#i love u more than anything kirkwall

[trash-town-champion]

What drinks da2 characters order

In absolute fuck it we ball energy, I am replaying da2 here is a post for any of u who are still here from when I made this blog in high school

Yes this is modern / our world i dont care

Hawke: coronas. No, coors lite. Idk the beeriest college beer there is. Hawke is a ferelden farm boy this dude doesn’t even do mixed drinks he buys 6 packs only. Catch hawke in the club with one of those pitchers of beer thats like 64oz. If he must, whiskey soda(cola), and his go to shots are jameson

Varric: old fashioned is his go to, gin and tonic if he’s slowing down, and guinness if he’s really taking it easy, he doesnt really do shots

Fenris: he’s from tropical tevinter so must be tequila and mezcal, he usually does traditional tequila shots with salt and lime, but he’ll take a traditional margarita, salt rims on everything, he also likes tajin and will do mango if it’s spicy. Wine is a whole other ball of wax but he doesn’t really fuck with anything white or rosè he’d drinks cabs

Isabela: she’s a pirate so she likes rum, rum&coke is her go to, but she’ll do piña coladas, daiquiris, mai tais, and corny stuff like jello shots, blowjob shots, isabela only really likes shots if they’re this big communal event you make everyone do, she doesn’t do shots on her own, she’s the queen of mixed drinks and is low maintenance, if no rum she goes to vodka cran

Anders: white claw queen, trulys, high noons, go to mixed drink is long island iced tea, maybe screwdriver, but he will send things back if they’re not sweet enough and makes a terrible sour face every time he does a shot. This does NOT mean he does not do shots. He just has no preference bc he has no taste for liquor. He will order those ice blended drinks that are gross fake sugary, he drinks artificial shit like green apple flavored vodka, he brings malibu to every house party

Carver: he’s cut from the same cloth as hawke so he also drinks 6 packs. they order gallons of beer at a time and split them often, he’s always sipping mini fireballs out of his pocket as if he’s not surrounded by alcoholics, and he orders hennesy shots flat with no special flair

Bethany: cosmo, lemon drop, sex on the beach, sangria, she rejects beer because of her brothers, but she’ll do whiskey shots with them. she also likes ceremonious shot rounds like isabela

Aveline: ok so she’s obviously not down at the bar getting fucked up with everyone else, she mostly drinks beer and wine, she likes ipa’s and can get surprisingly sophisticated about beer, she doesn’t feel she has the refined palette of good wine choice (but she’d probably pass up many others) if she must order a mixed drink she’ll have whatever her friend is having, and if they’re doing shots she takes them like a pro

Merrill: oh boy this one’s hard. I think they just feed her drinks until she likes one and the ones she picks are so random to them they can’t follow the pattern. In reality, she has a preference for an herbal taste where she’ll like anything that tastes like she’s eating the forest or a garden, gin because it’s piney, garnishes with sage or basil or rosemary but she always eats the garnishes out of her drink whole, and she also likes to chew on the ice afterward. She’s a huge lightweight and gets drunk after two drinks but she really doesn’t mind the taste of them bc she would eat grass so she slurps down many a hard drink and then shes wasted

[bluerose5]

[sticks leg out] may we see ur warden(s)/custom hawke(s)/inquisitor(s)

and if u feel like it how would any of them fare if dropped into Faerun (with or without Fenris/Zev)

Ohhh don't get me started!

Garrett Hawke, my beloved, although I hc him as elf-blooded. Ironic enough, in Thedas, "half-elf" or "half-blood" is used as an insult iirc, so imagine his expression to hear people use the term half-elf so casually in Faerûn. Just a little aside.

For him, he is your typical purple mage Hawke, so I'd definitely say he'd bring that type of energy to Faerûn, no matter what time in his life he's in. He'd be excited as fuck to be in a place where he can use his magic openly without worry, and he would take the adventure in stride, even while he's screaming on the inside. (Still, none of this is as bad as Kirkwall in his opinion. 😆) Somehow gets everyone to fall for him without even trying. Not his first merry band of bi/pan misfits that he's had to deal with.

Then, there is HIM.

Darrian Tabris. My Warden. My Warden-Inquisitor. Love of my life. My angry rebel. The Dark Wolf himself! I djdbdhsbdfkf 😍💖💞💖💞

Sorry, but he was a character I loved writing so much. Maybe I'll return to his story one day, but my energy has been more devoted to one shots and shorter works these days. It just suits my current habits and lifestyle better than going full multichap.

Darrian is a rogue/mage multiclass thanks to my setup on pc where I utilized the game's console commands and such. He's faced a lot of hardship in the Alienage and puts his people (elves and mages) first. He's also not above using less than savory means of achieving his goal (ex. the power of blood is a badass concept, coating his blades in his tainted blood to seriously fuck up his enemies, this is one of my favorites). He's also not above committing crime to get what he wants, but he grows into being a leader. In one AU I have, he even serves at Alistair's side as king (a poly relationship in this one). He also becomes Inquisitor and demolishes the status quo by encouraging rebellion where he can, so there's that too. 😂

So, with that in mind, how does he fare in Faerûn? Probably thinks it's too cushy compared to Thedas. His temper is his biggest flaw because he's so damn passionate that anything that angers him can set him off. Will be ready to fistfight any oppressive gods or former masters at the drop of a hat because he values freedom above all else. Could probably take Cazador out on his own ngl 💀

And of course Zevran was his romance (surprise, surprise). I don't think they'd necessarily act different around each other in Faerûn, but Zevran’s opinion would hold a lot of weight for him.

Also, semi-related, but I have so much art commissioned of these two. I didn't have my thoughts organized for this post at all so if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

[hiddenbeks]

alone, desire & failure for the oc u really want to talk abt :3

not-so-nice oc asks

ooh well since we're touching on the topic of failure i gotta talk abt ultimate failgirl fereldan turnip champion of kirkwall hottest apostate in town aka frida! also she's my only dragon age gal whose tag is still empty and this is a great opportunity to change that

alone: how does your oc deal with loneliness? have they ever been completely alone before? how do they act when there's no one around to see them?

frida deals with loneliness by seeking company! she's used to always having at least a few people around and she would prefer not to be alone with her own thoughts so. she'll hit up her friends and/or go to the hanged man for a fun evening to avoid this :) if there's no one around to see her it means her energy is totally depleted and that's when she's at her. rawest and most bare? she might cry for an hour in total solitude or just lie in bed staring at nothing or do something else she'd never let anyone else witness. she is so used to putting up a strong and fun and unshakeable front for others!! alone time is for letting all her emotions out unfiltered oof

desire: what's one thing your oc wants more than anything in the world? are they open with that desire? why or why not? what would they do to fulfill it?

she's a simple gal. she just wants to live her life freely and be happy and make sure her loved ones are happy...

...until she arrives in kirkwall and gets to know the kirkwall crew and starts hanging out and discussing mage freedom with anders and merrill and learns about the conditions in the gallows... as years go by she starts desiring. bigger things. it's not enough that she and her friends are free - she wants total liberation and while she doesn't go around the gallows yelling 'fuck meredith' she doesn't hide her views either. after becoming the champion she becomes much more open about this because what are they gonna do? arrest the beloved savior of kirkwall lol?? and if it takes blowing up a chantry and starting a revolt to achieve total liberation then so be it.

she's not actually involved in the blowing up of the chantry tho (beyond distracting elthina as you do in-game) bc anders keeps her in the dark but. at that point she would've helped if he'd asked. in fact she would've done it in his stead because just as anders says 'i didn't want it to be connected to you' or something along those lines frida would also have wanted to shield her friend at the cost of her own safety. because that's what she does. she needs therapy.

failure: what's your oc's greatest failure? have they been able to move past it? does anyone else know about it?

ok so when i call her failgirl i don't mean it in a 'fails at everything she does' way. she succeeds in many things! but all her achievements in kirkwall are overshadowed by her losses that she sees as failures on her part. most people don't see it that way because they don't know about her personal life, they just know she saved kirkwall! she fights for the mages! she's a hero of the common people whoo!! the companions of course know about most of her losses as they're right there to witness them and even if she doesn't open up about her troubles they Know she is tormented

but anyway uh. her greatest failure is basically not being able to do what she set out to do in the first place which was protecting her family! bethany dies when they're fleeing ferelden (she shouldn't have let her run off like that!), carver catches the taint and frida dooms him to a slow death as a grey warden (she should've told him to stay in the city!!) and then leandra is killed (she should've been more alert!!!). she blames aveline as well for the last one though. as is her right because holy shit aveline you're bad at your job! also frida is getting tired of internalizing it all so she starts taking her anger and exhaustion and disappointment out on others. mainly aveline. they have a weird can't-stand-her-ass-but-i-need-someone-to-fight-with kind of relationship. idk.

she also believes she failed as a big sister to carver by not bonding with him as much as she did with bethany when they were younger and like. she still struggles to understand him... see things from his point of view... they never get to have a true heart to heart about their Issues before she sends carver away to join the wardens and after that they barely see each other anymore and hhhhh

at first it feels like she'll never be able to move past her failures. she simply distracts herself from all the sorrow by keeping busy but as years go by she eventually... grows around it... there are still people to care about and causes to fight for and she is still needed and wanted and she slowly realizes that she needs to move on? and stay in the present and work for a better future. i'm starting to sound so sappy lmao but my point is!!!! she will eventually make peace with it all. even though it takes a long time. (she gets to have a heart to heart with carver too because i love these two and want healing for them!!)

[cityandking]

multiples of 5 (+ 14 for some silly fun) for minah & vesper!

ty!!! // oc ask prompts

5. How affectionate are they? What are their top love languages?

MINAH — she's like... medium affectionate? she doesn't avoid affection but she also doesn't seek it out. she's mostly a physical touch + acts of service gal, but she doesn't go in for a lot of physical touch these days. you want to get on her good side, gifts are also very big for her (receiving more than giving, unless you count the acts of service as the gift-giving) VESPER — incredibly affectionate but it takes her a long time to work up to displaying it openly. quality time and acts of service are her big ones, though she also very much enjoys physical touch with the right like, four people.

10. Favorite place? Do they go there often?

MINAH — these days she really doesn't have one; she travels too much for it. as a kid she had a hideaway (maybe outside of town? maybe just out of the house?) where she could sit under a big tree and hang out, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. obviously she doesn't go there anymore. VESPER — there are a couple places she's visited in her travels where she wouldn't mind lingering—the emerald graves, some parts of crestwood, unexpectedly beautiful parts of the world hidden away from the violence and the war. in skyhold, she tends to retreat to the ramparts when she needs a little space. it's nice to look at the sky and remember to breathe; she doesn't feel quite so hemmed in when she's up high

14. Choose an AU you think would be interesting for them to be a part of. Who would they be?

MINAH — this is tricky to get into without spoilers. I think in a better world she'd be a lot of fun to drop in a dance au. in a worse world, hunger games 100%. all that pageantry, all that death :) VESPER — I love love love an apostate au vesper. I'd drop her in kirkwall post-DA2 Act 3, just smack in the middle of that nightmare. I think it would be fun. I also think she should befriend hawke and co.

15. Are they the type to adopt strays (animals or people?) What or who have they “adopted” over the years?

MINAH — minah is the kind of person who would swear up down and sideways she doesn't want a pet and she's not adopting anyone and she can't be bothered to look after anything longterm and then would end up with a stray anyway and get really protective about them. rhydian better watch out VESPER — she's definitely adopted a couple apprentices in her time—she remembers being young and scared and lonely and she's got a big heart and a desire to help. inquisition kinda limits her bandwidth, but she's still taking people under her wing—cole's the most obvious example, but there are definitely others out there who might be surprised to find enchanter trevelyan looking out for them (ellana I'm looking at u)

20. How many friends do they have?

MINAH — really depends on how you define friend to be honest. on the one hand, so many! alternately, none. she's definitely friendly with a wide spread of folk, and she'll call people friend even when they maybe aren't really. this isn't really an answer but it's the one she'd give so #onbrand VESPER — well she's got the inner circle who are obviously ride or die for her. among them she's got a few she's besties with (bull, dorian, solas, varric) and a few who are more like treasured coworkers. then there are a few people outside the circle she's close to (krem, scout harding, a couple misc NPCs). and there were a couple friends she had in the Circle too (tho I guess she might not know if they're alive or not. yikes). low double digits I guess? 20ish?

25. What events changed them as a child?

MINAH — her dad's death VESPER — being sent to the circle

[melvinthedepressedrobot]

rambling about characters from my convoluted Dragon Age personal canon bc @bluerose5 asked the other day and I forgottttt (part 1 of idk how many because I HAVE A LOT, but for now u get the Big Three and a couple side characters)

okay so, first up, we have Breick Tabris AKA The Only Gay In The Alienage

A quiet, generally even-tempered young man with a strong sense of justice, never really wanted to be a leader but took it in stride because it was the right thing to do. Took him a while to warm up to the humans in the party, but he opened up a lot more after they picked up Zev and ended up very close with him in particular. Went through with the ritual with Morrigan at Zevran's insistance (and, ah, assistance) and stuck around as Warden Commander for a while before eventually leaving with Zev to search for a cure, leaving a mage they picked up at the tower, Camryn Amell, in charge.

More than anything, Camryn wants peace and bloody quiet, and if she has to set a hoard of darkspawn on fire to get it, so be it. Left in the mage tower after Jowan buggered off, she joined with Wynne after the party helped solve the abomination infestation, and underwent the joining ritual after the Blight. She comes off as abrasive, but she's a good'un, and keeps the Fereldan wardens well in line. Whilst Loghain was recruited into the wardens, she was actually the warden that met up with the Inquisitor through Hawke.

Despite being "cousins something-something-removed", Delilah "Lilah" Hawke seems to have little in common with Camryn - she's bright, loud and impulsive, and can't sit still for more than a minute. She finds making friends easily (and enemies even easier) and loves fiercely - be that her family, friends, or the eventual relationship she forges with Isabela - and, paired with her complete inability to mind her own business, this made the path to becoming the Champion of Kirkwall was a relatively straightforward one. The deaths of her mother and sister, and Carver contracting the taint and having to join the wardens, however, left her with a lot of guilt and Lilah ultimately sacrificed herself in the fade for her cousin and the Inquisitor.

Born into the Lavellan clan, Ala was taken from her family at a young age by slavers, ending up in Antiva after a narrow escape, where she spent some years on the streets, joining a group of thieves but fleeing the city after a job gone wrong and being caught trying to steal supplies by Breick and Zev on the road. They initially planned to find someone to look after her, but found themselves unable to give her up when the time came, particularly after being the ones to name her when she confided in them about her discomfort in being seen as a boy. Under their care, she opened up from a scared, near-silent child fighting to survive into a brave, adventurous girl who could talk for Antiva.

She did eventually reconnect with her clan, and, at 16, went to the conclave on behalf of both her families - using Lavellan as a surname to keep her connection to the Hero of Ferelden secret - and then tripped and fell into being named the Herald of Andraste and made the leader of the Inqusition.

She struggled a bit, as any teenager would, with this responsibility, and the whole Herald thing did almost go to her head, but, really, with the HoF for a dad, it wasn't surprising that she came through in the end. Leliana was, of course, the first the figure out who her dads were, and stepped up to guide her friends' daughter, and Ala also ended up with a very close, sisterly bond with Josie, as well as the nickame "Little Bird" from Varric. And she absolutely ended her adventure decking Solas in the face for lying to her face and breaking her sister's heart.

aaaand last up for tonight, Ala's biological sister, Heulwen. When Breick and Zevran couldn't make it right away to check on their daughter after the conclave, Heulwen volunteered to go and find out what had happened, opting to join the Inquisition and be by her sister's side. Being more patient and observant, she balances out Ala well, and though Ala didn't really remember Heulwen from her early youth, they did grow very close and protective of one another. Which is, of course, why Ala was so pissed when Solas - who Heulwen had fallen hard for, finding him charming and his knowledge (particularly of elven history) fascinating - up and disappeared on them and turned out to be behind the whole mess in the first place.

I did have a whole idea about her having had a kid that is 95% certainly Solas' by the point of Trespasser, but I can never quite decide on that being canon or not.

[moss-flesh]

OCs as poisonous plants

rules: create a look-book for one (or more) of your ocs using this meiker and then take this uquiz and share their results.

thank you for tagging me in this @hawkeshep it was so fun hehe

i got a bit carried away and did 3 ocs o_o so here !

from left to right

Aila Amell

in the circle, traveling, and the landsmeet!

Hemlock

This is the poison of intense fear. Your body trembles, your flesh burns. Your limbs won't respond to you. You convulse. You can't seem to control the fear. It seems that it has always lived within you. You hesitate, you agonize, and that breeds regret. Sometimes it threatens to overwhelm you, and that frightens you more than anything. But panic is survival mode in overdrive, and something within you knows you must live. Creation seems to be the only balm for you. Perhaps you survive so stubbornly because you have stories that must be told, songs that must be sung. Soothe your stage fright. The path from surviving to thriving is having a good garden to grow in. And you can't do that completely alone.

Erynne Hawke

lothering, hawke manor/kirkwall, MOA Party

Lily Of The Valley

This is the poison of giving too much. You feel yourself emptying out, dizzying, discoloring-- until you fear you will fade entirely and wither away. You have always had to give. You never had a choice before. They pluck your flowers for their beauty, they trample your leaves carelessly, they pull out your roots by the fistful and berate you for daring to grow. And now that you have a grove to spread out in, your rhizomes tangle and curl in on themselves. When cruelty is all you've ever known, thriving seems impossible. But the answer is not to make yourself small and offer every lovely thing you are to the world in the hopes it will have mercy on you. The answer is to let yourself dare to thrive for thriving's sake, to grow in the wild ways you wish to-- and to do that for yourself for once.

Adahlen Lavellan

traveling, skyhold, winter palace

And she got the same plant as erynne, Lily of the Valley!

my brain is having trouble focusinf rn so i wont tag anyone rn !!! but please do this and if u do tag me i wanna see!

[uta-makura]

I found an old word document where I stuffed my favourite answers under my uquiz question "if you want, add what's your opinion about the mage rights movement & revolution" (to this quiz) and why not post them here so we can all scream mage rights together. if u are any of these people, i love you

The Templar Order is corrupt and does more to encourage Mages to resort to extremist methods than it does anything else. Locking people away and teaching them to have an intrinsic fear of something they were born with is so inherently wrong. Magic is just as dangerous as a man with a sword. Teaching fear will only build prejudice and self-hatred, leading mages to turning to demons. Whilst there are some mages who would use their power to seek authority, the same can be said for anyone who has a big army and a fancy sword to match. Mages need an environment where they can learn safely without being torn from their homes and treated like abominations from the get go. Thedas’ entire concept of Mages (with the exclusion of Tevinter) is based on historical prejudice for a time that no longer exists but this prejudice leads Mages into radicalism- such as domestic terrorism or blood magic. If Mages were treated fairly then there would be less mages turning to darker arts. Furthermore Ander’s was completely justified; Elthina was complacent in the abuse of the mages which then led to larger scale crimes and the Chantry as a whole is guilty of the same problem. The compromise between Meridith and Orsino wouldn’t have worked- what Ander’s did was an unfortunate necessity that stemmed from the incompetence of the Templar order and the Chantry as a whole

mage rights or mage fights. anders was right

fucking good

mage rights (im gay)

if i see a templar its on sight

cullen is shit and anders was right the templar order can get stuffed

I think there should be a codex entry which is a literature review summarising the data on Possessed-Mage-Related Incidents. anyway, Mage Rights Now™, what do you mean it's a complex issue and there are genuinely some safety concerns. Mage Rights Now.

im too lazy to type down my proper opinion in detail so im just gonna: [children yelling: mage rights! mage rights!]

The mage rights movement and revolution both have my full support, as templars and the Chantry are corrupt and nothing will change if they continue to be allowed to treat mages the way they do.

im a mlm (mage loving mage), also fuck da templars

personally i hate the chantry as it functioned prior to the revolution, i dont think any group of people deserves to be oppressed in such a way, especially not by a theocracy driven by fear. mage rights or mage fights! anders did what needed to be done, and the whole "but he blew up a CHURCH" thing is just wrong imo, the kirkwall chantry was never a simple place of worship, it was a sign of the chantry's power and authority in kirkwall (golden statues anyone? the money they're worth could be put to so much good use, but nooope), a political symbol, and i dont believe anders hurt innocents bc 1. we dont really see innocent worshippers in the chantry at any point bc its not that kind of establishment, and 2. he blew it up at night, that one sister got away with m u r d e r in there at night. anders tried peace and nothing happened; destroying such a symbol made the impact that was needed to spark a wave of change. sorry i just feel veryyy strongly about this matter i dont mean to sound hostile ?

i'm a pacifist and would prefer things not resorted to violence, but the mages have been oppressed for centuries and have none of the rights non-mages do. they're locked up in towers and hunted down if they manage to escape. that's cruel and vile and outright inhumane. furthermore, the people in power have made it clear that they don't care nor will they do jackshit about it. the way things are the situation can't be solved through diplomatic means, no matter how much i would like it to, and therefore i'm in favor of forcing change. though, no blood should be spilled unless absolutely necessary. no one deserves to die, no matter who they are or what they've done. justice shouldn't be confused with revenge.

mage rights baybie!!!!!! education and destigmatization is the best way to combat possession & blood magic, not imprisonment (as it is, people are too scared to come forward about their powers which causes ignorance which leaves them even more vulnerable to possession. if people weren't AFRAID of circles that would happen MUCH LESS)

anders did domestic terrorism and that was really sexy of him

mage rights babeyy. i project too hard as a neurodivergent gay ex-catholic (thus, apostate)

Mage rights! Make the circle a school rather than a fucking prison, and separate the chantry from it

Mages deserve their own rights and the revolution is absolutely justified

Anders was (and still is) right, fuck the chantry

Basically, anders was right but the man can't do everything himself. They need to organize and obtain thing without violence. Violance was necessary just to start but can't be forever

Anders was right and I will not forgive the DAI writers for making hawke talk about him like he wasn't. No more circles.

templars/the chantry = trash. burn it all down.

[potatowitch]

saw #12 of this prompt list (first and last home) and i just had to slap something together so pls enjoy this unedited mess of fenders fluff thank u

fenris doesn't remember his first home.

he must've had one, he supposes. a place where he lived with his mother and sister, perhaps a father if he'd ever known him. he doubts it would have been anything impressive - likely the communal slave quarters under some magister's mansion, or a crumbling hovel in some stinking slum. he wonders if he was happy there, despite everything. he would've had a family who loved him, wanted him safe and warm and fed.

he decides it doesn't really matter anymore. if he had a home before danarius, it's not one he'll ever get back.

his second home is in kirkwall, squatting in a mouldering mansion that's long been abandoned. it takes him a long time to consider it his home - for years, it's simply a roof over his head, somewhere to shelter at night. at first, he doesn't even bother to clean any rooms aside from the master bedroom he claims as his own.

over time, that changes. it's a slow thing, almost imperceptible, but one day fenris catches himself calling the place "home", and he notices the little ways he's made the place his. the greatsword leaning up against the wall, the books piled up beside the bed, the scarf merrill knitted him hung off a bedpost. the realisation makes a funny feeling twist in his chest - he doesn't remember what home should feel like. he's still not entirely sure this is it.

somedays, fenris wonders if anders has a home. he knows the mage had a family before the circle - a mother and father, a farmhouse in the ferelden countryside. he wonders if anders still considers that home, or if he ever found home with the grey wardens - anders speaks of them like they were a small, dysfunctional family, not unlike hawke's little group of friends she's cobbled together.

perhaps anders considers his narrow, rickety bed in the backroom of his clinic his home. fenris doesn't know. he tells himself that doesn't matter, but he can't shake the feeling of disquiet he feels as he watches anders leave his bed and dress after they sleep together.

he asks anders to stay the night the next time, and then the time after that, and the time after that.

the mansion is their first home together. fenris realises this one night as anders dozes against his chest. he looks over his bedroom and notices the little things that make it their bedroom instead - anders' boots by the door, anders' books joined with his in the pile beside the bed, the feathery coat tossed over the chair by the fire. another funny kind of feeling moves in his chest, but this time it doesn't twist. it settles comfortably and solidly behind his breastbone, and he's fairly sure that this is what home is.

the years go by. kirkwall goes up in flames, and fenris runs from it with his hand clutching anders'. they make camp in forests and at the base of mountains and in abandoned barns all through the free marches. they share a bed roll every night, and fenris wakes to anders clutching him every morning. sometimes fenris mourns the old mansion he lived in for seven years. he mourns the little life he built in kirkwall, and the little family he had there. at times, he resents anders for taking that from him.

anders shudders beside him, choking out a sob, and as fenris shifts to rouse his lover from his nightmare, he realises he would rather be right here, lying on the cold hard ground with a rebel mage in his arms than sleeping alone in his mansion. he wonders if he may have misjudged what home is, if home isn't a place, but rather anders and the way he gasps as fenris kisses the tears from his cheeks.

they stay away from the war raging in the south between mages and templars, moving north into tevinter. fenris wants to free slaves, and anders wants nothing more than to be by his side while he does so. they spend their days fighting and healing and their nights holed up in ramshackle safehouses, pressed together in too-small beds. most nights, fenris wakes from an old, familiar nightmare to find anders kissing his temple and running fingers through his hair. i'm here, he says. you're safe, and fenris knows it's not true, that neither of them are ever safe, especially not in the heart of tevinter, but he tucks his head under anders' chin and drifts back to sleep.

the news that the new divine has declared an end to the circles reaches them in the middle of summer in minrathous, and anders sobs with joy against fenris' neck underneath the shade of a pomegranate tree. fenris feels tears well up in his own eyes, and wraps his arms around anders' shaking shoulders. you're free, he whispers against anders' hair, and he never thought the news of southern mages governing themselves would make him so happy he could cry, but here he is, pressing watery kisses against a mage's forehead.

years later, they find their last home together, in an apartment in antiva beside the sea, above a little clinic anders runs. fenris could do without the occasional smell of fish the breeze wafts into their living room, but as he lies with a purring cat on his chest and watches anders stretch in the morning sunlight, he decides the fish smell is an acceptable evil. it's worth it for how warm and safe he feels, listening to the rumbling of cat purrs and anders humming in the kitchen as he makes breakfast.

it was worth it, he whispers to the cat on his chest, and she blinks slowly up at him like she agrees.

[pikapeppa]

Abelas/Lavellan modern AU: Competent Professional

Chapter 2 of Inadvisable (professor Solas AU) is up on AO3!

In which Athera Lavellan starts her new research coordinator job with Professor Abelas on the wrong right foot.

Adorable art by my elf-lusting partner in crime @elbenherzart​!

~3000 words; read on AO3 instead.

- ATHERA -

Athera ran all the way from the apartment to the University of Orlais. Thankfully, it was only a twenty-minute walk, and by running she was able to cut the travel time almost in half. Still, showing up at her new job all sweaty and out of breath had not exactly been her plan. 

She skidded to a stop in front of the history building and paused and to catch her breath. When she was no longer huffing and puffing like a bronto, she straightened up and smoothed back her hair. “Okay,” she muttered to herself. “You can do this. You’re a competent professional woman. They hired you for a reason.” No matter that she’d never actually worked as a research coordinator before. 

Sure, she’d done all the duties of a research coordinator during the last couple years of working in Professor Kenric’s lab at Kirkwall University, but technically she’d still been a research assistant and not the coordinator, even if Kenric’s actual coordinator had been useless most of the time. 

Athera squared her shoulders. I’m done with that, she told herself. I’m the coordinator now. She would be taking her new job super seriously, and she wasn’t going to be forcing any of the research assistants to do her work for her. 

“You’ll be the best research coordinator Professor Abelas has ever had,” she told herself quietly. She quickly checked her watch — two minutes to spare, thank the Creators — and thus boosted, she made her way up the stairs and into the history building. 

She headed down the east wing, following the shiny new signs for the Ancient Elvhen Studies program. The program was relatively new at the University of Orlais, having only been established about five years ago. Even in that short time, it had become both famous and controversial. The Ancient Elvhen Studies program was technically part of U of O’s history department, but even that placement had been something of a controversy since the program encapsulated a range of disciplines including history, art, literature, and even traditional healing. 

When the University of Arlathan had finally agreed to collaborate with U of O, the Dean had originally wanted the program to be part of the school of fine arts. But Athera had heard that Professor Solas, Nare’s new supervisor, had insisted that they be situated in the department of history, and had refused to work at U of O unless the placement was made. 

Athera had also heard that Professor Solas had a reputation for being… mercurial, for lack of a better word. Aside from his impressive credentials and his famous fresco work, there was shockingly little personal information about him on the internet. Student reviews fluctuated between compliments like ‘he knows the answer to everything even though he’s an arts prof’ and complaints such as ‘he never gives an A’, studded with a few scathing reports that he could be a downright asshole when people asked questions that he thought were stupid. 

But Professor Solas wasn’t the one that Athera was worried about. Professor Abelas, the program’s director and the head professor of literature and history, was the one that Athera would be directly answering to, and he was the one that she most wanted to impress. 

She still remembered their phone interview with a certain amount of trepidation. She was pretty sure she hadn’t said anything stupid, and she’d made sure to not talk too fast so she didn’t sound nervous, but Abelas’s tone still sounded faintly disapproving the whole time. 

Maybe that’s just how he always sounds, she thought. She hoped that he didn’t always sound that way, since it wouldn’t  exactly be fun to work with someone who always sounded slightly disappointed with everything she said.

In any case, it was sure to be an interesting job.

A minute later, she was facing the door to the Ancient Elvhen Studies lab. She took a deep breath — you’ve got this, you’re a competent professional, she told herself — then pushed open the door. 

The lab space was pretty standard university fare: a main area with a large meeting table, filing cabinets and heavily laden bookshelves around the edges of the wall, a couple of impressively tidy common-workspace desks, and a small kitchenette. Two short hallways branched off of the main room toward the east and west, and there were three people sitting at the meeting table: two elves, and to Athera’s surprise, a dwarf. 

They looked up at Athera’s entry. Athera smiled and tried not to look awkward. “Hi there,” she said. “I’m Athera, the new research coordinator.”

The petite elven woman hopped up from her seat. “Oh, another Dalish, how lovely!” she chirped. “Andaran atishan! Come on in, Professor Abelas will be expecting you, he’s just in his office.” She hurried around the table with her hand outstretched. “I’m Merrill, and this is Tamlen and Dagna. I’m in the fourth year of my PhD, and Tamlen is – oh, but listen to me babbling!” She patted her cheeks nervously. “You two should introduce yourselves!”

Tamlen chuckled and nodded a greeting to Athera. “Nice to meet you. I’m a part-time research assistant, doing my undergrad the rest of the time.”

Dagna waved cheerily to her. “I’m a PhD student too. Second year.”

Athera was already feeling more relaxed; they all seemed so nice. “Nice to meet all of you,” she said. “Are you Abelas’s students?”

Tamlen smirked, and Dagna let out a tinkling laugh. “Oh no, Professor Abelas doesn’t supervise students. Solas is our supervisor.”

Athera raised her eyebrows. “Abelas doesn’t supervise students?”

Merrill shook her head. “No. Too busy teaching and being the director, he says.”

Athera raised an eyebrow. “But he’s a tenured professor. How can he be tenured and not supervise students?”

Merrill, Dagna and Tamlen exchanged glances, and Merrill replied. “We don’t really know, to be honest. Professor Abelas runs the department and Professor Solas does the supervisor duties.”

Athera frowned. “That’s… really weird.”

“It has been working well since this program began,” a deep male voice said.

A hard stone dropped into Athera’s gut. Damn, she thought. She looked up at the east hallway to see a tall elven man standing there with his arms folded. 

He was surprisingly built for an academic, with broad muscular shoulders that his tweed blazer didn’t quite manage to hide. An impeccable white braid coursed down his back — probably the style in Arlathan, Athera thought, since it certainly wasn’t a look she’d ever seen in Orlais — and he was very handsome. 

Or he would be, if he wasn’t scowling at her. Unfortunately for Athera, his expression was just as disapproving as his smooth voice. 

She swallowed hard. You’re a professional woman, she told herself. Even if you insulted his management style right in front of him. She offered him what she hoped was a professional smile. “You must be Abelas,” she said, and she took a step toward him. “I’m Athera, the research coordinator.”

“It is Professor Abelas,” he said. “Come this way. I will orient you to the lab.” He unfolded his arms and raised his eyebrows at Merrill, Dagna and Tamlen. “You have introduced yourselves?”

“Yes, professor,” Tamlen said. 

Abelas nodded, then gestured for Athera to follow him and headed for the west hallway without stopping to check that she was following. 

Damn and double damn, Athera thought gloomily. She forced herself not to look at Merrill and the others as she followed Abelas down the west hallway. 

He gestured at a few closed doors. “These are graduate student offices,” he said brusquely. “A meeting room here for interviewing research participants. That room is the private library, including hard copies of research articles from the past ten years that are awaiting digitization and proper indexing.” He shot her a hard look. “Managing that will be one of your duties.”

“I’m aware,” she said, a bit more sharply than she intended.

His frown deepened slightly, and Athera forced herself to relax. “I’ll make that a priority,” she said in a softer tone. 

He nodded, then pointed at a polished oak door at the end of the hall. “Professor Solas’s office is there.” He gestured for her to exit the hallway, and she obediently headed back down the hall toward the east hallway instead, with Abelas — sorry, Professor Abelas — at her back. 

She tried to think of something intelligent to say, some sort of question that would make it clear that she knew her duties here, but her tongue was tied with awkwardness. Professor Abelas was so silent and stern, and his height was kind of intimidating, making her feel as though he was towering over her as he followed her down the hall. 

When they were in the east hallway once more, he broke the tense silence. “More graduate student offices here. An archive of Elvhen artifacts is in this room, which is kept locked at all times.” He pursed his lips before going on. “I will give you a key by the end of the week. In the meantime, you will ask me if you require access to that room.” 

Athera frowned slightly. Why was he reluctant to give her access to the artifact room? She would need free access to all of these rooms if he wanted her to do her job properly. 

“My office is at the end of this hall,” he said. He gestured for her to follow him. “You should check with me before making any significant changes to the way things are run here.” 

“I understand,” she said cautiously. She followed him into his office, which – unsurprisingly – was spotlessly clean and tidy. Austere, almost.

He sidled around his desk and pointed to a large whiteboard calendar on the wall, which was meticulously colour-coded. “Professor Solas and I have a shared calendar here. Our teaching schedules and monthly meetings are updated here, so you will know where we are at all times.”

“Why don’t you use an online calendar?” she asked.

His pale eyebrows rose slightly. “Excuse me?”

“An online calendar,” she said. “So you can share it between you and update it on your, um, on your phones…?” She trailed off at the deepening of his frown.

“Professor Solas and I have a system that has worked for over a decade,” he said. “We will continue to do it this way.”

She pressed her lips together, then nodded. If he wanted to live in the Exalted Age and use a whiteboard calendar, that was his prerogative.

He rested his fingertips lightly on his desk. “The students similarly use a whiteboard calendar to coordinate the use of the meeting room and other resources.”

Athera raised her eyebrows. “Okay, well, that just makes no sense. That has to change.”

Abelas recoiled slightly, but Athera pressed on. “Students’ schedules are changing all the time. With exams and deadlines, a shared online calendar only makes sense so they can input any changes immediately and have notifs — uh, notifications — to alert everyone to the changes. I’ll set that up immediately.”

“I did not give you leave to make such a change,” he said sharply.

“It’s a simple change that will streamline everyone’s schedules and increase the efficiency of your lab,” Athera insisted.

“That’s not how things are done here,” he retorted.

His tone was hard, and he was scowling at her now. The look on his face was making her heart race, but she inhaled slowly through her nose to keep her calm.

You’re a competent professional, she told herself. You might not have a fancy PhD and a post-doc and an entire lab under your belt, but you’re a professional too, damn it. 

She boldly lifted her chin. “You hired me to manage the research projects in your lab and to take over a number of your administrative duties. Isn’t that right?”

He folded his arms. “That was indeed the job description.”

“If that’s my job, why don’t you trust me to do it?”

“You lack experience,” he said, to her surprise and dismay. “And besides, hiring you was not my choice. Professor Solas insisted that I required… assistance.”

Athera recoiled slightly at this. “Well, I’m not here to be your assistant,” she said firmly. “I’m not here to just do what you tell me. I’ll evaluate the way your lab is managed, and when I’m finished doing that, I’ll tell you how I think things should change.”

He glared at her. His unusual golden eyes were practically sparking now, his long elegant fingers tense on the surface of his desk, and Athera forced herself to breathe through her anxiety as she stared into his eyes.

He finally grunted and sat in his chair. “Fine. But you will change nothing without consulting me first.”

She exhaled slowly. “I’ll check everything with you for the first two weeks. You should let me use my judgment after that.”

He narrowed his golden eyes. “You are making a great number of demands considering that it is your first day here.”

And you’re being an ass, considering that it’s my first day, she thought belligerently, but she kept that salty thought to herself. “I’m just trying to do my job,” she said evenly. “A job that you hired me for, whether you wanted to or not.” She gave him a knowing look. “I’m going to make your life easier, you know.”

“That remains to be seen,” he said. He reached for his mouse and started clicking around on his computer. “I look forward to the results of your… evaluation.”

His tone was dripping with disdain. What in the Void was his problem with her? 

“I’ll get to work, then,” she said. She shifted her bag on her shoulder, then realized something: she needed someplace to put her things, and to, well, do her job. 

“Where’s my office?” she said.

“Ah,” he said. “An oversight. Here.” He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a key, then held it out to her. 

She approached the desk and held out her hand, and Abelas placed the key in her palm. “The office next to this one is yours,” he said.

Of course it is, she thought glumly. Of course her office had to be right next to the grumpy director’s. 

“Thank you,” she said. She took a step back, then toyed idly with the key for a moment. This whole meeting had been unfortunately antagonistic so far, and Athera didn’t want to leave it on such a sour note.

She decided to try to lighten the mood a bit. “If we’re going to be neighbours, I hope you don’t mind music,” she said. 

A crease appeared between his brows. “Excuse me?”

“Music,” she said. “I listen to music all the time. It helps me to think. I, um, hope you don’t mind.”

His frown deepened. “What sort of music?”

“Dance music, mostly,” Athera said. “Pop, too, though I like more of the indie stuff.”

“Dance and pop music,” he repeated. 

He was staring at her now as though she’d grown qunari horns. She could feel her face prickling with discomfort. Why had she even bothered trying to lighten the mood with him? He clearly didn’t have a humorous bone in his body. 

She tried for a smile. “I’ll keep the volume down for now.” 

“That would be for the best,” he said.

She nodded and awkwardly backed out of his office. “Thanks for the orientation, Abelas. Professor Abelas,” she said hastily. 

He nodded. Already his eyes were on his computer screen, and Athera blew out a breath as she started unlocking her new office door. 

“Athera,” he called.

For some reason, a shiver traced down her spine at the sound of her name in his voice. She’d never heard her name before in an Arlathani accent, with the soft vowels and the gently rolled r. 

She swallowed hard and poked her head back in his office. “Yes?”

“Close the door behind you,” he said.

His eyes were still on his monitor. Athera frowned at his bluntness, then pulled his door shut without replying. 

Ass, she thought. She opened her office and put her bag on the desk next to the computer, then draped her coat over the chair and trudged down the hall back to the main area.

Merrill and Dagna were still there, and their faces were sympathetic. “Don’t worry,” Dagna said soothingly. “His bark is much worse than his bite.”

“I cried on my first day here,” Merrill confided. “During my whole first week, actually. I have an extra box of tissues in my desk if you need them.”

Athera chuckled. “Thanks, but I’m okay. I’m just going to jump right in and get to work.”

Merrill beamed at her. “That’s the spirit! And it really is exciting to work here. The artifacts they have in the back room are just amazing! I’m doing my thesis on one of them, actually, on the broken eluvian that was found in the Brecilian forest ten years ago. That’s one of the reasons that the professors came to Orlais, you know, so they could work with U of O on the eluvian project — oh, but you probably know that already…”

“I do,” Athera said. “But I’m just as interested as you are, so you can tell me all about it.”

Merrill did a little hop. “Wonderful! Well, it was shattered, as you know, and I was actually part of the archeological party who went out to the forest two years ago to recover more of the pieces! Creators, I tell you, it was such an amazing trip…” 

Merrill chattered on cheerfully about the eluvian, and Athera listened with one ear, but the rest of her mind was on Abelas and his bad attitude. The way he spoke to her was so unkind, like he thought she was just here to mess everything up. And the way he frowned at her with that scowl on his annoyingly handsome face, like she wasn’t qualified to make any changes to his precious lab…

He’ll see, she thought stubbornly. He’ll see how much more smoothly things will run here once I’ve gotten settled in. Athera was a competent professional woman, after all. She was absolutely qualified to do this job, and in no time, she’d learn the way the lab was run and she’d make it so efficient that Abelas would be sorry he ever doubted her. 

I’ll show him, she thought. She was going to make this lab the most efficiently run place in the department of history, and Abelas wouldn’t remember what his life was like without her. 

[luobingmeis]

DAO really was the best game, the lore the ability to absolutely wreck shit, the fact that they didnt do that bullshit ‘all sides are grey’ and clearly showed oppression. I think of my warden, an elven mage, and wonder how she’ll be rewritten more than anything.

right like!!!! i love each dragon age game with my whole heart and they all have super special places in said heart, but origins handles a lot of the social problems really well, or at least from the perspective that i play it as (also an elven mage!)

the rest i’m putting under the cut bc holy shit i can talk abt dragon age a lot. also nothing is proofred. i’m so sorry this got so long i hear “bioware” and “grey morality” and i go wild

(pls talk to me abt dragon age.....)

(also please don’t reblog this!!)

like i understand da2 having a type of grey-morality thing bc the final battle was choosing between the mages and the templars (tho imo they could’ve done better than “the mages hate us bc we keep them locked in a tower and there are multiple accounts of us abusing them and therefore some of them turn to blood magic so therefore we should kill all of them” but still, in a setting like that where the Main End Game Choice was mages vs. templars, then that is understandable)

(but also i haven’t played da2 in a couple years so maybe it’s more nuanced than that)

but inquisition! it’s weird bc inq has a super special place in my heart. i’ve played it 6 or 7 times to completion, not counting the other times i got 20/30 hours into it before external forces distracted me. inq is overall the game i think abt the most, most of my playthroughs average over 100 hours, it’s the only game that i have all the dlcs for, for me it’s the easiest to replay, and yet there’s so much that frustrates me abt it! like, i’m gonna avoid talking abt the actual parts of the writing that bother me, bc that can be it’s own standalone thing, but imo it felt like they never actually solidified what actually caused the mage/templar war? there are those that say anders started it (seems likely), then there are those who talk abt fiona leading the rebel mages in the war? and there, of course, is the “the templars have done wrong but so have they mages and therefore you’re shamed either way for what you do” like i Get what they’re trying to do, trying to encourage players to explore their options and really delve into their own moral values of the game and not just adhere to what the game says, but idk the way they always went abt it always rubbed me some type of wrong

i think part of it is bc, when people mention circle mages turning to blood mages and demons and such like that, it was always framed as “ah these evil mages!” and not “[if these are circle mages] most likely their want for freedom pushed them to that”

does that make it right? no, not necessarily! look at uldred from dao! imo, he was wrong! i don’t like the circle and my warden herself has a complicated relationship with it, but i like that you can say “hey! this is wrong!” without legitimate plot-based “but what if it isn’t?”

of course there will always be companions who push for the more chaotic/harsh choices (morrigan is the one i have the most experience with giving me disapproval for being what i think is nice) (still love her tho), but i think dao handled “okay, look at the big picture, and really think abt what hill u want to die on” stance well

and then there’s the way the mage/templar thing is handled in inquisition vis a vis companions. specifically cullen. and, listen, i as a player have a very complicated relationship with cullen and my heros do too lmao. and i really don’t want to get into the nuances of that bc that can 1) turn into a fight i don’t feel like having and 2) can be it’s own discussion, but basically, from my own perspective, he’s a well-written character who makes for a good antag to a mage-siding hawke in da2 bc of how pro-templar/anti-mage he is. again, don’t agree with any of it (honestly da2 alone puts me on the “okay fuck this” level w/ his character), but it does offer an extreme that is interesting to see. origins is more complicated bc in a game not directly stepped in mage/templar and also a game that stems from 6 different origin stories, it’s very easy to be a non-mage and be like “why do i care abt this guy” (if you get what i’m saying? like i got immediately invested in saving the mages bc my first warden was a circle mage so i was very put off by being told to kill all of them, as compared to if i played a non-mage origin and didn’t really have that background knowledge). but overall, origins and da2 puts cullen on the “pro-templars, mages are more dangerous than they are good side.” and then inquisition is where things get interesting!!

and, for a quick ref, i’m very into getting invested in my characters and really figuring out their morals and what they would actually do, or at least think, so dai becomes interesting bc i play as another elven mage who has never stepped foot in a circle and never will. so, bc of that, i play him as naturally more inclined to not initially Think abt cullen’s past like as a templar bc, as a dalish mage, i hc that he does not know what actually goes on in circles (as compared to my warden, a circle mage, and my hawke, an apostate) (but i hc that, overtime, as he has more and more experiences with templars, he becomes more cognizant of that) (but bioware doesn’t give me the option to just dictate everything my camris lavellan is thinking akjsjkdjk)

and dai-cullen, imo, is actually very interesting! and, tbh, i do have to give it to bioware. i feel like i’m abt to say an unironic controversial opinion, and i feel like i’ve already talked abt the nuances of all of this, but i do think dai did well at reworking cullen’s character. however, i feel like that was also done to feed into the grey-ness of the mage/templars. and, imo, i think they almost did well at actually making cullen show regret for how he treated mages. almost. again, i think there’s a lot of nuance! bc we do see him show some type of regret for how he treated a mage!warden (if he said all that shit like “all these people’s blood are on your hands” if u talk abt not wanting to kill innocent mages) and we do see him step away from templar life (that is, if you tell him to stop taking lyrium)

but!!!! there’s One Thing that puts a thorn in this, and it’s that cullen says something along the lines of, “meredith wasn’t all wrong, she had reason” like bitch!!! no matter what side you choose in da2, you fucking fight meredith!!! she’s wanted to kill innocent mages/make them tranquil even before anders blew up the chantry!!! meredith was all wrong!! she was evil!!!!! she was objectively a harmful person!!!!!!!!! bioware really makes this bitch the final boss of da2 and then has the audacity to say “but maybe she wasn’t all bad” in dai like WHERE IS THIS FOR ORSINO??? ORSINO ISN’T ALL BAD, IS HE???????? OH BUT HE IS BC HE RESORTED TO SUDDEN BLOOD MAGIC IN THE LAST TEN MINUTES OF THE GAME, AS COMPARED TO MEREDITH WHO WAS A DANGER FOR THE ENTIRE FINAL ACT and i digress but the fact that bioware is trying to redeem cullen but also showing that he still sympathizes with a woman who 1) turned against the templars and 2) Literally Everything She Did To The Mages always makes me “hmmmm are u really trying tho :/”

also tho one thing i’m actually not the biggest fan of is that cullen is like “oh i knew hawke in passing........ knew varric in passing.............” meanwhile let’s just cut to everything that happened at kirkwall. this is my own opinion bc i see varric as hawke’s #1 but i personally think that at least half of the comraderie varric and cullen sorta-kinda-had in inq was varric testing the waters of “okay what is cullen going to be like if and when hawke shows up”

also tho i will say a hot-take of mine is that if cullen gets to be redeemed by bioware, then i want something for anders, too, but i doubt bioware would do something so clearly pro-mage. but it could be two sides of the extreme! extremist templar gets redemption, extremist mage does, too! come on, bioware, show your grey morality

(again, i think it’s interesting what they did with cullen in dai and does give some sympathetic light but i also do think the reworking of his character was working towards bioware’s moral-greyness agenda with dragon age. not that that’s necessarily a terrible thing, i understand them wanting some nuance, but it’s the way they do it. like, you can show bad templars and bad mages and still not have “but who is really the bad guy? the oppressors or the oppressed? who is it really?”)

(and also just bc i feel like i need to put my own player claim in this, my opinion on cullen is complicated and also i’m gonna be completely forth-right with u, dear anon, i appreciate cullen in inquisition but, as a whole, he can be terrible to ur warden in dao (that’s not me being shifty it literally just depends on the choice you make in broken circle) and in da2 he’s a nightmare, so bioware had to do a lot of legwork in dai) (tbh tho in my personal-player opinion, if i was to ever romance cullen in inq, it’s not gonna be with a mage)

god this got so out of hand anon i’m so sorry you probably didn’t want this messy essay but i just love talking abt dragon age!!! i think abt it a lot and i have five years worth of headcanons and i have a family tree set up for my surana/lavellan bc of some bullshit i pulled and also!!!! bioware’s writing can get so frustrating but i also think it’s so interesting to pull apart and discuss bc i think the bioware has actually shifted from pro-mage (origins) to neutral-mage (da2 kinda) to anti-mage (dai) and i feel like So Many Choices with characters and their plots reveal that!!! so it’s a frustrating agenda but i also just love dragon age so much that i can’t help but get excited and talk abt it!!!

like, as all things, i do believe there are times when grey morality does work, but, at least from a mage-siding perspective, it hasn’t really landed well for dragon age. bc, and i don’t want to drag in real-life scenarios bc i feel like it would be incredibly inappropriate of me to use any oppressed minority as a comparison for a fantasy world, but it’s the age-old thing of people saying the shitty “but the oppressed fight back and therefore they’re just as bad as the oppressors!” and that’s like....... not how it works.

but also you’ve caught me in a wonderful mood so i feel like, if i was in a bad mood, this would be a lot more “and fucking bioware can’t make a goddamn decision on what side they actually support so instead most of the companions are gonna made rude remarks abt you supporting mages and the ones that support you are seen as distrustful and fuck this and fuck that” but i think that is the joy of loving something with you’re whole heart and also saying “there are so many things abt this that piss me off and so many things that i would change”

and also!!!! ik bioware probably killed my warden so like rip electra surana but i would love for the warden to make an appearance in da4 as a temporary companion/advisor. but! but!!!!!! i also don’t know how much i trust bioware with my “elven mage who is alistair’s mistress and preferred the mages and wanted to free the circles and etc etc etc” bc... idk how to explain it? like, i don’t want them taking my warden and putting words in her mouth that go against choices i meticulously made in dao

[glowyapostate]

honey & anders  (feat. the lovely @hawkeyde‘s lovely hawke)

in a previous post i detailed anders’ general attitude towards love. he pushed it away and fought it at every step until his merge with justice completely pushed any trace of it in the background. so how could this still happen?

first of all, honey as a mage slipped past justice’s indifference, as a mage he was part of those group of people who anders and through him justice cared about. then over time and through their interactions the man showed sensitivity, humour and charisma in a way that allowed anders to develop a level of fascination with him and instead of treating him as another mage for the cause, he became individually important. while it was a quiet crush at first and he even tried to squash it knowing his plans for the future and hoping to spare honey from it, what he didn’t account for was feelings becoming mutual.

as hawke started to flirt and extend small gestures of kindness towards anders it only strengthened his feelings. this time there was no circle to run away from and although he tried to treat it the same way, trivialise it, reason that hawke was only playing with him, the constant reassurrance and reflection of his feelings nurtured it into love, something he never felt before. the intensity of the feeling scared him. for someone who never truly felt love before, it swept him off his feet and i believe that is why he can be so over the top about it.

it is a first love, it is more intense and beautiful than anything he ever experienced. every moment is a new discovery and simple actions are cast in a different light just because honey is the one he shares it with. it allowed anders to emerge further from under justice. he became personally invested in his well-being, he wanted to see him smile, do well in life and enjoy it whether that was with or without him. that is true love, it lacks selfishness, you want happiness for the one who made you happy.

before hawke the future was bleak and pointless, he was ready to throw his life away for a cause and for thousands he never met. then he came across one person and suddenly he much preferred the idea of living.

and now for something completely different...

just little things anders does and thoughts in relation to honey:

if honey needs him, he’s there. whether honey realises he needs him or not is irrelevant, ie. times when he is injured and stubborn and says he’s fine, if anders just hears honey has been in a scuffle, he is there, wherever that may be to make sure honey is fine or tended to

anders lacks most practical knowledge as he was never taught but he will always try and participate even if it’s just passing tools to hawke when he’s fixing things. he likely doesn’t even know the names of the tools carpentry requires beyond a hammer and nails but he’ll take great delight in learning them so when honey asks him to pass him the block plane he can pass it to him with a victorious beam

often he slips into fatalistic romantic moods, it’s hard not to when he is fairly certain how things will end for him in kirkwall, but honey reminds him that he used to be a fun loving and lighthearted man and slips into banter without noticing, something that makes him happy without realising it’s happening

the one thing he does know how to make is a flower crown and he will never fail to make hawke one if they’re near flowers. honey looks magnificent in a flower crown

justice is not a fan of drinking but anders will still gladly do so when with hawke and oh he becomes a shameless flirter to the point of risque territory

kisses. once kisses happen they rarely stop. kissing the back of honey’s hand? sacred. kissing his calluses, kissing his shoulder, the crook of his neck, kissing his collarbone and the corner of his lips when he starts to get frisky. on that point anders loves honey’s collarbone, he’ll stroke it too, gently with a single finger. weird? oh well.

he will walk up to that giant of a man and hug him from behind, wrap his arms around him as much as he can and bury his face in his back. 

he used to be known in some circles as the mage who does that electricity thing and he sure as heck will demonstrate it for honey too >u>

it is his mission to try and make sure honey sleeps more, he will try to find some relaxing potions, or just simply bring him warm milk with honey and/or burn lavender incense, and when hawke does fall asleep the love-struck abomination will whoop you if you dare to disturb him

this... might be a bit sad but i can’t help myself. when the time comes, instead of varric, anders would offer honey his pillow, the one thing he had left from his mum

[queenklu]

So You Think You Can Dragon Age:2 - Redo My Dude

SYTYCDA:Origins Masterpost \ ko-fi 

I decided to replay it, with a better understanding of how tf this game works, and with ONE GOAL TWO GOALS IN MIND: 

romance the fuck out of Fenris

be better?? idk

And this time I am playing as a mage. Yes this is out of spite. FENRIS YOU’RE GONNA LOVE ME AND YOU’RE NOT GONNA LIKE IT.

But also this means that Bethany (my dearest sister except for when the game forgot we actually liked each other and only gave me deeply lukewarm responses when I saved her life but maybe she was mad I didn’t take her with me to the deeproads but it’s not actually MY FAULT that she got caught and shoved into mage slavery) dies. And I get Carver.

Whom.

I WAS SO READY TO HATE BUT GUESS WHAT!!!! 

I will fight every mother fucker in the universe for this boy. 

Do you knowww if you pick the mostly sarcastic answers with a sprinkling of olive branch answers, he actually chills the fuck out? Some rando gave me some letters that used to belong to our dad, and I gave them to Carver, and he was all, “*grumbles* a mage is going to get more out of this than--oh.” And he realizes he was named after a Templar who helped smuggle good mages out of Kirkwall. And if you play your cards right, the conversation ends with Carver saying, “I’m always going to have your back, but one day I’ll have to find my own way.” 

Everyone. Everyone. Is picking on my boy. Even Varric, to his FACE, tells us no one in the city is talking about the youngest Hawke, and calls him a “tit.” And AVELINE!!!!!! GOD. Carver asks her, “Hey, we’re both soldiers, you got a job as a city guard, I applied have you heard anything--” And Aveline says, “I don’t think you have the temperament.” And Carver says, “....did you tell them not to take me as a guard?” and she says, “Yes.” 

HE’S ANGRY AND HURTING AND GRIEVING AND FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! I know he’s likely to betray me and whatever but the reason he’s gonna do that is ALL MY FRIENDS SHITTING ON HIM and not ME. 

So maybe this campaign is gonna be 1) romance fenris 2) be better?? 3) protecc my brother fuck u

[edelgoth]

Hi, I'm 2w1 for ennea and (I think) ENFP for MBTI. I am a big nerd (obviously :D) and for hobbies I do MMA, photography, play the Mandolin, love folk music and acting. I like meeting new people even though it tires me out. My humor can be snarky, and I apologize way too much. I am not assertive at all, but do not shy away from difficult heart-to-heart moments. I do try to be there for people and normally see the best in other by default. DA2 or DA:I? & any gender, if you don't mind. Thank You!!

(Hi. It’s that 2w1) I think I for got to mention that I’m female, and I enjoy writing. But, yeah, thank you so much for if you see this!! ( If you’d like, I’d be happy to do a Dragon Age match up for you as well!!) Thank you again.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you have no idea how excited i was to see a dragon age request in my inbox i’m,,, thank you so much! also, it’d be lovely if you did a matchup for me!! just message me! 

okay, so i tossed this one up a lot, but in dragon age ii, i match you with… 

fenris!!

i think you two have a nice amount of contrast! youhave the sort of personality that’ll help bring him some levity, while he has amore assertive edge

he strikes me of the certain of person to encourageyou to stop apologizing too much; not only have you not done anything wrong, but he has such a clear view of your valuethat the idea that you’re apologizing for nothing doesn’t make sense to him

you’d definitely be the “social point” of therelationship, if that makes sense; fenris is more than happy to let you dealwith other people, but he’s always there when you’re tired at the end ofthe day. he gets it,

he’d like to see your creative outlets, fromwriting to acting, and he’d be very supportive of them; he’s intrigued by howyou express yourself, and would value any extra understanding of you he couldgather from your work. i think he’d also really enjoy it when you played themandolin (i had to look up what that was for this and oh my goodness they’re so cute), and i think he’d be especiallyfond of the folk songs that had a story to them?

just imagine him resting his head on your legs withhis eyes closed as he listens to you pluck away at a laid-back tune,,, bless

i feel like he’d enjoy getting involved in mma withyou (or the thedas equivalent, depending on how you’d like to think of thismatchup), and it could be a good way for him to get more comfortable with beingtouched by others? that’s something he has to work through in a relationship,and while mma certainly isn’t intimate,it could be good practice? i have No Idea where this tangent is going, B U T itgives him a) an opportunity to get competitive for fun, and b) an opportunityto be close to you

fenris had a pretty good sense of humour, and ithink you’d bounce off each other quite well here. his humour is moreunderstated, so he’d like your snarky side 

but at the same time, i think being with someonewho has your outlook would be a good thing for him; he struggles with pessimism(with good reason), and he’s naturally distrustful (again, for very good reason). having someone whosaw the best in others would help remind him that things are okay, and that oneday, maybe things will get better

also, since you like meeting others, i feel likeyou’d help him get out of the house more? he has a habit of cooping himself up,but with the joint efforts of you and varric, he might see the light of day (orthe streetlights) just a little bit more

i think something else that’d be invaluable wouldbe your ability to have those difficult heart-to-heart conversations. fenrishas a lot to work through, and knowing he had someone with who he could behonest and vulnerable with would be precious. it would take him a while to getcomfortable with that, the dialogue you two would be able to have would helpyou both grow as people

and when all’s said and done, he’d try to be thatperson to you, too. i think a lot of people forget that fenris is a deeplycompassionate person at his core, and he wantsto connect with people; it’s just hard for him to really express thosesides of himself. but, knowing he was with someone who treated him with thekindness and patience he needed would inspire him to return that with attentivenessand care.

i love him so much thinking about him has made meemotional hhhhh 

alternative matchups

merrill: she was actually the first person i thought of, but i just felt more passionate about fenris tbh. that being said, i think your relationship with merrill would be quite different to that described above; you share the propensity to see the best in others, and you’re both very kind people. i can see merrill missing a lot of your snarky humour (to varying degrees of endearing), but she’d be as equally invested and supportive as you are. you’d have a very open, honest relationship, and it’d be the kind where you never went without affirmation and affection! 

varric tethras: honestly i can’t can’t quite put my finger on why i think you two would work well together, but this is a great match in my mind? varric is very different from the other two, but you guys would have a great rapport. you have similar senses of humour, artistic inclinations, and you both care a great deal about people. i think that while he definitely seems a tad more cynical than you, i think you’d understand each other very well. also, i think you’re the perfect mum for the kirkwall crew? and honestly, what else would varric look for in a partner? 

your inquisition matchup is under the cut because Big Yike guess i got carried away and this post is getting ridiculously long

in dragon age inquisition, i match you with… 

josephine montilyet!! 

i… love her so much i cannot put itinto words… and i think she would really love you!

first of all, kindest couple? you bothwant (and do) to see the best in people, and I’m guessing that extends to theworld in general, as well? josephine wants to make the world a better place,and you seem like the sort of person who can help her do that

also, beloved socialite couple! part ofher job is literally meeting new people, and she’d love taking her with you todo that. You’d flit through all those parties hand-in-hand, and she’d know exactlywhen to take over when you got tired

okay but josephine would want to takeyou everywhere with her, tbh. expectto travel the world with her, and whenever you meet anyone she knows, she’sdefinitely the sort to say “hello nice to see you have my met my partner? no? well, let me tell you—” before going ona long ramble about all your best qualities

your biggest fan, without a doubt. whileshe may not understand the wrestling (and certainly isn’t going to take partherself), she’ll be there cheering you on!

also loves seeing your creative work! she’senraptured whenever you’re on stage, she gets emotional when she reads yourprose (or poetry!), and she marvels at your ability to capture the beauty of theworld around you. It almost gets overwhelming tbh

she’d love your mandolin so much!! as anex-bard, she’d obviously have a bit of musical knowledge hidden in those puffedsleeves of hers, and she’d delight in hearing you play 

she’s not obviously nerdy, but I feellike josephine is a naturally curious person? Because of that, she’d lovehearing all about your interests and your hobbies, and would always have a cleverquestion to ask

she has a very stressful job, and she’dgreatly appreciate having a partner with whom she could be very honest and openwith. knowing she could be frank about her feelings with you would take amassive weight off her shoulders

you’d have a very good dialogue withone another, and it means that you don’t let things get bottled up or left tofester; your relationship is a very safe, comforting place for both of you, andit’s something you’re both thankful of!

and she’d be your biggest support too! josephineis a very emotional, loving person, and you’d never have to doubt how she feltabout you; she’d always be telling you how much she loves you and how much sheappreciates you

josephine is too good for the world andwe don’t deserve her,,, please duel for her hand in marriage and give her lotsof love

alternative matchups

blackwall: while he’s less bright than josephine, ifeel like the things he’d value in you would be the same. he’d appreciate theway you saw the best in other people, and i honestly think your lifephilosophies would be quite similar? i’m assuming here, but it just reads thatway to me. i feel like blackwall’s also very affirming, once you work out howhe shows love. he’s not as affectionate or overt as josephine, but he’d be justas supportive, once he felt secure in your relationship. he’s just a Good Man, youknow? it’s just going to take a while for him to relax and open up.

iron bull: okay so things would be very, very different withbull. your personalities would bounce off each other quite well, and ithink you’d be that couple that’s always laughing about something. bull would be the toughest nut to crack when it came toemotional openness, but i think he’d get there eventually. like fenris, he’dtell you that you don’t need to apologize so much. he’d teach you how to bemore assertive, and you’d teach him how to see the best in others. your ways ofseeing the world are more different than all the people listed above, but ithink that’d make for a really interesting relationship?

side note: i knowyou didn’t ask for a matchup for origins but,,, you sound perfect fororigins!leliana? softest couple 

[rosykims]

5 + 10 for emeraude, 14 + 18 for effie, 19 + 24 for arylene and 30 through 45 for imogen bc i love her so much ? 😏😏😏

fdjkfjkfdk thank u SO much maia i absolutely Treasure You !

EMERAUDE HAWKE - DA2

What does your OC normally wear? What would your OC wear on a special night?

emeraudes fashion sense is probably my favourite out of all my ocs, so uh if u havent looked at her pinterest board yet u should do that bc its Very cute hehehe

anyway for the most part she sticks to dark, practical clothing whenever she's out and about in kirkwall or doing merc work, etc. she picks clothes that convey strength and power, but she likes having a little bit of colour somewhere on the piece, just to keep things interesting. she's not much of an embroider, but was a good way to keep herself distracted during hard times, so she tends to add little patterns here and there whenever she gets the chance!

as for special occasions, for her this would actually just be. a quiet night at home or a relaxed gathering with her friends. bc its so rare for her to have that lmao. anyway for events like that she usually wears light colours and soft fabrics, simple but always decorated with flowers or colourful patterns.

What does your OC keep in a special drawer?

she has a collection of gifts ! that kids from lowtown would give her over the years she spent in kirkwall. she's a very community based person and wants to do right for her city, and shes very nurturing (in an ironical, Cool Big Sister way) so she likes making sure all the kids are safe and being looked after. she gets a lot of trinkets and strange gifts from some of the kids as a result, but she does treasure them (even if she laughs about it with her friends) and keeps them all !

EFFIE RYDER - MEA

Who is the mother and/or father figure in your OC’s life?

effie's maternal rolemodel has always been her late mother, ellen. nobody could really fill that role in her eyes, since they had such a close, positive relationship before she passed. her relationship with her dad was a lot more strained and it really impacted a lot of her relationships later on in life too ! she tends to.... see an older man who is Vaguely Nice to her, and then think “ oh, youre my dad now?” which isnt fair to anybody obviously but yeah she,,,, has a lot of unresolved issues regarding alec and tends to unintentionally project so. We stan !

How many times did your OC move as a child? Which area was his/her favorite?

oh constantly lol. With her dad being an n7 and her mother working so hard on her research, they tended to move around wherever her parents work required. she actually enjoyed it this way. she was never good at making long term friends, but she lived meeting new people, and obviously with the move she got to experience a lot of different cultures which really put the idea of adventuring and travelling in her head at a young age.

ARYLENE TORR - TES IV

What does your OC think of children- either in general or about having them?

she likes them ! she tends to keep her distance with most communities and groups of people in particular, but she does like enjoys having the odd conversation with the odd street urchin here and there, either sharing with them some strange, ridiculous life advice or – if shes feeling particularly chaotic – telling them the scariest stories she can think of. as for having them, arylene isnt AGAINST the idea, but she has far too much for the foreseeable future for that to ever be a good idea

Who are the people your OC dislikes/hates?

outwardly, arylene is an almost unbearably easy going person, so you would assume she doesnt hate anyone lol. but she does DEEEPLY dislike cults and groups of ignorant people who are arrogant enough to start messing with the balance of life, or making deals with gods, etc. she believes that people like that can do an unbelievable amount of damage, so she invests a lot of time and effort it sabotaging any group or plot she happens to find !

 IMOGEN FOSTER - RDR2

Did your OC participate in extracurricular activities, and if so, what were they?

hmm idk if this even EXISTED in 19th century london lol, but she would have done some very tame version of girl scouts as a child! She barely remembers any of it, but she liked the classes on what plants did what, which were safe to eat, and the likes. its something that helps her a lot when on the run with the gang, and something shes always had a personal interest in, as a nurse !

other than that, she’s done a lot of independent study on history, classical literature, and she speaks fluent italian we stan !

What is your OC’s opinion of school? What kind of student was s/he?

imogen comes from a very wealthy aristocratic family, so she was very fortunate that her privilege afforded her the education she got at the time. she is VERY grateful to have attended the schools she did, and she made sure to make the most of it, paying attention in class and studying harder than most of her classmates. she's a smart girl with a very active mind, so knowledge is something she can't get enough of. she was actually petitioning the board of education to allow her to attend university before she left for america – already their had been women accepted into universities at that time, but obviously it was still a very scandalous thing lol, especially since imogen wanted to study medicine.

What subjects did your OC excel at?

imogen is a HUGE overachiever and did pretty well at basically everything from science, mathematics, language studies and later on, in her studies as a nurse. i can tell you what shes bad at though lmao

anything physical really dkdkdks she is TERRIBLE at horse-riding since she usually just went by carriage everywhere in the city. art and poetry and writing in general she was never great at, because she's a pretty logical person and was told she never put enough emotion in her work lol !!! sports...obviously was very limited anyway as growing up in like? the early 1870s lol. and as for the traditionally feminine lessons in like ?? sewing and cooking and stuff well ! she was very average at them which made her  feel worse than if she was actually bad bc she's so used to excelling and making a name for herself oof

What subjects interested your OC?

Imogen loves greek literature and mythology !! the iliad is her favourite book and she keeps her heavily annotated, dog eared copy – a gift from her late father – on her person almost constantly. needless to say its why dutch admires her as much as he does lol.

obviously, as a nurse-trying-to-be-a-doctor, she has a great love for medicine in all its forms. she's always been fascinated in natural remedies, and even moreso when she's running with the van der linde gang and is really relying on the land to survive.

What is your OC’s dream job and/or current profession?

hmm okay so. Technically she's a nurse – she worked in her father's hospital for almost 10 years prior to his death, and she was sort of his unofficial understudy, as in she knows a LOT more than her job description requires lol. but after her father past away, another, less progressive man took his place as chief of surgery and made a lot of changes to the way the hospital operated, and imogen was let go. she and her mother were fighting against it, however, under the ground of unfair dismissal, but obviously given the time period it didnt get them very far. so ! i mean technically she's unemployed rn. but she still has dreams of being a doctor, or at least continuing her career in medicine.

How is your OC working towards their dream job and/or achieved their current profession?

Oh VERY direct action up until she got disheartened and chose to take her sabbatical. she had been working in her role for nearly a decade, and was very obviously one of the most experienced nurses there. even younger doctors would sometimes ask her for her medical opinion dksksks anyway what i am saying is Brain Very Good. she had been fighting to gain admission into a university – any, she wasnt picky – to study medicine officially, but it didnt get very far and she put it on hold after her father got sick. after he died and she was laid off, she fought even harder against the city to reinstate her title, and continues to fight after she returns from america a year or so later.

What are your OC’s thoughts/opinions of his/her current profession?

helping people is her entire life, and she wouldn't know what to do without it. she loves being a nurse enough to fight to be a doctor, but also in BEING a nurse, she is hyperaware of all the things current medical standards seem to get wrong, and she has a lot of ideas about how else to go about things. her father, a shockingly progressive and worldly man for the time period, shared her sentiment, but he wasn't able to make the changes he wanted to before he passed, so imogen hopes she can be the change herself, and make her father proud

What is your OC’s biggest dream?

being a licenced doctor, babey ! preferably at her father's hospital, but at the point she will take what she can get.

How does your OC react to and handle stress?

imogen  handles stress very well , which is partially why she makes such a good medic, and also how she managed to survive the first week of being with the van der linde gang lmao. she is very good at shutting out EVERY distraction when things get dicey, and her brain tends to move at a million miles an hour. all traces of english etiquette and politeness go out the window, though, so you'll usually catch her barking orders at people, and yelling at anyone who prevents her from doing the work she needs to do. it.....is a big wake up call for people like dutch and micah, and gets her into a LOT of trouble on multiple occasions.

How does your OC handle anger?

ooo......not great. she’s grown up with parents who maybe encouraged her to speak her mind a bit....TOO much given the historical circumstances lol. she really doesn’t stand for ignorance or prejudices in any capacity, and if she has a problem with someone and it gets in the way of her trying to do her work or help others - she will ABSOLUTELY be having words. she also overestimates her own strength quite a lot. she’s tried to throw hands with micah MANY times, often forgetting she’s this tiny 70kg englishwoman and he’s .... Him sdjkdcjkf. she has a big mouth too so she often says snide remarks without even meaning too, which tends to get her in trouble as well. on the bright side, it also helps her fit in with the gang quite well, because for the most part they all appreciate how wild she is lmao

How does your OC handle grief?

hmm i guess it depends on what you would class as “well”? she doesnt cry very often - being stoic and handling your emotions is important when your a nurse - but she does tend to shove her feelings down far longer than she should, and tries to pretend they don’t exist by simply focusing on other things. she also blames herself when a lot of things go wrong, because she’s a perfectionist and wants to FIX everything, so when she finds something - or someone - she can’t save, it feels like a personal failure. like she let them down :(

What is your OC’s greatest fear?

probably being trapped in an unhappy, unfulfilling marriage with someone who undervalues her. she’s not much of a homebody and doesn’t have too much of an interest in being married, but the idea of feeling FORCED to marry someone in order to have a decent quality of life makes her blood run cold oof

What makes your OC happy?

helping people ! meeting new folks ! learning about other cultures and ways of life! learning about NEW THINGS in general ! proving people wrong ! insulting micah !

as tough and high-and-mighty as she sometimes seems, she’s a pretty easy person to please, honestly. treat her with respect, give her space to do the things she wants to do, and don’t get in the way of her opportunities to learn new things, and she’s mostly very happy !

What kind of sense of humor does your OC have?

she has a fairly macabre and sardonic sense of humour, something she picked up from her mother. she says a lot of Shocking things for the time period, and she’s not shy of dirty jokes either. the first time sean heard her, a soft, well spoken english Lady, make some filthy, crude joke, he nearly had a stroke right there on the spot kjkjkfdjkf

What are some things that greatly upset your OC?

senseless violence, suffering or cruelty. she really hated the gang at first and hoped to escape the first chance she got, because all she could see was the crime and disregard for human life she assumed they all held. fortunately, as she got to know them, she realized this wasn’t exactly the case, but she still has a lot of anger in her heart for a few key members of the gang who seem to enjoy bloodshed more than anything. she also hates any form of social prejudice, and people who gatekeep knowledge and opportunities from others.

What are some things that annoy your OC?

i guess all of the above, but she also dislikes misplaced arrogance, and people who talk down to others. she tolerates dutch, but often gets frustrated with the way he speaks, using as many big words as he can to manipulate and confuse others. she believes that really intelligence doesn’t require obscure jargon and big, fancy words - she likes keeping things simple, so everybody can follow along.

[athenril-of-kirkwall]

Prompt for you! “You’ve been quiet.” Ideally for merrill and isabela, but really whomever you'd like to write for. ^u^

Your ideal is my command! :D

Isabela and Merrill, “Drowning Her Sorrows” (AO3)

Merrill found Isabela in the Hanged Man, but not in her usual spot.

Instead of chatting by the bar as she usually did, she was all the way in the far corner, lazily slouched halfway down the wall, tossing coppers at a long-drained tankard. This despite the stein having been topped up with all the empty bottles of grog littered around her table.

Merrill’s eyes searched for Corff, who was drying off a few mugs. Making contact, he glanced over at the mess of the pirate, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. Treading as lightly as she could over the filthy floor of the tavern, she sidled over to him, leaning in close to whisper her question.

“How long has she been…?”

He muttered, “Came in a couple of hours ago and hasn’t had anything besides rum and grog. If you ask me, she’s aiming to drag her ordeal here out as long as possible.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Merrill said, “but thanks anyway.”

She wandered away from the bar, reaching over to one of the stools to draw a seat for herself. No sooner had wood scraped floor panelling, did the former pirate spring into action, reaching for her knives lightning-fast…or she would have anyway, if her half-lidded eyes had let her see where she was getting up from, and her head smacked right into the wall as her knives fell from her hands, clattering onto the floor.

Massaging the back of her bruised head, Isabela winced then forced her eyes wide open to acknowledge her visitor. Recognising Merrill, she instead reached for a bottle, only to find it empty, then another, which to her chagrin was also empty, and then another which also happened to be empty, only for Merrill to snatch it away before her unsteady fingers could wrap themselves around their neck, and like that the bottle was gone.

The elf crossed her arms, trying her best to look stern. “Look at yourself, Isabela.”

Isabela leaned back, crossing her own as she grumbled, “Why should I? Nobody wants to.”

“You never talk to anyone, when you come out to join us you don’t say anything, and the rest of the time you’re just sitting here, wallowing in the corner! We’re getting worried, Isabela.”

Rolling her eyes up to meet Merrill’s gaze, she asked, “Oh? Is Hawke worried about me now?”

“Well…” Merrill said, trailing off as she tried to find the words.

Isabela leaned forward in a slovenly fashion, slamming her palm on the table. “That’s what I thought. He must be too busy with his new para…paramount…para…Fenris.”

“That’s not fair, Isabela!” Merrill objected. “He is worried. He’s just…conflicted. And Fenris is concerned too. You know how he doesn’t show much of it, but we all can tell.”

“Oh, really now?” Isabela asked. “Why’d they send you down here to fish me out, then?”

“Nobody sent me, Isabela,” Merrill said. “I came down here myself. Because I…care about you. You’ve always known that.”

Isabela nodded. “You’re right, Kitten. You always were. This whole thing was my mess. I…should have found some way, any way, of telling him. Stupid me, letting him bring feelings into this. Stupid me, bringing feelings into this myself. Sneaking into Fenris’ mansion and leaving before sunrise was simpler. Now I can’t even do that.”

Merrill folded her hands on the table. “So, what are you going to do now, Isabela?”

“I don’t know, Kitten,” she drawled. “I was happy enough drinking myself senseless in this corner.”

Feeling Merrill’s stare boring holes in her head, Isabela held her palms up. “All right, all right. No more alcohol. Tonight, anyway. I’m going to regret this tomorrow morning already as it stands. You really think I should crawl to the Champion of Kirkwall and beg forgiveness? Because if you expect me to beg and crawl, I don’t think you know me at all.”

Merrill shook her head. “No, I don’t expect that. But you should still talk to Hawke. I can be there. I think I can even get Fenris to bring him down here. He doesn’t talk to me much, but if I say it’s for your sake I’m sure he’ll find some excuse.”

“You’re always right, Kitten,” Isabela said with a sigh. “Let’s do this tomorrow. No, the day after. I’ll need to sleep this one off and think about what I’m going to say.”

Turning to Corff, Isabela shouted, “Barkeep! Some water, if you please.”

Corff, in a much better mood now, sent Norah over with a large pitcher of plain water, which she poured some of into Isabela’s stein. Gulping it down, Isabela turned to Merrill as she wiped a small spill from the corner of her mouth.

“Kitten, why did you choose to come down?”

Casting her gaze to her feet, Merrill said, “Because I know what it’s like to hurt those I loved, even if I didn’t mean to. And that I know what it’s like to never be able to tell them I was sorry, and it being too late when I next saw them. I just didn’t want that to happen to you.”

Isabela leaned over and took Merrill’s little hands in her rough ones. “Oh, my dear Merrill. That’s…that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for me.”

“I…” Merrill started, “…I…just thought it was the right thing.”

The pirate nodded, gripping the elf’s hands tighter, feeling her eyes glisten. “Yes. It is, darling. You’re so much better than I ever could be.”

“No,” Merrill said. “You could do just as much good I have. Maybe even more.”

“Maybe one day,” Isabela said, releasing Merrill’s hands to wipe her eyes. “All right, I’m already starting to regret this and it’s not even morning yet. Kitten, mind helping me up the stairs? Maker, I sound like an old woman.”

“Of course!” Merrill said as she stepped over the stools to take her by the arm. “Easy now, Isabela. I’m not used to hoisting humans around.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll learn quickly enough,” Isabela muttered as she dragged herself to her feet, taking step by careful step up to her room at the Hanged Man, Merrill gently but firmly guiding her upwards and onwards.

@dadrunkwriting

[spell-struck]

58-65 for Elias ♡

THANK U TASH BBY……

58. Do they like to show off?

Not particularly! If he’s showing off, it’s likely a joke, like he’s mocking himself in some way. Trying to purposefully make a fool of himself to make his friends laugh and the like. Though, he is the type to brag about how his s.o. chose him out of literally anyone else if that counts

59. What is their favourite song?

Contrary to what one may think of him, modern Elias likes to listen to classical music. He gets overwhelmed by loud noises (especially after all the fighting he did back in Kirkwall) so in the like canon time period idk. Anyway his favorite instrument is the harp

60. What would be their dream vehicle?

A bike but one of those dorky ones with two seats

61.What is their favourite book?

Elias would love Jane Austen lmfao. I think it’s because I do. He has a fondness for Pride and Prejudice

62. Who, in their opinion, makes the best food?

He loves his friends but he would literally never eat something they made unless he monitored them while they cooked. So him. Also probably Fenris but he is biased

63. Are they approachable?

Oh, absolutely!!!! And he’s so accepting, too! He’s very honest and wears his heart on his sleeve, but that’s why he’s so easy to hurt :( Betrayal riles him up, too…

64. Did they ever change their appearance?

Not willingly. Not intentionally. He gave himself a scar on his right eye when he was very young due to a magical mishap, and as a result his eyesight isn’t as good on the right as it is the left. His right eye is a lighter brown, too.

65. What makes them smile?

His friends. These are people who, when it came down to it, put aside everything to help him in Kirkwall. The people who love him and trust him more than anything. Knowing his little brother loves him more than the brat cared to admit. And then there’s Fenris. That needn’t even be elaborated upon.

Send a number and an OC and I’ll answer!