice rings out from the other side of Saturn.  

"My apologies, master storyteller, I shall ensure to return to my usual amount of chatter. Since you miss the sound of my voice so."  

"What can I say, not often our resident lightning storm isn't booming and filled to the brim with energy."

"Maybe I am just building up for the next strike?"

"Let me know when that happens, I'll be sure to stand out of the way of the concurrent rain, kid. "

Damaia only responds with a laugh. Even as her mind races. This would be a long trip back, but Damaia hoped that her efforts would be worth it.  

In the five days that it took to make the trip, Damaia received exactly three letters.  

The first from Josephine, confirming.

The second from Solas, advising.  

The third from Vivienne, applauding.  

She spent the evenings talking with Cassandra, who, it turned out, had many difficulties hiding her initial reaction. After that however, Damaia found that she was of immeasurable assistance.  

When they finally made it back to Skyhold, as was their custom, Damaia would press a quick kiss to Saturn's knuckles, then excuse herself to gather the piles of reports that the Frostblade mercenary company would send. She made her way up to Commander Cullen's office, exchanged a few words with him in regards to the favor that she had requested, and then left with an armload of papers.  

When night fell, Damaia slipped out of the room that she had taken above the garden. Making her way to the main hall. She was met by Cassandra, Leliana, Vivienne, Solas, Josephine, and Cullen.  

"You are all wonders among wonders. Is everything prepared?" Damaia could feel herself bristling with nervous energy.  

She had painted on her red formal Vitaar, had adorned her horns with the carved gold bands that her parents' had presented her with the day she left for the Frostblades. On her ears, the golden links and cuffs that she had pierced to indicate each major victory in her life. As was the custom that her father had taught her.  

The green silks that she had requested Vivienne and Josephine to purchase wrapped around her. The band about her chest glittering with beads and jewels beneath the trimmed half jacket. Her skirts loose and flowing to her bare feet, embroidered with vine motifs.  

"You look a vision my dear, far better than your customary attire," Vivienne had been proud at what her personal tailor had achieved with the materials Josephine had acquired from her Antivan vendor. A matching suit had been laid out in the Inquisitor's chamber just before they had retired for the evening.  

Along with the note that Damaia had passed off to Cullen that morning. In her finest calligraphy.

"Wait until the moon lights the night's sky. Then come and meet me in the dining hall. Please follow any further requests as given by your advising council, as I have requested their assistance on this matter."

"That sounded very much like a compliment Madame De Fer, watch out, or I might take it to heart." Damaia teases, even as Josephine interjects.  

"There is no time for squabbling, Captain Damaia, but indeed. We have managed to prepare everything. Though I do fear that it is woefully short of what I have invisioned."

"It will be a dream, Josie. All of your parties are, so stop fussing so. Come, Damaia, we must get you in place before the Inquisitor arrives." Leliana nods to Damaia, offering her her hand. Damaia takes it eagerly, following the spymaster's lead.  

Solas falls in step beside them, eyes glancing over the scene. "Given how thorough your requests were, I have no doubt that our Inquisitor will be quite pleased with the results."

"Your advice was of great help Solas, though I would have never suspected you of enjoying such things."

"It has been one of my many pleasures, while traveling the fade, to witness grand events. It shall be of greater pleasure to bear witness to this one, my friend."

"Demona, I'm hurt," Varric calls out from the opposite end of the hall. "I had hoped we were close enough that you would give me warning if you were planning on doing anything dramatic."

"Ah, Varric, normally I would suggest that almost anything I do is dramatic, but I was hoping that this in particular would be special," Damaia flushes darkly, her normally easy chuckle tinged with nerves.  

"I apologize Damaia, but... I couldn't help but hope that Varric would be willing to capture the moment for history. It is... not something that should be forgotten." Cassandra blushes nearly as hard as the day that Saturn had convinced Varric to continue his romance serial for her. And Damaia can't help but soften at the words.  

"I do not mind, Cassandra. In fact, I would be quite eager to hear our master storyteller's rendition of tonight. Barring that I do not manage to completely fumble everything."

"It is unusual to see you so unsure, Captain, you will do fine. I am certain that our Inquisitor will appreciate the effort, even if everything is not perfect," Cullen clasps his friend on the shoulder. The gesture bolstering Damaia's spirit.  

"I assure you, everything will go to plan. Now, come, time is running short," Josephine hurries Leliana and Damaia along, shooing them to take their places. Leliana escorts Damaia to the dais where Saturn's throne usually sits. The object having been removed for the occasion. Solas and Vivienne light the candelabras, both with regular flames and with veilfire. Cullen moves to stand off to the side, where Leliana joins him after ensuring that Damaia stands in the center of the Dais. Cassandra and Varric move to sit at one of the banquet tables, which are groaning with the weight of food and delicacies of the varies countries of Thedas.  

The walls are decorated with symbols both new and old. Runes of ancient Elvhen that the Inquisition had recently discovered and been studying, those for prospering, health, and happiness were most prominent. Surrounding those were symbols of modern Thedas. Ranging from dragons, Andrastian, all the way to  Avaar and Qunari; any symbol of strength and celebration of each civilization.  

It was all just as Damaia had pictured it to be.  

Josephine had really managed to outdo herself this time.  

Each of their friends moved to sit at the tables, except for Cullen and Leliana, who stood just behind several candelabras, reading over a few sheets of paper.

She owed them both some major favors for this, Cullen especially. But Damaia had heard the man when the Chantry sister had led their little sing along. No way was Damaia going to pass up on another chance to get that man's voice heard.  

Finally, the moment had arrived.  

Saturn opened the door from their chambers.  

And their breath caught in their throat. Eyes drifting over everything in the hall. Finally stopping on Damaia.  

"Turned out that I already had a reason to celebrate, have since the day I met you." Damaia gazes with wonder at the person who had made this entire crazy year make any sort of sense. Her heart roaring at the sight of them in their formal wear.  

Leliana and Cullen's voices lift in a song that Damaia couldn't understand the words to, but Solas had said that it would be appropriate for the occasion.  

She trusted the elf to know better than she.  

Saturn walks forward, still awed by the sights and sounds around them. Catching sight of their advisors and friends watching teary eyed at the ensuing scene. Varric scribbling away furiously on a sheet of parchment.

"You did this, all of this?"

"Well, mostly it was done by our very sappy friends over there," Damaia chuckles, leaning down to catch Saturn's hands. Placing a kiss on each palm. "But I did what I could to get my vision across."

Saturn swallows back at the tight feeling in their throat.  

"Now come, this is a celebration after all. And I have managed to get us quite the finest voices in all of Thedas, we shouldn't squander the moment," Damaia clears her throat before kneeling down before Saturn. "My dearest Inquisitor, would you do me the honor of joining me in this dance?"

[heartslogos]

newfragile yellows [251]

“I want to go to an aquarium,” Mahanon declares.

He is currently going through a stage where he’s obsessed with anything that swims.

“No, I want to go horseback riding,” Skinner says.

She is currently in a stage where she’s fascinated by horses.

“No! We need to go to a resort! A fancy resort with see through curtains and palm trees,” Dalish says, glaring at both of her siblings, as though it would cow them into conceding to her.

Dalish has entered a stage where she wants to live her dream wedding through her parents. It is somewhat stressful.

“Sounds boring, what would Mom and Dad even do at a resort?” Krem looks baffled as he chews on some sugar cane that Uncle Jun sent them from his farm. “They’d probably just walk around looking lost and stuff. I’ve never seen Dad go into the water at a beach.”

“I don’t think Mom’s ever set foot on a beach,” Mahanon says, “I’ve gone with Grandfather but Mom dropped us off and drove to a mall. She doesn’t like sand.”

“Why?” Stitches asks.

“Something about nature’s graveyard. Apparently it’s a really decisive topic in the family. Half of them agree about it being a grave and the rest of them think it’s a nice place to think and relax.”

“Weird, but she’s right, it is nature’s graveyard. But there’s no reason why you can’t relax there,” Rocky says. “Just consider yourself a scavenger at said graveyard.”

“We should go on a nature hike,” Stitches says.

“No, an aquarium,” Mahanon insists. “A water park.”

“Do the bride and groom get any say in this?” Bull asks.

“No,” Every single child says, except for Grim who signs absolutely not! with emphasis.

“I love my bossy children,” Ellana says, opening her arms and sweeping as many of them as possible into them as possible, kissing each of them in turn, “But we’re going to a nature resort. There’s going to be horses. There’s a lake and a river, one of the two has fish, I already checked. It’s not a beach but it is a resort. There will be hikes available. And yes, Grim, there is also a farm so you can find sheep and chickens.”

Grim smiles.

All of them exchange glances. It’s not exactly what they wanted, but they suppose it’s good enough.

“Good thing you know our kids,” Bull says, “Because I think we’ve committed already.”

-

“I think it’s time we get a dog,” Ellana says.

“How do you figure?”

“House, paid for. Cars, enough. Children, plentiful. Finances, stable. Loving family, incomplete without a dog,” Ellana says. “Even my orphanage had a dog.”

“That was a stray dog, Ellana,” Solas says as he adjusts his glasses as he creates a knitting pattern on his laptop, “That wasn’t actually your dog.”

“I had a dog growing up,” Ellana continues.

“That still wasn’t your dog,” Solas says, “That was also a stray dog.”

“If you feed a stray, play with a stray, teach a stray dog to do tricks and respond to a name, isn’t he already your dog?”

“No.”

“My point is, it’s time for our family to get a dog.”

“Is there a reason why this discussion is happening right now?” Solas says before Bull can respond, “Instead of in your own home?”

“Because I want you to help me get Aunt Ghilan’nain give me access to her kennel so I can get my kids the best dog available,” Ellana says. “If it’s from her at least I know that nothing strange is going on there. And if we go to the pound they’ll immediately go for the sickest one there and that only ends in heartbreak.”

“Ghilan’nain and I are currently, as they say, on the outs,” Solas says. “So I cannot help you.”

“What did you do?” Bull asks as he flips through channels on Solas’ stupidly big television that’s solely used to watch Senate live feeds. A damn waste, really.

“Maybe my younger sister did something wrong, have you considered that?” Solas says, sounding a little snippy as Ellana rolls her eyes.

She turns to look over the back of the couch and through the hallway, “You kids better be quiet because you’re behaving.”

“Yes, mom,” Is the chorus that they’re greeted with. Bull believes none of it.

“So what did you do?” Ellana asks, putting her feet on Bull’s lap as she lies back and flips through pictures on her phone. Presumably of dogs that Ghilan’nain has been sending her information about.

“She’s wrong,” Solas says, “And I refuse to capitulate to her mulishness just because she can’t see reason.”

“Is it a maths problem?”

“It’s simple logic and statistics,” Solas says.

“What is it?” Bull asks.

“The Monty Hall,” Solas replies.

“Ah,” Bull blinks, “I retract my question. I don’t want to know anymore about this. This is a hot topic question and I am bowing out with grace.”

“Wise man,” Ellana says. “Pass that down onto our kids.”

“It’s in the will,” Bull says, settling on a really shitty looking horror film based on yeti’s. If anything it’ll by fun to watch Solas and Ellana’s commentary on the thing as well as their facial expressions. Its a sport of its own, really. Krem and Rocky pretend to commentate on it sometimes.

“Ask Jun. Jun and Ghilan’nain are always close,” Solas says, “Mutual respect for agriculture.”

“I can’t ask Uncle Jun,” Ellana says, “Because Uncle Jun keeps trying to sell me on getting them a goat. I don’t want them to have a goat. I want them to have a dog.”

“Is the dog for you or for them?”

“It’s for us as a family and we’re not getting a goat,” Ellana says. “I love my yard too much to release a goat onto it.”

“Ask Sylaise, then. At this moment in time I don’t think that she and Ghilan’nain are arguing about something.”

“If I ask Aunt Sylaise, Uncle Jun will find out and then it’ll turn into a thing about chickens. Remember the chickens, Dad?”

Solas grimaces, “We did eat well for a few months.”

“No chickens,” Ellana says firmly. “I’d rather the goat than the chicken.”

“Get the goat then.”

“I’d deeply prefer a dog.”

“You’d prefer?”

“For the family.”

“Right.” Solas hums and then says, “I can knit your new goat a sweater if you like. I can make it look like it has dogs on it.”

“We’re getting a dog,” Ellana says. “Right, babe?”

“Sure, babe,” Bull says, petting her leg.

They’re getting a cat, actually, but she doesn’t need to know that yet.

[tearlessrain]

Okay, Bright, here we go. The last time I watched a Netflix original it was so bad that it became the first liveblog I failed to see through to the end, so hopefully this will go better.

the fact that it’s by Trigger Warning Entertainment is REALLY not encouraging. like no matter how you interpret that it doesn’t lead anywhere good.

graffiti: “in the beginning god made all races equal (added: but elves are more equal)” THEY’VE ALREADY PERFECTLY CAPTURED ELVES IN A SINGLE TWO SECOND SHOT I’M IMPRESSED

I’m so into this graffiti I want to see this as like. actual street art where I live

okay so the Dark Lord is a running theme

will smith is waking up without a shirt again I’m having flashbacks to I, Robot please no

real talk though that fairy design is gorgeous. I mean it’s dead now (because everyone knows you can’t have a fairy/pixie in a modern fantasy unless someone kills it with a broom and says a one-liner within five minutes) but still

apparently orcs are into metal

will smith why are you being so mean to this orc he’s a good dude, you’re being even worse to him then you were to sonny and he didn’t deserve it either

oh god the elf district

it is EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT’S LIKE THIS IS AMAZING I can see thranduil thriving here

I don’t even really care about will smith or the plot I am living for this world building

again with the dark lord what is this

CENTAUR MOUNTED POLICE YES THIS IS ALL I’VE EVER WANTED

beardy shirtless dude flailing a large sword and yelling about the dark one… also known as a typical day in downtown seattle

seriously once I was driving on the freeway in seattle and traffic was held up because there was a guy walking around on the freeway with a hatchet

apparently the orc, jacoby, is part of some kind of prophecy, possibly also will smith

well he may be kind of a dick but will smith is at least defending jacoby

his characterization is a little weird and up in the air tbh

okay so apparently a bright is some kind of chosen one who can weild a magic wand, which in this world is an extremely powerful thing

okay this is a new development, the kid from Sia’s music videos has a magic wand and speaks elvish

ooh the arrogant guy is gonna touch the wand I’m sure this will go fine for him

he’s gonna die

oh he didn’t die okay

wtf now they want to KILL the orc? I thought they just wanted to fire him geez.

why is these peoples’ only solution to kill more people “what’s the plan” “kill them both” “what about the elf” “oh kill her too”

all right will smith is going rogue

good those people with the worst

this is kind of a tonally weird movie, just in general. like the way they’re choosing to frame certain scenes and pace things just seems slightly odd

like who are these people who just showed up they haven’t really been established but they’re acting like I should know them

uh oh here come some elves this seems bad

yeah definitely bad elves are bad news in this universe

whoa are we just not gonna talk about that dragon in the background of that establishing shot like that was a big dragon

seriously we’re just gonna

okay

these are some well designed evil elves

GUYS I FOUND SOLAS

oh come on are they seriously gonna have the villains kill a baby why does netflix have to be so Extra about everything

just stop ugh

this just in solas kills babies because netflix has NO CHILL (at least it wasn’t onscreen, just heavily implied)

the other barely established antagonists are coming

and now they’ve exploded don’t touch magic wands kids

ORC RAVE

I can’t tell whether FBI elf is evil or not but based on every other elf so far I don’t trust him

he SEEMS neutral at worst but I am suspicious. also of his human partner but only by association

elf girl has randomly changed demeanor completely and is now happy and smiling and curious about things okay

ooh look at us we’re netflix we can put nipples in our movies and say fuck and the n word and no one can stop us we’re so edgy and adult oooooh

aaand in come the vaguely established antagonists with machine guns again rinse repeat

okay here comes evil elf trio to end this

this emotional scene has been going on for a long freaking time, this feels like it could have been condensed into way less lines

at least the orc is reasonable

OH okay so ranger dude is down

here come the evil elves, again

[SOLAS DISAPPROVES]

[SOLAS GREATLY DISAPPROVES]

River Tam elf continues to basically be River Tam, but an elf

I know, intellectually, that this movie has a plot, but it just feels like a sequence of things happening

now will smith and jacoby have run afoul of an orc clan/gang

there is an orc mob boss and I kinda want his antler tree throne thing

there are so many good concepts in this movie but they’re not… doing anything with them. I mean they are but it feels kind of halfassed, like they were just “here’s this cool setting I guess we need some kind of plot so we can use it” and then just went with the first thing they could think of.

okay Mikey is not what I expected the orc boss’s son to be named

oooh mikey is the kid jacoby saved earlier

why does the boss still want to kill them that seems uncool

wait wtf they actually killed jacoby what, what even is the actual tone of this movie does anyone know

oh of course elf river has the deus ex machina stick nevermind we’re good

jacoby’s back yaaay, thanks deus ex machina stick!

“you’re a bright? would have been nice to know that!” how did you NOT know that will smith, how did you not know that the manic pixie dream elf running around with a deus ex machina stick was a bright because I’m pretty sure the ENTIRE audience has known that for at least an hour.

oh she can speak suddenly

and now elf river is dying because we need to manufacture a new source of tension or something

will smith is such a dumbass I’m sorry he just… is an idiot

it’s almost like he’s being…….. WILLfully stupid

I’m sorry it’s the cold medicine

oh okay coming back around to that orc prophecy finally

okay jacoby has argued some sense into will smith, again, now to go back to the FIRST place they had a shootout at tonight (really they could have cut out at least one of the four shootouts that sequentially occurred) to help elf river

Solas be creepin

someone is summoning the dark lord oh no

I think that’s what’s happening. I mean I THOUGHT they needed three magic wands to do that but why not.

wow just shot solas’s head clean off. millions of dragon age players just screamed out in envy

maybe if he’d gone to elf practice that wouldn’t have happened

all the evil elves are getting killed off so I assume that means this is the final climactic battle despite being pretty indistinguishable from every other fight so far

honestly it’s too dark to tell clearly what’s happening, especially since evil elf and river tam elf are almost identical when in motion

cool they killed all the evil elves so now they can heal river elf

BUT WAIT the one who looks almost identical is healing magically

woooo magic tree psychic healing I’m having avatar flashbacks

goddammit did she just kill the orc again

oh nooooo she has the deus ex machina stick

…. is she gonna make out with river elf wtf

oh no they just had a moment and now evil elf has risen dramatically to cause problems once again

“I am a warrior, a priestess, a lover…” are you fucking zevran arainai

oh hey orc dude is still hanging in there. no pun intended.

what is even happening

river elf is having a breakdown and her evil twin or something keeps shouting “it’s time to wake up”

okay who shot who this time

“you touch my wand, and it will splatter you all over the walls” haha that’s what he said

“we’re in a prophecy, right?” I don’t know, will smith, that’s been a bit of a vague plotpoint

of course will smith is the chosen one. not the hero we need, but perhaps the one we deserved for writing this plot

elf river nooooo we hardly knew ye. seriously you had like four lines who were you.

and now orc dude is going crazy and running into the burning building after the wand? okay?

oh no he was yelling “Ward” which is will smith’s name in this movie. that makes more sense (at least it’s a better name than Spooner).

okay so… the orc gangsters randomly showed up once they got out of the burning building and… accepted jacoby into their clan. or something. cool. it’s unclear why since they don’t really understand what happened in there and seemingly just got here.

the magic fbi has appeared. dun dun duuun

medals all around.

oh apparently elf river is alive. mysteriously in the distance. wooooo. what a surprise.

okay well I mean it wasn’t a bad movie necessarily, it was just kinda… the plot was an afterthought to the setting and because of that we didn’t really get to explore the setting. like, there are points where they drive past an orc gang, or drive through the elf district, or there’s a centaur policeman in the background, and you’re like “wow cool I want to know more about that” but instead you have to follow will smith and this one orc who actively avoids acting like an orc around while they mostly drive around, argue, go into a place, get shot at by bad guys, leave place, and go to the next place to get shot at again. and again, the places are mostly interesting, there’s the orc rave that looked like a lot of fun, there’s the casino/strip club place that was probably interesting, the protagonists didn’t work with the setting so much as get in the way of it. I think this would have been better as a tv show than a movie, and with a different dynamic between the main characters. maybe get someone other than will smith.

oh and by the way there was no real payoff for the constant dark lord references in act 1 (I think evil elf mentioned something about a dark lord once while she was chanting? but that was it), or the orc prophecy (I mean they passed off will smith being a bright as “the prophecy” but why him? make it the orc, you’ve just established that only elves and a few humans have ever been brights, that would have been something new and intriguing! no one’s here for will smith!) it just didn’t feel like they thought this out very well. 

had potential, but ultimately kind of disappointing. better than death note though.

[feyriane]

Thedosian Field Trips, p.8

Chapter 8: Dragonflies (Link to AO3) On Friday, after the morning briefing, Aena and her group went straight to the nearby river for the last experiment of their field work week. Sera was cackling ahead of her, happy to “finally play in the mud”, as she’s been screaming all the way. Strange, for someone who didn’t want to be associated with elves – and even less with the Dalish. But Aena’s friends contradictions didn’t bother her anymore. She was used to it by now. Crossing the line of trees, Aena finally arrived on the river bank. The river was calm, peaceful. Its waters were flowing gently and reflecting the rising sun – making them shine and sparkle – a beautiful sight, even in the morning. And its waters were blue. Blue and devoid of any eutrophication or pollution. Unlike back home… Ugh. Bitter. She felt bitter when thinking about it.

Clan Lavellan was dependent on the Minanter river for food, but the large cities upside of their reservation kept polluting it. The Dalish had brought up the problem to the humans countless times, but the cities representatives kept rejecting the fault on each other. The elves’ fight was getting them nowhere and the already poor reservation now had to buy food from the cities’ human merchants. No wonder the humans didn’t want to fix the pollution problem… It made her sad to think about it. Aena and her older sister had so often played in the river when they were kids. Now, none of the Lavellan children had that opportunity anymore – indeed, no parent would let them approach the polluted waters. Sighing, she joined the others and lowered on the ground the aquariums they would use to hold all the little aquatic animals they’d catch. Then they’d have to identify them all. She knew she would probably end up alone doing that job once again. Even sweet Bethany could not handle it for more than a few hours. Speaking of which, Bethany was already ankle-deep in the river, gathering the general water samples for chemical analysis. Was the water quality better or worse than the other years? They would eventually find out. The field report they had to write was so complex and long that Aena was starting to panick whenever she started thinking about it. So many things to do, so many statiscal analyses, and so little time. They had only a week to complete it once they’d be back at Denerim University. But oh well. They’d manage. As always. Bracing herself, Aena closed in on the members of her field group. Usually, she was a shy being… But here, she was among friends, wasn’t she? “Carver, come with me - we’ll recover the bags!” The big boy nodded at her. “Aye, aye, captain!” Aena took off her shoes and socks, carefully putting them to the side. Many people thought Dalish elves didn’t wear shoes in their reservations – and that surely had been true at one point – but it wasn’t the case anymore. She remembered Sera asking about it more than once – but the blonde elf was busy speaking with another student at the moment. Aena ventured in the water, followed by a grimacing Carver. The water was cold, but nothing Aena wasn’t used to. They both made it to the center of the river, where the current was twirling gently around nearly exposed rocks. That’s where the assistants had put them – bags of smaller rocks and pebbles, between which animals had surely found shelter by now. Sorry little guys, she thought. Carefully, Aena bent down and dislodged one of the bags from between the rocks. Carver was holding one of the empty aquariums, and she put the bags in it. When it was done, both of them went back to the river shore, where the other students were waiting. As Carver put the aquarium back to the ground, some of them looked inside, wondering if they could already spot some animals. “Come here, people!” Bethany shouted to everyone. All remaining students came closer, organizing themselves in groups of two. Soon, each group had a bag, two buckets and an empty aquarium. Aena found herself in a group with Carver. Sweet. He usually was quite persistent when assigned a task – so maybe she wouldn’t be alone for identification, this time. “Ready to find out which little beasties we got in there, Aena banana?” Aena rolled her eyes at the nickname but did not object. Even when they were ridiculous, she liked having nicknames. It meant people cared about her, right? It meant that she belonged? Right? “Ready!” She plunged her hand in the bucket, taking a handful of rocks and pebbles which she transferred in the other basin. When the dragonfly larvae crawled on her arm, Aena remembered Merrill’s words. Disgusting and awesome. That’s biology. *** Eventually, some of the field trip professors arrived. Harding passed by with another group of students, telling them about some of the particular geology of the region. “Beyond the river we can observe older geological formations… See?” said the geology teacher’s voice. Aena had that field session earlier in the week, so she didn’t listen to what Harding was saying. She stayed focused on the task at hand, giggling each time Carver was making a face as he pulled more and more little beasts from the water. “So this region is mainly formed of limestone rocks?” Oh. Solas was accompanying today’s geological field trip, it seemed. Just her luck. Harding’s group stayed, until Aena and Carver had finished collecting their animals. The other groups were already leaving… She wanted to trail behind and speak to Solas – or at least only admire him – but she couldn’t really do it discretely, could she? He was really fucking her up, she thought – before scolding herself for the rude thoughts. What was she becoming? Her older sister would likely be both horrified and delighted. Aena shook her head. “You coming, Aena banana?” Carver was holding their loot, looking at her expectantly. “I… uh. I’m going to stay a little, to hear what Harding is saying…” she lied. She was lying… Carver shrugged. “Suit yourself! ‘Going back to the station, I’ll wait for you.” Aena smiled while looking him go back to the forest. Aaaaaand… he was gone. Before she could turn back, a hand was on her shoulder. “Hello.” Solas was smiling at her. “You like geology that much?” he asked, almost innocently. She blushed. “Shut up…” Her voice was weak, and fortunately for her, Solas changed the subject. “Did you catch interesting things?” “Maybe. We’ll have to analyze the samples. Back… back at the station…” “I’ll see you in the laboratory, then… Later.” He teased. Creators… “Yeah… plenty of work to do. Ugh.” Solas smiled politely but did not add anything else before disappearing through the branches. Ha, was he disapproving of a student actually complaining about work? Wasn’t that the national sport in all universities? Maybe not in Arlathan. Aena distractedly noticed Solas wasn’t making any sound... Who didn’t make any sound while walking in a forest, really? “My, my, what a naughty girl you are.” She almost tripped on her own feet – a situation happening more and more frequently these days, she briefly realized. Standing upright again, it took her a moment to realize someone was standing between the trees right in front of her. His skin was tan and his blond hair were up to his shoulder, crowning him in an unreal gold light. Had magic existed in their world, Aena would have thought he was casting some spell on himself. He was grinning madly, apparently very satisfied of the effect he had on her. “Who are you?” she asked, suspicious. She was sure he wasn’t a student in biology. Granted, he could be from a different major – like Sera or Bethany. But still, she hadn’t even seen him once since the beginning of the field trip. Which was… kind of worrying? “Oh, let’s change the subject if you like!” the other elf smiled. Then to Aena’s great surprise, he bowed to her. “I am Zevran. Zevran Arainai. I’m sorry if I startled you. I was trying to find one of my dear friends, but instead I found a student making out with a teacher.” “You came back to the subject I wanted to avoid!” She croaked miserably. Okay he had to be that guy Sera had told her about, right? A friend of Isa’s? At least he couldn’t really denounce her to the Denerim University, could he? “Now, I am a simple man. And chivalrous, with that. I will say nothing about your little… adventure. But that is a story I’d like to hear about nonetheless.” “I… I don’t… I’m not sure…” Great, she was stammering now. This relationship was going to be hard if she reacted this way each time someone mentioned it… Of course, it was supposed to stay a secret. Failed step one. Good job, Aena. “Isa wasn’t lying when she told me you were pretty.” Zevran added as if it were nothing. She blushed, unable to find her voice as he kept staring at her with a lop-sided smile. “I’m sorry, I am embarrassing you.” He smiled gently. “Would you be kind enough to guide me to the other students? As much as I like wandering in the woods, I am rather tired right now.” “Yes, of course.” She answered, trying her best to regain her composure. “This way.” They started walking towards the station. Zevran did not ask about Solas again (to her relief) so she started asking him questions about himself. She learned that he was an exchange student from Antiva City and indeed an old friend of Isa’s. She wasn’t really sure she understood how they had met exactly – but given what the elf said, maybe it was better that way. “There’s the building.” She said when the old station suddenly came into view. They had crossed all the forest back, following the old rusted tracks. Timidly, she turned to Zevran. “Are you gonna stay here? I mean… sleep and all?” “Is that a proposal?” He winked. Aena rolled her eyes. What had she done to the world – to be surrounded by people like that?

[vir-tanadahl]

Sequel to As the Moon Rises.

Summary: With the Inquisition now disbanded, Isera sets her goals on stopping Solas by showing him a different way to change the world. The former Inquisitor, Banreas, has taken a smaller role to defeat Solas, if necessary, with little interest in other political affairs. Isera, with new found political influence, is using her power to collate elven associates who seek to better the elves without destroying the world. But will they be successful?

F!Lavellan x Solas

Ch1 | Ch4

Original art work by @nemileh

The travel back to the Citadelle du Corbeau is during the night and as swift as possible. Merrill asked question after question, to which Isera answered to the best of her ability.

Isera finds Merrill incredibly sweet, but she would be kidding herself if Merrill was not using her sweetness as a tactic to lure others into a false sense of security. She has this innocence about her that makes others think that she is weak when she, in fact, is not.

“You are so lucky to be bestowed with just a gift from Mythal.” Merrill hums as they trot along the road.

Isera shakes her head. “Lucky is one way to describe it.” Isera murmurs as she glances up at the sky. The boon has assisted her when needed, but Solas was right—she is no longer herself in one way. She is bound to Mythal, a slave, and can be called upon at any time. Isera would have no bodily choice but to obey.

“You do not think so, Isera? To be serving one of the Gods is a great honor.” Merrill says staring at her.

“They aren’t Gods, Merrill.” Isera answers, her tone is polite but firm.

Merrill sighs. “You believe him? The Dread Wolf?” She asks. Only the inner council knew Solas’s true identity. Perhaps it would have been easier to tell the Elven Council that Solas is actually Fen’harel and he wants to tear down the Veil. That his goal is to restore his people by destroying this world. But then the People would want his blood.

“I do believe him.”

“Isera, he lied to you about who he was! How can you trust him?” Merrill presses turn her hart closer to Isera’s. “You say you want to protect the People, but could you do it? Put a dagger in his heart to protect all of us?”

No. “Yes,” Isera answers firmly, but her voice is high.

“Is he the father?”

Isera jerks her head to the side, looking at Merrill in surprise and fear. She does not answer.

“Merrill…” Isera whispers, her voice unable to conjure more words.

Merrill is shaking her head. “Isera, I trust you to lead us. I am confident that you have built this council to represent our People. I have promised to keep your secrets. But know this,” Merrill stares Isera down. “There may be a time where you will have to choose between him or the People.”

Isera looks away, her head cast down. “I know.”

There is a hidden meaning in Merrill’s statement. Merrill will kill her to protect the People if need be. Isera closes her eyes, pulls her shoulders back as she tilts her head up in pride—she wouldn’t have it any other way. -- They arrive at the keep in the early hours of the morning. Merrill is off of her hart faster than Isera thought possible. She quickly runs into the arms of Carver. He looks bashful at the sudden display of public affection.

Fenris and Banreas stand next to Carver, laughing among themselves. Isera dismounts and walks towards them.

“Commander.” Isera nods toward Fenris. “Herald.” Isera grins at Banreas as the word flows off of her tongue.

“Halan'ghillan” They answer in unison.

Banreas glances at Fenris. “We have news to share, sister.” He announces as he motions to go within the building.

Isera frowns. She had planned on seeing her daughters. “Can it wait?” She asks.

“I’m afraid not,” Fenris announces as they walk into the war room reserved for the inner circle. “There have been attacks.” He states as he opens the door to the chamber.

“Men that are decorated in armor similar to Solas’s?”

They glance at each other before looking at her. “How did you know?” Banreas asks.

“We were attacked at the Temple of Mythal.”

Banrea jerks his head and stares at her. “Why would you go back there?” He demands. His hands are balled into a fist resting on the table.

Isera blinks. “Merrill and I were searching the Fade for information to help us.” Her voice is hesitant as she answers.

“Isera—really? For him? To stop him?” There is a strain in his voice. He is angry with her. “Get your head out of the clouds, Isera. He is not worth saving. You should focus on protecting the People and raising your children!” He berates her.

Isera snarls at his word that cut deep into her heart. “I am protecting the People, Banreas. While you run around attempting to kill him, what have I built?” She shouts. “Where were you for the last six years while I raised the People up?” She slams her hand onto the table.

“I have given everything to the People. Don’t you dare question my loyalty, brother.”

The twins continue to stare each other down. The room is thick with tension as Fenris coughs awkwardly next to Banreas, apparently had been forgotten about in the feud.

“I have chosen a second-in-command, at any rate.” Fenris continues. “A young man by the name of Taminsan.”

Isera breaks her stare with her brother to look at Fenris. “I would like to meet him.” She tells him. “Any other news?” She asks, her tone hard and quick. “If not, I want to see my daughters.” Isera is annoyed and upset.

Fenris shakes his head. “No. I will arrange for you to meet Taminsan later tonight if that is sufficient for you.”

“It is,” Isera answers as she turns and leaves the room without another word. Her skin is hot and lungs tight as she storms away from the chamber. She blinks back the tears that are forming as she makes her way to the classroom where the Elders teach the mages of the Clans. Sora and Veira are in separate groups learning basic defensive wards. Each group of children is being watched by a Second from the Clans.

When the class ends, Isera walks down the stairs to greet her children.

They yell when they see her as they rush towards her. She had been gone for almost a week and seeing them brings joy into her heart, the anger from earlier slowly fading away. “Darlings!” Isera calls as she bends down to hug them. The twins are quick to delve into their stories and games they played while she had been gone.

“Uncle B is fun too.” Sora giggles. “He let us play with his fancy arm!”

“Oh, did he?”

“Mom, I want a fancy arm like Uncle!” Veira announces, thrusting her arm into the air and wiggling her fingers. “It’s all glow-y and magic-y.”

Isera laughs. “Maybe we can ask Danga to make something like Uncle B’s?” Isera suggests as she takes her daughter's hands and leads them back to her room.

Solas should be taking the girls for the rest of the day. When Isera walks into her quarters, a black bird is sitting on her desk.

“Hello, Solas.” She greets as she watches he transforms back into his humanoid form.

The girls are giggling as they rush up to him. He hugs them with a smile on his face. Isera can’t help but wonder if it was indeed him who sent the men to the Temple of Mythal. He would have been unaware of her presence.

Isera is becoming acutely aware of the brewing war against him will begin to impact her—spefically the girls. If he begins advancing his men onto her land, she would be forced to retaliate by order of the Council. But they agreed to not speak of each other’s plans—if it were not for the girls, Solas would not be here.

She smiles as he takes the girls through the eluvian. He says something on he way out, but Isera does not hear him. There is a heaviness in her chest and body as she falls into her bed. She is tired of the masquerade. But she will endure, for her children.

There is a knock at her door, a squire informing her that Fenris would like to speak with her. Isera nods as she heads for his office.

Fenris is leaning against his desk as a young man is talking to the seamstress as he holds something in his hand.

“How is the fit?” the seamstress asks as she takes the cloth back, rubbing the soft leather between her bony fingers.

“The binder is tight around the arms.” The man indicates by showing the red lines around his shoulders. “It makes it harder to swing the blade.”

The seamstress nods. “Perhaps we use a different material near the arms for increased flexibility.” She taps her finger on her lips. “Yes, yes that could work. I shall work on that now.” She mutters as she wanders out of the room.

Fenris stands as he walks over to Isera. “Taminsan. I would like to introduce you to Isera, the leader of the Elven Council.”

Taminsan tenses as he looks at her. “Halan'ghillan!” He stutters out. “…My lady!...Ma’am!” The young recruit stands with his shoulders pulled back tight.

Isera smiles. “Relax.” She tells him. “I hear you are to be our second in command?” She asks as she nods to Fenris.

“Yes, ma’am.” He answers, his shoulders still pulled tight.

“You can call me Isera, Taminsan.” Isera motions as she moves to sit on a nearby couch. Taminsan glances at Fenris, who nods, before he relaxes and slowly follows her.

“Yes…Isera.” Taminsan answers. Isera can tell the words are awkward on his tongue.

Fenris coughs. “Taminsan is skilled in many weapons, including the polearm, and has been leading a small platoon to defend the borders for some time now. He has a high approval both with the Council and the men and women who serve us.”

Isera nods. “And what is he meant to lead?” She asks, turning to look at Fenris. He hums in thought. “Merrill once shared a story of knights who protected the borders of the Dales…the…” Fenris pauses trying to recall the story.

“The Emerald Knights, sir.” Taminsan answers.

“Correct,” Fenris concludes. “I seek to make him the leader of a new division of Emerald Knights.” He continues. “With the hounds sent over from Ferelden, it would be a most…amiable partnership.”

“Ah,” Isera hums. “You seek to create the Emerald Knights once more?” Isera asks.

Fenris nods in confirmation.

“Taminsan, may we speak alone?” Isera asks as she motions for her to join him on the bench. Fenris nods as he departs from his office.

Taminsan moves to sit next to Isera, but he is clearly nervous as he waits for her to speak. “Tell me about yourself, Taminsan,” Isera asks.

Taminsan nods. “I am from Clan Alerion before we came to join the Council. I have trained extensively with multiple weapons and have lead men around the Citadelle du Corbeau.” He concludes.

Isera smiles. “Yes, Fenris shared that. But I want to know about you Taminsan.”

Taminsan looks away in thought, there is a redness across his cheeks and on the tips of his eyes. “Oh,” He mumbles. “I have a sister who is in Llomerryn. I like playing Diamondback.” He pauses. “Forgive me…Isera…” Her name is slow from his lips. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“Everything. You are going to be second in command of the Emerald Knights, no?”

“Yes…but…”

“You are worse than Fenris when I tried to talk to him too.” Isera frowns as she leans into the couch. “You will be part of the inner council now. I like to get to know the people who work for the Elven Council.” She pauses. “Plus, I find people are more willing to discuss things with me when they know that I am more than the name the People call me.”

She stands. “At any rate, it will be good to have the Emerald Knights return.”

Taminsan stands, following Isera as she begins to walk. “You give your approval then? We can restore the Knights?”

Isera turns to look at him. “Approval? Please.” Isera hums. “Fenris had the approval from the Senate long before he told me.” Despite the creation of the Senate, people still desire for her approval on things, even if the Senate has voted to move forward with a petition.

Taminsan looks away. “I only meant…to seek your blessing, Halan'ghillan. You must be blessed by the Gods to carry the elves this far!” His voice is full of hope as he looks back at her.

Isera smiles but it does not meet her eyes. “I am not touched by divine forces, da’len.” She tells him. “I will not give you a blessing if you seek it under the guise of Halan’ghillan. I will, however, strive to support the Emerald Knights in other ways as the leader of the Elven Council. Armor is more efficient way at stopping arrows and blades than prayers, no?” She turns and begins walking away from the soldier.

Solas once told her that the Gods came to be as a desire for simplicity. First, they were respected leaders, then respected generals, and then they became Gods. She created an order when there was none, she gave the elves political power and a home when there was none. It is an easy excuse to say she is touched by the Gods, just as it was when Banreas lead the Inquisition.

But this is not the work of the Gods.

---

Briala is rushing towards her panic in her face as Isera walks the gardens. “He’s here!” She says as she begins to motion Isera to follow her. "Why are you not dressed?" She demands.

Isera’s eyebrows furrow as she follows Briala. She glances down at the simple dress she is wearing before looking back at Briala. “Who is?” She asks as she tries to keep pace.

“King Alistair!” Briala answers with exhaustion. “He is accompanied by the elven representatives from Northern and Southern Ferelden!”

Her shoulders tighten, and her body feels hot. “I thought they were coming next week!” Isera whispers, her voice is harsh and low. It is barely noon and this day has been chaos since she returned.

“No, it is the week. I have arranged to have the King placed in the tower hall, the room that overlooks the villages and river. We have people cleaning and organizing the room to suit his stature. The representatives will be in nearby rooms as well.” Briala informs her as they walk into Isera’s quarters.

“You are not dressed to greet royalty.” She states as she throws open the closet door. She halts when she sees the inactive mirror. “Why is there an eluvian in your closet?” Briala asks as she side eyes Isera.

Isera takes a deep breath. “Merrill and I have been attempting to access the cross roads covertly.” She answers. Her response is partly true.

“The Senate does not know?”

Isera’s lips tighten at the question. “No.” She answers.

“Ah,” Briala hums. “Probably for the best at this moment.” She replies as she pulls out an appropriate elven designed gown for Isera to put on. Isera can tell that Briala, her spymaster, is not happy with being excluded from the covert task, but Briala won't challenge her right now.

They have created an elaborate of their role in the Council. Isera is the face, apparent leader, Briala is the left hand, Fenris the right hand and the body is the Senate, and the heart is the People.

Isera is quick to change as they head to the Great Hall of the Keep. Fenris and Merrill are standing in front of the King and representatives of Ferelden. Tamensin is standing off to the side in the armor designed for the Emerald Knights.

Isera and Briala walk through the side door. “King Alistair,” Briala sings as she walks into the Great Hall with confidence. The room is full of the People and Elven Council and the small section of Ferelden Army.

The King shifts to the side, recognizing Briala. “Right, hello.” He greets. There is a man next to the King, his brooch indicating to Isera that he is the King’s Hand, coughs with force. “Standing before you is King Alistair of Ferelden!” He announces.

“I think they figured that out, Henry.” The King waves his hand to dismiss the man. “Who else would they think I was?”

The man grimaces at the King’s dismissal but remains silent.

Briala steps forward. “It is a pleasure to see you again, King Alistair. I am pleased to introduce you to Commander Fenris, Advisor Merrill, and Lady Isera.” She announces as she motions to each individual. “We welcome you to the Elven Council.”

Alistair nods. “Wait, have I met you two before?” He points to Fenris and Merrill, staring at them intensely.

“Oh, yes!” Merrill replies with excitement. “In Kirkwall after that terrible spat with the Knight-Commander.”

He frowns. “Right, right.” Alistair’s eyes narrow in thought. “You were associates of the Champion of Kirkwall?”

“Yes!” Merrill answers with unbridled cheerfulness.

Isera steps forward. “It is a pleasure to meet you, King Alistair.” She curtsies out of respect, but she can feel the ambivalence in the air from her people of the action.

“Oh, right. Are you the Dalish Queen, then?” He asks.

She can see the two elven representatives from Ferelden stiffen at his words. The red hair one shakes her head and throws her arms in the air.

Isera freezes, a polite smile stuck on her face as the People gasp in shock. “I am afraid you are mistaken, your Majesty. The People are not exclusively of Dalish origin, and we have no Queen.” She politely corrects. Alistair sighs his face tinted red. “Maker! I knew I should have waited for Lyna. My apologies, Isera and to your People.”

The two elves behind them approach. “Perhaps we should have introductions as well?” the blonde haired one with the vallaslin suggests, her voice is soft but demanding.

Alistair straightens. “Right, of course. Please meet Keeper Lanaya of the Southern Ferelden Dalish Clan and Bann and,” Alistair pauses, staring at Shianna. “Ha-ran, Shianni the Denerim Elven representative.”

“It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Isera responds her arms open. “I am sure you are tired from your journey. Come, we will show you to your rooms. We can have high tea afterward.” Isera suggests as she motions for them to follow her.

Once they are alone, Alistair releases a sigh. “I knew I should have waited for Lyna. I nearly caused a war in there. I called you a Queen!” He turns to Shianni. “I told you I wasn’t good at human politics; why did you think I would be any better at elven politics?” He complains.

Isera tries to restrain from giggling. She had met the King once before after the defeat of Corypheus and read letters he wrote to Banreas. The King’s honesty and humor are refreshing compared to the Great Game in Orlais.

Shianni shrugs. “You could have been worse.” She answers her short red hair bouncing with every step. “Ha-ran.” She mimics his voice.

“Hah-ren, hah-ren,” Alistair repeats correctly. “This is why Lyna needed to be there.”

“The Hero of Ferelden will be here soon, King Alistair. I’m sure she will laugh at you too.” Keeper Lanaya jokes.

The King scoffs. “Oh, I know she will. That is her favorite past time, don’t you know?” Alistair turns to look at Isera. “I am sorry, though. I hope this hasn’t caused a political rift.”

Isera smiles. “It is quite all right. I’m sure Keeper Lanaya or Bann Shianni can explain the political structure of the Elven Council.” Isera turns to look at Lanaya and Shianni. “It is nice to meet you—we have corresponded much over the years.”

The Keeper nods. “We are both happy to be here. We are happy someone has established a home for the People. We only hope to expand” Lanaya pauses to look at Alistair. “With only the best intentions, of course.”

Alistair looks at her. “Look,” he says at Isera stops in front of the rooms. “I have worked closely with both of you to establish laws protecting the elves and providing equal rights. I would seek an alliance between the elves and Ferelden, not war.”

“That is assuring, King Alistair. I’m sure we have time to talk politics later.” Isera offers as she opens the door to the Tower Hall. “I will have the servants bring up hot water if you seek to bath and some refreshments.” She states as she turns to take her leave.

[thevhenan]

Mass Effect Andromeda Impressions/Adventures #2:

Everything under cut~

Up to getting Jaal and then finding the scientists. 

I have pictures!

I was thinking about going through the whole story in these but that is A LOT of work so I'll cut it down to the interesting bits of my journey.

First off, I want to say even though I'm playing Female Ryder people weren't kidding when they said Male Ryders VA sounded like a clone of Nolan North. HOLY SHIT. I mean, I kind of heard it in the trailers but it wasn't until I seen some gameplay I was like WTF. I mean, just give Male Ryders VA half the jobs and Nolan the others and we'll have that voice everywhere (even though Nolan is almost everywhere in the first place). Speaking of which, is it just me or this NPC an actual clone of default Scott? Just different hair. MY BROTHER IS AWAKE GUYS. 

At first I had an 'off' feeling about the Initiative/Jean Garson. It felt... kind of propaganda-y. Sanctuary in ME3 if you will. I'm hoping she won't be a villain esp. because her VA is trans but another part of me thinks in might be an interesting twist. At least thinking she might not be dead and maybe there is some sort of conspiracy there. I don't know. I get like there is more to her story.

The animations aren't nearly as bad as people acted like they were. They even have some good animations *gasp*. Of course the ones people nitpick are the only ones I've seen that are pretty bad but that's it. I also think a lot of the 'problems' stem from the eyes which is a lot less noticeable if you picked a preset that is asian/doesn't have big eyes/brown eyes. Other than that the graphics are way better and most of the animation isn't even that bad. I have faith that the longer the game is out the more that is patched. Take DA:I for example, I don't even think most of those animations needed to be patched but they did it anyway.

I like the Tempest but I think I would have preferred stairs as opposed to ladders... Ladders wouldn't have been so bad if you didn't auto climb them.  Kind of messes up the flow? The see through floor is pretty cool though although I almost had a heart attack the first time. I also like that the crew has bunk beds  and stuff, makes it feel more natural and the board they talk on is a cute touch. Also, I know we have a lift but I rarely use it because??? I don't know.

THE PYJAK IS SO CUTE AND YOU GET BANTER FROM THE CREW. 100% worth it if only for him (yes I decided that the pyjak is male). I loved how he was in one of the crews bed. Best boy ever. 

I so far really like the worlds (only been to two playable areas) they are so pretty but so far I prefer not having the Nomad.  I don't know, I like not having to worry about air/enviorment just enemies and CHARGING INTO THEM YEAHHHHHHH. Anyway, kind of wish the Nomad could climb for days like the Mako but hey, at least it doesn't take fall damage.

Some of the side quest are really fun. I think with the scanner you can do more mystery solving so it allows for a lot of options. Kind of reminds me of the Batman games in that aspect. 

I'm really interested in Alec's story which makes me infuriated because all those memory fragments are in places I can't reach. CURSE YOU GAME. My completionist ass upset. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the addition to the codex where it not only tells you your relationship with your crew and decisions regarding them but your more major decisions and your personality!!!! Tbh the personality system seems a little Myer Briggs to me. Like, Head vs. Heart is T vs. F and Formal vs. Informal is P vs J. I'm an INFJ so unsurprisingly I'm heart and formal. I didn't even really want her to be that formal but Idk myself seeped in? That or I just think being polite to new species and people is the way to go. I'm personally pretty formal until I know you well enough. It's more...safe?

I really like the Sudoku type puzzles. At first I didn't understand but then I was like 'oh this is sudoku'. It might be a little much for regularly doing it but you don't have to do it that much so I'm fond of it.

My opinions on companions/others currently:

Cora: I LOVE HER. Tbh I thought she'd be more cold and closed off but she's not, which is good. Of course being cold at first isn't bad either. Like, that's how I am but she's a lot warmer than I expected. She's serious but warm, I like that. I especially like the kind of inside joke between her and Ryder at the beginning about Dragons. Hey, talk about dragons when we first meet and you have yourself a friend for life. 

Liam: I figured he'd be really friendly but man, Liam is just the best. You instantly feel bonded with him (and Cora!!). I don't know why the hell people keep comparing Vetra and Jaal to Garrus when Liam is more like him than either. Hell, I knew that going in. I mean, Liam is for sure more optimistic and 'I LOVE EVERYONE' (though apparently he doesn't like Vetra very much???). Still, former cop CHECK, techie CHECK, designated bffl CHECK. Like? IS it because he's human? Okay internet. I mean in all honesty I wouldn't compare any of these new squadmates to older characters but if you had to Liam would be more like Garrus than any other. Vetra shares the sister thing with Garrus but that's literally it. Off on a tangent. Still, Liam is great and I'm such a sucker for his accent. Could hear him talk all day. Please, talk all day Liam. Narrate my life.

Vetra: OF COURSE I LOVE VETRA. She has a certain swag about her especially when you first meet her you are like SMOOTH, NICEEEE. I mean, okay I suppose you can compare it to when you first see Garrus in ME2 (but that's it okay and I'm done talking Garrus!!!). She is a little closed off and I like that. She's really cool. Unfortunately I still don't feel like I know that much about her besides she's a smuggler and cares a lot about her sister (and her sister is really cute!). Anyway, her and Jaal are leading my 'who I should romance' poll in my head. I don't know, I guess I'll decide after both their personal mission. Right now I feel like I know Jaal better even with him being closed off a bit. I also wish during one on one convos you could see her eyes better :/. It seems like in cutscenes you can but when you are just talking to her it's harder to see them. I WANT TO SEE YOUR PRETTY EYES. And sorry, I'm being weird and creepy. I'll stop.

Peebee: I like her lots. I didn't know if I'd really like her voice at first, same with Cora but once I talked to them in game I was in love. EVERYONE HAS SUCH NICE VOICES. Her voice really fits her. I like her personality a lot but she still is still pretty secretive along with Vetra. Can't wait to know more. I do think Ryder and her would get along and do get along quite well because they both love exploring. I really am into their interactions so far.

Drack: Okay, I admit I was a bit skeptical about Drack. Like look, I'm a Krogan fan but I know Grunt and Wrex and a lot of Krogan we've encountered were quite similar (the males at least) and I was hoping Drack wouldn't be just a copy. He's pretty wise and cares so much about his grandaughter. It's ridiculously sweet. And yeah, he's still pretty combat heavy but that's what I expected. Anyway, I was hoping he wasn't  just another stale stereotype and so far he's exceeding expectations so I'm happy and really like him.

Jaal: He's as great, I was a bit nervous he was over hyped but he really is great. I'm really interested in him and his culture and everything. The interaction between him and Ryder is top notch and I feel the chemistry so right now he's a front runner for me to romance. I mean, look at my favorite romances and it's really no surprise I like him. He has a mysterious type air that I'm all about and Angara have such interesting eyes! I just got him yesterday so his personality hasn't settled as much as the others but basically, he's worth the hype to me (though I do think the people wanting to f him right off the bat were a bit much but hey who am I to judge). I got to know him and I like him.

Suvi: She's so dreamy even her voice *sigh*. She kind of has a voice that has a dream like quality like Solas' voice (whether you hate him or not he has a dream like voice, you can't deny it it's likely done on purpose because the fade and such). She's also so cute and a scientist and religious. She makes me think if Josie and Leliana from Dragon Age had a baby she would their offspring. Yeah, needless to say can't wait to romance her. I'm not going to do it this round because personally  don't feel like she fits well with my character as Vetra and Jaal do but I'm for sure going to role up a cute lady to romance her. She's so happy and loves her work and exited and perfect jaodlkjaodad. Yeah, she's my type.

Gil: I REALLY like Gil. They did a good job with making likable crew omg. He reminds me of a mix between Alistair and Dorian from Dragon Age. That'S MY JAM. Having a lack of m/m romances is horrible but ya'll Gil is the shit and I don't appreciate people saying he's 'uninteresting' and 'bad romance'.  I just really like him a lot and it was so fun playing poker with him ^^. I feel bad because the codex said I 'lied' about cheating but TBH they made me do it in the first place. I wouldn't have done it if I had the choice. I didn't lie. I just didn't tell the truth. That's the thing about poker anyway, right? God, I feel bad now.

Lexi: HER VOICE YA'LL. I feel like she's the new Seth Green of the series. The celebrity that will stay through the whole series (if there is one). Also, the fact that she and Joker are not interested in the main character and like someone else. EDI for Joker and Drack for Lexi. Anyway, I like her and if I didn't like her her voice is enough. Still, she's fun to talk to so far.

Kallo: He's a cutie. I'm really happy for him. Don't know wtf there is going on with him and Gil but w/e. He's a good pilot. Not too much of an opinion yet because I don't feel like I got to know him as much unfortunately but I'm exited to learn more about his personality!

Options so far (That I can think of):

More Emotional, More Formal

Cares about Dad (took heart options when it game to Alec)

Told truth to Scott about dad, lied about Andromeda Okay to be fair though I figured we'd get it better by the time he wakes up and I don't want him to lose hope after telling him his Dad died. I want him to pull through and you pull through with hope. I didn't want to lie and I kind of wish there was a third option because I didn't want to say ‘IT'S SUPER HORRIBLE LOL’ but I didn't want to say ‘IT'S AMAZING’ either. Just like 'We hit a few bumps but we're on our way to making it better'. Maybe the truthful option said that but it didn't seem like that from the text.

Lied to Gil about cheating  (look above to see explanation)

Set up Science outpost Female Ryder is all about the science, Liam and Vetra said science and Science will help more in the long run and help the people that are already here that are suffering.

Set the guy who 'committed the murder' free This was a hard one and I forgot his name so forgive me. But bottom line, he didn't do it. Whatever his intentions were he still didn't actually commit the crime. I do think there should have been punishment but he didn't need life or be executed because of something he didn't actually do.

And that's it so far! I'll give more thoughts later.

[shinynewtoysyndrome]

Previously on the Finale of Beywarriors: Cyborg, Part 1

Bran, the big bad: Sayonara, suckers. Hope you like Savage Destroyer! Don't feel too bad that your planet is a worthless piece of shit.

Ramon, el freaky fish guy: Language, amigo.

Abridger's note: Ramon is Hispanic here for obvious reasons. He wasn't Hispanic in the Toonami English dub.

Al: Fish guy got better abs than me. Alright fangirls. Forget blandie. Ship me with the fish guy!

Ramon: My name is Ramon. You're killing my homeworld. Prepare to feel our collective wrath.

Bran: As if. These human nations couldn't collude even if their lives depended on it.

Nico, in an over-the-top hero voice (which if you think about it is his normal everyday voice): THAT'S WHERE YOUR WRONG, FIEND.

Bran: You're lying, bland kid. Go home and, I dunno, emigrate to the Orb Union or something. You'd fit right in.

Nico: My patriotic fervor makes a nonsense of your obtuse attempts at making fun of my perceived lack of a personality.

Flame Trio, along with their Bey Warrior Bit Beast Cyborg thingies: 'Sup Vanilla.

Nico: I'm still not getting it. Why are you calling me that?

Flame Trio: Is it seriously not getting to you that we think you're bland.

Nico: Look, if we all took too much time on personal matters like you do, we're never gonna get the job done.

Al: Well that makes sense.

Flame Trio: A consummate professional. We respect that.

Nico: That's not what you said the other times.

Flame Trio: Just run and set the plan in motion. We've got this.

Nico: Good call.

Flame Trio: Nope, we don't got this.

Nico: Oh, come on. Do I have to do everything around here?

Flame Trio: Just go, you walking piece of cardboard.

Gai: You're not the only one who's got this.

Bran: Guy, I thought we had something evil together.

Gai: Oh, I've been saving such a redeemed hero speech for this.

Voiceover: Attention people of Teslandia. Apparently we've all been played like a bunch of suckers and the real enemy had always been that alien dude named bran. Uggghhh. He must dine on gluten and all that. Anyway, that trio of military dudes plus that burly vigilante guy are all playing hero.

Prime Minister of the Lightning State: Didn't we hire that no-nonsense cardboard kid to play our hero? Why hasn't he upstaged them yet #Lightin'FuckYeah

Ramon: Madre de Hydra Akheilos.

Nico: Okay, so we got Dragoon in place. What now.

Dr. Prost but now has Cryaotic's personality: Hey Blue. Red here and I were just about to use that blowhard's technology against him.

Nico: How long will it take?

Dr. Prost: It should be done by-

Sola: MOTOR SKILLS!

Dr. Prost: Agggghhhh

King August the Dramatic: Here I come for my heroic redemption arc.

Bran: So you're all betraying me left and right. Touching, you're all united now. Filthy swine.

King August the once bad but now good: Ahh, to be rounded and complex. Wouldn't you say. This is how heroes are meant to be. BYRONIC! EAT YOUR HEART OUT, uhh...

Marius: Nico, sire!

King August the temperamental: Smithers, release the Warriors!

Marius: Yes sir!

Bran: You can't win, I'm too powerful.

Nico: That's what you think!

Flame Trio, King, Smithers, and Gai: Great. Upstaged once again by off-brand Canadian hero product.

Bran: You were better off with Johnny Test.

Nico: The joke's on you because I have no idea what that is!

Nico: Oh you have got to be kidding me.

Bran: Awww, does widdle bland kid want to run home to his gramps.

Nico: I'm a brunet.

Everyone: YOU'RE A BLOND.

Bran: A dumb blond.

King August the Blond: I am offended by that.

Nico: Blond as in yellowish hair or bland as in nondescript and lacking in features.

Al: Darn it, why does everyone get to be a hero but me? I've got better abs than all these suckas.

Gai and Ramon: AHEM.

Nico: As if you need to be ripped to be a hero.

Gai: You bit thingy may be stronger than me, but I can still make things haaaa-

Gai: SHIT WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH.

Nico: I know right?

King August the Observant: We dented it.

Gere of the Flame Trio: We'll dent it again.

Both: GOOOO SHOOOOOOT

Nico: I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!

All three of them: But we're not yet dead.

Al: Bring out your dead!

Nico: I understood that reference!

Ramon: Of all the references bland man could've gotten. Anyhow, ninos, while you were battling, I was making sure that Bran was distracted. Now go extract the energy from that behemoth and lets finish this. Vamos!

Bran: You can-

Ramon: And now you'll be done in by your own pocket dimension tech.

Bran: FUUUUUUUCCCK

Ramon: What do you know. The blue guy with the abs beat the villain.

Al: I don't think he's using the Spanish language correctl-oowwwww using Lightning Griffin as a shield hurts. But if this shared pain means being a hero, so be it.

Nico: They did their part. Now it's my turn!

Al: He did it.

The rest of them: All that character development to be upstaged by a talking piece of cardboard.

Nico: Awww, shucks guys. We all did it. Together.

Gere: Wait, so your normal personality is a humble, friendly, socially awkward teen?

Nico: I thought that was obvious.

Gai: We went around thinking you didn't have one, what with your near monomaniacal obsession with acting the part of the hero.

Nico: PROFESSIONALISM!

Prime Minister of the State of Lighting: Lightning, Fuck Yeah.

Ramon: Wait, amigos. Something isn't right.

Nico: Well, thank you, Ms. Clavell.