#criticallyours

So October came and went, and I just want to extend a heartfelt thank you to @criticallyours​ for arranging and hosting @dadrawtober​. Without you, none of these pieces, along with all the other beautiful drawings made for this list, would have existed today.

It has been fun to see what others have created and to get to know some cool new people I might not have encountered otherwise. It has been an opportunity to push myself creatively, and although I haven’t completed the entire list during October I’m planning on completing it once I have the time, because I still have some ideas scrambling around in my brain.

Such a lovely message to receive! Thank you, dear! Getting similar thoughtful and heartfelt comments myself when I timidly posted my first contributions to the fandom was what made me feel welcome and encouraged to stay. So I do my best to give back to the fandom the same warmth I got!

OMG!!! Your message made my whole day! Thank you so much! 

Ahhhh, small world! :D Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words, friend! This is such a lovely surprise, and it really means a lot especially from such a talented creator and lovely person as yourself! I am so very glad you enjoyed the fics, and that I've gotten to exchange with you a bit more over these past few weeks! I’ve been a fan of your art for a while too - I actually first saw your art on reddit where I mostly just lurk, but I saw that GORGEOUS piece of Marian Hawke you did last year? the year before that? and just ran back to tumblr to follow you, haha. It’s been such a joy and an honour to get to see your artistic journey since!

🏡 How do they divide responsibilities for house work?

Dorian has never done house work a day in his life. He can barely make his own bed, probably. This is a man who grew up in a house full of servants and slaves, after all. He’ll help out with things when asked, but many regular maintenance tasks (like dusting) simply don’t occur to him. Mostly he just keeps his own things neat and cleans up after himself.

Idhren cooks. Idhren likes cooking and he’s pretty decent at it. Even when they have servants he’ll occasionally pop into the kitchen and make something when he has the time. He’s also the resident neat freak, and does most of the general cleaning and nagging the others to clean up their things.

Awww, @criticallyours, thank you! I truly appreciate you and your kind words, they made my day. There are so many amazing artists--both authors and visual--in the DA fandom; I love seeing their works. Sharing the love and smiles is so important! :) <3 

Thank you very much again! 

aww, thank you!

8. Where do you take your inspiration from?

oh, all over! I’ve gotten brainstorms from unboxing Halloween decorations at work, from weird headlines husband tells me about, from my d&d games. Most of all from the games I write for. I love writing between the scenes, filling out the bits that we didn’t get to play, adding in the small (or big) moments that happen outside of gameplay.

9. In your Durill/Fenris fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?

since my stuff for Durill is collected in a series of smaller fics rather than a large one, I’m gonna go with the favorite of those that I’ve written, which as of right now is one of the most recent, What Once Was. It’s an incredibly angsty fic of Hawke and Fenris’s reunion at Weisshaupt. But it’s my favorite partly because of this exchange:

“Try to make friends, Killer,” Varric had told him as they stood outside the ruined husk of Adamant after it all. The dwarf clapped him on the forearm and attempted a carefree grin. But even Varric was having trouble with those these days.

Hawke snorted. “All of my friends have led me into violent confrontations I’ve barely escaped from. I don’t need more friends. Just...tell Fenris where I’ve gone.”

26. Which part of your Durill/Fenris fic was the hardest to write?

ngl, all of What Once Was. That fic was painful to write, it’s painful to read, and it doesn’t even wrap up the emotional journey they’re on. (The next fic in that series will thus be the hardest because I’ll have all of that to bring to a satisfying conclusion and...oof.)

45. What spurs you on during the writing process?

most often, it’s people expressing interest! Most to all of these fics with Durill have been the product of prompt asks or questions send as follow ups to something else I wrote. A good soundtrack is very useful too! And that’s one reason why I have so many goddamn playlists on my spotify, like one dedicated completely to Durill...(the other reason is that I’m a playlist hoarder).

48. What’s your favourite trope to write?

sweet, sweet hurt/comfort. Durill and Fenris lend themselves so well to it, it’s honestly ridiculous. Both of them are headstrong, stubborn, front line fighters, so there’s a lot of opportunity for injuries and things of that nature. It’s....a trope that, now that I think about it, figures in these fics with...remarkable frequency. For good reason, apparently!