The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!
Q&A with Beasty
What is your favorite specific moment in the DA series?
This is both my favorite scene and favorite dialogue but the Chantry scene with Cullen when he says, "Andreste preserve me, I must send you to him." You can feel the sense of duty there. He is reluctant to send his love on this mission, but he knows she would go either way. But still he is taking on all the responsibility and feelings as if it is his decision alone. You can really feel his heartache and fear for his love there
If you could date a DA character irl, which one and why?
Davrin. 100%. Look let's be really most of the romances in Dragon Age are more than a little damaged. We are all Bob the Builder out here fixing our loves. And then there's Davrin who is just like the most put together supportive 'I'm going to die so let's live life to the fullest while having this sexy hunter prey dialogue'. His only red flag is he thinks he needs to sacrifice himself to save the world. Not that I don't love every one of the DA romances but... Davrin. Plus he's hot
Do you have a favorite easter egg?
The cheese wheel. Soon as I saw it in Veilguard I screamed. Like I have a whole headcanon about Solas the sad man in the Lighthouse playing the piano eating cheese. I have a story involving the cheesewheel you see with Bellara that ties in with Skyrim and my Khajiit dragonborn who becomes a crow. The cheesewheel brings me so much happiness
Do you have any writing tips?
I have written a few times about writing tips. I'm definitely not one of the best writers out there, but I'm one of the happiest. And the best advice is, love your work. Be your biggest fan. Don't write for other people. Write what you love. I have no idea how many kudos and comments I get most of the time. But I can tell you which of my works made me giggle and kick my feet
What other events do you like to participate in?
Pretty much anything I get invited to. Currently doing the Dragon Age Reverse Bang, Black Emporium Rarepair Exchange, an Emmrich Zine, and probably create a thon. Still debating on the Thedosian zine. Have a Viago and Dreadrook even coming up towards the winter. I do all the DATV Companions weeks and many of the other weeks. I also host the Weekly Thursday Bangers and do a lot of promotions via my Tumblr. I don't sleep much and write fast
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Running away from her own destiny, secret princess Rook stumbles upon cursed prince Lucanis as he is held captive in witch Zara's tower. After springing him from his prison, she agrees to help him break his curse and reclaim his crown.
Hijinks ensue. And cameos. And all the fairytale references I could work into this romp.
The ✨viibees✨
It's all fairytales, baby!
Expect a decent mix of humor and romance and bit of horror with an active narrator winking at the camera.
Short snippet
Unfortunately, Lucanis had already borrowed a knife from Lace and pricked his finger. With a sigh, Rook bent down to pick a leaf from a nearby shrub and handed it to him.
"For the record, I don't think this is a good idea," she said, still frowning.
"Noted," he answered with a smirk, before taking the last few steps to the waterline and carefully setting the bloodied leaf to float.
For a moment, they just watched it drift. Then he cleared his throat.
"My name is Lucanis Dellamorte, and I am here to petition the inhabitant of this lake for a sword."
Nothing but silence met his bold claim. They waited for a minute. Then another. Then they began to feel awfully foolish, and were just about to turn around when the water began to bubble and churn around the leaf, eventually pulling in under, like a great beast swallowing a fly.
In its place, a pale figure rose, all porcelain skin and moonlight hair and supple curves, holding a shimmering sheath in its outstretched hands. When it opened its delicate lips, the sound of its voice drifted like music over the still surface of the lake.
"Your plea has been heard, Lucanis Dellamorte, once and future king. You may enter the water and receive your boon."
What other media inspired this fic?
Books books books!
Ok, and maybe the Last Unicorn movie. But mostly books, like Howl's Moving Castle and The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making and A Sorceress Comes to Call.
What character trait did you amplify or minimise to make your version of a character work for your story?
I may have made Zara slightly more vengeful? And Illario less callous and envious, because he gets a redemption arc in the sequel.
Oh, and Neve. I think I changed Neve quite a bit, making *her* definitely more vengeful, but also less caring about the people around her, because I needed her to be a bit more mean.
What’s one thing you put in—trope, character beat, scene—that was just extra shamelessly self-indulgent?
The entirety of chapter 19 (Smooth like Skin), which is my idea of a fun filler episode whose only purpose is to make Lucanis extra flustered because this is my fic and I can do what I want.
You know that trope where your characters have to strip because they fell into a river or got caught in a thunderstorm? Yeah, that one.
What’s the structural choice you made on purpose—POV, timeline, chaptering—that most shaped the story?
I ... am actually super structured in how I plan out my fics? Particularly the long, plot-heavy ones? So there are a lot of very deliberate structural choices in there.
If I had to pick anything, I'd say the timeline most shaped the pacing? But the thing that shaped it the most was really the setting, and the rules and tropes inherent to fairytales and their retellings.
Which theme emerged accidentally, and which one did you pursue deliberately?
I think the surprisingly heavy focus on identity emerged largely accidentally, as my idiots have to figure out who they are and who they want to be.
The theme of redemption - of recognizing your mistakes and trying to make up for them - is very much intentional (for Neve and Lucanis, at least - Rook's still working on this).
(But really, most of what's in there is there by design.)
What was the biggest risk you took with this fic? In a hypothetical scenario where you are forced to rewrite the whole story from scratch, what would you do differently?
Eh, the biggest risk was writing this at all; looking at what does and does not work well on ao3, not making it spicy was probably also a risk ;)
If I *were* to write the whole story from scratch, I'd try to make more space for my companion stories - giving Lace, Taash and Davrin more of an arc of their own, as well as expanding on the fairy godpeople lore (though I can still do the latter in the sequel, I suppose).
Gently tagging ... uh ... @sorrygoldfish and @dreamywritingdragon :)
Tumbl, you are the only place I can think to turn to so: please help me find the actor interviews from the cast of Star Trek (I think it's mostly TOS actors and writers but the guy plaing Q in TNG also had some valuable lines so anything goes as far as I'm aware). And I mean the gay fucking cursed content along the lines of "I wanted to fuck him and that's what I acted on" (which also I'm. Not sure where is from nor if it's even real, I migh have just imagined it). I am trying to win an argument with my mother here, it's high stakes!
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The thing that has always drawn me to writing sci/fi is that the really good versions of it deal with real issues - so much of what goes on in the sci/fi world is an allegory for what is going in our world. I’m inspired by the struggles that people go through and how they overcome them and I think the Shadowhunters world deals with a lot of that in terms of race relations, how politics can endanger our way of life, etc.
As we look forward to another year, there’s no better time to celebrate our wonderful community of creators. This year, we’re shining a spotlight on our alumni: the talented writers and artists who successfully completed the Dragon Age Big Bang in previous years. All past DABB alumni were given the option of an interactive interview with our mod Alix, or an informal written survey. If you’re thinking about participating this year, check out the insights and advice from those who tread this path before!
On what’s written by the victors
Alix and Elfy talk firsts and Forgotten Ones
Alix: It's been a year since you signed up for DABB last year. How are you feeling now that we're just a few days away from a new round of sign-ups? Are you planning to participate again this year?
Elfy: I am definitely signing up! And I already have ideas. >:)
(that I will not mention)
Alix: Very good, excellent, keep your secrets. We can't talk about next year too much, but we can talk about what you wrote last year.
Now that you're (not quite) a year out from completing the 2025 DABB, what are you proudest of when you look back at your fic?
Elfy: Well last year’s DABB was my first ever fandom event... ever. In any fandom. So I am quite proud for kinda taking that leap — but for the story itself? I am very pleased and proud of how I grew from it. I built this whole AU world and just kept adding to it, and it's been just wonderful. Just a whole new aspect to my writing.
Alix: Wow, that's a huge commitment to take on for your first ever fandom event. What made you decide to sign up?
Elfy: I remember seeing the post, and thinking — wow, that looks like fun! The whole collaboration aspect really is what drew me in. And I looked at my longfic at the time which was... probably close to 200k at that point? And I was like PFT I can write 25k! Then I just... signed up before I could second guess myself.
Alix: Nice going! That's the best way to do it.
Were you able to balance your longfic with DABB or did you just take some time off?
Elfy: I had slowed down a little on my longfic, and gave myself a little more grace during the creation period for DABB. I ended up doing, I think, one chapter a month until we got to the home stretch and then I gave myself a little time off the longfic to focus on completing my DABB.
Alix: You did quite a bit of world-building for your fic, which is a really expansive modern AU filled with resurrected elven gods. What was your favourite aspect of the world you created for your fic?
Elfy: I had a blast with creating a side Codex as I went. A big part of my chapters were creating things like parables, prayers, and verses for each of my Forgotten Ones "gods", I ended up adding two additional OC Forgotten Ones gods to play with. So each of them I created verses to go with domains within their pantheon. It scratched that happy religion nerd part of my brain. I ended up writing like 8k in addition to the DABB of just those lore pieces. Expanding on the Forgotten Ones in general was definitely the highlight for me. Giving them more depth. I think in DA there's only a handful of Codex entries, a few mentions (Merrill in DA2 when she talks about Fen'harel locking away the gods), and then of course Anaris' quest in Veilguard. But there really isn't a ton on them.
Alix: What got you so interested in the Forgotten Ones to begin with?
Elfy: My longfic, oddly enough. I knew enough about the Forgotten Ones from the games, and what I had read, and I was driving home one day and was like "Man, what if the Inquisitor was a Forgotten One." And it kind of grew from there. Ballooned into my OC Forgotten One. And through that, building up my own lore for them turned into my "thing" and then after my DABB where I went full worldbuilding with them - they just have so much potential because there's that adage about "History is written by the victors" and everything we have about them is from the Dalish perspective where they are the bad guys - I just liked the idea that maybe their story was twisted.
Alix: That's such a huge part of the DA Universe too, that history is never quite what you think it is.
Elfy: Exactly! And I like the idea of them being a bit more nuanced than just "evil folks in the shadows". Especially since the Evanuris hated them and we know how they are now.
Alix: You mention that you were really excited about the collaboration aspect of DABB. How did you find the process of collaborating with your artist?
Elfy: With the artist I ended up finishing the DABB with — I had a great time. It felt very exciting to have someone that was as excited to work with me as I was with them. They went through what I wrote in the early part, and came back with this concept for a cover, essentially and we worked through with that idea and I ended up with a very neat piece that hit the whole vibe of the work so incredibly well. With mine being a reincarnation AU, Mabela was able to do both their "original" god forms and their reincarnations and it was just beautiful.
Alix: The piece is really gorgeous
Elfy: I actually have it on my wall.
Alix: If you were talking to someone who was on the fence about signing up for DABB, what would you tell them? What advice would you give them?
Elfy: I think that — for me — I found that it helped me grow immensely as a writer for so many reasons. Just from feedback, and just kind of finding my author's voice a bit more solidly. I learned so much from the other writers, and I don't think I have ever met a more supportive group of people. To the point I have kept in touch with a good chunk of them through the last year. The community — both the writers and the artists — were cheering each other on the entire time and it was just a unique and great experience. I am very lucky to have chosen DABB as my first fandom event. And if someone isn't sure — I think taking the leap is very much worth the initial anxiety.
