#bride of all unquiet things. [ ARIA MAHARIEL ; headcanon ]

[eclipsecrowned]

muses that have canonically written fanfic:

Aria Mahariel (Andraste/Shartan. Also known to read bad smut novels about herself, which probably qualifies for being a consumer of fic as well.)

Zorya Constantine (K*ngdom H*arts, F*n*l F*nt*sy XV, The M*gn*s Arch*ves. Not the best writer, but a prolific one that focuses on queer or polyamorous arrangements between canons and one oc/canon fic that is clearly a self-insert Zorya with serial numbers filed off.)

Z*tara Constantine (The M*gn*s Arch*ves. If you mention something called ‘Come On and Rescue Me’ or an AO3 handle known as ‘LaughingMagi’ you will be hexed into next week. His sister discovers this on an annual basis whenever he needs humbling.)

Astraea Lucis Caelum (Anonymously involved in the fandom of a The V*mpire Chr*nicles pastiche for the setting, largely focused on Leonie de Lestallum/Lucienne de Lac, Leonie/King Akarin or Amanda di Tenebrae/Diana Montalbano.)

Kayden Connors (D*red*vil/Sp*derm*n ; Nearly had a stroke realizing that she’s been writing about a family friend and swore off the hobby ever since.)

Claude di Montoya (In their Vampire verse, they got away with writing operas/plays off of Armand’s recollections. What else do you call writing a chamber opera about a sexy gay love triangle between very thinly veiled expies of Nicki, L*stat, and Armand replete with Seraph symbolism for a motif?)

Kokoro Kyriakou (As a teen, she wrote extensively on the Foretellers. It’s as cringe as it sounds.)

Orpheus (I’m right. His cult has several AU ideas about established lore.)

Kris Lindholm (Writes extensive The V*mpire Chr*nicles fic as it exists within the universe. Mainly writes slice of life or adventure stories involving the Brat as her favorite character, while acknowledging this is a highly fictionalized version of what is, in-universe, a real person.)

[eclipsecrowned]

terrible, unoriginal naming choices aria has made in various verses:

fen (wolves)

dog (m*bari)

natalie (shipverse child, literally just named for her godfather nathanael)

tamlen (shipverse child, literally just named for aria’s childhood best friend)

remai (shipverse child, literally just named for kleffy’s inquisitor who introduced aria and s*las)

bonus: had ariander’s biokid been born a son, he would have been named gareth for my h*wke/ander’s bestie.

double bonus: each of those listed kids are from a different verse/endgame. in no shipverse does aria have an independent name idea if pressed.

conclusion: don’t let the elf name anything, she’s never had an original idea in her life, THE DOG IS ACTUALLY NAMED DOG.

[eclipsecrowned]

also like. aria is totally willing to step back from the heroics if it stands at opposition with her beliefs or is not required of her. she doesn’t jump into danger for nothing. in multiwarden verses, she straight up abandons the party at flemeth’s hut in a bid to find her people and warn them of the impending threat. there’s one verse w friends in particular where three wardens beside her walk out of ostagar and she just ‘you have enough wardens, i’m going to head out.’ and only reappears on the road to lothering playing big damn heroes and sighing that she thought about it, and the important thing is stopping the blight, otherwise warning her clan won’t do much of anything. she then gets sucked into the political intrigue of a human warden alistairmancer and keeps cutting desperate looks to sten and axem’s surana as if they were the camera.

she also cuts ties with the wardens entirely. she’d always been looking for a reason, but being expected to stand idly by while there was an open season on innocent apostates and runaway mages post-2 was a bridge too far. she just left. they’ll strip her of heroics for that, make her some kind of wicked woman who abandoned all that was sacred to stand with humanity’s greatest fear -- independent factions, unbeholden to their capricious and corrupt church. she doesn’t care. she never did it to be humanity’s savior or be put on a pedestal. everything she did, she did because it was right. she’s doing this because it’s right too.

[eclipsecrowned]

things im obsessed  rn:

aria, while willing to be a hero and step out of her comfort zone and give more than is necessary to a people who have always hated and mistrusted her own, still setting boundaries and drawing her lines in the sand. she looks out for herself as well as others, else she’ll be of no use to anyone. she understands the work-life balance of a hero and how you have to draw the line somewhere and regroup, or else this life will kill you.

gareth, always willing to be a hero and do whatever it takes to make this world right if it’s within his power to help, basically becoming a martyr by never laying down his burden. he looks out for others, yes, but never himself. whether due to residual guilt over carver, trying to hold on to control in a life that has rapidly spiraled out of such, or simply not being very bright, he puts everyone and everything ahead of himself. it’s slowly killing him, and the third game really shows how this lifestyle broke him.

tl;dr: aria has it in her to go the distance due to her realistic outlook on her unwanted role of hero ; gareth was doomed the moment sweet boy took on a leadership role.

[eclipsecrowned]

imperative to me you all understand that aria mahariel, hero of ferelden, warden commander, and generally a respectable personage... learned to write by penning godawful andraste/shartan fic. alistair taught her the human alphabet and its rules and encouraged her to practice til it became second nature to her. and so we get the 25k slow burn wartime lovers rpf fic. it nearly killed all andrastians in the party. aria, whose pantheon involves two gods who produced two further gods, doesn’t understand that sexualizing religious personages might be considered weird.

it’s truly wretched, by the way. if aria’s terrible handwriting doesn’t induce a migraine, then the nonsensical plot will definitely put you off. there’s evidence to suggest the original copies were burnt at some point post-blight, likely by a well-meaning friend or historian that sought to keep aria’s shame from the public eye. unfortunately, this does not prevent the original author from telling others that the lady and her elvhen compatriot were absolutely boning.

[eclipsecrowned]

amazing how living the trauma inherent in origins’ narrative at 19 can fuck up the rest of your life. kind of fucked up that the answer everyone else had was 'give her more to deal with.'

the loneliness... the senseless self-sacrifice fighting against systems that will not change with one good example... the fact she was a traumatized 19 year old torn from the only world she knew then forced to live in one that hated her....

frankly i think aria finally turning all of that bullshit back on the systems that tried to keep her obedient and blind to real threats (the wardens themselves, the chantry, templars) and going awol to protect mages displaced by the war is the best therapy she was ever going to get, and i support her templar-killing quest for self-actualization. get they asses baby. i got your flower.

[eclipsecrowned]

Merrill was taken in by the Sabrae because Aria got old enough that the clan leaders had to face facts: she did not inherit her father's mystical abilities. Despite Aria praying that she would show magical talent and inherit her family’s legacy, they never came to her. The fact she did not live up to the standard of her absent parent was a serious blow to her as a child, and sent her on something of a downward spiral for a long while. She wanted to help Marethari and live up to the model of her father.

Marethari eventually took Aria aside and explained that Aria could help her by being the best she can be for the clan. So she's not a mage. Does that mean she is without use? Of course not. She can still be great, and still help their people. She would find another way to make her clan proud. Chin up, Da'len.

This incident really helps define a lot of her Origins narrative. Aria was always so reassured in her youth her place is with her clan and she can do so much for them. That this is where she belonged. No wonder she so rails against Duncan and being conscripted. His plan was a total severing of the bond she had been trusted to uphold for her people.