Summoner's Sketchbook

Figured it was about time I create a masterpost to pin on my blog.

Name: Kogarashi, Amanda, "hey you"

Editor, (fandom) writer, freelance artist

Multifandom geek and generally crafty jack-of-all-trades (master of none)

~ I Draw ~ I Write ~ I Craft ~

Outside links here, but the most relevant is probably my Archive of our Own page.

You can buy me a cocoa (Ko-fi) if you want to throw a tip my way, and you can buy things with my art on Redbubble (slowly adding to inventory).

I also have a side blog for reblogging art I like, and now a side blog for reblogging other people's fiction.

I have a tag list for things like tag games. Want on (or off) the list? Just leave a comment on the linked post.

Fandoms, collected posts, commission info, etc. below the cut to keep this shorter on my page.

Quick links to my OCs: Castelin Cousland | Aelinn Hawke | Tyria Lavellan | Saadrah Mercar

Yes, I'm definitely working these prompts into a connected story, which means picking which prompt out of each pair I think will work for the next plot beat. In this case, Freedom.

Dum Lux Est, Spes Est(where there's light, there's hope)

Chapter 2: Freedom

Rating: T Words: 881

Snippet:

The high summer sun left a pleasant warmth across Saadrah’s bared arms as she sat in the public garden of the Maze’s small chantry and listened. Birdsong. High, lilting, melodic. Possibly enhanced a little by magical experiments that got loose, if the tales she’d heard while working as a day laborer at the warehouses were to be believed, just like mabari and white rooks and the occasional spiky menace. Industry. Creaking wheels and groaning ropes, hammers and winches and clattering crates. The roar of some steam-fueled machinery chugging away, the musical clinking of glassware, the rumble of sledges pulled by hired muscles. Voices. Children calling to each other as they played hide-and-seek. Gossips lingering over water barrels. Foremen shouting to their charges and work chanties to keep people in time as they earned their coin. Saadrah’s lips moved as she listened.

Keep reading on AO3

@handsignals, @himluv, @sorcerousadventurer, @dags-over-caravans, @chaosherald, @serialsforbellara, @necromanticsoul, @sandcastlekings, @redheadsramblings, @sapphireangelbunny, @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai, @wolfsong-the-bloody-beast, @hedwigoprah, @redaresss, @mushrooms-x-moss, @grand-crow, @davrinsleftpectoral, @blackwall-my-tiny-husband, @pixiedurango, @jukkaricity, @ladyofcrowsandcoffee, @lycheecatee, @the-archons-moustache, @rooks-dagger, @maagisterpavus, @dell-amor-te, @hibiscus-wo-tabeta, @reaver-of-kirkwall, @woundedsoul12, @shadrachanki, @jellyeliart

It's Shadow Dragon Week! And aside from quietly freaking out and hoping things go smoothly, I'm also participating. 😁

I decided to spend this time writing, because I figured it would be easier than doing art. Plus I wanted to write a slightly younger Saadrah, fresh off her arrival in Minrathous in late 9:42 Dragon, or maybe early 9:43 Dragon, when she's about eighteen.

Enjoy!

Dum Lux Est, Spes Est (where there's light, there's hope)

Chapter 1: Shadows

Rating: T Words: 927

Summary: Far from her family and everything else she's known, Saadrah finds herself in the largest city in Thedas, in need of a new identity and new goals, with only her wits and her skills to her name.

Snippet:

There were, in Saadrah’s opinion, far too many shadows in Minrathous. It was easy enough to assume why, at first glance, just by looking at the towering architecture of the city. Spires upon spires, towers thick as trees, bridges and balconies and buttresses weaving together in the angular threads of an architectural spider’s web as the buildings seemed to climb on each other’s shoulders to fight for dominance, winning by crushing older structures beneath stone and steel bootheels. Very apt, she thought, eyeing a prominent statue of some gilded magister crowning a fountain. She didn’t miss the raised relief along the basin’s lowest edge that depicted chained slaves in neat rows, nearly unseen beneath the magister’s feet. Someone had recently chipped away at the chains holding a few figures down. The scrapes were bright and fresh against the old weather-worn stone. But no, the corners where the sunlight failed to reach weren’t the only place shadows pooled in Tevinter’s capital, just the most obvious.

Keep reading on AO3

@handsignals, @himluv, @sorcerousadventurer, @dags-over-caravans, @chaosherald, @serialsforbellara, @necromanticsoul, @sandcastlekings, @redheadsramblings, @sapphireangelbunny, @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai, @wolfsong-the-bloody-beast, @hedwigoprah, @redaresss, @mushrooms-x-moss, @grand-crow, @davrinsleftpectoral, @blackwall-my-tiny-husband, @pixiedurango, @jukkaricity, @ladyofcrowsandcoffee, @lycheecatee, @the-archons-moustache, @rooks-dagger, @maagisterpavus, @dell-amor-te, @hibiscus-wo-tabeta, @reaver-of-kirkwall, @woundedsoul12, @shadrachanki, @jellyeliart

I've got a main project planned for sharing for @shadow-dragon-week this week, but I figured it would be a fun bonus thing to share some of my favorite Minrathous-related screenshots I took while playing this game. One a day seems good.

Let's start with the shot I used for the header on the event blog, in the Safehouse's mess hall. I love the way the lighting contrasts here, with the dominant blues but then the warmth around the candles and coming from the fireplace room.

Ooh, I don't think I've had an anonymous ask before. This is exciting!

Five things that make me happy?

Obligatory first answer: my husband and kids

Sea salt caramel

Access to video games that I love

Thunderstorms

The Sonic and Shadow Squishmallows I keep at my desk for cuddling