dactyl miles

YES - unresolved tension, especially unresolved romantic tension. - mutual pining - Bull being the more unsteady of the two, emotionally speaking - ridiculous Tevinter/regency/etc clothing - subtle gestures of affection - Dorian with body hair, and being generally tall/broad for a human/mage - burly fat Bull - besotted expressions - f/f side pairings - Sera, Krem & Chargers, or any other inner circle - your inquisitor, original characters, minor characters! - both of their glorious noses (for illustration) - conflict - alive Felix in AU - Dorian being sweet, bluster intact - Dorian also being a little shit - both making mistakes, and neither of them being always right or wrong - rough sex, bondage, Dorian’s size kink - intensely emotional sex, which goes well with the above point - action, physical fights, sexy physical fights - indirect kissing; as toft put it, sharing a cigarette, drinking from the same spot of the glass, that kind of thing

MAYBE - forbidden relationships (it can’t be because Dorian doesn’t want to go public) - D/s (only in the bedroom, and without Dorian losing his contrariness) - het background pairings being extremely background - Inquisitor Trevelyan -- Adaar, Cadash, or Lavellan preferred but not mandatory - alive Felix in canon (context depending) - fluff in fic -- it’s welcome but I’d prefer it not be the only content - drunk sex -- they both have to be drunk, and not too drunk

General Likes

Plot! I am all for the romance being flavour in a larger story, so long as it has a decently large presence.

Conflict! It doesn’t have to be between the two characters in question, although it absolutely can be, but external sources and/or one character’s struggles are also really compelling.

Humour! Conflict doesn’t have to be painful. it can, in plenty of circumstances, be hilarious. It can mean something like “Josephine has lost an Important Document and Isabela is being really unhelpful and distracting” or “Alistair is trying to surprise Duncan but he’s really bad at hiding things”

Featuring other characters! Someone like Varric (or Hawke) for instance would be highly social and also often approached or harassed by friends, fans, and Seneschal Bran.

Nonsexual stuff! I mean don’t get me wrong, I like a good sex scene as much as the next fan, but I don’t need it at all. If it fits, by all means (with a Certain Exception), but it’s certainly not required.

Sexual and/or romantic tension! gimme that sweet sweet longing

(Pre-existing relationships are also good too.)

Isabela!

which speaks for itself, really

General Dislikes

Embarrassment squick. I mean I don’t mind someone being embarrassed, but those obvious setups for humiliation stress me out so much.

Pure fluff. Nothing wrong with it, of course, but it’s not for me. Happiness is just as compelling as struggling/upset, but a thousand words of sweet nothings is not really my cup of tea. (Unless, of course, you are going for the comedy approach. Rule of Funny applies.)

Jealousy narratives. Not to say that a character can’t feel jealous, but basing the story around their acting on their jealousy (vs working it out w/ the other person or on their own) also stresses me out a lot.

Kink for the sake of kink. If it fits the story, or your perception of the characters, I’m totally down! I guess for everything, really, context is the name of the game. I’d just prefer to prioritise the characters over hot sex. Awkward, imperfect sex that makes sense for them is far more appealing to me, and honestly, way hotter.

Pregnancy. In any context. Can’t deal with it.

Specific Sexual Dislikes/Things I’m Not Interested In At This Time

absolutely no noncon, please.

piss or scatplay. you understand, I’m sure.

daddy/parent kink

slave/pet play

a/b/o

food play? it’s not a strong no but it’s also a little distasteful to me, barring Rule of Funny of course. (but please nothing that could lead to yeast infections, wince)

differences in enthusiasm. I really don’t like it when one person is totally wrecked and the other is unmoved. (playing at it is a different story)

But I Do Enjoy:

competitive sex

mishaps and imperfect sex. at some point, someone’s gonna get elbowed in the face or fall off whatever surface, or trip, or miss. it feels more real, and by extension, far hotter.

likewise: laughter and having fun

roughness. doesn’t have to be painful at all, but like, tussling, getting shoved against things, etc etc. Not that I object to painful, mind.

competitive sex

Prompt-Specific Suggestions

Varric/Male Hawke I was so delighted upon finding out Varric had become Viscount of Kirkwall. It seems like such a good culmination to his character arc, going from “professional younger brother” to someone able and willing to be responsible for a whole city-state. And I’m fascinated with how this would tie into Hawke have been/being Champion.  For this prompt I’d be really interested in something slice-of-life, exploring the situation and how it affects their dynamic. maybe it causes tension between them. or like, you could have them being little shits in the throne room. Hawke bawling at the coronation? whatever feels right.

(Actually, if you’re an artist, Hawke bawling at the coronation would be amazing)

Josephine/Isabela Like I mentioned in the request itself, I really would love to see them matching wits. This could be working against each other or together--can you imagine the kind of damage they could do working together. Maybe someone needs to go down. I like the idea of having them meet during Josephine’s brief time as a bard!

While I’d love to see them develop a relationship, I would equally love to see Isabela’s outrageous flirting, and how Josephine reacts differently to it than from someone like the Inquisitor who she idolises a bit, if this is indeed the case. Does she catch on, does she like it? Can Isabela tell? Does Isabela care?

Another note for artists--ostentatious fashion/jewelry is absolutely encouraged. My single greatest request, however, is that you get her nose right. what. it’s a good nose.

Alistair/Duncan I do enjoy me a competent Alistair. Obviously he’s not gonna be all that sexually competent/experienced, but I mean in terms of things he has reason to know how to do. Especially since I imagine he’d want to prove himself to Duncan, both in general and in the direction of a romantic relationship.

One of the things that annoy me about depictions of age difference ships is when the older character is all-knowing; I’d like to see Duncan’s imperfect side. Maybe a clash between himself as person vs himself as a leader? etc etc etc

In terms of the topic itself: I do love pining, and this ship is prime for it on both sides. Longing or sexually charged looks, loaded physical contact, etc etc etc. AU is always fun, so long as you preserve the dynamic (Duncan’s position of authority, the situation he led Alistair from, etc etc) whether in writing or in art. I’ve also been meaning to write such a fic for almost two years now, but if you wanted to write something about Alistair reuniting with Duncan in the Fade, post Here Lies The Abyss or during the sloth demon’s dream in Broken Circle, that would be absolutely amazing.

Female Trevelyan/Florianne de Chalons

This one’s fairly straightforward: I just want them to have messed-up potentially hatesex, where they don’t trust each other and are both trying to take control, and hella getting off on it. I like the idea of Florianne getting the advantage, but honestly any outcome would be fantastic.

This one’s also an exception to a rule, which I mentioned in the request itself: I am super okay with dubcon here. I want them both to enjoy themselves with enthusiasm, but I am super down for Florianne initiating without bothering to ask permission, and not responding to any initial resistance. This would be prime material to illustrate as well; it doesn’t specifically have to be the sex you depict, because the anticipation is equally delicious.

Solas/Varric

I want this to be ridiculous but also in character; I was honestly really intrigued by their in-game banter. It seemed like they both respected and liked each other, and found some solidarity despite their differences, and their conflict tended to involve their opposing positions about the importance of nature vs nurture, and fate vs agency. Manifesting, of course, in their respective relationships to Cole.

(I’d prefer a Cole who hasn’t yet settled into human or spirit.)

So: the Parent Trap AU, because if Cole can drive them apart, I think Cole could also bring them together. Certainly I believe he’d want to. Also, please no sex--UNLESS you’re doing this in the style of something the Randy Dowager might present, in which case all bets are off.

Also, having thought about it, I’d actually also enjoy something more serious about their in-game conflict and how Cole might try to intercede because having his pseudo-parents fight is upsetting and he Loves To Help. You could either go the full romantic route, which I’d be really interested to see how you depict it, or you could make it more vague, because it’s the conflict I’m more interesting in this interpretation.

I realise these prompts aren’t very useful to artists, so I encourage you, if planning to illustrate, to take from any potential scene you find compelling and interesting to draw.