#knightava

I didn’t realize how long this post was going to be until I was about halfway through. And it still is not even close to exhaustive. 

Soo, while 2020 has been such a tumultuous year one great thing about this time in my life is that I’ve had more time than ever to read. I am always so blown away by how much talent there is in fanfiction, so big, big thank you to all the writers that share their work and for whisking me away from real life into something far more pleasurable. It definitely makes my whole day when a fic I love has been updated, and I enjoy catching glimpses of rough drafts and the writing process via tumblr (I’m still trying to understand how their galaxy brains even work lolol). 

It’s long, but I am not putting it under a cut! They’re too good!

Long Fics (>= 50k words)

Roses From Where Thorns Grow by @bdafic​ [incomplete]- I started this a while ago, must have lost track of it, and then found it again this summer. Feels weird to type because this is not really me irl lol but accidental pregnancy fics are one of my favorites kinds of fics. Papa Solas is amazing. Somewhere, I once tagged something with ‘solas dad best dad’ and I think that probably sums up my feelings on the matter. The last chapter I read has left me anxious for more, so I’m eagerly awaiting what will likely be the first chapter posted in 2021. 

Ruins by @luzial [incomplete] - A real story of a couple who broke up, fought each other for twenty years, got sent back in time, and are now trying to make things work again ;) Lavellan here is older and wiser in all the ways that matter, and Solas is... well Solas in many ways is everything we wish he would (and could) be now. Had the most wonderful realization that I somehow missed the last chapter that apparently came out on my birthday, so I know what I’ll be doing later.

Fen’Harel’s Teeth by @5lazarus​  [incomplete] - the conversations in this fic are one of my favorite parts. They’re in character, but they’re also just interesting to read. The words just fly across the page -- it’s smooth, seamless, pithy. I love politics and I love a main character who has her wits about her -- both are in this fic. Also features fatherly!Solas, which I just adore.

By the Still Waters by [orphan account]. This is older, but I knew it was popular so I gave it a shot and... yes, I understand now. I loved reading something from Fenris’ perspective. I loved how he’s a foil for Solas. I love seeing Lavellan as this near mythical person because we see everything through Fenris’ eyes. I love Hawke and Fenris together. Merrill also featured more heavily than I anticipated and she had some of the best lines I’ve ever read.

Pressure Point by 17734 [incomplete] - this fic leaves me constantly unsettled (in the best, most addictive, under-your-skin kind of way). I’ve read the first 18 or so chapters twice, and it’s one of those stories that’s slightly different the second time you read it. I really like the author’s take on immortal beings, some of it is very reminiscent of some of the Greek mythology I read in school - characters are at turns both magnificent and terrifying. The language is also very beautiful, and I’m a sucker for anything close to prosaic. 

Out of Time by destinies - so, I don’t know how I found this beyond just “Twitter.” This isn’t Dragon Age related -- it’s from The Greisha Trilogy, which I had never heard of before -- something just told me I would really like this story. Forced/political marriages’, memory loss, enemies to lovers, the dichotomy between light and dark embodied by a single couple... yes, thank you. I had to kind of piece the world together as I read, which was admittedly a lot of fun, and um... wow, I really loved this! Another one of my ‘binged in a single night’ fics.  

Message Sent by @aicosu [incomplete]- this is coincidentally how I got my former partner into Dragon Age lol. I had originally read it the first time as it was coming out. The second time I read it aloud to them over the course of a few days, feeling very much like Cassandra trying to do certain character’s voices. It reminded me of how much I loved it, and so I feel like it deserves a mention here. Definitely an unorthodox but memorable way of cursing someone with being emotionally invested in the Solavellan romance 

Short Fics (< 50k words)

nothing on my tongue by @ellstersmash - the chapters here are short, and I loved seeing the fic updated put of order. This was my first time experiencing that, and I loved guessing where we were in the in-game timeline, and also, as more chapters were posted, which chapter numbers were still missing and therefore what the missing chapters might be about. I associate this fic with feeling kind of melancholy a lot. I think the word constraints really lent itself well to the Solavallen romance -- beautiful and poignant, but always leaving me wanting more.

In and Out of Time Again by @luzial - hoo boy did I have a fun time reading this one. I actually rarely go for AU’s this “AU”, but I trusted this author, and it paid off. In fact, I think I subconsciously had more doubts than I thought because what started a curious perusal ended in one of those “up until 3 am reading” kind of nights. It was such a fast-paced, interesting read, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Ink is one of my favorite Lavellans; she’s just too cool.

The Fourth Day by sass_bot (@knightava) [incomplete] - this was just such a perfect example of how to build tension and dread for the reader, that I still think about it frequently. Also, who wouldn’t love a Skyhold murder mystery?

Beyond the Veil by Pyreite [incomplete] - A 200 years post-Veil fic. Abelas is in it, which is how I knew it was gonna be good hehe. I really like the world-building, and I like explorations of the romance with a more hardened Lavellan. 

I Come to You With Nothing by CommonEvilMasterMind. I’ll preface this by writing that this made me cry with a mixture of sorrow and happiness. The premise is an undercover mission in an alienage which involves Solas and Ellana masquerading as a married couple. It’s beautifully written, and just honestly kind of bittersweet. The writing is itself very touching but I also think it’s almost difficult to read because the Solavellan romance has an arc that looks like it’s just exponentially deviating from anything remotely happy lolol 

That Girl Is Like A Sunburn by @yourstrulycommandershepard - I just discovered this person’s writing this year and I’m kind of obsessed? I went on a whole binge this past summer and *fans self*. I picked this one for my list because I haven’t read that many Solas/Trevelyan fics, and hers are by far some of my favorites. I also love that the titles of some of her fics are Taylor Swift lyrics. I get Solavellan vibes from so many of Taylor’s songs - glad it’s not just me!

Aravel by @playwithdinos - More Papa Solas. I can’t say anything more than it hit me right in the vhenan. 

Send me dialogue prompts!

“Oh my God, you stole it, didn’t you?!”

“I didn’t steal anything.”

Not technically true, but Lottie is a stickler for rules (and Skylar realises with a jolt that he likes that about her, despite his own reputation), and she might die if she finds out.

“I asked and he lent it to me.” He waggles the bottle of cider in front of her face, smiling crookedly at her laughing attempts to bat it away, smoky blue eyes lingering on the curve of her lips and on the way her nose wrinkles even as he takes a healthy glug of the sweet liquid.

“Can you lend people consumables? How exactly are you planning on returning it?” The familiar crease between big, blue eyes is back, and Skylar doesn’t bother to resist the urge to smooth it out with his thumb, letting his hand slip to cradle her cheek.

“What if you get in trouble?” Lottie is insistent now, even as she takes a swig from the bottle, rosy lips wrapped around where his had just been, and it feels strangely intimate, in a way he’s not sure he wants to think about too much. For now, at least. He lets himself smirk in the way he knows sets her heart to racing.

Pollux snorts. “Better question: what do we not butt heads on? She’s pushy, thinks she’s always right--that her plans are the best plans--and she must love reminding me that I’m incapable of taking care of myself since she does it so often. Blah, blah, blah she’s honor bound to my mother to keep me safe and blah blah I work for the agency and i’m a member of unit bravo and under her direction blah blah blah; you know, if she really cared she could stand to be less condescending about my flaws.”

“Which, i guess, is the worst of the topics between us that we butt heads on--the whole keeping me safe thing like I can’t take care of myself. She’s just got this *audacity* to be upset about having to take care of me, like this is some great burden and oh woe is me and this poor fragile human I have to take care of. I didn’t ask to be taken care of--I can handle myself just fine without her hovering, or making her own scene about it.”

“Plus she came into my office and trampled all over my space like it didn’t matter and broke my desk. So there.”

If I’d have been smart enough to tweak my world state a little before starting the playthrough, I’d have changed Hawke’s gender so I could’ve had Carver making an appearance. Now, I just have to imagine it was Carver, but knowing myself, I’ll probably have to start a new playthrough right after this one just to get some delicious screenshots of Katla and Carver together in DAI graphics. 🥺

Though there’s no way Katla would really let him to make the sacrifice, it won’t be happening in my canon, even if I had Carver making an appearance, which I’m very much tempted to do in my future playthroughs, now that Katla seems to be having a more prominent role in my canon during this time.

(None of this was planned, though! I was only supposed to fool around with character swap mods to have Katla bang Samson on Cullen’s desk and make a crack gifset out of it because she totally would have done just that, if she wouldn’t have randomly fallen in love with a certain problem bear. Which wasn’t planned, either. I’m honestly not even going to pretend that I had any control over my OCs anymore, lmao.)   

So, I only sacrificed the would-be Carver here so I could have gotten screenshots of Katla and Varric hugging. And even that was painful enough, never going to do that again! Loghain gets to make the sacrifice. It’s not like he would let a young lad like Carver to sacrifice himself, anyway.

37. Fluffiest headcannon

Bro sometimes I think about UB going to each other’s rooms in their lil pjs because they’re having a bad night and just hanging out for comfort and not even having to mention it it’s so soft

50. Headcannons about Wayhaven the town

There is a sketchy arcade/bowling alley/laser tag place where kids have their birthday parties and stuff and Drew 100% drags them there and tries to convince Adam it’s training

62. How does your detective feel about Douglas?

They both said look at me 👀👈 I’m your dad now.

Hug prompts!

The mission shouldn’t last long, Rebecca promises, as if she has never broken promises before. As if Sophia’s entire childhood was not full of broken promises.