#nopantsfriday

[dalishious]

I found you before through various posts but I finally clicked on #TemplarTryst after reading your Chasind master post and sorting through your meta. Your sarcasm, humor, and thorough dissection of things is great and I finally had context and screen shots for ambient dialogue I only had partial context for. So thank you for your hard work and thank you for sharing your thoughts. (As well as linking all those posts you referenced, they were stellar as well).

I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my stuff, I hope I can continue to give things that are worth reading! <3

[ellstersmash]

I sent an ask through mobile but tumblr acted really weird (more so than usual lol) so Imma send you another one if that's okay. WIP Wednesday: the word grip/grips/gripped

No worries! Obvs, it did go through ;) but I’m always down for more words. lol I have “grip” a couple times, but none from sentences that I haven’t shared before. :(

Thanks anyway!! ♥

The Game: Send me a word; if it’s in my WIPs, I’ll share the line with you!

[neofinone]

Model @jasminejaynee #tdastudio #blackandwhitephotography #nikon #d810 #nopantsfriday #melbourne #melbournephotography (at TDA Studios) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIfW9arhA3Z/?igshid=1e1dvbw0ahym8

[onesparrow]

Softer Words: 3, 14, 17

i do not believe in love at first sight. but god damn. (look at you.)

Ari/Cullen, Pacific Rim AU. Rated T. Also on AO3

If pressed, there are a lot of things Ari would claim she believes in; flannel being the most comfortable material, gelato’s superiority to ice cream, that the Titan Program is the only shot they have at closing the breach. If the gods are still around, she believes that they stopped caring a long time ago. Deep down, she believes that she won’t make it out of this fight in one piece, but that her brother will. More than anything else, she believes in her ability to take down a Ghastann in a Titan, even if she’s never set foot in the drift.  

There are just as many things that Ari does not believe in; using pick-up lines, the wall’s ability to be anything more than an eyesore, and sleeping with socks on. She doesn’t believe in love at first sight any more than she believes that the gods sent the Ghastann out of the fade as a punishment.

Standing in the pouring rain while staring down their new Titan pilot, she still doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but goddamn is she positive that they’re perfectly drift compatible. She gives him a once over, quickly cataloging details, as Cassandra introduces them; the way his hair is starting to curl at the ends from the rain, the deep shadows under his eyes and the hollows under his cheekbones, the shy set of broad shoulders, the scar that cuts through his lip, how his curious gaze catches on her own scars. She’s so busy taking him in that she nearly physically startles when his mind brushes against hers, a light touch tinged with curiosity and a strong undercurrent of hope. Ari isn’t sure if he’s just unaware of what he’s doing or if he was never taught any manners, but she pushes him right back out.

He’s not what I expected, she tells Cassandra, keeping her voice neutral.

Better or worse? Cullen asks in strongly accented Dalish. His face flushes slightly, but he doesn’t break eye contact.

“I thought you’d be taller,” Ari responds, smirking when the response wins her a smile.

                                                            —

No, Leliana says. You are not a candidate.

The words hit her like a punch to the stomach. Excuse me? Ari asks, positive she misheard.  

You are not a candidate, Leliana repeats, not looking up from the documents on her desk.

Leliana, you’ve seen our compatibility scores. Not only that, but I can feel it, Ari argues, trying to keep her voice level but slamming her hands down on Leliana’s desk. This is my chance. I’ve been training for years longer than most pilots, you know I’m ready for this-

Leliana eyes snap up to meet hers, eyes sharp. No, you are not.

Ari goes to protest, anger flaring high in her chest, but is cut off again. Ariadne, I will not argue about this. Watch him train with Cassandra, and the put together a list of candidates. I want it first thing Friday.

She does not bother to keep her emotions off her face. Marshall, Ari says through a clenched jaw, her tone dancing along the fine line between respect and impudence.

If she lets the door slam shut behind her, it’s most certainly an accident.

                                                           —

She’s never been one to sit with her anger, always needing a way to burn it off. By the time she finds Attis, a half hour after she left Leliana’s office, her anger has built to the point that he only needs to look up from his conversation with Varric to know something’s gone wrong. He knows better than to ask, hastily pushing his chair back and rushing after his twin, calling apologies over his shoulder.

They gather a small audience over the hours that they spar. To the untrained eye, they look perfectly in sync; the ideal Titan pilots. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Their ability has nothing to do with drift compatibility, but is based solely on the fact that they’ve been sparring together for over a decade. Attis has the same level of connection to the Fade as a dwarf, a topic that he and Ari never discuss. He says he’s happier researching, anyways.

“Two Titan pilots in the family is enough,” he always jokes when people ask him if he’s disappointed. “Three would just be overkill.”

Ari always stays quiet during this, knowing that there’s a good chance that had they been compatible that they would have been put in a Titan by the time they hit eighteen, Leliana’s overprotectiveness be damned.

But now it seems that they’d never even make it to two Lavellan pilots. The thought makes her lash out with sudden strength, knocking an already exhausted Attis onto his back with enough force that he nearly slides off the mat entirely.

“Control, Ari,” he grunts when he’s slid to a stop, struggling to sit up. Ari curses and rushes forward to help him up.

It’s when Attis is rubbing his shoulders that the exhaustion hits her, so sudden that leaves her trying to catch her breath. She’s hyper aware of her hair clinging to her face from sweat, the clothes sticking to her skin, and how warm the dog tags are against her sternum. Bruises are already beginning to bloom across her skin.

Cullen stands in the doorway, expression curious. He’s the last person she wants to see, but he’s done nothing wrong. She forces her face into a smile, brushing past him into the hallway and heads towards the showers.

                                                           —

It’s Friday, and it takes more effort than she would like to not slam the list down on Leliana’s desk. Ari’s muscles are tense as Leliana looks over the list of candidates she prepared, nodding as she hands it back, eyes still focused on her screen.

“I want them all in the sparring room this afternoon. Make sure everyone is there on time.”

“Marshall,” Ari says and turns on her heel to all but storms out, ignoring Leliana’s sigh.

                                                           —

The candidates are quick to line up when Leliana arrives. Ari makes no move to greet her, posture stiff as Leliana moves to stand at her side. She eyes the candidates and then turns her gaze to Cullen, who is observing her just as carefully.

“If you’re ready Ranger, we can get started,” Leliana says, and Cullen nods, looking at Ari and her iron grip on her tablet curiously as he shrugs off his coat, folding it up by his shoes.

He squares his shoulders and steps onto the mat, balancing himself carefully as he sizes up his first opponent, a qunari who towers over him. The sleeveless shirt Cullen is wearing shows the rune shaped scars burned into his arms, stealing the qunari’s attention for a split second before she lunges forward. Their staves meet with a loud crack, and the trials start.

By the eighth fight Ari is having a hard time tamping down her annoyance, and she struggles not to scowl when Cullen knocks another candidate onto their back.

“Four points to two,” she says, but is cut off from calling the next candidate when Cullen turns to face her, jaw tense.

“Is there a problem?” Cullen asks, frustration bleeding into his tone as he slams the end of the stave into the mat even as he tries to keep his anger in control. “Do you not like them?”

Ari looks up from her tablet, expression flat. “Excuse me?”

“The candidates. Every time a match ends you all but roll your eyes and I can feel your disdain from here,” he says, shoulders tense. “Are you unhappy with their performance? I thought you picked them yourself.”

Leliana’s gaze stays on her when she speaks. “It’s hardly their performance I have a problem with,” Ari snaps, and Cullen looks surprised. “You could have taken them all two moves earlier, but you always let them get one last hit in.”

Cullen crosses his arms across his chest defensively. “Oh, do I now?”

“Yes, you do.”

They stare each other down, the tension building between them until the point that the other candidates could feel it. When he breaks eye contact with her, it’s only to focus his gaze on Leliana.

“I want to spar with Ariadne,” Cullen says, and Ari looks at Leliana for the first time since she entered the room.

“No,” Leliana says without missing a beat. “We are going to stick with the candidates we have chosen. Only the ones with drift compatibility-“

“Which we have,” Ari interrupts. “You’ve seen the results-.”

“It’s not just about mental compatibility,” Leliana starts to say, and Cullen sees his opening.

“Didn’t you train her yourself?” he asks, keeping his tone inquisitive. “If you’re worried that she’s not going to be able to hold her own against me, you could just say so.”  

He raises an eyebrow at Leliana, challenge issued. Ari tries not to bristle, and a muscle in Leliana’s jaw twitches before she takes the tablet out of her hands. “Go.”

She tries to look relaxed as she strips off her shoes and coat, tries to stay focused and not let the eagerness to prove herself  make her clumsy. One of the recruits tosses her their stave, and she catches it one handed before stepping onto the mat. Her confidence, at least, is not something she has to fake.

Cullen holds his ground as she stalks towards him, maintaining eye contact until she passes him.

“Remember, this is about compatibility,” he says, tone casual. “It’s a conversation, not a fight.”

Ari reaches the end of the mat and turns to face him, not letting him bait her. “Of course,” she says, tone sweet and a smirk firmly in place as she moves into a fighting stance. “A conversation.”

They circle each other, not breaking eye contact. She doesn’t flinch when he moves forward suddenly, letting him get first hit in. Cullen lip quirks upward, pulling at his scar, and Ari moves before he gets a chance to gloat, knocking his stave out of the way and letting hers hover a hairsbreadth away from his nose. A look of shock crosses his face for a split second before his mind knocks into hers, an attempt to knock her off balance, but also one that gives away his delight.

The unexpected hit and emotion distracts her enough to let him land a hit on her hip, and Cullen grins when she pushes his mind away. “2-1. Focus, Ariadne.”

She twists out of his way and forces him to go on the defensive, driving him to the opposite edge of the mat before she stops, staff at his throat.

“2-2. You tiring already?” Ari taunts. They maintain eye contact for a moment, a moment of stillness before they stop toying with the other and go all in.

The rest of the fight is a blur of parrying and the sound of staves clashing together. They twist across the mat, and they trade blows until they manage to knock each other to the ground, each getting a point in within a minute of each other. They’re tied again, and whoever gets the next hit in will win, and they don’t hesitate before they move again.

It’s when Cullen takes a swing at her head that Ari ducks low, grabbing at his leg at the same time she lashes out with her mind. He goes down quickly, taking her with him so that he’s pinned down by her legs. They stare at each other, breathing hard, the satisfaction of victory burning high in Ari’s chest.  Someone in the back of the room wolf whistles.

“Enough!” Leliana calls out, and Ari drops her grip on Cullen’s shin. She rolls to her feet quickly, but he stays on the floor for a moment longer to catch his breath before pushing himself up.

“She’s my co-pilot,” Cullen states, staring Leliana down, the confidence in his voice backed by the way he can’t help but brush against Ari’s mind again.

“That’s not going to work,” Leliana says bluntly. “And that is not up for argument. I have made my decision. I’ll send someone with the results.”

She turns on her heel, heading out the door without another word, leaving the room in shocked silence and taking the ground out from under Ari’s feet as she goes.

                                                           —

Cullen finds her faster than she expected him to. He hesitates at the door, standing where she can see him from the corner of her eye, and when Ari doesn’t react he carefully moves forward. He sits down next to her on the deck so they’re both level with Knight Enchanter’s chest. Dagna has been working on tweaking the elbow joint; the left one still sticks a little, and everyday Sera swears that today will be the day they fix it. Ari has been watching her work for the past hour and it isn’t calming her down as much as it usually does.

A few minutes pass before Cullen speaks. “Do you know why Leliana made her decision?”

Ari turns her head to look at him. He’s lit up by the warm light of the runes that power the Knight Enchanter, and she can’t pinpoint the expression on his face. Instead she takes him in; he’s lost some of the gauntness he had before, the shadows under his eyes lighter. Cullen’s eyes nearly the same colour as the runes on the Titan behind him.

“No,” she lies, voice soft. She has her suspicions but she isn’t willing to share them. “But Leliana has her reasons.”

They sit in silence, listening to Dagna and Sera shout instructions back and forth to each other below them.

                                                           —

Ari startles when someone knocks on her door hours later. She half expects it to be Cullen, but is surprised when instead it’s Leliana standing behind the door.

“Can I come in?” she asks quietly. Ari nods, wrapping her flannel shirt tighter around herself as she moves out of the way.  

They stare at each other for a few heartbeats before Leliana speaks again. “You cannot do this for revenge, Ariadne,” she sighs, and Ari’s heart skips a beat.

“Leliana-“ she starts, taking a step forward.

Leliana shakes her head, “Go get ready. You’re late.”

Ari takes a moment to throw her arms around her neck, holding onto her tightly. She throws a blinding grin at her over her shoulder before rushing out to the Titan bay.

                                                           —

Ari doesn’t believe at love at first sight. But when she steps into Knight Enchanter as her pilot and sees Cullen checking the calibrations, his relieved laugh bouncing through the cockpit when he catches sight of her in her drive suit, she can’t help but think that this is as close as she’ll get.

[destinyapostasy]

For new brushes: maybe a worshipper of Andruil or another evanuris?

she’ll probably eat your face

[faslaidir]

6 Elanor

6: How they explain their feelings (sorrow, anger, love, etc.)

It hurts sometimes to look at her, tall like the tower she used to call home, standing straight like the sword that weighs down her back, bright like the way he smiled, what color were his eyes?

The Anchor flares, green and foreign and older even than she, fire and lightning spreading in her wrist to trace paths up her arm. She makes a fist to quell it, makes a fist to quell it all, the screaming, the blood, the loss, Edmund, Mace, Anna, Dad, a wave of names and faces and memories, too many to count, too many to face. She stands by the battlements and looks out over the world like it’s another Rift, ready to swallow, but too real, too heavy, too hard. I try to find the tangles in her mind, looking to shake out the pearls of pain, but I can’t...there are no tangles, just smooth surfaces that make me slip, pain so old and tired that it’s stone, polished and packed in place with precision. There’s no way to shake it loose. I can’t find a way to heal it. 

She turns and sees me. She always sees me, never startles, never flinches, never doubts, only smiles and thinks kind thoughts. 

Hat. She thinks today, and it makes her grin. “Hello Cole. Can I help you?”

Honey in Leliana’s wine, flowers on Josephine’s desk, a wooden duck on Dorian’s bed, all to help, all to loosen tangles and shake them free. There’s no way to loosen Elanor’s. Too many bones and faces on faces and old, old pain.

But I can quiet it.

“Lavender ice cream in porcelain bowls when the daffodils bloom, hot cocoa by the fire when the maple tree turns red.”

Her brow furrows with lines she imagines are already there, then she smiles and softens like melting snow. “Matching socks that mum knitted for us with needles too big for my fingers.”

“You played with them anyway.”

“I was a terror.”

“She loved you.”

The snowmelt runs down the hills and fills stony river beds. It won’t wash the hardness away, but it will cover it for a while. Elanor leans back against the wall with grey eyes warm like the summer rain. “She did. A long time ago. But she did.”

[suketchilt]

@nopantsfriday

FRAGRANCE

Lindrel: He probably smells like his armor. Mostly leather with a touch of nature, like dirt and plants, since he camps outside of Skyhold instead of staying inside it. He bathes regularly, but he doesn’t get all frilly with it, so he wouldn’t have any strong smells right after washing himself.

Finn: He’s gross and doesn’t bathe as much as he should, and he spends most of his time in his armor, so he’d smell like sweat, leather, and metal. Finn’s a tempest and makes his own elixirs, so he’d smell like chemicals, too. He takes more baths after Trespasser, ‘cause he follows Dorian to Tevinter and isn’t camping with the Inquisition soldiers anymore.

Suri: HMMM… I think Suri cleans himself the most. GOTTA LOOK PRETTY. He’d probably smell clean, and might have a slight fragrance from soap, but he wouldn’t go putting on a lot of cologne. You can’t be sneaky and rogue-like if people smell you from across the room. I’d say overall, he’d just have a mild, pleasant smell that you wouldn’t notice unless you were within a foot of him.

Miel: Difficult. >8I;; UM, I don’t think Miel has a particularly noticeable smell, other than her tempest elixirs. She doesn’t wear a lot of clothing that might have a particular scent to it, and she bathes, but she doesn’t use things with strong perfumes. A clean, average smell, with a touch of tempest elixirs, probably.

[lnuyasha]

@willhernandezdraws (ﾍﾟ◇ﾟ)」

funny story about this boot cup, @nopantsfriday. i got it. at a bar. a country bar downtown to be exact. no clue what the name of that place was.

thank you btw

[alternativestates17-blog]

And yeah this is happening 🤡👀😘😂🤘🏼#nopantsfriday #nopantsintraffic #thisis45 #latraffic (at City of Santa Monica) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtEk2-ZH4Qi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tgud5svejioh

[onesparrow]

TMI Tuesday for Ari. Why don't you tell me about her favorite tavern/cafe. Why is it her favorite? Would she take Cullen there? Has she gotten in a fight there? Would she fight there or would she take it outside?

Oooo this one is difficult because part of me wants to cop out and say The Herald’s Rest, which is definitely up there in her top ten. It’s where she’s comfortable, because that’s where her friends are at. But there are two more taverns that she really likes. 

One is on the outskirts of Wycome that serves only Antivan wine that Ari always visits when she’s on her way back to clan Lavellan. She’s been going there for years, and they know her by name and she has quite the reputation to match. Ari has definitely gotten into two serious fights there, one of which happened inside and the other one she managed to take outside. She won both of them. If they were in the area, Ari might take Cullen there. It’s a fairly boisterous place and she’d definitely try to convince him to dance with her. 

The second one is in Ferelden, a little tavern in a trading village. It’s mostly frequented by locals, and Ari had a casual “if I’m passing through and you’re free” arrangement with one of the barmaids that worked out for a few years. The locals are very much into regular live music which always leads to dancing, and Ari absolutely loves Ferelden line dancing so it became a favourite of hers quickly. When they go to visit the rest of the Rutherfords, Ari is definitely dragging Cullen off to this place. He’d probably be much more comfortable there than the one in Wycome, that’s for sure. 

And she didn’t so much get into a fight in the Ferelden tavern as much as she just smashed a tankard over a really drunk and rude trader’s head who was getting too handsy. He was out cold from that one blow so she says it doesn’t count.

[faslaidir]

10 Kate

10: The way they look in the morning after a rough night

I stole Ari from @onesparrow because I love her and she needs to be in more fics.

Ari stirred, inhaling sharply through her nose as a noise roused her from her sleep. She blinked, squinting eyes that were still blurry with sleep around the room. The light was still dim and grey, too early for even the sun to have risen, much less so for Ari. Rationally, she trusted the security at Skyhold enough not to be immediately concerned, but she was still waking up, and someone was definitely rummaging through her closet. 

Blearily, she hauled herself up into a seated position on the mattress and blinked at the person. “Who’s that? Sera? Is that you?”

“Oh, god, sorry.”

Ari blinked in surprise as she recognized the voice. “Kate?”

Kate leaned out of the closet and looked questioningly at Ari, her face screwed up in an exhausted scowl. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up, but I left my really comfy night shirt in here somewhere and I have had an absolute shithole of a night shift and I need it.”

Ari lowered her face into her hands, pressing her fingertips against her eyes in an effort to wake herself a little more. “Which one, the dark blue one?” she mumbled.

“No, the grey one. That...you’re apparently wearing.”

“Oh.” Ari fell back against her pillow and snuggled back into the blankets. “It was in my closet.”

The bed quivered, and there was a muffled thump as Kate threw herself down on the mattress next to Ari. “I hate people,” she announced, snatching the edge of one of Ari’s blankets and tugging it closer. “I hate people and I hate medicine and I fucking hate being awake.”

“Then shut up and go to sleep.”

“You stole my good night shirt!”

“You’re being a bitch.”

“Your fucking hand is glowing in my face.”

“You have your own apartments! Go sleep there if you’re going to be rude!”

“You stole my shirt.”

“You left it.”

Kate wanted the last word, but the only sound that managed to find its way out was a disgruntled growl before her eyes closed and she dozed off. Ari huffed a breathy laugh and shifted around a few times, trying to find a comfortable position. After a few minutes, she cracked open an eye and glanced over to examine her surprise bed mate. 

Kate’s mouth was open as she slept, her face uncomfortably squished into the pillow. Her hair was still thrown up in a messy ponytail and braids, but pieces of it were escaping from all directions and falling down to her face, only to be scattered every time she breathed. Dark bags hung under her eyelids, and there was a red scratch on her cheek. 

Ari regarded the other woman for a few moments with a strange fondness. Impulsively, she reached out a hand and smoothed back the hair from Kate’s face, earning her a sleepy groan and nothing more. Ari bit back a grin. 

“Good morning Madame Doctor,” she murmured sarcastically, rolling over and settling back to sleep for a few more hours.

[nopantsfriday]

....Small part of me is reconsidering the title of a fic I’m writing.

Pros: would shorten the name, make it less of a mouthful, would be easy for people to remember, its ironic as well as iconic

Con: I’m kinda partial to the long title, it has a cool acronym that I find memorable and I’m a simple person so I assume it is for its current following, I would be changing the title after the fourth chapter which is kinda late no???

So I dunno.... I think the cons out weigh the pros?

[ellstersmash]

Isala hates pickled plums but is more than pleased to gobble down pig oat mash and Starkhaven fish and egg pie

In the early days of their friendship, Athi introduced Sera to a game she used to play with the young people of her clan. They each dared the other to do a thing, until one yielded. The challenger would then have to complete the task they’d given to the loser, in order to prove they were truly the more fearless. 

When Athi dared Sera to eat a (rather large) beetle that she saw crawling up the tavern wall behind her, Sera yielded. Athi popped it in her mouth no problem, well-accustomed to eating all sorts of insects. What she hadn’t anticipated was the awful taste of this particular variety. She spit it out, to Sera’s delight, and drowned the taste in an enormous amount of alcohol. For years, they argue about who “technically” won.

Re: Isala - Can you blame her?? Lol how does she discover this hatred for pickled plums?

The Game: Tell me a fact about your OC and I’ll tell you a related fact about mine.

[circleoftrust]

Down with Pants!

Did you know that their are no pants in @CrowfallGame? In support of this, Fridays in Trust will always be #NoPantsFridays

#nopantsgaming #crowfall

[gaskarthheaven]

#nopantsfriday

[onesparrow]

2 and 3 for Ari.

2. How do they sleep

Naked, when she’s in Skyhold and comfortable, and curled around the nearest heat source. 

3. Favorite companion

Oooo this one if tough. She’s closest with Dorian, Cassandra, and Sera, so it’s hard for her to pick a favourite. But since Dorian is always healing the rest of her companions and he’s one of her best friends, she’d probably pick him.