#wanderingnork

(sorry for the super late reply!!)

afaik there is no canon basis for this bit of fanon! I believe the original genesis of the headcanon is the thought that one of Miriel's grandsons should have a connection to her skill with fiber arts, and then one of them was assigned it. that happened to be Caranthir, probably because he's one of the Feanorians who has the least canon info about him, so this was a fun new thing to add. people liked it, and it spread from there!

I've also seen people who give Celegorm this skill, reinforcing the parallel between his possibly-silver hair and Miriel's silver hair. either way, I believe this is fully fanon, it's completely up to you if you want to embrace or ignore it!

Ahhhhh thank you so much! I'm having so much FUN. This show has infected my brain in a way no other show has in so long. Honestly after a certain show that will not be named did us so dirty, I didn't think I'd be able to get invested in a show like this ever again. I thought I was done with fandom and the way I used to interact with it. I was barely coming on tumblr anymore. But then season 2 of the vampire show happened and I can't remember the last time I wanted to pick every second of a show apart like this. And on top of that I've written approximately 12k of fic in the last two weeks which doesn't sound like a lot but I was really struggling to get words out for a while and it feels nice to be so inspired again. 💖

Hello wanderingnork, and a very belated welcome to the fandom! 🙌🏾 Well. Welcome to what’s left of the fandom anyway LOL ❤️ 

Thanks so much for reaching out and sending me this really kind ask message (the post being referred to is my addition/reblog here) but yeah, I guess for those who weren’t in Dragon Age 2 fandom or the Anders side of fandom between December 2017—July 2018 you wouldn’t have seen how horrifying the bullying got. I’ve seen at least 3 people who aren’t friends with me reblog my post saying that what I described was why they themselves quit DA fandom or the Anders side of fandom too. 

And those are the Anders fans who DIDN’T delete their Tumblr blogs. Obviously the ones who DID delete and/or quit aren’t here to confirm that they, too, quit over that Anders wank in 2018. 

The worst of it was that the wank was started entirely by a group of Anders fans who – to my knowledge – still see themselves as the real victims to this day, even though they only stopped their callout posts and bullying (both in public and behind the scenes in private) when they learned that the Anders fanartist they were bullying was considering taking legal action. (You KNOW things are bad when fandom wank gets so bad that it becomes actual harassment that breaks the law.) And like I said, they posted some pretty shitty things about those of us who were friends with this artist too, causing many of us to block them. 

They backtracked like fuck in July 2018, but after seven months (maybe more?) of constantly bullying this one popular Anders fanartist (who’d repeatedly apologised, deleted the NSFW sideblog AND the offending art, and posted how the whole thing had driven that artist to a breakdown and suicidal thoughts), maybe it should never have got that far?

I don’t know how active they are in DA fandom now – but I DO know one of them notoriously posted that us blocking them was “bullying”, and that “bullying is child abuse” for “children” like themselves... despite the fact that they admitted they were 23 and therefore were very much not a fucking minor or child. (They had a lot to say about how WE should have been responsible for their “online safety” as well, and that Anders was their “comfort character” whom they only wanted to see sweet fluff content for, and they regularly triggered themselves by searching out Anders content that was less than fluffy or sweet to complain about on their blog. Not to mention how many of us queer POC Anders creators in our 20s and 30s – including the Anders artist they bullied – were accused of being “white” and “boomer-passing” for defending Anders content they didn’t like LMAO)

I’m so sorry to hear about the huge gap in art and fic you experienced on coming in to Tumblr Dragon Age fandom, but given how many creators took one look at the bullying and thought “fuck this, I’m leaving” and either deleted their blogs or Anders posts/fic/art/meta or simply left for kink-friendlier fandoms, I am honestly not surprised to hear this. I am also sorry to hear that there was a mess in your last fandom too; and I hope that this fandom is better to you. 

Dragon Age fandom is a difficult fandom to be in, but trust me when I say there are lots of good people in it. They’re just harder to find, and often they’re not as prominent or in-your-face as the nastier types. But I know they’re there because I’ve found them, and I treasure them, and I’ve been here since 2014. 

I think really all we can do is block the haters as much as possible, and carry on creating whatever the fuck we like – and tagging appropriately. I learned my lesson from that wank in 2018: if someone(s) is really determined to destroy you and just wants you gone, there is no apology or deletion you can give that will be good enough. Besides, there are so many problematic themes and content in Dragon Age canon that I don’t think it’s reasonable to ask creators to completely shy away from exploring those if they want to, or from making OCs that mirror a canon character’s traumatic background, or from writing/drawing canon characters as anything less than healthy and wholesome and pure (which NONE of them are in canon, anyway) – especially if it’s tagged and warned for. 

I mean... we all paid Bioware to purchase and play this 18+ game with its uncomfortable, difficult and sometimes problematic themes and content. I feel that if the Dragon Age franchise was so terrible and traumatic and problematic for someone when playing, then I do question why they joined the fandom afterwards. And I don’t think the onus should fall solely on fandom creators – who are doing this for free, unpaid, in our spare times – to create perfect, unproblematic, wholesome content that just wasn’t in the games themselves. Different people have different definitions of what is “perfect”, “unproblematic” or “wholesome” anyway. 

(On that last point: look at how the people behind The Mess callout tried to accuse people of being racist for romancing Cullen with pale-skinned Lavellans; back in 2016/2017 you got accused of being racist for romancing Cullen with darker-skinned Lavellans. How times have changed 🤔  There’s a LOT of content in this fandom that I don’t like, or that squicks/repulses me, but as long as it’s tagged in a way that I can avoid it, I’m not gonna police what people create. And if there’s one thing I’ve noticed the Dragon Age fandom IS very good about doing, it’s that most people are careful about handling problematic topics and content in a sensitive way. So that’s not a thing I worry about.) 

Anyway. I’m rambling. But yeah, that recap of 2018 (which several people have confirmed is true now) sums up why there is such a huge gap in Anders fanart and fic, and is why very few people create Anders content anymore – I know I myself abandoned a Garrett Hawke/Anders longfic in 2018 because I didn’t want to create for Handers fans if the only ones around were bullies who believed they were victims. But it’s been well over 2 years now, so.... I might get back to writing that fic. The Gym AU is still very much alive in my brain 👀 

So! That’s what happened... but despite everything I want to emphasise that there IS much good in this fandom, even if it’s harder to find among all the shit there is 💩 and that I hope your stay here is a good one. Thank you so much for saying you think I’m a wonderful example to others and an amazing creator, though! ❤️ I don’t know how many people will agree, but I do try! 

A personal headcanon for Blackwall and my Lavellan that romances him is that he knows how much her faith in Creators means to her and he whittles little totems for her to carry around! Something similar to what the Dalish clan had in DAO, but miniature! 🥰

Aaaaaaaaah thank you so much!!!! Gosh I really wanted to play this game.

For people curious, ask about my Dragon Age ships!

Ship It

What made you ship it?

They knew each other pre-Kirkwall! They remember each other from pre-Kirkwall! I feel like Anders must have made a significant impact on Isabela for her to remember one man in a brothel years ago. I also just love the sense of humour and kindness they have with one another. They feel like very warm, trusting friends, and that makes me feel like physical intimacy would also be warm, and fun, and kind for them. 

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

I don’t even know where to start. Magic sex is fun, obviously, and I love Isabela being in charge. On an emotional level, it breaks my heart that Isabela knew Anders pre-solitary, and is therefore one of the very few people in his life who understands how different he used to be, and who can still see flashes of that light and humour under all the scars. I think from Anders’ perspective he just deeply, deeply trusts, respects and admires Isabela. 

I like to hc that Anders was a sex worker at The Pearl when Isabela met him (my explanation for “sparklefingers”), and that Isabela used to humour him with stories of all the far-off places he’d never seen. I think that made him fall a little bit in love with her, and I think they both regretted it when she left without him.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Thank you for the request! This went WAY out of hand but it was really fun to do, I always love to draw Dragonborns!