#DALoveDay

[razrogue]

Character Traits - Alcina Cadash

For #DALoveDay, celebrating some of my favorite OCs

― your muse’s name:

Alcina Cadash

― a favorite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

​Commission was done by the lovely @esakris​

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

Alcina eventually frames the daggers Gerren gave her and hangs them in the cabin she and Bull have built.

Her mother is the reason she loves flowers so much. Together, they kept a small garden outside her bedroom window as she was growing up.

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Sparring, spending time with her siblings, pampering herself

― seven people your muse loves / likes:

Not counting her immediate family because that's a given for her: The Iron Bull, Lace Harding, Krem, Vivienne, Leliana, Josephine, Sera, and Dagna as a bonus!

― a phobia your muse has:

Spiders

[cobaltash]

Dragon Age Day

I just realized that today is Dragon Age Day and I’d like to do something special, since this game has been a lifeline for me in many, Many times when I had nothing else to turn to.

So I’m thinking: Dragon Age Party! Give this a reblog and tell me all about your wardens, champions and inquisitors! What does a good party look like for them? How do they enjoy such an event? Are they shy or the life of the party? Who do they gravitate towards? Throw in a few references and I’ll draw them in fancy attire :D

[veridium]

dragon age day

I know today might be a bit overwhelming for the fandom since it is, of course, the day (the day of all days). When I thought about what I wanted to contribute, if anything, I could only think of saying thanks. As I am in the midst of finals and grading assignments, I don’t have many spoons to spare, except to reiterate what I have said so many times before: dragon age has provided me with so many blessings. 

CW: discussion of toxic relationship, emotional abuse.

Some of you know that around the time I joined the fandom in 2018 (after having only played Inquisition for several months beforehand), I was in the midst of an incredibly toxic, emotionally abusive, and failing relationship. I had just graduated college and was at a crossroads. Because the relationship was the longest and most serious I had ever known I was incredibly attached to it, even as it became detrimental to my happiness. We were planning on getting engaged this past summer. Our entire lives were planned and I was in it for the long haul. 

Earlier that year my ex had gifted me Inquisition after I kept seeing it in GameStop and saying I had always wanted to try it. I played it once, got infuriated by the Hinterlands, and put it down for a long time. Around the time I finished undergrad I decided to give it another try, and quickly became hooked. I would spend hours and hours in front of the TV learning by trial and error how to play. My ex was the more prolific gamer but that quickly started to change. 

That wasn’t the only shift that was happening. 

One of the symptoms of my ex’s and her family’s toxicity and its impact on me was that I had become incredibly detached from art. I have been artistic since I was strong enough to hold a crayon in my hand. My family swore for years I’d be an artist, or an actress. But I have learned that, what all-too-often happens when you choose to love something that doesn’t love you the way you deserve in return, you lose touch with all the things that remind you of why you’re so worthy of a great love. You don’t invest in it, you don’t nourish it, because it becomes all about preserving this person in your life and what you believe they bring to it. When things turn dark the natural inclination is to sacrifice more in order to save it: to prove that you can be as loyal as your promised. 

A year later and I am still unpacking the trauma that was inflicted upon me during that time of my life, trauma I didn’t know by name as it was happening because I had given my all to someone I loved and the future we wanted. But not everything was rosey and blissful, and I am reflecting upon that. I think back to what finally woke me up, and it’s quite literally this: I turned into a huge, enthusiastic, and clumsy nerd. 

Playing a game with such a vivid world took what was perhaps one of the last surviving matchsticks there was, lighting it, and dropping it on me. My imagination consumed Thedas like water after a 40-year drought. I began theorizing characters, researching the prior games, and scrolling through the wiki site hunting for lore. I realized the universe was so much bigger than what Inquisition represented. 

Then, I bought the first sketchbook I had in over a year. 

My characters became my muse, and over time, their portraits grew into stories. I looked up Tumblr and rejoined specifically to engage with the fandom and see what sharing my love with other people could do for my creativity. Even though art and writing were lifelong passions of mine, I had no intention whatsoever of writing fanfiction until I read other people’s work, saw the fun they were having with it and what it was doing for their healing, and I decided to go out on a limb.

The more stories I wrote the more I remembered my marrow: I was so much more than what my relationship, and my partner’s family, warped me into seeing. My original characters started out as projections of the qualities and traits I loved and missed about myself, as well as love letters to the women and queer people in my life. And in the canon characters I grew attached to I saw hope and inspiration for surviving adversities. Tests of faith, conviction, and courage under pressure. In their stories I found refuge and reliability for a terrible era of my life where I felt so completely alone.

As I gave more and more time to my passions, my relationship strained even further than it had. I was no longer hopelessly devoted to its endurance, I had something that was purely mine again, and my partner’s encouragement waned. It turned into jealousy -- for this and many other parts of my life I used as an escape from the sadness -- and rather than bend as I had done before, I pushed back. I protected what was my own and I did not sacrifice it. To be fair it wasn’t always healthy: I would log hours and hours into the game to escape the stress of the relationship, to distract myself from the fact that my mental health was the lowest and frailest it had been in years, and the cold, hard truth: it was over, or else I was going to commit my life to something terrible. 

Months later, I said enough. I ended the relationship once and for all. I was moving my life out of an apartment I had lived in for years, saying goodbye to everything I had fought so hard to build. In your early 20s everything feels like a vast unknown and you have a manual with no writing on its pages. Every serious decision feels like invoking a storm you have to hunker down in. I still deal with that, and am learning from it with every new season. I have also learned that sometimes destruction, and creative recklessness, is about so much more than loss. I had given up security I was paying for with my emotional well-being. 

But I kept me, and my sketchbooks, and my art supplies, and my stories. I had my cat, too, but you know, technicalities (haha).

So, for as imperfect as my fandom experience has been, and for as grumpy as I have become with society’s bullshit (which is quite the high level), I will always be grateful to these games for existing. For giving me something to hold onto when my life was falling apart, a world I could slip away to when I wasn’t ready to face the evils in my own. Because when I was finally ready, and willing to be my own warrior, my imagination was ready to make something out of nothing. These games and this universe helped me save myself.

Thank you to Dragon Age, to the fandom community I have made in its name, and to everyone who makes it worthwhile. But it wouldn’t be me without saying: fuck off to every single bullshit game writer who used its medium to perpetuate harmful tropes and norms, fuck off to fandom racists and racist apologists, to queerphobes who hated my meta on account of it using the word queer even though it was my explicit voice as a queer creative on queer issues (did I forget to say queer? queer!), to Vivienne haters, sexist gamer bros, fetishists; but explicitly to romanticizers of unhealthy power dynamics between couples and friends alike. These horror stories (yes, horror stories) exist enough in real life, take it from me. We don’t need them made into romanticized, co-opted, and misused fictions here. 

The reason why I and so many others write for this universe, and participate creatively, is to combat these influences. With our own blood, sweat, and tears as artists, might I add. I am so, so proud to be included in that community. 

So, happy Dragon Age Day, ya’ll. Let us keep warm on this, our trash can fire. 

[ramblinganthropologist]

Have some idiots for DA4 day!

From left to right are -

Warden Commander Cahel Mahariel Age: 18 Specs: Dual wield rogue; Ranger/Shadow Romance: Alistair as king

Champion Avery Hawke Age: 23 Specs: “Sword and shield” Warrior; Reaver/Templar Romance: Fenris and Anders (and Justice)

Inquisitor Kaaras Adaar Age: 24 Specs: Dual wield rogue; Tempest  Romance: Dorian

They’re my babies and I love them. 

[madhunrer141]

Женили родного брата. #DAloveday @sirgalust @armi_t...

[razrogue]

Character Traits - Briva Tabris

Tagged a long time ago by @curiousartemis​ (thank you and my bad 💜💜💜)

― your muse’s name: 

Briva Tabris: Adaia is the one who gave her her name. It came to her in a dream during her pregnancy.

―  a favorite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

This wonderful commission was done by @codenameyan​

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

The anniversary of Adaia's death is always a day to herself. She takes the time to reflect and meditate and share with her mother's spirit.

Growing up in the alienage, they didn't always have seafood on a regular basis. Between the cost and lack of access, whenever they did eat it, it was for big celebrations that involved the whole community so it was stretched. Once she was a Warden and traveling, Zevran opened her world up to it and it became one of her favorite foods. 

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Fishing, enjoying elfroot, alchemy (poisons mostly)

― seven people your muse loves / likes:

Zevran (husband), Shianni (cousin), Ilina (cousin), Sten (BFF), Shale (BFF), Alistair (boyfriend), Leliana (BFF)

― a phobia your muse has:

  Briva has a big fear of entrapment. Not knowing how to get out is a big NO for her.

Tagging: @eazzy--pink​ @bunabi​ @griffinsanddragons​ @theflamingnymph​ @soothseay​ @thedivinemissema​

[razrogue]

Character Traits - Sonika Hawke

For #DALoveDay, celebrating some of my favorite OCs

― your muse’s name:

Sonika Lia Hawke

―  a favorite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

​Commission was done by the lovely @esakris​

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

She took Carver's death harder than she ever let anyone know. She spent many nights on Lowtown rooftops crying about it.

There was a particular tree by the lake near their house that Malcolm used to climb with her. The two of them would sit on one of the branches and he'd teach her all about the constellations. Malcolm sparked her love for stargazing.

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Stargazing, reading historical books, spending time with friends

― seven people your muse loves / likes:

Fenris, Bethany, Merrill, Varric, Sebastian, Nathaniel, FukkinRite

― a phobia your muse has:

 Deepstalkers, being alone

Tagging: @uchidachi​ @phoenixfg​ @theconfusedartist​ @meishuu​ @teknon​

[cobaltash]

Fifth guest to the Dragon Age Party is the amazing Alcina Cadash, who belongs to the awesome @razrogue! She’s ready to throw herself wholeheartedly into the festivities and make our party livelier than it has ever been!

Thank you for attending!

[cobaltash]

Second guest to the Dragon Age Party is my very own Daira Aeducan. She usually prefers ceremonial armor, but she also enjoys letting Leliana dress her on special occasions ;)

[cobaltash]

Next, I welcome to the Dragon Age Party the stunning Dust Lavellan, who belongs to the lovely @nerdlingwrites! She’s here to steal the limelight and stir an exciting bit of drama! 

Thank you for attending!

[cobaltash]

First guest to the Dragon Age Party is the wonderful Sigi Hawke, who belongs to the lovely @queen-scribbles! She’s here for the drinks and the mischief and I am so glad of it! 

Thank you so much for attending!

[cobaltash]

The next guest to the Dragon Age Party is the gorgeous Imera Adaar, who belongs to the wonderful @aubergion! She’s here to be smooth and charm All the pretty ladies ;)

Thank you for attending!