they/them, mid 20s
finally bit the bullet and made a dragon age blog:)
will mostly be DAI (solavellan) and DAV (emmrook)
on ao3 as ingellvarPHD
icon by @catebees
As we look forward to another year, thereās no better time to celebrate our wonderful community of creators. This year, weāre 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 youāre thinking about participating this year, check out the insights and advice from those who tread this path before!
On intersections and cascading effects
Alix and Dayntee talk muscle mommies, dead highlighters and Dragon Age travel times
Alix: First off, congratulations on completing DABB last year!
How are you feeling nearly a year on from it?
Dayntee: Itās kind of hard to believe itās already been a year! The story I wrote kind of fundamentally changed the way I engaged with Dragon Age in a lot of ways, though honestly I feel as though itās for the better.
I made a lot of friends during the event and, since we wrapped, weāve kept in touch. I check in with a large group of creatives now almost daily. Even when I take breaks from writing, itās been nice to have this same group of people to come back to, jam with, exchange feedback, and continue fueling each otherās efforts.
Alix: That's really incredible. That community aspect is so, so important and so amazing. Had you previously done any events like a Big Bang or was this your first one?
Dayntee: Iād previously done a holiday gift exchange in another fandom, but nothing quite like a Big Bang!
Alix: Yeah, that's typically a smaller word-count, right? What made you decide to sign up for this one?
Dayntee: I think it was the challenge of it. Iāve been going through a lot of personal soul searching on what kind of creative I want to be professionally as well as a hobby and figuring out where that line is. Putting myself on a stringent set of guidelines was a way for me to test the waters to see if I could perform under that kind of pressure if it were something higher stakes.
I learned that I can and sometimes even arguably perform better under those guidelines. And while I already knew I loved the collaborative process, it kinda renewed my passion for that too!
It also helped a few writers I knew were also signing up for it, so we werenāt going in alone!
Alix: I was looking at your fic earlier and I saw you had the sweetest note for IngellvarPHD, the artist you were paired with. What was that collaboration like?
Dayntee: Working with IngellvarPHD was really, truly wonderful. We had a challenge in that our time zones are more than a day apart (sheās in New Zealand while Iām in Seattle, Washington), so it was occasionally difficult to line up, but we got really good at asynchronous planning and communication.
Really though, we vibed on the same wavelength the whole time. She not only understood the assignment but went above and beyond and produced three oil pieces just because the story and characters resonated so well.
Weāve also done a little more collaborating on the side - Ameālin hasnāt just become my baby, sheās ours and I canāt imagine her any differently than the way IngellvarPHD brought her to life.
Alix: Okay, that's possibly the sweetest thing I've ever heard. 'Scuse me while I melt a little bit.
So, I'd love to talk a little bit about the fic you wrote. What was the inspiration behind your idea?
Dayntee: Would you believe me if it was more or less āI want to throw Solas around with a muscle mommy?āĀ You donāt see a lot of warrior Lavellans and I really like that dynamic (even though my own ācanonā Lavellan is actually a rogue).
Aside from that, I adore AUs and what-if scenarios, and when I wrote my first fic, That Year at Arlathan University, I played with some of the same themes, but executed them differently. The idea that a whole person and timeline can change because of one intersection and all the cascading (hehe) effects that has is just so fascinating to me.
Alix: Ah, is that where the title "Cascade of Kindness" comes from?
Dayntee: Yes! And I have one of my writing partners in crime to thank for that name. We jammed on it for a while and when that one came up, we all unanimously agreed it fit.
Alix: What was your favourite thing about the story you wrote? Either in the writing process or just your favourite scene or character or anything.
Dayntee: There are a few ways I integrated ācanonā Solavellan scenes into new contexts - the delivery of the line āI have not forgotten the kissā is one of them. Finding ways to reference the ātrueā timeline and reinterpret them under new events was one of the most fun parts of the project.
Aside from that, it was also writing combat. I was so, so nervous prior to Cascade about combat and I came out the other side being much more confident in those types of scenes. Ameālin is a very physical character as a warrior, so making sure sheās appropriately badass (while also ensuring sheās neither infallible nor invincible) was a careful balance to strike.
Alix: I've always found action scenes really fun to write but they are hard. It's great that writing your DABB helped you become more confident.
Did you do any research while you were writing your fic? If so, what was the weirdest thing you had to look up?
Dayntee: Oh god so much research. Because mine takes place in the year before Inquisition, The Masked Empire was a major critical piece of lore I had to dig into. I ordered a physical copy of the book, read cover-to-cover, and took a highlighter to the whole thing for critical pieces of information (especially events I would need to change or alter based on the decisions I was making).
Between that and the probably weekās worth of geographical calculations I ran to figure out how long travel would take from Wycome to Val Royeux and then Skyhold, it was the most research Iāve ever put into a fic.
At least one full highlighter gave its life to make Cascade happen. RIP.
Alix: Ahhhhh the joy of Dragon Age travel times. The greatest mystery of our times.
So before we sign off, here's my last question for you: What piece of advice would you give someone participating in DABB for the first time?
Dayntee: Ahaha, if people are anything like me, your first estimate isnāt going to be anywhere near close to your final word count - and thatās okay! I ended up cutting probably a third of my original pitch from the final piece because my 48k estimate was so hilariously out of scope. It was supposed to be all of pre-Inquisition AS WELL AS the events of Inquisition and I just really undershot to a ridiculous degree.
The final version of Cascade ended up closer to 78k and only leads up to the starting events of Inquisition. Itās a much better story for it, and making that decision early as I was approaching my initial estimate helped save me a lot of sanity in the long run.
So I guess the advice is: itās okay to change your plans! In most cases, your story is going to be much better and stronger for it.
This was a fun interview - Alix did such a great job!
Iām still on the fence about doing DABB this year (Iāve just got a lot going on right now), but I hope everyone that joins in has a blast and I canāt wait to see what you all come up with!
(Please do not take, save, use for AI training or repost- Thank you! Reblogs are fine ā„ )
Joined in on another Sunday draw-along with @thehangedmancreatives and this picture started out very different. Then while I was looking through my screenshots for references I had an epiphany and this was born. Sort of an examination of "what if Solas won-- at what cost?" and "what if he became what he hated/fought against?" (and 'what if bringing down the veil only broke things more')
Stayed up late to finish it and upon waking up realized I forgot to tint the final layers around the throne (meant to have it match the wolves a bit better) but eh, still very happy with how it came out. I hope I never paint another mosaic again though. That throne was miserable to do lol. (also bonus eyebrow waggles to whoever can guess what I referenced from the game for the initial design of the throne arms. Actually I'm quite proud of the design in general.)
Here, some close-ups before I return to sleep š
Chapter 12 of As Mountains Yet Unseen is now up! In this one, we get some quality Bellara and Isolde time.
***
āI was wondering if you could help me out with a story Iām writing,ā Bellara said hopefully.
āHelp?ā Isolde said, puzzled.
āYeah! Like, last week when you snorted when I was talking aboutāyou knowāā Bellara went a little red.
It wasnāt hard to figure out what Bellara was referring to. Sheād been just as red when Isolde had diplomatically pointed out that if both hands of her āgallant gentlemanā were digging into the protagonistās āgenerousā hips, how was he managing to keep himself upright? Hadnāt Bellara been writing them in the simplest position, the man atop her in bed?
āWell, that was pretty helpful, actually. I thought I might run a few more things by you, if thatās alright,ā Bellara asked.
Isolde blinked, amused that she was being taken as an authority in the matter.
āAlright,ā she said.
āGreat!ā Bellara chirped. āOkay, so I was thinking that they were getting all heated in an alleyway, and he goes in for a kiss andāā
āIn an alleyway?ā Isolde said, making a face.
āWhatās wrong with an alleyway?ā Bellara asked.
āI mean, if heās in a hurry,ā Isolde said. āBut they smell horrible and donāt look much better.ā
āOoh,ā Bellara said, looking enlightened, and pulled out a small parchment scrap to scribble down some notes.
Isolde valiantly tried to hide her growing amusement. Bellara, she supposed, hadnāt been in cities all that often, and rarely outside the main market thoroughfares.
āOkay, next thing I wanted to run by you,ā Bellara said eventually. āSo the heroine slips and almost falls, and the hero catches her, and her heart is beating so fast from having his strong arms around her and he just looks so handsome that she canāt even hear what heās asking her and so she answers the wrong question andāā
Isolde blinked. Without meaning to she repeated, āSo handsome that she canāt even hear his words over her heartbeat?ā
āHeās just so dreamy,ā Bellara said, immediately looking carried away. āThe curly hair all the way down to his shoulders, golden in the sunlight, and his jaw is just so square and strong andā¦ā
Bellara sighed happily.
Isoldeās eyebrows rose. āHeās an Elf, isnāt he?ā
āYeah! Why?ā
Isolde looked away. āNo reason.ā
An interesting choice for his hair; curls were rare enough among Elves, but the color? Only Humans had hair that could properly be called golden. The Elven shade of blond was always a pale thing; Isolde had never seen a yellow deeper than the color of dried Foxtail.
āAnd heās got the brow of a king,ā Bellara continued, almost breathless. āAnd he carries himself like one, too.ā
It wasnāt clear to Isolde what the brow of a king would look like, or what that had to do with attractiveness, but she nodded politely.
āWhat would your ideal serial hero look like?ā Bellara asked with interest.
āOhāIāve no idea,ā Isolde said. āIāve never read one before.ā
Bellara kept looking at Isolde for a beat, open curiosity and excitement on her face. When Isolde didnāt continue, she offered, āIf you tell me what you like, I could recommend one for you. Dashing rogues? Nobles in disguise? Lots of twists? Forbidden love? Shepherd with a heart of gold? Abduction?ā
There was a fraction of a pause, small enough that it would have been easy to miss.
We are so excited to welcome our talented fandom friends back to the 2026 iteration of our event! We had an amazing turnout last year, and we received some very insightful feedback from our participants that has led to some small changes with the event.
Please read through the āØNEW AND IMPROVEDāØ Event Guidebook - now on its own website:
The Dragon Age Big Bang Guidebook
We can't wait to see what you can create together!
A waspās tongue, her mother had said when she was small. Sheād rather liked what it should have meant; a wasp has a tongue that tastes the sweetness of the flowers but holds a sting when threatened. But her mother had meant it as a warning that, like a wasp, her tongue could sting people and keep stinging. She didnāt mind that either, but sheād learned to be kind; to watch and answer the questions people had meant to ask instead of the ones they did. She didnāt want to hurt people with her waspās tongue by accident.
This time was not, however, an accident.
āWhatās your problem with the Dalish? Allergic to halla?ā she asked sardonically, with that reckless flying feeling that she had when she knew she was being biting and couldnāt be bothered to care.
She meant to sting him.
But she hadnāt come to talk with him intending to argue. Sheād come to mend the aravel, as the Dalish saying went. But he was making it so impossible! Children?! Did he think he was Dirthamen returned, to know so much?
āOh, but you know the truth, right?ā she asked sharply.
And there was hurt in his voice as he snapped back at her, and she remembered that heād heād asked if her Keeper had sent her (terrifyingly, given that she was a Dalish elf accused of the Divineās murder and that question sounded like the trumpets of another Exalted March) and told her when sheād answered warily as a result that heād offered to share his knowledge and had been attacked for it.
Which was why sheād come here in the first place. Sheād thought he might feel as out of place as she did, and sheād wanted to make that up to him, to show him that not all Dalish clans were hostile, that they were both of the People. (Though she also thought resentfully that if heād been as insufferable as he was now, she wasnāt surprised theyād driven him off).
So she swallowed her pride, and apologized. Formally, in elven, as sheād learned from her Keeper and Hahren, acknowledging his experience and the knowledge he had to offer, apologizing for how heād been treated by the Dalish. (Not for how sheād snapped at him, though; heād earned that.) And he softened almost immediately, as if she could see his hackles smooth, and apologized in turn. To her, specifically. She found it endearing. What she found more endearing was the way that he corrected her pronunciation in his own apology simply by saying it differently. Apparently the word was āabelasā, not āab-bel-lasā. It was kind, to do it that way. And she had a lot of questions. She always had.
Did I post this for Thedas Weekend already? Yes. Am I still really proud of it? Also yes. And I recorded an audio version of it which is linked in the author's notes now. (You can hear me read my own poetry, which is way harder than reading prose.)
Also, I feel I should have included here my bibliography from which I drew inspiration for elvhen writing:
How to Read Islamic Calligraphy, Maryam D. Ekhtiar
Muthanna/Mirror Writing in Islamic Calligraphy: History, Theory and Aesthetics, Esra Akin-Kivanc
Monumental Islamic Calligraphy from India, W.E. Begley
Islamic Calligraphy, Sheila S. Blair
From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy, Shen Fu, Glenn D. Lowry, and Ann Yonemura
I really like the word āsmittenā. because at first glance you just think of sappy lovey-dovey stuff but also you have to remember this is a word thatās born of the word āsmite.ā a devastating word. a word that, summarized, means stricken. smitten means stricken as well ā struck with devastating affection.
SOOOOO NORMAL ABOUT THEM. SO NORMAL. LOOK AT THEIR FRECKLES (BOTH OF THEM YES). yes itās based on the piece by joe bowler. (by @lethallana) close-ups under the cut.
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