#but then again² i love brosca

[a-drama-addict]

me doing worldstate planning and seeing that I have two Aeducans: One of you guys is going to be made a Brosca

[faejilly]

me: I haven't replayed Origins in over ten years, and I only ever played most of the DLC the once with my Brosca (even tho I have done all the origins themselves)

me: all the Veilguard hype is reminding me of all the things I haven't actually tried in game, vs youtube or wiki or fic or fanon or whatever

me: I could replay everything, see how far I get before Veilguard comes out!

me: I could even... do something *new* this time? 🎉

also me: loads up Origins and picks Dwarf Commoner Again

[finelyageddragons]

I ship Brosca and Leliana so much. Brosca who has been treated as worthless all her life x Leliana who feels like an outcast because she believes all the world can be beautiful. Brosca who was told those she worships would reject her and Leliana who was told the way she worships is wrong finding each other and finding acceptance in each other. Brosca who learns to worship Leliana herself for the beauty they see through her eyes and Leliana who finds faith and guidance in a lover who never doubts the power of their love and promises to be there even if her god turns from her. The promise these two share, both understanding pain and loneliness and betrayal they cannot express in any way other than devotion and who choose to devote their hearts to each other and promise to make the world worthy of the one they love.

"I may not worship your god but I do worship his creation - I worship you."

[hiddenbeks]

they don't know i'm planning major changes to my da worldstate,,

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Ok, for the OC Headcanon Questions...

What about hobbies? The most interesting ones you can think of for as many blorbos that strike your mind!

[ask game]

Hi again! :D

Hmmm interesting ones? Idk what qualifies as interesting lmao but let's see....

Ari does taxidermy! I've also thought about him getting into beekeeping some time after DAI, but uhh. with how things are going rn idk if that is happening anytime soon jkfdsfjk

June basically does fantasy physics as a hobby. nerd

Kala loves collecting things, especially pressed flowers and colourful bits of fabric from all around

Neira unironically enjoys cleaning

Liam does not like card games because he has rotten luck, but the crew often lets him team up with Fenris because that guy has insane luck, so they balance each other out lolol. This is not an interesting hobby but it is hobby related and i think it's funny xd

[vigilskept]

what kind of love are you?

tagged by @dragonologist-phd to put some ocs through this uquiz. ty for the tag!

insomnia crept in so i decided to just run all my wardens through & genuinely thrown by some of the results (but in a good way!) excerpting some of the interesting bits below for the sake of brevity

Diya Surana: Love as a Choice Love does not come to you easily, but every day you wake up and choose it. It would be so easy, wouldn't it, to grow cold and callous and grim. But you rise to greet the world, making the conscious effort to find something, anything to love. When you fall for someone, you do not kid yourself of their flaws. Instead, you resolve to see them for who they are, mistakes and all and you love them all the same.

Roshan Mahariel & Qadir Amell: Love as a Threshold Your love is free, and unquestioned, and here for wherever needs it. When you fall in love, it is as gentle as a breath in the night. When you fall for someone, it is without strings, without conditions, without need. You love with a giver’s heart and a giver’s hands and are made so much stronger for it.

Chaya Tabris & Ylva Aeducan: Love as a Flaw When you fall in love, it is with alarm bells ringing. It’s a problem and you would do anything to pass it off, burn it away, scoop it out of you with bare hands, or carved out with hooked knives before it can destroy you.

Sindri Brosca: Love as Youth Your love is buoyant. Your love is bountiful. It is ageless, and it will never age. When you fall in love, it is breathless. It is joyful and endless, it is magnificent. Your love skips rocks and tells stories, your love roasts marshmallows over fires, and laughs freely. Your love does not take itself too seriously.

Gavin Cousland: Love as Religion When you fall in love, it is as a baptism. You are born anew, made a believer in the divinity of the one you love most. Being loved by you is an ascension; it is holy and golden. It is all-consuming, and all-faithful, loyal as the dog.

Daniyel Tabris: Love as the Dawn Love is new to you, isn’t it? A fresh discovery in a world you do not quite understand. Your love loves with bated breaths. Your love swoons and sighs and lingers under awnings. Your love romanticizes. Your love aches as tenderly as a bruise. You’re swollen with desire and idealizations.

[redlyriumidol]

Honestly I find nature of the beast much more of a slog than orzammar or the circle tower. The elven ruins have got some interesting bits of lore but the forest. Ugh. I honestly prefer the deep roads..tbh these days I kind of like the deep roads they're kind of a vibe

[lelianaslefthand]

just got hit with massive zevran feels i miss him so much…..

[yshtal]

brosca is the only one who will ever see Duncan as a savior, at the end of the war.

you’re a human noble. you’re a proud, happy member of house cousland. when howe betrays your family and you’re there, terrified, in the cellar with the shattered remains of your dying family, it’s you and your mother against the world. your mother: the pain-in-the-ass, hardheaded, spitfire of a woman that sassed you yesterday about manners is beside you, her eyes haggard and haunted. “He’s my husband,” she says, begging, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “He’s your father, and he’s dying, and I love him. Whatever he faces next, he faces it with me.”

She cannot be argued with. She cannot be reasoned with. You can beg and beg and beg your mama to come with you, to survive beside you, but the outcome will always be the same. Duncan will ask you to leave, and she will choose to stay. How can you live with that?

(It’s poetic justice, perhaps, how quickly you come to understand it.)

—-

You are a dwarven princess, beloved of the house aeducan, noble of caste and certain of birthright, when your brother betrays you.

Not the brother you expected to betray you, of course. Your bosom friend, your sovereign sibling. The one who would’ve had your back eternally, if the wide expanse of the throne hadn’t stood in the way. If only love could’ve bridged the chasm. the warden bridges what Trian could not, what Bhelen would not - a last-minute pardon, excusing you from a game you never knew you were playing.

(you had a birthright, certainly, and it was taken from you. all else you cling to is stolen valor now.

checkmate.)

—-

You are the young bride tabris, and your husband stands there bleeding.

Your cousin has already been stolen away, and it hurts, how innocent she was, when so much of you had been stolen away. You would’ve stood in her place a thousand times, and all the evil, lecherous, unspeakably human hands in the world wouldn’t have stopped you, if it meant shielding Shianni. Your husband, bright-eyed and already dying, even if he knows it not, comes to save you. He does not know you, but he saves you from horrors that you have braced against a thousand times before, before he knew you, even if it does not matter. he is noble, in that way.

Duncan is noble too. He offers you a way out - a way out from your family, from your friends, from the only world you have ever - could ever - know. he offers you a chance to die on the battlefield instead of dying in the cellar, before you would ever know this suffering, the suffering laid on you at birth, by mere sin of being elven.

(To die without knowing. Isn’t that worse?)

—-

You are mahariel, free to the wind, to the rain, to the very corruption of nature.

shemlen in the forest was an ill enough omen. to come with grave warnings of burial grounds and curses and demons? you should have fixed your young dalish curses on them, da’len, on what they wrought, and you should’ve turned and fled

you did not, and, by your side, he did not. in another world, you would have lived by his side. in this one, you watch him die again and again.

(it is in your nature, after all, the watching over of dying things.)

—-

You are a mage, human or elven, and it makes little difference.

the maker hates you regardless, or so the templars say. You are good, perhaps, and you turn them in, or else you are kind. It matters little to Andraste, if she’s the one listening, or to anyone else.

Duncan speaks. He offers you refuge, outside of the Circle, far from home. You’ve never seen sunlight unobstructed before, let alone war. You have to choose - Tranquility, or a noble death, somewhere down the road.

(it isn’t a choice, not really. it was made for you before you were even born.)

—-

but you, grey warden, you are something special.

He offers you a worthy death, somewhere in that nebulous future, and you don’t have to worry about how it comes anymore. You know where death will take you - on the doorstep of one darkspawn or another, not here, gasping, in the dirt.

Your sister says this life is worth it.

And it is, isn’t it, for yourself, for your family, for the few lonely friends that you leave behind? for finally, desperately, clawing your w ay out of poverty, even when it costs you everything? for rica to be safe?

(It will be worth it.

It must be worth it.)

[kiastirling]

Rules: Make a poll of your favourite female characters (no limits - as many or as little as you want) and see which your followers like the most!

No one tagged me I just wanted to do this one. Propaganda below the cut, with images (and links for the webcomic ones)

I wasn't tagged so I'm not tagging anyone either.

Propaganda time!

Freya Crescent:

She's a ratfolk ("Burmecian"). She's a dragoon. She's been looking for her boyfriend for 3 years and he has amnesia when she meets him once and then she never sees him again after the place housing the remains of her people is blown up. And still she goes on to save the world.

Lulu:

A black mage with some peak Final Fantasy fashion and her casting medium are a series of stuffed animals. Also she's very focused and taciturn and she ultimately falls in love with her dead boyfriend's goofy older brother which is a fun archetype.

Rica Brosca:

DA dwarves are so crunchy. She's castless (the lowest social class in dwarven society). Her sibling is a gangster and her bodyguard. She's fucking a Prince (possibly becoming King based on player decisions). She's the hottest girl in Dust Town and everyone knows it.

Bubbles:

She's hardcore. And an absolute baby. Love a strong girl who is also just. A girl.

Jessie/Musashi:

@/yamujiburo's Hanamusa AU has done things to me.

Lace Harding:

I reiterate: dwarves! But Lace is super cool and I love her.

Jesse Faden:

Okay I haven't played Control myself but I watched my partner play the whole thing which is certainly enough to say Jesse is cool. Her internal monologue and her friend are great and her single minded pursuit of saving her brother that got her to the Federal Bureau of Control is undeniable.

Amber O'Malley/Amazigirl (Dumbing of Age):

She's a shut-in, she's a (not-so) super hero, she writes horny Batman fanfic, she's plural. Her character arc the past 14 years has been really interesting to see and we're still only like halfway through the school year!

Tiffany "Susan" Pompoms (El Goonish Shive):

Tragic backstory? Check. Magic color changing hair? Check. Anti-Vampire magic? Check. Strong sense of justice? Also check. Horribly embarrassing name she's tried to bury by going by her middle name? Super check.

Susan has had a lot of character growth over the past... many many years. I like her a lot.

Yor Forger:

Best mom a psychic could ask for ❤️Yor is a deadly assassin and a terrible homemaker and she can be kind of a dip and I love her dearly

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

I need to gush about Origins and discuss Duncan okay, listen- DAO is so good for a plethora of reasons but it’s the origins, the thing that it’s literally named after. Which origin you play is the important decision on the players part that has an impact on everything you do, especially if you go hard into the roleplaying of it all, it makes me want to scream. I adore it so much.

So Duncan, right? Great character, love that dude. I read The Calling and he's one of the best parts of that book. If you haven't read it, I recommend it just for Duncan alone.

I enjoy reading opinion pieces on Duncan, especially when the poster mentions which origin their warden is. I find it so interesting because your origin can change your entire perception of him.

Playing as Aeducan or Brosca? Duncan has great respect for dwarves just as the dwarves do for the wardens. Duncan’s your hero. He saved your life. You would’ve been executed or left to rot in the Deep Roads if not for him. And since the wardens are so respected, it’s honestly an honor to join them, no?

Playing a Cousland? You’ve lost everything. Duncan not only does what he can to keep your father alive long enough for you and your mother to find him, but he saves you and gives you a shot to avenge your family by becoming a warden.  

Playing as Amell or Surana? Your best friend lied to you about being a blood mage and chances are you tried to help him escape rather than turn him in, and now he’s gone and Greagoir demands you be punished. But here comes Duncan to conscript you, to take you away from the prison known as the Circle of Magi.

And I know this can vary depending on how you play or what kind of character you’ve created, but I believe you’re waaaay more likely to have a better opinion of Duncan in these origins… but if you play as Mahariel or Tabris?

Mahariel’s more obvious, here. You’re Dalish, and odds are, you and Tamlen are on the same page about humans. Duncan, a human, dragged your ass back to your clan after the eluvian gave you the blight, and sure, that was nice of him… except when you go looking for Tamlen and Duncan destroys the mirror, he’s so dismissive. He doesn’t care about Tamlen. There’s no point in going looking for him, he’s dead. Also you have the blight and Duncan’s taking you away from your family to make you a warden and no, you have no choice in the matter. He'll force his hand if he needs to. Say goodbye, forget about Tamlen, you’ll never see your family again, you’re a warden now. Hope you have fun involving yourself in all these human affairs while everyone points out how different you are!

First off, I think most Mahariel players would agree that they’re still not over Tamlen. How many of you had the thought, “If we look just a little longer, we could find Tamlen and make him a warden, too!” only for Duncan to ruin that? I don’t blame any Mahariel for throwing a fit when he and the Keeper agree you need to go, nor do I blame them for any ill feelings toward him.

And Tabris? This one is personal; my canon warden is a female Tabris, Rosalie, and Duncan really gets to me.

Rose's already being made to marry a man she's never met, some human nobles made their first attempt to crash the wedding, and now here’s this other human waltzing in. Duncan is such a little shit here, too. When you try asking him to leave, he actively tries to push your buttons just to see what you’ll do. But that’s nothing. When Rose and the other women are taken by Vaughan and his buddies, Soris and Nelaros go to Duncan who pulls his bullshit “wardens can’t get involved, they must remain neutral, best I can do is give you a sword and crossbow, good luck.”

Duncan KNOWS what will happen to those women but nope, can’t get involved. Wardens must remain neutral, can’t upset the nobles. I firmly believe that if Duncan had gone with them, Nelaros wouldn’t have been killed and maybe they could’ve made it to Shianni in time, and that infuriates me.

And yeah, in the end it’s Duncan who saves Rose from the guard, but you expect me to be okay with going with him? Alone? After everything that just happened?

It almost feels like Duncan was more interested in testing you, to see if you COULD get out of that situation or what you’d do when the guard showed up. That gives me a lot of complicated feelings about Duncan, and the way the Grey Wardens do things in general. Because let me tell you, Rose hurls that “Wardens must not involve themselves, they must remain neutral” out the fucking window, even post DAO after the blight is over and things return to “normal” for the wardens.  

Side note, I like to think that the wardens out at Weisshaupt or wherever contact Alistair at some point like "What the hell is Warden-Commander Tabris doing over there??? She's breaking every rule we have??" and Alistair's just shrugs like "My wife killed an archdemon to end the Blight and survived, she gets to do whatever she wants forever and honestly, I love that for her."

But anyway-- I get it, Duncan. The Grey Wardens were booted outta Fereldan once before and we don't want a repeat of that. Sure. Fine. Makes sense...but also Rose doesn't give a shit about that? She may come to understand it eventually but that doesn't mean she accepts or forgives it, or would ever be willing to adapt the same attitude.

And I'm not even going to get into everything with the Joining and Ser Jory, because oh my god.

Everything Duncan does influences Rose's views on the Grey Wardens and their duty, like if there was ever anything she and Alistair have straight up argued about, it's Duncan and the concept of "being a warden is an honor."

And I think that's neat. Duncan's a consistency in every origin and even though he dies so early on, his influence remains with the warden no matter who they are.

[carinavet]

I'm re-reading The Calling and kind of loving the reminder that the Grey Wardens are ... a bit fucked up as an organization, actually.

Like, as an audience, our introduction to the Wardens is pretty heavily romanticized. It's just you and Alistair, with Alistair telling you stories of The Good Old Days of being with the other Wardens (for the like two whole weeks he was a Warden without you). And Duncan -- but even your own experience of Duncan is vastly different depending on the origin you choose. To Mahariel, Surana, Brosca ... he's a hero a saviour. To Cousland ... he is your captor, the man who forced you to leave your parents behind to die, whose mission doesn't allow for distractions like revenge.

And then we get to the Joining, For Mahariel, the Joining is salvation.

For Ser Jory ... not so much.

And all the secrecy! It's presented as a necessity, but is it really? "But nobody would join if they knew it was a death sentence!" Hate to break it to ya, bud, but joining any military usually is. Here it's just a bit more certain. And shouldn't people like Ser Jory get to make an informed decision? Is it really better for his life to be wasted right there in front of the chalice rather than letting him be another body in the king's army instead?

And I love love love that Loghain's initial motivations in retreating at Ostagar are always presented as hazy. Because from the Wardens' perspective, he abandoned us! The battle could have been won! His paranoia over Orlais has driven him to madness! His personal ambition will destroy Ferelden before the Blight can!

But ... could the battle have been won? Cailan cared only for glory, ignoring the practicalities of war. The Horde was larger than expected, coming up from behind through the Tower of Ishal. Decades before, Loghain had promised Maric that he'd put the lives of his soldiers above the life of the king. Was it really wrong to live to fight another day?

Even the expulsion of the Wardens from Ferelden makes sense in a historical context! Yeah, WE know it's a Blight and we need Wardens to fight it -- but even we don't know WHY Wardens in particular are so essential, thanks again to the Wardens' secrecy! But Ferelden has its own soldiers, and Wardens have betrayed Ferelden before. They claim to be a politically neutral organization, but Sofia Dryden DID try to overthrow the king, and even outnumbered something like 10:1 (I forget the actual numbers) she almost succeeded.

And then theres, y'know *gestures broadly at the Wardens in Inquisition*.

Okay this has gotten long and I'm getting tired, but I am gnawing at the many facets of the Grey Wardens as an organization. It's all so good! It's so complex! It's a military made entirely of people who have sacrificed their own lives to protect the world -- willing or not, current Blight or not -- but people are fucked up and complicated and the ways that idealism intersects with harsh reality is delicious!

[brocflowers]

Of A Particular Quality

Chapter 9: That's the way the money goes

“No. No. Nuh uh.” “Stop interrupting.” “What happened to leaving me out of this?”

Word count: 1,163

[AO3]

[Previous chapter] - [Next chapter] - [Chapter 1]

-

Leske throws his hands out to the sides when Brosca comes into view, eyebrows raised. Davedna’s bag dangles from his left hand, weaving lazily in the air.

“The fuck was that?”

He feels embarrassed, all of the sudden. He realizes that he really doesn’t want to explain any of it. What he was thinking, what he was feeling, what he did. 

He loves Leske, but they’re different in a lot of ways, and he knows he won’t understand. Brosca’s tried to make him understand before, but it’s like pulling teeth. He really has no interest in trying again, at least not now, and decides to try and dismiss the topic entirely.

“It’s fine.” 

It doesn't work.

“Not what I fucking asked! Hey, hey, hey-” Leske puts his hand on Brosca’s shoulder, spins him so they’re  facing each other, “-not so fast. What’s going on?”

No luck there, then. Brosca focuses on the spot just between Leske’s eyebrows, as close to eyes as he’s ever managed to get, takes a deep breath.

“I couldn’t-” 

He stops himself. It’s not true, he absolutely could have. 

“He’s not dead, is he?”

Brosca says nothing.

“Oh, you’re killing me, salroka, you’re-.”

“I just didn’t want to. I didn’t-”

“Fuck kid, nobody ever wants to-” He pauses. “Okay, that’s not- some people definitely- and that’s fucked up! But for normal people it’s just work and I know you get particularly soft and up in your feelings about it but that doesn’t mean that you can just-”

“I know, Leske, I know,” he growls, frustrated, “I don’t know what else to tell you. I didn’t want to do it so I didn’t. I figured something else out and now it’s dealt with. It’s over. Okay?”

Leske gives him a familiar despairing look, like he’s a hopeless and misbehaving child,  and it makes Brosca mad in a way that’s hard for him to swallow.

“Look, I left you out of it-”

 “Oh,” Leske laughs, “did you now?”

“Yes,” he says, “You were watching the street, you didn’t see or hear anything and as far as you’re concerned I did what I was supposed to do and then dumped him in a lava vent. You can play dumb, throw me under the wagon, I’ll back you up you know I will. This’ll only come down on me.”

Leske presses his palms into the middle of his forehead, like he has a headache. Closes his eyes. 

Despite what he was thinking earlier, Brosca is gripped with the sudden, frantic desire to explain himself.

“It wasn’t right, Leske. And I know that I- I do a lot of bad things but that doesn’t mean I can only do bad things. It wasn’t the warrior’s way, and I-” ”

“Can you shut the fuck up for a second?”

Brosca bites his tongue immediately, an instinct. He almost hates that he’s done it, hates that he’s been trained so well.

Eventually, Leske sighs.

“Did you tell him to run?”

Brosca nods, then realizes he can’t see him.

“Yeah.”

“Put the fear of the Void into him first?”

“Obviously.”

Leske sighs again, much louder than before. It sounds like his lungs are giving up for good.

“Okay, okay fine let’s just- let’s just get this over with.” 

“You don’t get to be mad at me for this,” he says, immediately regretting it, flinching at the whiny softness in his voice.

Leske mumbles something that sounds a lot like a repeat of killing me.

“I’m not mad at you.”

Brosca really doesn’t think that’s true, but it seems like he’s dropping it for now, which is good enough.

“We should get this to Beraht,” he says, gesturing with the bag, “we can uh- everything else can wait.”

Brosca shifts from foot to foot. He considers just letting it drop, not telling Leske what plan he’d thought of for the contents of that bag. He’s pushing his luck already, and luck is like a rope. You never actually know for sure how much it can take until the day it snaps.

 That’s what Leske always says, at least. Or something like that. He doesn’t remember the exact words, Leske said it much better.

But twenty-five sovereigns.

“Or…”

“Or what?”

He shrugs leadingly. He hopes it seems casual.

“Use your words.”

“We could always keep it,” he says, “I mean, Beraht probably doesn’t even know it exists, and it’s not very much, I don’t think anyone will miss i-”

“Did you hit your head on a door frame while I wasn’t looking or something?” 

Brosca blinks.

“Excuse me?

“Start eating mushrooms out of broken jars? Breathing smoke? You stare at the lava for too long?”

“I’m not going crazy, Leske.”

He scoffs.

“Could’ve fooled me!” he says, “I mean your little-” he gestures widely with his hands,  “-noble and merciful warrior moment back there is one thing, but this? Besides getting gutted by Beraht for having it, what the fuck are you going to do with a cup and a half of raw lyrium?”

“Sell it, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Shush. That’s what I need you for. I know you know people but I don’t know anybody. If you can point me out to someone who’s in the market to buy-”

“No. No. Nuh uh.”

“Stop interrupting.”

“What happened to leaving me out of this?”

“I need the money, Leske,” he says, heart jumping into his throat as saying it aloud once again makes it real.

“Yeah. Yeah you do. And I sympathize. But I’m not sticking my neck out so you can make a quick silver. I like you a lot, kid, but I don’t like you that much.”

“You would get paid too.”

“I would?”

Brosca frowns.

“Of course?”

The air feels changed, suddenly. Leske’s body language shifts. He looks at the bag in his hand, then at Brosca, eyebrow raised.

“How much are we talking here?” he tilts his head, “I get thirty, you get seventy? What?”

“No?” Brosca says, frown deepening, “Fifty-fifty, like always.”

Leske looks up and to the right for a moment, like he does whenever he's doing math in his head. He's much faster at it than Brosca is, which he's always envied. And more accurate. Even with practice, Brosca still usually ends up needing to use his fingers.

“Well, that's different,” Leske says, finally. His whole demeanor changes, and Brosca actually starts to believe that maybe he isn’t mad, “have I ever mentioned how much I like you?”

“I thought you didn't like me that much.”

Leske laughs, claps him on the shoulder. Brosca eases into the familiar feeling of having no clue whatsoever what is happening or what he's talking about. With Leske, he never knows.

“Don't be dumb, killer, you're my best friend, you know that.” He slings the bag over his shoulder. “I ever introduce you to Olinda?”

“I have no idea who that is.”

“You’ll love her. Well, she’ll love you. She’s a softy. Come on. Let's make some money.”

[crabs-with-sticks]

Happy friday! For Cor & Rica Brosca, "to the world we dream about and the one we live in now" (from the Hadestown prompts)

In which Rica knows and supports her lesbian sister, even though said sister has not completely figured out the whole lesbian thing. Also, now I'm thinking of a Cass and Cor romance book club... they would definitely have similar tastes methinks

@dadrunkwriting

Cor was stretched out on the bed, laying on her back and holding up a copy of the newest book she had managed to snag. She was in the tiny backroom she shared with Rica. Her sister was there as well, set up by their makeshift vanity. She had her weapons of war spread out before her- the makeup, the jewellery and the small mirror shard which she could check herself in.

Cor had her eyes locked onto the text of the book, even as she stumbled over the words. “Oh Rica! This is just so romantic!”

Her sister looked over her shoulder at her, smiling. “Oh? Do tell.”

Rolling over to rest her tired arms Cor grinned back at her. “Well you remember how in the last issue we read, that the merchant girl had gotten falsely accused of poisoning?”

“If I recall a section of the nobles were using her as a scapegoat. Or was that just our theory?” Her tone was upbeat, but it was still the tone used for humouring one’s younger sister. Even if that sister was a grown woman with an axe in the corner of the room.

“Yes! Exactly! And I haven’t been able to find issue 37 so I’m not quite sure what happens in between, but this is the 38th issue and the knight is performing a daring prison break for her! He’s fighting through all the guards to get to her! Risking death or being sent to the legion!”

Rica giggled, “ooh that does sound dramatic.”

“And her friend, you remember, the woman who was secretly from the noble caste but hiding among the merchants because of assassins? Well she is working in the background to prove Nerana’s innocence!”

Rica looked at her somewhat blankly. “Wait who was this friend again?”

Cor was tempted to throw a pillow at Rica, but she didn’t dare knocking over any of the hard bought makeups. She settled with a withering glare. “Don’t play dumb Rica, you know she’s my favourite. She’s so intelligent and brave and she has so much character depth! Her inner turmoil between wanting to help her best friend over wanting to keep herself.”

Rica laughed, sweet and lilting, but not teasing. “You sound half in love with her yourself.”

Cor frowned and felt a tangle building in her stomach. “Well you will too when you hear her speech from this volume. Listen!”

“I am listening!” Rica protested.

“Well listen harder, because this is important. Where is it…oh here!” She cleared her throat and begun her halting recitation. “My sweet Nerana, oh how I long to be by your side! How my breath does ache to see you so wrongfully accused. And though I have fought and sacrificed much for my own life, how can I, in good conciousness, allow such a pure soul as yours to go so soon to the ancestors. What I would give to see you safe my darling.’ Isn’t that just wonderful?”

Rica smiled, “I think I might want her to end up the Nerana in the end. Forget this knight fellow. Sure he can cleave through prison guards, but could his heart sing such sweet melodies?”

Cor glared at Rica, “now you’re just making fun of me.”

“I am not!”

“They’re friends Rica! Let me enjoy their friendship.”

“Alright…” she said, trailing off with a smile.

“Thank you.”

“You still haven’t changed my mind about them ending up together though. I think that world would be a nice one to dream of.”

Cor rolled over to face the wall frowning. “Yeah well we live in this one.”

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

for the romance/relationship asks: kala/al nums. 2, 4, 26?

[ask game]

Thank you for the ask Birch!! :)

2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI? 

Hmm idk if i can pinpoint any one moment for either of them.. It was definitely earlier for Alistair, even if Kala's initial attitude made him question it lmao. I'd say the feelings got confirmed when he realised that her relationship with Zevran made him jealous (ik jealous doesn't automatically indicate romantic feelings lol but in this case it does)

Kala had her first "oh" moment when Ali confessed, but that was only the start of her even processing any of that lmao. But a realisation moment (idk if it was a "knowing" moment but def a "huh i feel more strongly abt this than i realised" moment) was during the landsmeet, when she protested very strongly against the idea of making Alistair king, and realised it was not only because she was convinced he would not want that, but also for herself, because she did not want to lose him to that.

4. Their favorite physical feature on each other? 

For Kala, it's Ali's arms. They are. Big and strong and gentle and safe

For Alistair.. in a way, i wanna say her scars? As in, they are a reminder, a story, and they always make him really appreciate what they have, and how far they've come together.

26. How important is the romance in your OC’s overall story? 

Honestly? Not that important hfsjkldfj. She is happy with how things have turned out and would not trade it for the world, but if they had never gotten together, it would not have made a huge difference. They'd still be close, but would be doing their own thing most of the time post Blight, kind of like she and Zevran are in her canon

[dalishious]

Have you ever made a post explaining your thoughts on Flemeth? If so, sorry I couln't find it, but if not, what do you think of her?

Yeah, let's talk about Flemeth.

Flemeth was a horribly abusive mother to Morrigan.

Flemeth speaks of and to Morrigan as if she has been a burden; an unwanted pest she is glad to be rid of.

When a female mage warden asks about magic:

Flemeth: Not that I would mind a replacement daughter to order around

Morrigan: Believe me, you do not want that.

When the warden asks Flemeth what she will do when they leave:

Warden: What will you do once we're gone?

Flemeth: (Snort) Have a moment's peace, for once.

Morrigan: I hear the peace of the grave is eternal.

Flemeth: This is the thanks I get for feeding you and putting up with you for this long? Bah! May your child one day treat you the same.

Morrigan: Feed me, she says. Without me, I swear she shall be caked in dirt and eating tree bark inside of a month.

When the warden presents Morrigan with a replica of this mirror, Morrigan is taken back, asking what the warden wants. She doesn’t know how to accept a gift.

Morrigan: It is incredible that you found one so like it. I am uncertain what to say. You must wish something in return, certainly.

Warden: Don't be ridiculous. It's a gift, Morrigan.

Morrigan: You say that as if I should be accustomed to such a thing. I have... never received a gift, not one which did not come at a price.

Morrigan: I suppose I should say thank you. For the gift. 'Tis… most thoughtful, truly.

In Morrigan’s Fade nightmare, she is with her mother, except she doesn’t believe the spirit posing as Flemeth because it is too benign.

Spirit!Flemeth: I am your mother... do you not love me?

Morrigan: You are as much my mother as my little finger, right here, is the queen of Ferelden. I know you, fade spirit, you cannot fool me.

Spirit!Flemeth: Are you more clever than your own dear mother? Surely such pride must be punished!

Spirit!Flemeth: (Slaps Morrigan) 

Spirit!Flemeth: There! That is for not showing respect!

Morrigan: That is far more like it, but it is too little too late, spirit.

Morrigan getting slapped across the face is more familiar to her than Flemeth asking if she loves her.

When Brosca meets their own abusive mother again, Morrigan comments "We have more in common than I thought…"

We spend a lot of time getting to know Morrigan in DA:O, and a lot of that is breaking through the trauma and negligence she suffered under Flemeth's care. And no matter how mystical and vivacious Flemeth is portrayed as in the following two games, that doesn't change. Morrigan still remembers, and was literally willing to give up her life before seeing her son suffer the same fate in DA:I. "Do whatever you wish. Take over my body now if you must, but Kieran will be free of your clutches. I am many things, but I will not be the mother you were to me," she says, in one of the most haunting voice acting moments in the entire game. And how does Flemeth respond to Morrigan? With a simple frown, like she's disappointed that Morrigan feels that way.

It irks me enough that Flemeth, a human, was apparently so in need of vengeance more than any elven person in Thedas that Mythal chose her to store herself in. That's a strange choice for the writers to make all on its own. But what makes it so much worse, is that Mythal is the goddess of motherhood and justice. So now we have the goddess of motherhood and justice inside an abusive mother, in a way that Flemeth describes as her being and Mythal's being blended to a point where you could not distinguish them easily, similar to Anders being possessed by Justice. What the absolute fucking fuck were the writers thinking with that???

Flemeth's backstory is a tragic one, yes. But that does not excuse her own actions in any way. I personally know a thing or two about feeling bad for what happened to your parent while also resenting them for the abuse they put on you at the same time.