#hey Solas remember when...

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

I love the idea of Bodhi coming to you for comfort after a long day, especially given all the additional stress that he and the other marked ones are under

Changed it a bit because you know me but here we go... My first little something something for our lover boy!

warning: contains some slight spoilers from iron flame. Nothing major but still wanted to give you a warning.

Not giving up on us

Almost nothing managed to get under Bodhi's skin. Just like his cousin Xaden, he could pull up a cold wall and no one would manage to get a single look at what was going inside. He was able to shut off his visible emotions. Leave all the problem-solving and brooding over something when he was alone or at least among the people he trusted but this mess that unfolded after the Parapet... God damn... At this point, Bodhi didn't even know who he was blaming and who was he mad at.

All he remembered was how he instantly reached for you the moment that flames erupted. He wasn't even thinking about it. His brain worked on its own. And in sight of danger, the only thing that mattered to Bodhi was that you were safe. Even if it wasn't what a good rider should have thought of first. He had pulled you both on the ground. His larger frame practically covered all of your body. And that all would have been fine. Everyone would have presumed that he as a section leader was protecting one of the cadets in his wing. If only...

The moment the heat died down and Tairn had chased Solas away, Bodhi had pulled away ever so slightly, his palm instantly cupping your face as he looked you over. The way your eyes seemed slightly glassy. And that's when the panic set in and all of his instincts kicked in. "Hey, look at me", he tapped your cheek as he pulled away, "Love, can you hear me?". You blinked up at him feeling your head throbbing from the impact. You were sure it was nothing you just had to let it pass. Lay low for a few minutes.

Bodhi had carefully brushed the hair away from your face, panic slowly settling in. You caught his hand pulling it away. There was no room for little touches like that. Not here. You shook your head slowly, "People", you muttered and Bodhi's eyes instantly snapped up. Verish and other wing leaders had their eyes set on him. And even if they hadn't, they've seen it. Don't think too much of it, Cuir, Bodhi's dragon, had mused but he knew better. Should have known better.

Nor was he surprised when he got pulled for an urgent conversation. Nor when he was assigned to the flame section. He saw it coming. They were going to do everything to separate you two. Weed out the threats of whatever that was starting to form between you two. Bodhi missed Xaden often but now even more so. In situations like this, he realized just how much having his cousin around meant. Was he pissed to find out that you were made the section leader of the tail section now? Yes. Sure, it was a higher rang and you deserved it but something deep within Bodhi screamed that it was done on purpose so you two would have even less time together.

And it slowly was driving Bodhi insane because the whole day after the incident he didn't get to see you. Nor did he know anything about your health. Did anyone even take you to the healer? Did you have a concussion? He had shoved his stuff angrily into the bag, so he could change rooms. It was almost unbearable considering that most of your stuff was already there. You two had quietly settled in. Your smell was all over his stuff. It felt safe. It felt like home. His haven. But more than most Bodhi hated the thought that all of this might put you in some kind of danger. Varrish was already all up on Violet what if that wasn't enough? What if he will want to have another play toy? That could very well be you.

"Sulking much?", your voice made Bodhi flinch. He had slipped out to stroll through the fields after an excessively long conversation with his new wing leader. "No", he muttered back, already hating the way his tone sounded. "Right, Ceir said just that", you rolled your eyes as you moved to sit down next to him. Both of your dragons were on rather friendly terms meaning that even if you two couldn't talk directly to them, they still were willing to help you find one another or warn one another when needed.

You leaned against your boyfriend's shoulder, letting your chin rest there. His stiff demeanor softened but you could sense the distress lingering. "How's your head?", Bodhi murmured, turning to kiss the side of it. "It's okay, just a little whiplash. I feel perfectly fine now", you reassured him. Hoping that it would ease his nerves but to no success. "What is it Bodhi?", you breathed slowly pulling away so you could see it better.

"What do you mean what is it?", he huffed, throwing the bits of grass he's been plucking from the ground across the field as he stood up. "I'm not hurt, all the people we care about are fine too", you stated. "They fucking pulled us apart because they know", Bodhi hissed through gritted teeth. "They would have changed your position regardless of what happened out there, Bo", you tried to reason with him. The loss was too big, they were lacking options when it came to repositioning.

"They know, that's the problem. Did you see the way Varrish was looking at us?", Bodhi tried to stay as quiet as he could but his angry gestures spoke loud and clear. "So what? We're breaking up now?", you said, crossing your arms over your chest. Bodhi instantly frowned as he moved closer to you, "Of course, we're fucking not". You let him wrap his arms around your lower body as you held onto his toned arms, "Then don't stress over it. We've got this", you cupped his face softly, "You can handle yourself so can I". You reassured him, leaning in to kiss the side of his jaw. "I just hate the thought you haven't to go through extra shit just because you're with me", Bodhi hissed through gritted teeth. "Watch me do it with my head held high", you smirked at him, "I'm not giving up on us", you whispered. Bodhi let out a sigh. His grip on you tightened as he rested his forehead against yours. "I'll never give up on us", he breathed. You smiled up at him, pushing up to kiss his slowly. Missing the feeling of him against your lips after such a long day. The warmth. The smell of him. "You know now that I think about if...", he breathed, "We're a dang hot couple. Both section leaders", Bodhi mussed. You let out a chuckle as you shook your head, "And it had only taken a couple of minutes for your ego to grow twice the size". Bodhi let out an awful fake hurt hiss as he wrapped you up in his arms pulling you even closer into his embrace, "With a girlfriend like you, what do you expect?", he purred against your ear.

#bodhi durran #bodhi durra x reader #bodhi durra imagine #bodhi durra fourth wing #bodhi durra iron flame #bodhi durra x you #bodhi forth wing imagine #bodhi iron flame imagine #fourth wing imagine #fourth wing x reader #fourth wing x you #iron flame x reader #xaden riorson x reader

[theheraldsrest]

Hey! I really really love your blog! If I may request, during downtime, how would the members of the inner circle react to find the Inquisitor drawing/sketching them?

“Companions react to Inquisitor drawing/sketching them”

After our *cough* little thing with Bull, let’s have some fluff, shall we? Thank you anon for the ask!

-Lord Lex

Cullen

“You did this? It’s certainly…it’s…how did you even…it’s amazing.”

-So surprised, no words. It makes him feel a little special that you’d choose to sketch him but also very embarrassed. In return, he tries drawing you. Might not be as good and there are a few rough sketches that were thrown in the fire, but he wanted to return the favor. 

Josephine

“Oh! Look at the detail and the softness! I wouldn’t have even thought it was me from how stunning it is!”

-Absolutely gushing over it. Josey’s always had a fascination for the arts and to be the subject of the piece from someone close to her? Adores it, even asks to keep it. She has it tucked away in one of her favorite books. Will always compliment your art even when talking to dignitaries.

Leliana

“I commend you on your artistic talent. Though, I’d ask you not to sketch me. Perhaps one of the ravens would make better practice?”

-Like Josephine, Leliana has an eye for art. She loves looking at the little details in your sketches and finds it a surprise that her face is amongst the papers. As much as she appreciates it, she’d rather her face remain a secret. She is your spy master, after all. Though, if she becomes Divine, she keeps the sketch as one of her favorite pieces of her. 

Vivienne

“Darling, as much as I’d like to say you're wasting your talents by leading the Inquisition instead of honing your skills, you are equally talented in both. Most usually fail to make me look this stunning.”

-It might not show on her face or in her words but she loves it. Several times people have been commissioned to paint her yet none come even close to your level of detail. More points if it’s of her smiling or laughing, the lines on her face as well as the wrinkle around her eyes gives her a sense of…normalcy. If she becomes Divine, she commissions you to do her portrait, no one else.

Varric

“You drew me? I think that’s gotta be one of the scariest pieces of your art I’ve ever seen! When you're done, can I keep it?”

-Though it doesn’t sound like it, he brags about it constantly. Even when he’s making fun of his slightly crooked nose or how his eyes might seem smaller than other dwarves, he’s complimenting the skill you put into the very minute details of his face. Varric will try to pay you for it even if you refuse, later trying to commission a drawing of Hawke when they come around.

Cole

“Oh, it’s me! Not really, but it’s Cole. But you’re trying to draw me…I can still remember his face, then.”

-He’ll stare at it for hours, his shoulders down. It’s been sometime since he’d been able to see his own face, forgetting that he even had a face. To see you draw that face, the real Cole, just from looking at him makes him happy. Will ask to look at it every now and then, just to make sure it’s still the same.

Solas

“I must say, you are quite talented and steady with your hands. It does allow others to see how the artist sees. You certainly make me seem…at peace.”

-From one artist to another, he gives you high compliments with very few complaints. It is unusual to see him drawn in such a way since he’s so used to seeing only the mosaics. He meant to get rid of it when he left the Inquisition, but just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Cassandra

“Inquisitor, though your craft is very beautiful and I admire how you can make these pieces, I must ask you not to sketch me.”

-Don’t get her wrong, she loves seeing your sketches but it’s mostly out of formality (and somewhat embarrassment) that she asks not to be your subject. If she becomes Divine, it’s one of the only pieces she prefers over the paintings. Though she does ask you, if you have the time, to draw something for her. When you give her a perfect picture of her brother and her, it’s one of the few times she truly hugs you.

The Iron Bull

“Holy shit. I’m alright when it comes to sketching, but you make it look pretty damn easy while so complicated! You even got my scars and the detail on my patch! Damn, boss!”

-Bull is used to doing quick sketches, usually of small details to make sure he could track someone or to remember something easier. Never had he really seen himself drawn so picture perfect that it completely baffles him. He looks at all the details with a smile on his face.

Dorian

“I can’t believe you managed to get my good side! In all honesty, though, this is remarkable. And not just because it’s me.”

-He had studied some art pieces before and never really found any he liked, but he has now found one of his favorite artists. Constantly asks if you’ve done any new pieces just so he can look at the heart that goes into them. Ask if you could teach him to sketch as such so that he can add better drawings to his research notes.

Sera

“What the fuck! That’s me! How the fuck! How did you do this! You even got my eyes to be lined up! How the hell did you do that?!”

-We all know Sera’s drawing style. She keeps saying the same things over and over again because she’s at a loss for words. Except for cuss words. Along with the rooftop hangouts, she insists that you two just draw together sometimes. Some of the goofiest drawings come from these times, especially one of a cartoonish Coryshit falling from a very detailed tower.

A little speech bubble near it says “Oh shit, I shat myself!”

Blackwall

“I…I’m honored to be one of your subjects. Not to blow my own horn, but this looks stunning. You really are something special, hm?”

-Blackwall has done a lot of sketching himself and finds your art a breath of fresh air. Other than looking at bits and pieces of his reflection, he usually tries to avoid seeing himself. So when he sees your drawing of him, he almost doesn’t recognize himself. You both trade sketches of each other just for fun and even sketch together.

#dai #dragon age inquisition #inquisitor #cullen rutherford #dai cullen #dragon age josephine #josephine montilyet #lelianna #leliana #madame vivienne #vivienne #madame de fer #varric dai #varric #varric tethras #dai cole #cole #dai solas #fenharel #cassandra #dai cassandra #cassandra pentaghast #the iron bull #iron bull #dorian pavus #dai dorian #dai sera #sera #blackwall #thom rainier

[vigilskeep]

did you watch all the personal quests and would you rank them for our entertainment?

1. blackwall. it’s a great plot, i love that the war table options for it are two thirds unhinged, and the way blackwall talks back to the inquisitor about it all is really refreshing. i like that they let blackwall say fuck and that the romance version is deeply insane. no notes. this man belongs in a better game

2. cole’s seemed kinda fun! i love a spirit companion. i would’ve killed that guy though

3. sera’s i have actually played. i like when she kills that guy. like a lot of these i don’t think it really addresses anything major about the character it’s just like hey remember how this character is this character. and then gives you the opportunity to throw her out (again)

4. varric’s was fun it didn’t seem very interesting to play but i quite liked bianca actually. are there any consequences about the entire red lyrium thing being because he told his ex or

5. solas is alright i guess. another one i have actually played. i guess it’s what you can do when you can’t reveal who the character is yet?

6. demands of the qun is fine and krem’s existence upgrades it a few levels. i like krem he’s nice. conceptually i like the idea of a quest silently setting up a betrayal later. but i just don’t care for how the qunari are written ever so it kind of does nothing for me

7. i didn’t rewatch last resort of good men because i watched some dorian videos a while back and i vaguely remember it being fine. i don’t think it really offers a moral dilemma? oh i just remembered he can be convinced to talk it out more with his father i think. why

8. vivienne’s is. well. it’s very short and relies on it being a surprise that she’s a human being with feelings. i also don’t get the weirdly judgemental misdirect abt it being a youth serum and why they wasted other character moments on it like in here lies the abyss. it was a bit funny when her guy just immediately died

9. cassandra. oh nooo the seekers are bad people. who could have predicted this. am i supposed to be gasping

[herearedragons]

Fan Work Friday

Hey look, I'm actually doing this on a Friday! Tagged by @bragganhyl.

Rules: if you're tagged, make a new post and show off one piece of fanart and one fanfic you like!

Fic: The Dunryd Archives (Pillars of Eternity) by dragonologist_phd (@dragonologist-phd on tumblr)

My mother once told me those names are the people who were cremated in those fireplaces. It’s not as common a practice these days, but back when the Citadel was new and people still worshipped the old gods, it was apparently custom for Magranites to dispose of their dead in that manner. To tell the truth, that always freaked me out a bit. I knew the bodies were already dead and it didn’t matter, but I still had this awful idea that they could still feel it; the flames eating at you, peeling away at your skin, consuming you until just a handful of dust remained. My great-grandparents were cremated, you know- I guess we had some Magranites in the family at some point, and the traditions stuck. Mom showed me the urns when she told me all this, and it just seemed so strange to me. I remembered the time I burned my hand on the stovetop, and how the skin on my fingers and palms blistered off at the heat. How much more heat would it take to reduce a whole person into something that was so easily scooped into a jar?

...so I've never listened to The Magnus Archives. However, AUs that remix canon in a fun way while keeping as much of the lore as possible are My Jam, and this is exactly that. I've been meaning to keep reading this for a while and ended up reading chapters 3 and 4 to make this post specifically, and hooo boy I'm glad I did because apparently I stopped just before the fun stuff started happening.

Fanartist: @ritelli-main

Honestly I just wanted an excuse to show off this art blog? ritelli's art style is really cool and she draws a lot of fun dnd-related characters and environments. This one is Legend of Drizzt fanart (I think), and, while I haven't read the books so I don't have the full context, the colors and shapes are just. Really Cool to me.

tagging: @solas-backpack-mug @curiouslavellan @layalu @ndostairlyrium @apeirotilio if any of you feel like it!

#tag games #fan work friday #pillars of eternity #legend of drizzt

[mrs-gauche]

Hey, you know what? It's a good day to remember that

- The hashtag #TheDreadWolfRises that was first used in the 2018 teaser is most definitely a reference to Sandal's prophecy in DA2, talking about how “All magic will come back” and “everyone will be just like they were, when he rises“.

- The now official title of DA4 "Dreadwolf" is an anagram for "World/Fade". “Dread Wolf” became one word, the space between the two literally and figuratively disappearing, like the World and the Fade coming together when the Veil is gone.

- The cover of Mark Darrah's "mysterious red book" from 2016.

Which was since revealed to be (quoting the BioWare 25th anniversary book) "an internal guide for developers and publishers to summarize the vision for "Joplin" (the first code name for DA4, until that project was revised in 2017 and renamed "Morrison", the version of DA4 we're getting now), but that "still contains plenty of ideas that will appear in the next Dragon Age", showing a flaming rook and a wolf head, which is suspicious considering that a rook is a piece in a game of chess...

“Rest assured, Solas is placing his pieces on the board as we speak.” (- BioWare in their blog post announcing the official title)

...A game in which a master strategist like Solas was willing to go so far as to sacrifice his queen (*cough* Flemeth *cough*) to win the "Immortal Game", but the word “rook” can also be used in the sense of a swindler/trickster/deceiver. Though if we take the alternative term for the rook and call it a tower instead, isn't it interesting how:

- Solas' final tarot card is "The Tower", commonly interpreted to symbolize massive change, upheaval, revelation, destruction, liberation and chaos.

Let me just quote bestselling author Brigit Esselmont's interpretation of the meaning of this card here and I’ll leave it to you to guess what it could indicate for DA4, but GOD, do I get CHILLS just reading this flippin paragraph:

"Your world may come crashing down before you, in ways you could never have imagined as you realize that you have been building your life on unstable foundations – false assumptions, mistruths, illusions, blatant lies, and so on. Everything you thought to be true has turned on its head. You are now questioning what is real and what is not; what you can rely upon and what you cannot trust. This can be very confusing and disorienting, especially when your core belief systems are challenged. But over time, you will come to see that your original beliefs were built on a false understanding, and your new belief systems are more representative of reality.”

“The best way forward is to let this structure self-destruct so you can re-build and re-focus. And let’s be real – with a card like The Tower, you have no choice but to surrender to the destruction and chaos, no matter how unwanted or painful. Change on this deep level is hard, but you need to trust that life is happening FOR you, not TO you and this is all for a reason. This destruction will allow new growth to emerge and your soul can evolve."

- Promotional stuff for DA4 keeps repeating concentric circles, which is widely believed to represent the Veil itself, and appears to get more broken with every new update. (There are also seven “spheres“ surrounding it = There are seven Old Gods/seven Evanuris that were banished when Solas created the Veil. With only two of these spheres still “lit” = There have been five Blights, two Old Gods left that are still sleeping.)

Also, the new background image of the official website showing even more broken pieces resembling those in the circle, completely falling apart...

What I’m trying to say is... If that Veil isn’t coming down some way or another in this next game, I’m calling false advertising! 😂

#dragon age dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #da4 #tinfoil time (?) #I mean.. it's not even tinfoil at this point 😂 I'm just stating facts lol #also.. this is just me but #I assume Bioware must've chosen this title with some retrospective in mind.. #if DA4 isn't the final installment in the series.. #let's say the actions of the Dread Wolf in DA4 will in fact have a lasting effect on potential future sequels.. #..because of a world-changing event like the Veil coming down and literally changing the world of Thedas forever.. #meaning that people will look at the entire series/this title in 15 years and go #''Ah yes it's Dreadwolf the DA game in which the central figure Dread Wolf did that thing that changed the world fundamentally #for every installment going forward'' #👀👀👀 #every once in a while I need to hype myself up again thinking about all this stuff lol #until Bioware is gonna start the marketing of this game for real 😂 #then the hype train is gonna be off the charts

[sea-side-scribbles]

Solas wakes up in the strange new world of his own making and it terrifies him. Ridden with guilt, he joins the Inquisition and begins his lonely research in order to correct his mistake.

He doesn’t expect to find consolation in the presence of a human who wields ancient elven magic without knowing it. Who is way too gentle for an elgar’thanelan, but doesn’t know that either.

Solas, for his part, doesn’t know how to stay away.

Dorian wonders if the mysterious elf just enjoys playing with a Tevinter. He wouldn’t expect anything else.

_____________________

Chapter 1- 13 | Right after uthenera, Solas is found by a Dalish clan. This goes well until it doesn’t. (Basically my excuse for world building and hilarious misunderstandings.)

Chapter 14 | Solas joins the Inquisition.

Chapter 20 | Dorian appears in Haven.

Chapter 21

Solas didn't notice the Herald and her party leaving Haven at midday because he spent that time in the fade, solely for research reasons of course. Later, when he left his dwelling place again, he moved very carefully, inspecting the buildings across from him. To his relief, he sensed nothing out of the ordinary. His nightly endeavour might as well have been a dream.

Then he made his way through the village, curious to find out what happened. Who that man was. Looking around, he saw people flock the tavern, a clear sign that evening fell already. He considered to have a meal there himself, so he could overhear their conversations. As he navigated through the room, his gaze found Varric – the red garment would always stand out – and his fellow readers at their favourite table. Surprised to see the dwarf back in Haven, he went into their direction.

Varric caught him first. “Hey, Chuckles, you're still alive?”, was his odd greeting for him. “Obviously”, Solas answered as he stopped in front of the table. “Why do you ask?” “Because the Herald looked for you everywhere. She wanted to take you along this time.” “Cassandra almost knocked your door down. 'Solas, if you are in there, answer me now!'”, Vanilla described in a perfect imitation of the accent. And temper. “I thought she's actually going to tear the house down, but something stopped her. Made her fly backwards.” She threw her arms up to emphasize. “Oh, to be a mage and secure your door like that”, Recruit cooed.

The group had fun while Solas swallowed his frustration. He missed the chance to go with her simply because he lost control over himself. It should never happen again. “I hope she was not harmed by my spell”, he pressed out. “Nah, she's fine”, Varric waved him off. “Hurt her pride, probably. She left with the new party again. That woman never takes a break.” “But seriously, where have you been?”, Asher wanted to know. Solas' ears lowered. Avoiding everyone's eyes, he answered: “I am afraid I must have been too consumed by my research. I did not hear her.” An awkward pause followed, in which Vanilla and Recruit tried to hold back their laughter and failed and the others didn't know how to react. Gambler, Lady Marielle and Bodkin pretended to be focused on their dices. Asher just silenced.

“What happened in Redcliffe? Did you bring the rebels here?”, Solas went on to the more important matter, looking at Varric. The dwarf took a deep breath. “Er, not yet. First, we just discovered an even bigger pile of shit.” He paused to drink his ale while Solas' nerves almost popped. “What does that mean, Varric? Did the Herald accuse them to be the attacker of the conclave?” Varric let his mug fall back on the table with a thud. His features darkened. “Something awful is going on there”, he muttered. “Fiona didn't even remember she invited us back in Val Royeaux. When we met her again, she had already pledged the rebels to Tevinter cultists. They promise to protect the mages, but for real, they're just trying to conquer the world again or something. Always the same with Tevinters.” Solas felt the news like a kick in the guts. “But how...?”

“The void do I know. Their leader, a Magister named Alexius, well, he's just the usual, full of shit, but his son is a good soul. He gave us a hint that we're in trouble and arranged a meeting with his friend who's a former apprentice of Alexius. He told us what Alexius is working on to restore the glory of Tevinter. Guess what it is?” He actually paused for Solas to guess. Solas shook his head as he pondered. “Something to reconnect with the Old Gods? To destroy all creation?” “Nah, even better. Time magic.” Solas furrowed his brows. “Time magic?” “U-huh. We've seen it already. The rifts in Redcliffe actually altered time, slowed things down and sped others up. Don't ask me exactly how this works, but the Tevinters already used it to get to Fiona before us. We needed a good plan, that's why Ellana decided to come back. Now they're going to surprise attack them with a group of Leliana's spies. I hope it's not too late, whatever that means now.”

Solas silently processed this information, rubbing his temples. Now he regretted even more that he wasn't there. “Do you know anything about time magic, Chuckles?”, Varric went on. “That's why Cassandra was so fierce about talking to you. She thought if anyone would know something about this, it's you.” So the Seeker had finally remembered him and requested his knowledge. This could've been a triumph if the topic wasn't so dire. “I must admit I have never heard about it before”, he said quietly. “Huh....I guess it's all on Sparkler then.” “Who?” “Dorian Pavus, the apprentice. He went with them.” Solas suspected that he knew that person already. “Is he trustworthy?”, he asked perhaps a bit too urgently. “So far, I think he's genuine about saving his old mentor from himself, so as long as he's helping with that, he's fine by me.” Solas sighed. The least he needed now would be a Tevinter spy at his heels.

At the journey to Redcliffe Castle, Dorian did his best to appear in good shape, after secretly downing a healing potion before their departure. The Inquisition's party turned out to be quite some piece of work even without an aching backside to care for.

The “Seeker of Truth” openly frowned at him whenever the chance occurred. She obviously kept her resentments against “another Tevinter.”

Vivienne de Fer was the sort of person he knew from home – always searching for the nerve to hit. She thoroughly studied him the entire time, most curiously, as a Grand Enchanter of a circle that agreed to keep her kind in chains. She would've been more fun if he wasn't actually trying to hide an obvious weakness. While pretending to not care, she commented on his health conditions, (“The Southern climate doesn't seem to do you well, my dear. My deepest condolences.”), corrected his posture on his horse, addressed his lacking amount of experience in the wilderness – very amusing, coming from her – and the dark rings under his eyes, all this during casual smalltalk.

Meanwhile, there was a Qunari in the group, a Ben Hassrath, with the descriptive name “The Iron Bull”. He spared Dorian the entertaining comments, but still seemed to examine him with his side glances. Considering the multitude of observations a Qunari spy was said to make from superficially mundane things, there were many options: Did he analyse the textiles of his robe to figure out where he came from, which market he bought it and - most importantly, how heinous his character was judging by how he wrapped the ensemble around his body? Did he check on the poor state of his hair since the lack of needed products in Ferelden? Did he search for the spot that hurt the most when he would hit it with his giant axe? Or did he stare at him for a completely different reason?

The thought popped up in his head. If he could continue what he had already started, abandon all caution and his self-esteem and later drown the after effects in cheap Fereldan wine. It would feel just like home. If he could even manage yet. He could hardly blame Bull, if that was even his intention and not the wish to chain him up and sew his mouth shut. If Dorian was honest to himself, right now, he felt more comfortable thinking about the second option.

After a while, he noticed the Herald's look on him and found disappointment in it. Seemed like the healing potion didn't quite cover everything. That or she just didn't like Tevinters, what would make sense for a Dalish elf.

To his luck, she had her hands full with Sera, an elven rogue, who refused to be serious about anything, laughed an schemed with Bull, shouted “now kiss” at Cassandra and Vivienne, when Madame began another conversation about the Seeker's fortitude, openly spoke about her sexual preferences, so that Dorian wondered if she was making fun of it – what else could it be? - and as a highlight, showed Vivenne her naked arse and then climbed on Bull's shoulders, cackling.

It was definitely not what Dorian expected from the Inquisition with the Herald of Andraste in their midst. But at least he didn't feel too exotic as a Tevinter. He was sure that for an outsider, he'd fit right in.

They made him think that someone like Solas would match this group as well. The mysterious elf was the other reason why Dorian couldn't quite focus on conversations. Solas occupied his mind as he tried to recall what happened that night. He hadn't seen him again after that, he might as well have been a very convincing desire demon who now looked elsewhere for a victim. The option sounded less ridiculous than his own memories. A glowing elf – nonsense! Unless that was normal for elves? He knew their eyes glowed in the dark, like cat's eyes. But their entire body?

Meek glances at Ellana in the evening proved that theory wrong. Sera didn't glow either. Did elves have to be, well, in a certain mood for that? There'd surely be Tevene essays about the matter if that was the case. Of course, Dorian didn't dare to ask. Didn't ask about Solas' existence in general, fearing he'd have to explain why he cared. He sat alone at the dying camp fire at guard duty, staring into the darkness and missing the light. Lacking the required wine, his mind kept spinning around the same thoughts over and over again.

The events in Redcliffe left their marks on him. Alexius couldn't be reasoned with. He attacked Ellana - and Dorian, trying to save her, was sent with her into the future. Reappearing one year later, they faced the terrible outcome of their absence. Everything happened too fast for Dorian to truly wrap his head around and in hindsight, he knew it saved him from panicking. But the danger had been palpable, the possibility to be stuck here forever in the dungeons full of red lyrium, exposed to their heat and pulse as the world outside burned. He just moved on, clinging to the only plan he had, to find Alexius' amulet and travel back to the past.

In the dire situation, Ellana and him worked together as one. Suddenly, it didn't matter who they were, they had to trust each other. Dorian had the inscrutable feeling that she warmed up to him. She had always been indifferent about his charm, but now she began to melt, giggled quietly at his remarks and even retorted. Of course, it could have been her method to cope with the horrors around her. In any case, they worked their spells together and their auras found a harmony they could both hold onto.

Ellana wasn't he only person he began to see differently. On their way through the dungeon, they were lucky to find the other members of their party who had been imprisoned for an entire year. The red lyrium had taken a toll on them, but despite that, they stood strong, even the childish rogue. In the end, every single one of them gave their life so that Ellana and him could travel back in time and undo the future. They didn't remember what happened, but Dorian did, thinking that they might be just the right people for the Inquisition.

He travelled back to Haven as a different man, knowing that his former mentor was now a prisoner in Redcliffe and most likely to be executed. Despite everything, he was glad to be back from the horrible future and to have proven his worth. Now that the group knew he saved their Herald and thus the world, the bickering stopped. And Ellana still laughed at his jokes. Solas didn't seem to be much of an obstacle anymore. Dorian was sure he'd overcome whatever scenario he would face in Haven.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dragon age fanfiction #solas/dorian #dragon age solas #dragon age dorian #maker preserve #dragon age varric #dragon age cassandra #ellana lavellan

[demobatboys]

I Think We Both Know That Isn’t True (Ruhn Danaan x AFAB Reader)

Pairing: Ruhn Danaan & AFAB Reader

Prompt: (Self prompt) 

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Drinking, smoking (drugs), sex, swearing, angst

Authors Note: Sorry this is a little rusty I’ve been very slack with writing and just wanting to make myself jump into the deep end with it again. Also this was meant to have a happy ending but it just went... all angsty lol. Let me know if you would like a part 2 which I would attempt a happy ending with. 

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You swung the doors to the boy’s house open, squinting as your eyes adjusted to the darkness of the place. The stench of stale beer and mirthroot hit you, instantly causing your eyes to water. Huffing you moved about the trashed common room, flinging cushions back onto the couches, throwing open curtains to let some light into the room. Stalking to the kitchen you grabbed a rubbish bag from the counter before returning to the room and began picking up discarded bottles and cigarette butts, emptying ash trays. Suddenly you heard a cough from the stairs. Turning you saw a Leopard Shifter teetering on the steps, her hair a mess and heels in her hands.

You waved and shrugged. “Hey, don’t mind me,” you mumbled, continuing on your scavenger hunt for trash, hoping you might find an untouched bottle of liquor in the mess. “The guys aren’t usually the type to have an early start though, so I’d head out if you wanted breakfast.” She smiled bashfully, hopping down the stairs gracefully and out the door. You dragged the bag out of the house, tossing it into the empty bin before walking back inside. Tristan sat on the lounge, legs spread, Malana perched on his shoulder as he took a long sip from a bottle of water. “I don’t remember Ruhn taking you on as housekeeper,” he teased, winking at you. You felt your skin warm as you scowled at him, slipping off your shoe and throwing it at him.

He caught it with ease and laughed, tossing it lightly back to you. You caught it and put it back on. “I need to speak to him, is he here?” Tristan grinned lopsidedly at you. “Of course, he is, probably waited up for you all night…” he rolled his eyes. You huffed a laugh. “Yeah well judging by the shifter I just witnessed sneaking out, I don’t think I’m the reason he was up all night,” you forced a laugh, ignoring the clench in your chest. You walked to the stairs as Tristan snorted a laugh, your heart tightening again. “This was for the best,” you thought as you made your way up to Ruhn’s room. “We both decided this was how our relationship was meant to be. Friends. Friends don’t get jealous of casual sex.”

You repeated the lie in your head as you moved towards his door. You considered knocking but instead slowly pressed the door open, praying to Solas he hadn’t decided to have a threesome last night. Ruhn was sprawled out on his bed, arm thrown above his head, mouth open, light snores coming from him. The sheet was slung across his hips but thankfully you could make out that he at least had briefs on. His torso was lit up by the streak of sunlight that perforated through the window, highlighting his bare skin, the piercings through his nipples glinting in the light. It didn’t smell much better in here than downstairs, but you didn’t mind. You could hardly even register any other senses when your eyes were so kindly treated to the feast laid out in front of you.

Shaking your head, you moved slowly to the bed. As softly as you could you laid yourself on the mattress, rolling onto your side as you watched him sleep. Okay so friends didn’t get jealous over casual sex, and friends also probably didn’t do… whatever this was but it was different. Ruhn had been in your life since you were kids. You had grown up together, you had been there for him every time he had been at the hands of his father’s wrath, you had comforted him after the trials of his Ordeal. You were the first person he had told about Bryce being his sister, and not his cousin. And he had been your first… in so many ways. First crush, first kiss, the first person to make you do a keg stand, the person who helped you through your first mirthroot high, when you got the chills and were convinced you were going to pass out. And he was the first male you ever lay with. So, this kind of behaviour wasn’t foreign in your friendship.

But he was also your boss at the AUX. And now engaged to be married to the Queen of the Valbaran Witches so… whatever you wished this was, it just couldn’t be. “Staring is incredibly rude you know,” Ruhn mumbled, pulling you from your thoughts. You felt yourself warm, rolling your eyes to hide the little seed of embarrassment growing in your stomach. “It’s also incredibly rude to not see your sexual partners out the door in the morning. And here I was, thinking you were a gentleman,” you countered. Ruhn cracked an eye and smiled at you. You heart flipped in your ribcage so violently you were sure he could have heard it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, my little warrior,” he uttered, letting his hand reach across the bed to run down the bare strip of skin that peeked out between your top and pants.

You shuddered under his touch, and the nickname that rolled off his tongue. He had called you that since you were twelve and you had smacked Tristan over the back with a stick when he and Ruhn were play wrestling, claiming that you were saving Ruhn. You pushed his hand off you, rolling your eyes. “That pretty shifter who I saw this morning,” you remarked. “She looked a bit sad that she wasn’t getting a full B&B service.” Ruhn lifted his head, eyeing you warily. “Okay,” he laughed. “Now I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” You laughed and smacked his bare arm. “I didn’t pick you as someone who forgot about who they slept with the night before so easily,” you blurted. His face became serious, scanning your eyes. You suddenly felt bare and looked away from him.

“I didn’t sleep with anyone last night,” he emitted, gently grabbing your chin and turning you to face him. You met his eyes and were confused that you didn’t see a hint of humour or lying there. Only honesty. You breathed a laugh again, rolling your eyes. “I think were old enough now that we don’t have to lie to each other about these things you kn-“ your breath puffed out of you as Ruhn pulled you tight against him. “I’m telling you little warrior,” he pressed his forehead against yours as all oxygen left your lungs. “I didn’t. That girl must have been with one of the other guys.” You laughed nervously, trying to push him off you. “Ruhn, you have to let me go,” you struggled, pushing him with the strength you could muster. Which wasn’t much considering you were loving this, despite how wrong you knew it was.

“But I know how much you love my hugs,” he teased, pressing his forehead against your exposed collarbone. “Not when you stink like beer and sweat,” you countered, finally getting free from him. Your heart finally started to slow a little as you calmed your breathing. “I’m serious though, I wasn’t with anyone last night,” he persisted, sitting up and leaning against the head board. You nodded pursing your lips. “Ok,” you sighed, running a hand down your face. “You know I wouldn’t care though right?” you smiled, hoping you were convincing enough. Apparently, you weren’t. Ruhn’s mouth quirked up at the side, his eyes sad. “I think we both know that isn’t true,” he whispered. You felt your smile drop, suddenly looking away from him again.

“It wouldn’t matter if I did,” you uttered around the lump forming in your throat. Ruhns hand slowly pressed against your arm, gripping gently, urging you to turn to him. “You know it matters to me,” he said. “You know what I want, how I feel. You know I want yo-“ “But you can’t,” you interjected, standing abruptly and facing him. Suddenly your blood had turned hot, anger coming out to douse the sadness and heartbreak that had appeared at Ruhn’s words. “You can’t have what you want Ruhn, it doesn’t work that way. I know you’re content doing your own thing even though you’re engaged to a.. a.. Queen of all people, but I don’t want to be apart of that and I think… you need to respect my wishes. And right now I wish you had a shirt on,” you huffed, your chest rising as falling as quickly as the words came out of your mouth.

Ruhn sat on the bed his mouth agape at your sudden outburst. You felt the tears start to well, and it hit you that probably everyone in the house had heard your outburst. “Then what are you doing here?” he asked, his face suddenly becoming a mask of disinterest. You fumbled for a moment, not even knowing how to answer him. “I just.. wanted to come see you I guess and thought maybe we could go hangout downtown but maybe…” you trailed off, pressing your nails into your palms. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea,” he spat, seemingly finishing your sentence for you. “What no? I don’t think that it’s just-“ “It’s just what?” he ground out, throwing back the covers and stalking to his wardrobe. He pulled out a black shirt and black jeans as he continued. “You come over, climb into bed with me, and then suddenly you decide that you can’t do this?” He laughed wickedly, the sound jolting through you.

“I think you should leave,” he suggested, throwing his hair into a bun. Oxygen escaped you again. You wanted to fight, you wanted to push back. To have the chance to explain to him why you needed things to change, why you couldn’t go through with it even though your very soul ached with the need for his love. But you couldn’t. It felt as though every fighting atom had checked out for the day, already considering this a loss. You drew breath again and nodded, turning and leaving before he could see you cry. You traipsed down the steps again, your stomach sinking lower and lower, so quickly you were sure it was going to fall out of your ass. When you hit the last step, arms wound around you, spinning you around, into Ruhn’s chest. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled into your hair.  You let the tears slip onto his shirt as you shook your head. “I need to leave,” you whispered, and slowly you pulled yourself away from the man you loved, crying harder when you realised, he wasn’t going to chase after you this time.

#ruhn danaan #ruhn danaan fic #ruhn danaan x reader #ruhn x reader #crescent city #crescent city fanfic #ruhn danaan imagine #house of earth and blood #house of sky and breath

[psalacanthea]

The Fall of Arlathan- Chapter 9

A big double-sized (12k words help) chapter of this Solavellan fic, the sequel to my old Schooling Pride. Yes, it exists. I need to actually put them in a series on AO3- i'll try to remember to do that later.

...

“Don’t turn this around on me,” Ellie scolded Solas, not wanting to hear a lecture about how she should keep being a sucker.

He smiled, chagrined, the edges of his eyes crinkling.  His gaze became uncomfortable, but his voice remained even as she glanced away awkwardly.  “If you insist.  But never forget that your kindness was my salvation.”

She brushed that off because she didn’t have the cope.  “Yeah, well…we’ve never had a fight like this before.  He’d cross lines, I’d draw a boundary clearly, and we’d move on.”  Ellie couldn’t find it in her to lie right now.  “And then he’d cross it again.  I just– I thought I was helping him.  He did get better in a lot of ways, but I got arrogant, Solas.  And– and he needed me.”

His denial was quiet, but firm.  “He does not need you. He is possessive.  Those are very different things.”

Ugh, of course he was going to make this entirely about Falon’din and excuse her completely.

Of course.

“No, I mean…I liked that he did,” she admitted firmly, staring at her hands.  “I encouraged it.  When I realized it I tried to wean him off of depending so much on me, but the damage was done.  It was just…from the moment– this is kind of too much to say.”

“I would rather you did,” Solas said quietly.

“I know.  That’s part of what makes it so hard.  I wish you had better boundaries around me,” she muttered.

His voice was low and calm.  “Better?  No.  My boundaries remain intact, very far from any landscape you have yet to wander across.  Explore as you like.”

“Pain,” she muttered, wishing he didn’t make it so easy to talk to him.  That he didn’t feel like a portent, a thing hovering over her ready to drag her back down to those old, painful depths.  “Ever since, Solas, you left…it was like my brain got fixated on people leaving me.  First it was you, then Sebastian, then Cass, a lot of other people…and my mom died like a month after Wren was born.”  She paused, steeled herself.  “He needed me.”  

Ellie exhaled roughly, trying to keep her voice under control, her body.  But it was hard, she could feel herself starting to get tense, trembling.  “He wasn’t going to–”  

Leave me.

She swallowed those words before they could trip up her tongue, her nerves already strained by stress.  Ellie steeled herself and continued.  “No matter what I did he kept coming back.  And I could help him, like I couldn’t...”

It was like bile in her throat, bitter and unwelcome.

“Ellana…”

She sniffed and wiped her eyes impatiently, hating the weakness.  “Tears are just tears, they don’t mean anything.  Listen…I unpacked this all a while ago; this isn’t new, Solas.  I have a really good therapist.  When I go.  It’s just…I figured, hey, I’m helping someone.  Even if it’s a coping thing, it’s not bad, right?”

“Does Falon’din know how you feel?”  Solas asked, smiling sadly at the disbelieving look she gave him.  “Yes, it sounds as if that would be unwise.”

“He hates you enough,” she said quietly.

#Solavellan #Solas x Lavellan #The Fall of Arlathan #modern au #in which Ellie is on the edge of a breakdown #I promise the story won't all be stress lol #the catharsis will be worth it #I swear!

[plisuu]

Happy Whumptober! I'm a little late with the sharing, but I decided I'd try to tackle a promptober this year. Days 1-5 are up on Ao3 - mind the tags.

Rating: M

Relationship(s): Cullen x Male Trevelyan, Post-breakup Solas x Male Trevelyan (Queerplatonic)

General Warnings: Whump, Angst, PTSD, Flashbacks, Lyrium Addiction/Abuse, Torture, Captivity, Drugging, Restraints, Body Horror, Graphic Description of Blood and Injuries

Individual chapters contain additional warnings.

Connor Trevelyan is brought back to Skyhold after being rescued from the Red Templars in Emprise Du Lion. His recovery goes less than smoothly, riddled with flashbacks and nightmares as his companions find themselves in a race against red lyrium.

Day 1 below the cut:

Day 1: Safety Net wc: 1057 "But now this room is spinning while I’m trying just to fill in all the gaps."

Connor stirred, his body heavy with exhaustion and… mostly exhaustion. It was a struggle to open his eyes at all. Everything was too bright, too sharp, too painful and heavy and Maker he was so tired. Had he slept? When was the last time he really slept anyway? Time had been a blur, day and night blended into an eternity in the dark, only able to tell the passing of hours by the schedule of the red templars that traded shifts outside the cell door.

Now? The world was blinding, sun scattered over snow and filtered through glass. What did he remember? Shouting, swords hitting shields, cutting flesh, the clamber of armor, the soft glow of magelight, and then pain. Excruciating pain. There was nothing else after that. Before all of that even? Only more pain. He tried to block it out, the hum of red lyrium, blood on stone, on fiber, on steel—his mouth flooded with the taste of it, and he lurched to the side, heaving.

A warm, heavy hand pressed against his shoulder, another smoothed his hair back, and he choked, a sob wracked with pain and sick and fear. Every movement was met with burning strain. He was too heavy, he felt like lead, every movement sluggish, every attempt to get away from those hands was too weak and he couldn’t think, and the room was too damn bright and—

“Fuck. Hey, it’s alright. You’re going to hurt yourself, just breathe, okay?”

The low rumble of Bull’s voice washed over him, so close, and yet…. He couldn’t trust it, shouldn’t trust it. Another dream—or nightmare, what was the difference at this point? But he stilled anyway, afraid of what might happen otherwise. He heard a quiet sigh from the other side of him, a whisper of breath.

“Pain if I don’t obey. Pain if I do, but then it will stop. I can breathe, I can’t break, I must breathe and wait and they will come for me. This isn’t them, they will come. They have to.”

“Hey kid, I don’t think that’s—”

The voice was closer, Conner felt a cool hand on his cheek, the brush of fabric, the shade of a wide brim blocking the sunlight that streamed in from the windows.

“We came. We found you. You’re home. Safe. Skyhold. The Iron Bull is here, and me, and I am not a demon. Solas is coming to help stop the singing.”

The room was silent then, aside from Connor’s labored breath. He considered the words, his surroundings, and opened his eyes, slowly. A pale face peered down at him, a look of focused concern on his features, stringy blonde hair clinging to the frame of his gaunt face, a figure no demon had been able to parse from his memories.

“… Cole,” Connor managed, his voice a hoarse croak. He grimaced at the sound, and then flinched at the pain that the expression caused him, the world beginning to spin as he grew lightheaded from the effort. He sucked in a sharp breath that crackled in his lungs, and agonizing pain radiated through his chest. It was an endless cycle of breathing and pain feeding into each other until he forced his mind to empty, focusing on his fluttering pulse and some silently repeated words of the Chant, inaudible and hardly formed. Eventually, the burning ebbed into a dull ache and Cole pulled his hand away.

“Yes,” The boy finally replied. “I found you, in the Fade, but Dorian found you first, and then Cassandra, and then The Iron Bull. Cullen wanted to be there, but the red made it hard. He will be happy you’re awake, I should—”

“Cole, don’t. Not yet. It will only cause the Commander more pain, to know but not be able to see him.”

The door shut softly, accompanied by the quiet footfalls of bare heels and worn leather on carpet alongside the clinking of bottles filled with liquid.

"Please inform Cassandra that the Inquisitor is awake, though," Solas continued.

Cole nodded glumly before simply disappearing, and the elf took his place, hovering over where Connor lay as Bull shifted to accommodate his presence.

“I can only save you from certain death so many times, Inquisitor,” Solas chided him, the words stern but not unkind, gentle yet guarded, a light jest to conceal the worry. Connor closed his eyes again, trying to will away the pinpricks of tears that threatened to spill. He couldn’t cry, he couldn’t show weakness, not here, not now, not after already having his dignity shattered by requiring rescue. Not after Weston wrung every ounce of vulnerability from him and used it against him. Not after Solas had already quietly left him alone and floundering in Crestwood, unsure of what he had done wrong. He swallowed around the lump in throat and kept his eyes closed.

Solas placed a cool cloth over his forehead and pulled some of the blankets aside, seemingly content to ignore the turmoil that roiled away inside him. All of that was forgotten, however, as Solas began to carefully unwrap bandages from around his torso that were stiff with blood and stuck to the skin in numerous places. Bull helped, murmuring quiet reassurances as he propped Connor up, but most of them were either lost in the pain or possibly in Qunlat, Connor wasn���t sure. All he knew was how much it hurt, and he hissed in pain and tensed, but did not move. He had suffered worse.

“That looks… bad,” Bull grunted.

“There is still red lyrium in the wound,” Solas replied. “It is a miracle we found you when we did, Inquisitor. Any longer and… The infection has progressed quite a bit, but is still manageable. The lyrium’s growth, however, while not as bad as it could be given the circumstances, is not insignificant. It will be difficult to remove.”

Connor didn’t reply. He couldn’t. ‘Looks bad,’ did not begin to cover the gashes and raw scabbing that covered him, angry and weeping, or the faint glow of red that spiderwebbed beneath bruised and mottled skin, spreading from a significant wound in his side that still bled freely. He felt himself going lightheaded as Solas continued to speak, his limbs going slack. He heard Bull swear, and then the world spun and went dark.

#whumptober 2023 #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #red templars #my writing #whump #angst #i apologize for nothing

[greypetrel]

Hey! For the doodle thing:

👻 for aisling

♠️ for Raina

If I might do two c:

Hey Mo! ✨

Of course you can do two, here they are, waiting for when you'll get back! :3 As usual, some notes under the cut...

♠️ OC in their armor

Self explanatory, Armour of the Champion, Bassrath Kata and Finesse as weapons and ready to kick Meredith's ass finally. For a minute I considered skipping this and going for the Guardian of Enasalin, which was her go-to before she was told that the Arishok made it unwashable and unrepairable. But then this line of thought happened:

"Urgh this armour is SO TRASH. Too many belts and straps, why the chestpiece full of straps?? Why? Isn't it uncomfortable? Urgh the colour scheme is nice but I don't like it at all. That's it, I'm drawing the Enasalin one, this is too tra-" *remembers what character she's drawing* "... Stupid trash raccoon."

(nothing, she likes the trash.)

👻 OC in a really bad disguise

Absolutely anonymous and unrecogniseable, very incognito, much stealthy. Please don't mind the lack of shoes. (why am I looking at this and thinking she's trying to cosplay Lieutenant Columbo?). The moustaches are very plasticky and probably bought in the same store where Solas bought his Cole wig.

#oc outfits #dragon age #hawke #aisling lavellan #raina hawke #greypetrel #outfits #I was actually VERY indecisive for the disguise #because on one hand the classic trench + hat + fake moustaches #on the other fake beard and ready for the stoning Life of Brian style #But it was ooc for her so Columbo it is

[consoledacup]

Hey, I have a question about Simone’s and Olivia’s friendship. Some people talk about them as if they were best friends, however I don’t really remember their interactions that much to consider them close friends, maybe I was not paying attention. Were they really that close? or some people say that just because they don’t like the friendship between Olivia and Layla? Same thing with Kia, what are your thoughts on that?

I think they got pretty close while Simone was dating Jordan. But it's funny that after Simone was living in the Baker house for a time, Olivia still told her, "I barely know you."

Simone became a good confidant to Olivia after she had the falling out with Layla. And Simone even championed Spelivia after all that, which was great for Olivia. I think that Olivia would've been a bridesmaid alongside Layla if she wasn't already going to be the best woman for Jordan. But Simone was always closer with Jordan out of everyone in the Beverly crew. And most of Olivia and Simone's interactions were with Jordan.

And Kia has always been closest with Spencer out of everyone. Even the times she was interacting with Olivia, it usually involved Spencer, too. She's also someone that champions Spelivia, so that's super encouraging. And she was so awesome in supporting Olivia's personal journey with Sola Muse, her activism, etc.

Objectively, Olivia's gonna tell anyone who asks that Layla's her best friend. And let's not forget that Layla also champions Spelivia now. She pushed the two of them together with the auction, for one. And the amount of shit that these two went through and came out on the other side... ??? They put in so much work and just refused to give up on each other, even when it seemed so much easier to just cut things off.

I know Simone called Jordan and told her she was there for him and Liv when Billy died, and that was the right thing for her to do. But she was not close enough to Liv to fly out and support. And when Kia was back in town, she did not seek out Liv to support her either. Which again, is not her responsibility. She was there to help Spencer, no matter how south that went.

Layla was there. Day in and day out, she was in the trenches with Liv during that time. In fact, one of my favorite underrated moments of 512 is when Liv looked around the Crenshaw hallway and wondered what happened to Layla. Because she hadn't left their side up to that point.

She told Jordan and Layla that they were the two who would help her get through the night when she was on the brink of relapse. She didn't call Simone. She didn't call Kia. She didn't even call Spencer (understandably).

Just like Spencer was always meant to be with Liv, Jordan was always meant to be brothers with Spencer, and Layla was always meant to be with Jordan... Olivia was always meant to be sisters with Layla.

I'm so, so sure of it.

#layliva #olivia baker #layla keating #simone hicks #kia williams #spelivia #jordayla #all american

[shivunin]

🤡⛔💞💔

Hey, thank you very much for asking! 💗This wound up a touch long haha

(Writer Asks)

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

I have several and they're all really long. The one I still want to try to revamp/use the concept of is one about a Thedas where Halamshiral was never lost to the Chantry. It had some really, really lovely parts but it required so much worldbuilding that it eventually stopped being fun to write.

(Also a 1930s AU set between 2 and Inquisition where Lavellan is a reporter and Cullen is trying to figure out how to leave the Templars, a "how Elowen handles breaking up with Solas" AU, and a mermaid!Cullen AU I still mean to get back to someday)

💞 Who's your comfort character?

Cullen! I write him whenever I'm feeling down. I think I might have all of the romance dialogue memorized at this point lol

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

I answered this here, but I've got plenty haha. From "The Punchline" (here on Tumblr, here on AO3):

Afterward, Fenris could not say if she lifted her head or if he bent his to her. Afterward, he could only remember the ache in his chest, the wine on her breath, the awful laughter still trailing from her lips.  When they kissed, it tasted of salt and tannins and fresh blood.  It felt fitting, in its way. If this was to cut him to the bone, it should taste like a wounded thing. The kiss was nothing like the first had been. There was nothing of heady joy to this, no thick anticipation, no persistent hope. There was only the ache of regret—that he had found himself here at all, alone with her in the heaviness of night when he would never be able to give her what she needed. 

The kiss lasted only a moment; Maria pulled away almost as soon as they touched. Her eyes searched his. IIf he’d wanted to, he was close enough to count every dark spot scattered over her irises, every freckle on her nose. Too close. Too close by far.  “There,” she said quietly. “You see? That proves it. I only destroy everything I love, after all. You must be safe, then. Can still get away if you’re quick.” 

Fenris and Hawke and those awful months after the Act 2 romance scene get me every time tbh.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Oh god, this whole thing lol. They're so awkward with each other and both trying so hard to be casual. Here's my favorite bit:

They both stopped, Cullen chuckling uncomfortably and Elowen releasing a panicked wheeze that might, to someone panicking, have sounded like a laugh.  Sylaise’enaste, she had to get out of here before she did something dire. Like drag him across the desk to find out if his mouth tasted as good as it looked. Do not say that out loud, she willed herself.  “I will see you later,” she said.  “Thank you,” Cullen said with relief. His eyes widened and he shook his head.  “No! I mean—not thank you. Yes, I’ll—I will see you there.” “Yes, see you later,” she said, belatedly remembering that she’d already said that.  Cullen opened his mouth and closed it again.  Why did his mouth have to look so kissable?  Why hadn’t she kissed him last night, when there’d been no one else around and they’d been covered in his mantle? It had been—it had been romantic, even, so close to each other like that. “Right,” she said, sharply enough that his head jerked back, “Later.” “...yes,” he said, but Elowen was already jogging for the door before she could think about why he sounded so faint.  The door shut behind her with a squeal and a bang. Elowen leaned back against it, arms spread slightly, and peered up at the puffy white clouds in the sky.  “I am doomed,” she told them, with all the gravitas of one who’d been condemned to death. 

#ask game response #ask game #long post #maria hawke #elowen lavellan #i rearranged the order so the funny one would be last #someday!! someday i will finish that halamshiral au #or frog it and use the pieces for something along that vein #i put about 80k words into that bad boy before i dropped it #and it galls me to just leave it like that

[dreadfutures]

hello hi hello can I please have the directors' cut on Chrysalid mayhaps? 🥺👉👈

Fic: [Chrysalid]

Rating: G | Pairing: Cillian, Cillian & Solas | Multichap: 9/9

Cillian, once the First of Clan Ralaferin, set out to find ancient knowledge of the elven people. He discovered the path of the Arcane Warrior by meditating for many years in an ancient ruin; when the Breach appeared in the sky, he felt called to lend his skills to the fledgling Inquisition. That's all we know of his path, as a background NPC in Dragon Age: Inquisition, who appears solely in a war table mission and in the Multiplayer addition.

But how did he really get trained as an Arcane Warrior?

Honestly. This was Divine Inspiration at its finest. It was summer; I was missing my college town, where monarch butterflies go as a colony on their migration, stopping there to rest. I kept seeing a few of them flying by my current location on their way south. And I had the whimsical thought: isn't that magical?

I thought about how the inner sea region around Val Royeaux/western Orlais gives me California vibes, and the further south you go, the closer you get to the warm, nearly tropical Arbor Wilds. And I thought: sure, butterflies would work. But what do they lead to?

It was the Arlathan Exchange, and I had also been playing a lot of Multiplayer recently, and we were discussing Cillian one day and I said OH.

And the whole story just appeared.

It's my belief that "meditating in ruins" is either code for: Cillian read Elvhen writing and learned Arcane Warrior spec that way, OR, he communed with Spirits either directly, or by watching them reenact memories in the Fade. And honestly, teaching yourself to read a dead language with hardly a cypher to go off of, in a ruin, and teaching yourself this dead, historical martial-and-magical art that is like NOTHING ELSE IN EXISTENCE, seemed way more farfetched than "he found a cool Spirit."

@rosella-writes had just written a drabble of Valor, an ancient contemporary of Solas (Pride), being slain in a combat between Champions for the Evanuris. The way Rosella described Valor's body falling and lying in the center of the arena, dying, made me think: this must be immortalized, this must have left a scar, the very earth would remember, if not the denizens of the Fade.

Rosella and I have also often discussed how "pieces" of Valor might be left over, fragmented, and need to get pieced together again. How Solas might search for Valor after he awakens from uthenera, how he might miss her. So I figured, hey, I could leave a piece of Valor to be found.

Cuz boy, a spirit of Valor sure seems like a great teacher for this magical combat specialization!

Then it was just a matter of sprinkling in the luscious visuals in my mind, of giant hosts of butterflies and ghibli forests, of ruins that might be found in The Fall (2006), and of a magical circle of life and death worthy of Guillermo del Toro. Bring Valor back to life just as Cillian pieces together what the ruined temple is, and then handwave the fact that Valor teaches him as a ways to recover her own memories.

:)

#ask #dragon age fanfic #long post #cillian dragon age #bloodied and broken bits

[crossdressingdeath]

I feel like one of the main problems with Inquisitions cast is that they feel like they’re friends with each other, not with you. like obviously part of that is game design/time management: they can only write/voice so many lines and account for so many player choices for each of the companions but like. Come on BioWare. I think Quiz should’ve been able to interact more in banter. As it is they’re mostly a silent participant, unless it’s about them (any of the romance banter basically).

It certainly helps to drive home the feeling of loneliness/separation a Quiz would be feeling but at what cost.

Additionally pre-Skyhold, before you can do any of the personal quests, feels super lonely, especially before you get most of the companions. You have what. Cassandra, Solas and Varric? (not to dis any of them but like. they aren’t 3 of the most open people to talk to and become friends with) Haven is a little town with a lot of people in it but it feels very empty, especially since so many of those people wanted to dead days/weeks prior… + the fact that Quiz may feel like they’re being forced into joining the Inquisition. just a recipe for bad mental health

I do really like Quiz having some opportunities to interject in banter, especially since DAO and DA2 really don't give you that chance? I've been keeping Varric and Dorian in my party in order to eventually trigger the banter where they start betting on Quiz's chances... with odds of three to one in Corypheus's favour. And you can either get upset at Dorian for betting against you or take the bet. (Also side note Varric refers to Quiz as "our beloved Inquisitor" and that pleases me immensely.) But yeah, a lot of the time it does feel a bit like soldiers chatting in the back ranks while their commander leads them to the next destination.

But I think the biggest problem with DAI's writing is the way the vast majority of your companions think of you as the Herald of Andraste and treat you more like a religious figurehead and boss than a friend. I know I bring this up a lot, but Varric ending his friendship cutscene by openly saying he finds it easy to forget that Quiz is a person like that's fine and normal even though his entire deal is "Hey, remember that Hawke's a person and my friend and not just some walking, talking statue that does Heroics" really is a whole thing.

And yeah, Haven would be incredibly isolating for Quiz. Varric at least asks how they're holding up with the whole prisoner to religious figure speedrun situation, but other than that you're basically just... expected to deal with it. Especially bad for any Quiz who isn't Andrastian and is getting a fun first taste of how they're going to be expected to play a good little Andrastian for at least the next three years whether they like it or not. But even when the characters actually ask if you're okay there's never really a nice strong no. Like... maybe when your LI asks how you're holding up at the end of WEaWH there should be a "I just had to risk my life for a bunch of Orlesians who've spent the whole evening talking shit about me to my face for being a mage/elf/dwarf/Vashoth as part of my duties in a role my advisors threatened me into to begin with and I'm genuinely starting to wonder if saving the world is worth all this" option, for example. But the absolute most you ever get is "I don't know if I did enough for these ungrateful bastards who treat me like shit". I guess at least you can swear about it in Trespasser...

#dragon age inquisition #asks #anon

[mrs-gauche]

At last, the synopsis of volume 4 of "The Missing" is out (the final volume!) and I have a few thoughts! (Do NOT read further if you haven't read the preview of volume 1 yet and don't want to get spoiled! 🙂)

(Here's my comment/speculations on the previous three synopses btw, of which a lot has actually already been answered/debunked by the first five pages of the first volume. lol)

Ok so, first things first: Hey, looks like Solas is apparently NOT at the White Spire after all! 😂 So much for people's speculations. lol What's kinda funny to me though, is how Varric and Harding, instead of (what we suspected) going further east, seem to go all way back to Tevinter now, to get to the capital. lol Let's hope the long journey wasn't completely for naught then. Though what's up with this seemingly never ending "cat-and-mouse" game here? 😂 You think that maybe Solas knows about them searching for him and has been purposefully leading them astray this whole time? lol

"After many close encounters and more signs of a Venatori stalking them (...)"

So, for anyone who has read the preview of volume 1, were you also instantly reminded of the shadowy person seen in the last panel? Especially with how it mentions "many close encounters", I think it's very likely that this could refer to whoever was already watching them while walking the Deep Roads? Hmm..

"This time, it seems they're hot on his heels"

(See, it's funny because Solas doesn't like wearing shoes lol)

So, after Varric and Harding couldn't track down Solas in neither the Deep Roads, Vyrantium OR the Arlathan Forest, he has now apparently hit the big city.

Remember how we kept joking about Solas just going to Tevinter and walking the streets of Minrathous completely unrecognized, when most of Tevinter doesn't actually know what he looks like (as far as we know)? lmao Well, joke’s on us? 😂 So, who in Minrathous, aside from maybe Dorian, would even be able to "spot" him then? lol Watch Solas pull another "Bard" on us and disguising himself as the most ridiculous Venatori Lord Anus McEvilus. lol So, what's Solas doing there? And who is this "trusted informant"? I think the most obvious answer here would be Dorian? Perhaps even Mae (we know her and Varric are super close! 👀👀)?

"The duo find they have a tough decision to make - and they'll need to make the right call fast."

Alright, so why the urgency now? And what does this "tough decision" entail? Seeing as this is the final volume of this comic that has been marketed to directly tie into the plot of DA4, what's interesting to note here is that, with Antoine and Evka now making an appearance in volume 1, it seems as though every faction shown in the 2020 teaser trailer and the concept art will feature in each volume now, meaning the Wardens (Evka and Antoine) in volume 1, the Crows (Teia and Viago?) in volume 2, the "Veil Jumpers" (Irelin and Strife?) in volume 3 and now, back in Minrathous, a Tevinter... Siccari in volume 4 then? Or maybe one of the guys in this short story? Seeing as the short stories from DA Day 2020 also all happen to perfectly line up with the four factions in the comic/teaser/concept art? 👀

It definitely raises the chances for these four factions to be potential "career paths" for our new protagonist and maybe the "tough decision" involves Varric having to choose which of these factions to contact in order to further pursue Solas or something (or what if that decision is then left to the players at the start of DA4 and we get to choose which of those four factions will be part of our "origin story"?)

And btw, can I just mention how my initial speculation over a year ago or so, was that one of those four factions would be part of an infiltration mission at the start of the game for our next protagonist (who is actually a Lord of Fortune) hired by Varric in order to obtain vital information about the red lyrium idol? 😂 If this turns out to be the case somehow, I'll eat my hat. lmao

Anyway, while I have read the preview of volume 1 (and I already have a ton of thoughts on this as well!), I would like to wait for the full volume to come out on the 25th to post a comment and cover the whole thing. That being said, I can't wait to read all of it, seems very promising so far! 😁

#dragon age the missing spoilers #varric #solas #da4

[exalted-dawn-drabbles]

HI IT ME AGAIN this time for Solas x Alora, pushing a strand of hair behind their ear?

Thank you so much @a-song-in-the-stillness and @dadrunkwriting for the lovely prompt! Enjoyed writing this one a lot! It's very fluffy and cute :3

Rated G: Fluff, ~600 words

If You Loved Me | Exalted_Dawn

Alora paused in her readings, shaken from the ink-wrought words by the subtle press of autumn-chilled fingers against her temple. They lingered only for a short moment, enough to put a shiver in her skin, before brushing away a single strand of flaxen hair that had fallen out of place. She huffed slightly. “You know, if you continue to do that for every time it slips, I’ll never be able to get through the story, Solas.”

The elf resting in her lap chuckled, silver eyes bright with bemusement and clearly unmoved by her half-hearted scolding. “Then perhaps you should bind your hair better, so that I do not have to keep fixing it all the time, vhenan.”

“Hmmm… That’s funny. I don’t remember ever asking you to.” Alora dropped her book slightly, thwacking the spot between Solas’ brow with the edge of the cracked leather spine. She doubted it would leave a red mark, but a small rush of self-righteous satisfaction flashed through her chest regardless as she watched the man scrunch his brow in distaste. She giggled to herself, and returned her attention to her novel. “Besides, it's not so easy as that. And if you had any hair, you might remember that.” 

Just as soon as she located her spot on the page, the book was ripped from her hands and snapped promptly shut. 

“Hey!” she yelped, her anchored hand shooting out to chase after her stolen readings, but too slow. 

Solas was still staring up at her from his spot, but this time there was an unmistakable air of challenge in his gaze. He pitched his eyebrow high as he held the book above his head and away from her, just out of reach, a cocky grin hidden just behind the tilt of his lips. 

“You are a poor sport,” she huffed, a scowl pulling at her mouth. “Please, give it back?”

His smile only widened. “If your arms were longer, you would be able to take it from me.”

“And if you loved me, I wouldn’t have to.” 

They both froze. 

The statement sat between them, lingering in the late day, garden air as the two simply held each other’s gaze– the moment almost stretching too long to be comfortable. Alora shifted in her spot, ears bright red as she ducked her head away from beneath the weight of Solas’ attention on her. She’d gotten too comfortable, and that word was still too new. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat. “I, uhm-”

The book appeared again before her face, held aloft between thumb and lightly callused fingers. 

Solas blinked up at her expectantly. 

“Oh,” she breathed, taking it gingerly in her hand as if the pages might scorch her. “Thank you… Ma serannas.”

“Of course,” he murmured, his voice nearly hoarse. The hand that he’d held aloft reached further, stretching towards and then past her face. As if snatching a moth from the sky, he caught another stray strand of her hair– displaced when she had ducked in embarrassment– and tucked it carefully behind her ear. “Please, continue your reading. Do not let me bother you further.”

His hand fell away, and suddenly, silently, she mourned it. 

With bright pink ears, born not entirely from the cold that chewed at her skin, she resettled and found her page again. Quiet fell between them once more as the written words poured from her lips. But as she read, one thought replayed over and over in her mind.

Maybe she would not mind it so much if he bothered her more.

#dadwc #dragon age fanfiction #solavellan #dragon age inquisition #dragon age #solas #da solas #alora lavellan #lavellen #dragon age oc