The Road Less Traveled By

she/her Dragon Age obsessed - fanfic writer. Exia on AO3. side blog is @dragonageevents where I attempt to track all the upcoming and active Dragon Age Events. Expect cross-posting as I am a goose.

[exia-1]

Unnamed DA4 fic

What are those "from today's note taking session" posts about?

This!

I'm working on a huge project. I want to write my own da4 fic that jumps off from Trespasser. Wars, allies, broken alliances, love lost and found.

It will be solavellan with my Inquisitor, Ny'ari, who is very much still in progress. She will be a warlord with her own followers (not just the Inquisition. It's disbanded.) Who allies with the Dread Wolf, but doesn't work for him.

Solas might know how to wage a guerilla war, but I don't. Luckily, history is always there. I am currently listening to the Revolutions podcast by Mike Duncan. Specially, season 5, where he goes over the South American war for independence from Spain. It is delicious and dramatic and you just won't believe some of the Real! True! Things that happened.

To organize some of my thoughts, (and I admit to drum up interest in this monster I'm cooking up) here are some of the lore and plot points I have at this early stage:

Exploring the land the Qunari come from and what the Kossith are.

Exploring the origins of the blight and how/why the Awakening DLC from DAO is a thing and how that works/consequences of it.

Dealing with the ramifications of the veil on all species, and how it alters them in fundamental ways they don't understand. Lost senses, forgotten skills. Natures altered by a loss of [redacted].

Planning for what it means for the veil to come down and all these people from all these species suddenly having these skills/abilities/senses back.

War. Real war. Battles and victories and losses. Changing loyalties and shifting alliances.

Ny'ari and Solas as a power couple, deeply in love and fighting side by side...but love is not enough. Ny'ari doesn't work for Solas and he doesn't serve under her. They are warlords in an alliance, with disparate factions under their command. Things are not easy or smooth.

Evanuris as a real threat. Weakened, but still powerful. Charismatic and cruel. Think Galadriel in Lord of the Rings. "All will love me and despair."

[pooyaaaaan]

2026/7/24 Today's drawing.

I got stuck halfway through and somehow spent a ridiculous amount of time on this 🤯

[exia-1]

I might reread my own stories tomorrow. That sounds nice.

[fadetouchedlurker]

More Chainmail

The start of the arms. Obviously I need to make some smaller clippies and not use my thigh clippies to try to hold it together, but it's a start.

I think I have two? more rows at the top of the hand and then I'll start going back down again?

The arms are going way faster; I have a lot less arm diameter.

I also need to run around with flycam and get some better arm references.

[exia-1]

The arms! They have begun!

[exia-1]

From today's note-taking session July 24, 2026.

Finally finished the last 10 minutes of episode 21. That one was hard to get through and I'm not sure why. But now, I'm in 22 and I made it halfway though before stopping. Which is much better than what I had been doing since I got back from my vacation, so I'll take it.

-

Bolivar and San Martin, two great generals, meet, but as you might suspect, there are egos involved. They agree to meet at Guayaquil, and both race to beat the other there, to stake a claim. Bolivar arrives first, so when San Martin gets there, he refuses to get off the boat, as if Bolivar is the host and he is a guest.

Yes. They were that petty.

This weird stand off lasts for more than a day until... we don't care.

What I care about is this idea that it takes them more than 24hrs to resolve this ridiculous dick-waving contest. Which seems so very very slow to my modern sensibilities. And I realized this would be a thing for Solas and Ny'ari, too. Ancient elves negotiating trade alliances, but taking their sweet time about it. Back and forth the letters would go. With no real commitment or resolution. Just around and around with everyone complimenting everyone else and getting nowhere. Ny'ari will absolutely chew on a table leg to resolve the issue.

Solas shrugs and says that's just how they are. They work on a slower time table than the rest of Thedas.

Which moves Ny'ari to be very grateful that Solas isn't like this.

And he has to tell her he was, but had so speed up when he got out of uthenera. To step into the modern world is to always be at a run. He finds it exhausting, but he has to keep up.

[sweeetestcurse]

Solas 11/??

[queerofthedagger]

okay let's actually do this properly

Where do you write your fics/stories

Word

Google Docs

Scrivener

LibreOffice

Obsidian/Notion

ProtonDocs

Notes App

Directly into AO3

Ellipsus

Handwriting

Other (explain in tags?)

Remaining time: 3 days 9 hours

[lomielarts]

Hi everyone!

I have one commission slot open for July!

Halfbody:120$

Portrait:85$

Fullbody:160$

Dm me for more info if interested!

Sharing this will be appreciated!♥️

[ao3org]

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[aurelia-leta]

The Garden of Gold

[friberchi]

Inquisitor ✨

[hare-of-andruil]

They make me ILL

[fadetouchedlurker]

So ANYWAY, it took me two hours last night to put the binding on one thigh of the chainmail and i'm like. 2/3 of the way through the other thigh. Because obviously I've been procrastinating on working on it the whole day.

[fadetouchedlurker]

@elkattacks, I wanted to see how the clips were going to do with the trim too, so I wiggled my way into the whole thing.

Quite well, is the answer.

The leg guards need more wearing, I think, so they soften up a little more and don't look so fresh and don't slip around weird. (And I could put real ties on them. But they are not eating the front of my ankles like I thought they might, which is delightful!

[exia-1]

Oh my god it just gets better! All of a sudden it seems like you're at 90% wow! The trim really kicks it up a knotch!

[markscherz]

Today my magnificent octopus magnum opus, a 126-page monograph on the genus Rhombophryne—Madagascar's diamond frogs, was published open access in the journal Vertebrate Zoology. In it, my colleagues and I have described seven new diamond frog species and provided detailed revised accounts of each of the now 27 species in the genus, compiling practically everything that is known about these curious and obscure frogs!

Allow me to introduce the new characters:

This piece of lint precious child is Rhombophryne maraorao, a little burrowing species from the northeast of Madagascar. It is very similar ecologically to R. coudreaui, a long-known species from further south. The name maraorao means ‘rough to the touch’ in Malagasy, referring to the rough skin of this species. They do a weird thing where they straighten all of their limbs and go stiff in self defence. Think pumpkin toadlet post-launch mid-air stiffness, but… in the hand?

This beautiful creature is Rhombophryne mavokely, a little leaflitter-dwelling species from the northeast of Madagascar. The name mavokely is the Malagasy word for ‘pink’ but literally translates as ‘small yellow’ (mavo = yellow, kely = small). I LOVE this bizarre etymology, and also this species is small and sometimes pink and sometimes yellowish, so the name seemed extremely apt. This species was the first Rhombophryne I ever saw alive—I caught the first ever specimen immediately underneath my hammock on Marojejy in 2016!

This shiny boy is Rhombophryne sonaliae, a rather well known species from eastern Madagascar that has previously been called R. alluaudi—until we showed in 2019 that the correct use of that name was for a Plethodontohyla alluaudi from southern Madagascar! We dedicated this species to Sonali Garg, in recognition of her fantastic work especially on Asian frogs.

This forbidden truffle is Rhombophryne anatiala, a very poorly known species very closely related to R. sonaliae but found further north and differing subtly. The name anatiala means ‘in the forest’ in Malagasy, referring to the forest habitat of these frogs.

This bumpy beanbag with his go-faster chevron is Rhombophryne kotrobaratra, an interesting species from northeastern Madagascar with rather unusual anatomy, especially its quite long and strong hindlimbs. The name kotrobaratra means ‘thunder and lightning’ in Malagasy, and refers to the inclement weather that seems to bring these frogs out (true for all Rhombophryne, really) .

This coffee bean is Rhombophryne quentini, an orange-thighed species from high-elevation forests in northern Madagascar that resembles R. ellae. Back in 2020 I named R. ellae after my partner, Ella, and I thus took particularly great pleasure in naming this new, closely related species after our four-and-a-half year-old son, Quentin. A little family of frogs. :3

This little pebble is Rhombophryne kilonjy, a small, poorly known and obscure species related to R. ellae and R. quentini but found in lowland forest close to the coast in northwestern Madagascar. The name kilonjy means ‘pebble’ in Malagasy because, well, just look at it.

Even way back in my tumblr posts from 2013 and 2014 I think you would find mentions of the work I had begun on this monograph. I had no notion that it would take more than twelve years to complete. But I cannot express my joy at finally being able to share these charming, round frogs with the world. I hope you approve of the names!

If you want to read a bit more about these frogs, you can do so on my website. I have even posted a couple short videos about them on TikTok and Instagram (which also will show you how to pronounce the names!). Basically, you can find me most places on the internet, and wherever you find me, you can be sure to find frogs and lizards and snakes and a good deal of enthusiasm.

[fadetouchedlurker]

So ANYWAY, it took me two hours last night to put the binding on one thigh of the chainmail and i'm like. 2/3 of the way through the other thigh. Because obviously I've been procrastinating on working on it the whole day.

[fadetouchedlurker]

There. Finally. Done.

[exia-1]

GASP!

Oh my god! Look at this! Look at this craftsmanship! It's so good! Fade, I hope you are immensely pleased with yourself. For I'm wildly impressed!

[pooyaaaaan]

! Suggestive !

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2026/7/7 Today's drawing.

Her flexibility is impressive.

HC:Solas is always gentle with her. Always careful.

But sometimes, he simply cannot hold himself back.

The thought that he is touching a place even she herself cannot reach—that she lets him have that depth of her—fills him with something too dark and too greedy to name.

And it only makes him want to go deeper.

[deerilkka]

Reblog if it’s okay to befriend you, ask questions, ask for advice, rant, vent, let something off your chest, or just have a nice chat.