jennserr's writing blog

An extension of my AO3, where you can find out more about my characters and projects. Currently Dragon Age and Mass Effect. (under construction)

[neocores]

knowing the truth about solas being a spirit and regretting it, and being responsible for the tranquility of the titans and loss of connection to the Stone makes. me. insane when looking back on his conversations with varric. and just their relationship on the whole.

"why do the dwarves not know? why have they forgotten? did someone make them forget? how can they not care what i did to them?"

"do you miss the stone? do you know what i took from you?"

"look at what i did to you. your people are mutilated, forever forced to change from what they once were. and i did this to you."

"you don't even know what i did to you. the horrific crime i comitted against you and your people. you have no idea what you lost or what i did. you're not even angry at me. why aren't you angry at me?"

"you should be angry at me and trying to restore what i took. how can you continue on the way that you are? how are you even whole?"

and then we have harding's comment in da:tv

this comment from harding, after all of the conversations with varric, in hindsight, really does highlight something about solas. for all his guilt and regret, being practically one of if not THE only person who knows what truly happened to the titans. being one RESPONSIBLE-

at no point does he make attempts to fix that until he is convinced to potentially at the end of da:tv.

his conversations with varric are clearly some self projections, and wondering how varric can't be like HIM- he DOES know what the elves lost and what was done, and so he DOES want the old world to be restored. it's to absolve himself of his own guilt, along with trying to fix his mistake. how can he NOT fight? how can his own people not see what they lost and not try to put it back? he has to undo what he did.

but he never does this for the dwarves.

he often will say how he doesnt relate to the elves, and how when asking him 'who are your people', he avoids the topic. because the elves are NOT his people. he is a spirit! and his priorities always align with one simple thing:

that he regrets being made flesh. if he could go back to being a spirit, if all the elves could, if it could all just go back to the way it was before, everything would be fine!

it takes at least four people at the end of da:tv to make him see that this is ultimately selfish and unrealistic. that no amount of regret or attempts to put things back the way they were will undo what he did. in his obsession with self absolution, he completely forgets about the titans, and the blight, all being because of HIM.

he talks to varric, he talks to harding, all the while knowing what he did and being oh so sad about it but never stops to think. wow i actually may have the power to help with this!

he is so, SO focused on his own crusade for himself while also convincing himself that it's for the greater good. telling himself that oh! this time his great plans for the 'right thing' will go well, surely! the last few times, with the titans, and the blight, getting mythal killed, the sealing away the evanuris and changing the world because he messed up the ritual, then trying to awaken his orb only to give it to an immortal blighted magister that explodes the veil- those were all just! flukes! this one will go right FOR SURE!

and is that not just very similar to varric? how varric repeatedly also makes mistakes, and then doesn't face them? he brought hawke into the deep roads and put them in danger, possibly got their sibling blighted, brought back the red lyrium which led to (gestures) all THAT, introduced hawke to anders which led to (gestures) BOOM, led hawke to corypheus, told bianca about the deep roads which led to corypheus getting his hands on red lyrium.

but their key difference? varric simply accepts his mistakes and attempts to do better the next time. varric accepts that the past cannot be changed, no matter how badly he regrets it. he has to move on, he has to do better, he is still here, people are still here, and theyre worth trying for.

"That's the world. Everything you build, it tears down. Everything you've got, it takes. And it's gone forever."

"The only choices you get are to lie down and die or keep going. He kept going. That's as close to beating the world as anyone gets."

like of course. of course solas couldnt keep rook inside a prison of regret by using varric as the catalyst! because that's just not who varric is! that's who solas is. solas saw parts of himself in varric, but didn't listen enough to what varric has always been saying. he never does! he doesn't self reflect, he doesn't consider, truly consider that he's wrong until he is being held at knifepoint and confronted with the literal specters of his past telling him to stop fucking self flagellating and convincing himself that he knows best or that this isn't just out of self pity. 'it's for the elves', he says every morning when he wakes up.

for all solas' wisdom, he truly is poisoned by pride and regret. it's just so. (clenches fist)

he spent all this time using varric's memory, surely he is familiar enough with how varric thinks and feels at this point? surely he undersands now?

you have to stand with him at the edge of the world, teetering on the edge of the abyss and decide if he's worth putting in the effort to make him truly take everything varric said and did to heart. to take what we have now and make it better, instead of dragging a corpse of guilt around for eternity.

[neocores]

"The elven people of today do not deserve to see the world they love be torn apart to salve your conscience."

he HOLDS mythal in his arms as she dies BECAUSE HE KILLED HER and he still DOES. NOT. LISTEN. his self pity is dressed up as some kind of martyrdom.

and you contrast it with varric, in dai, saying 'i dont deal with things! i know its a problem and im sorry!' but he still tries. he still says why sit and wallow in regrets of the past when we can keep trying?

THIS is why varric as the key to rooks prison can NEVER work. varric would always think of others, and not want people to doom themselves for something they cannot possibly even fix now.

varric and solas are truly such good reflections of each other that i want to eat my hands.

[kogarashi-art]

It's left ambiguous enough whether the "Varric" you talk to is being fed his lines by Solas or simply by your memory of him, but I like to think it's the latter. Solas reinforced your refusal to remember/believe that Varric died, encouraged your mind to keep seeing Varric, but he couldn't put words in Varric's mouth. Not the way Varric sometimes talks about Solas. I can't see Solas not occasionally injecting his own pride into what Varric says.

And I think that extends to Varric's memory in the Regret Prison as well. That's still your memory of the man talking, not Solas's.

Which still connects to the Regret Prison, because absolutely, Varric could never remain the key to Rook's prison. The man is too good at working through things even when he talks about not dealing with them. As the focal point of Rook's regrets, even if Rook is the type who wants to run and hide and dwell on things instead of working through them, Varric is going to point a finger at them and tell them to stop it. They don't get to wallow in Varric's choices. They don't get to doom themselves for something that can't be fixed. They just have to move past it, and keep going.

All this to say I love this analysis of Solas and Varric.

[roberttingle]

annoying when shows set in the medieval period have the women with thier hair just long and unstyled and out . girl go put on your wimple girl 🤦‍♀️

[elvensilk]

like there are so many fun medieval hair and headgear options, it's so boring just seeing loose beachy waves meant to appeal to 21st century beauty standards

put that hot prince in a gay little hood with an ostrich feather or so help me god

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

🧩 How to Outline Without Feeling Like You’re Dying

(a non-suffering writer’s guide to structure, sanity, and staying mildly hydrated)

Hey besties. Let’s talk outlines. Specifically: how to do them without crawling into the floorboards and screaming like a Victorian ghost.

If just hearing the word “outline” sends your brain into chaos-mode, welcome. You’re not broken, you’re just a writer whose process has been hijacked by Very Serious Advice™ that doesn’t fit you. You don’t need to build a military-grade beat sheet. You don’t need a sixteen-tab spreadsheet. You don’t need to suffer to be legitimate. You just need a structure that feels like it’s helping you, not haunting you.

So. Here’s how to outline your book without losing your soul (or all your serotonin).

—

🍓 1. Stop thinking of it as “outlining.” That word is cursed. Try “story sketch.” “Narrative roadmap.” “Planning soup.” Whatever gets your brain to chill out. The goal here is to understand your story, not architect it to death.

Outlining isn’t predicting everything. It’s just building a scaffold so your plot doesn't fall over mid-draft.

—

🧠 2. Find your plot skeleton. There are lots of plot structures floating around: 3-Act. Save the Cat. Hero’s Journey. Take what helps, ignore the rest.

If all else fails, try this dirt-simple one I use when my brain is mush:

Act I: What’s the problem?

Act II: Why can’t we fix it?

Act III: What finally makes us change?

Ending: What does that change cost?

You don’t need to fill in every detail. You just need to know what’s driving your character, what’s blocking them, and what choices will change them.

—

🛒 3. Make a “scene bucket list.” Before you start plotting in order, write down a list of scenes you know you want: key vibes, emotional beats, dramatic reveals, whatever.

These are your anchors. Even if you don’t know where they go yet, they’re proof your story already exists, it just needs connecting tissue.

Bonus: when you inevitably get stuck later, one of these might be the scene that pulls you back in.

—

🧩 4. Start with 5 key scenes. That’s it. Here’s a minimalist approach that won’t kill your momentum:

Opening (what sucks about their world?)

Catalyst (what throws them off course?)

Midpoint (what makes them confront themselves?)

Climax (what breaks or remakes them?)

Ending (what’s changed?)

Plot the spaces between those after you’ve nailed these. Think of it like nailing down corners of a poster before smoothing the rest.

You’re not “doing it wrong” if you start messy. A messy start is a start.

—

🔧 5. Use the outline to ask questions, not just answer them. Every section of your outline should provoke a question that the scene must answer.

Instead of: — “Chapter 5: Sarah finds a journal.”

Try: — “Chapter 5: What truth does Sarah find that complicates her next move?”

This makes your story active, not just a list of stuff that happens. Outlines aren’t just there to record, they’re tools for curiosity.

—

🪤 6. Beware of the Perfectionist Trap™. You will not get the entire plot perfect before you write. Don’t stall your momentum waiting for a divine lightning bolt of Clarity. You get clarity by writing.

Think of your outline as a map drawn in pencil, not ink. It’s allowed to evolve. It should evolve.

You’re not building a museum exhibit. You’re making a prototype.

—

🧼 7. Clean up after you start drafting. Here’s the secret: the first draft will teach you what the story’s actually about. You can go back and revise the outline to fit that. It’s not wasted work, it’s evolving scaffolding.

You don’t have to build the house before you live in it. You can live in the mess while you figure out where the kitchen goes.

—

🛟 8. If you’re a discovery writer, hybrid it. A lot of “pantsers” aren’t anti-outline, they’re just anti-stiff-outline. That’s fair.

Try using “signposts,” not full scenes:

Here’s a secret someone’s hiding.

Here’s the emotional breakdown scene.

Here’s a betrayal. Maybe not sure by who yet.

Let the plot breathe. Let the characters argue with your outline. That tension is where the fun happens.

—

🪴 TL;DR but emotionally: You don’t need a flawless outline to write a good book. You just need a loose net of ideas, a couple of emotional anchors, and the willingness to pivot when your story teaches you something new.

Outlines should support you, not suffocate you.

Let yourself try. Let it be imperfect. That’s where the good stuff lives.

Go forth and outline like a gently chaotic legend 🧃

— written with snacks in hand by Rin T. @ thewriteadviceforwriters 🍓🧠✍️

Sometimes the problem isn’t your plot. It’s your first 5 pages. Fix it here → 🖤 Free eBook: 5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making:

5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making — A Mini eBook for Fiction Writers

✦ A free (and actually helpful) guide to leveling up your first 10 pages ✦If you're unsure whether your opening is ✨doing enough✨ to hook re

[the-soot-sprite]

Writing Resources: Smut

Writing Resources Masterlist

Fictional Kisses

How to write a kiss

How to write a kiss scene

How to Write Better Smut

How to write romance

List of vocal sounds for smut

More smut words

Quick tips for writing sexual tension

Sexual sentences

Words and phrases to include in sex scenes

Writing sexual tension

[projecttreehouse]

how to write convincing dialogue

did you know that show, not tell applies to dialogue, too? while dialogue can be used to further your narrative, it can also be used to showcase your characters. here's how:

-what is your character hiding? most people don't say things at face value. they hide what they mean within their words and tone, but in writing, you can't verbally hear the character's tone. ways to convey non-verbal tone include: contradictions between words and actions, context behind the words (ie. the scenario, character's actions and feelings), syntax (ie. fragments, repetition, awkward phrasing). also consider who the character is hiding information from: is it the reader? the characters? both?

-favorite words or phrases. does your character use a certain phrase or word a lot? do they often put their prepositions at the beginning or the end of the sentence? these are questions to ask when you're arranging the syntax of the dialogue. everyone has a specific way of talking. make sure you give each character a distinguishable voice.

-personality. this is how you can create a distinguishable voice. is your character confident? are they shy or hesitant? do they repeat the phases of others because they have nothing to add to the conversation? are they confrontational or do they beat around the bush? ask questions like these. if your character is confident, they may make bold statements and appear sure of themselves unlike shy characters who use words such as "maybe" or "should" or "think." to boil it down, think active wordage versus passive.

-observe others. don't look solely at television or other books. sit at your local coffee shop and listen in on conversations, then try and break it down. are they hiding anything? do they frequently use any words or phrases? how would you describe their personality? the better you get at breaking down conversations, the better you can create convincing ones, whether shallow, deep, or as a narrative device, because even if you use your dialogue to move your narrative along, it should still be compulsively convincing.

one way to tell if you've ticked all these boxes is if you can tell who is speaking without any tags.

happy writing! if you have any questions about how to implement any of these tips, our ask box is always open.

[elumish]

Writing Militaries, the Basics

This is a very strategic-level overview of what to consider when making a military. There's a ton more that goes into this, but these are some starting points.

What is the purpose of the military?

Militaries hold a lot of purposes depending on the strategic goals of the country or group. The obvious answer is fighting wars, but militaries have also been used to police their own people, respond to natural disasters, perform intelligence actions, and colonize other lands.

Where does the military operate?

Some militaries operate abroad/not on their own soil, some operate only on their own soil, and some do both.

Beyond that, there are a number of spaces that militaries can operate in:

On the ground

On water

In the air

In space

In cyberspace

There are other places that you could potentially imagine a military operating in a fantasy or sci fi story, like: underground, in a magic realm, inside of bodies, etc.

Where militaries will operate will depend on their geography and their technology level, as well as their strategic objectives. Navies are generally the most efficient way of moving a whole lot of people pretty fast across long distances and keeping them near where they want to be, while ground troops are needed to take and hold territory. Air forces can provide support to ground troops, carry out surveillance, and carry out fast infiltrations and exfiltrations over land. Space militarism can provide GPS, surveillance, more accurate missile targeting, colonization of other planets. Cyber-militarism can knock out infrastructure from a distance, including in non-permanent ways; provide access to strategic information; and provide misinformation to opposing forces.

Consider also what kind of terrain they’re fighting in. Urban warfare is way different from jungle, mountain, or grassland fighting.

What are the alliances?

Alliances provide militaries with additional support, deterrence against other attacks, and greater strategic reach. Consider the alliance between the US and Russia in WWII--it was one of the things that forced Germany to split their forces. It also allowed an approach on multiple fronts. Similarly, consider who the US now uses its numerous bases as ways to have troops within short reach of basically everywhere in the world at all times.

How do they manage supply chains?

In many ways, militaries live and die on their supply chains and logistics. Militaries need ways to get not only people but stuff (food, weapons, etc) to the warfront. In modern American warfare, it is common to use local contractors for at least some subset of these needs, which significantly shortens supply chains but creates risks if they are not vetted well enough.

Before planes, on-land vehicles, and ships were as good as they are now, long supply chains could become massive problems for militaries. They can become increasingly difficult to secure as they get longer, it takes longer to get stuff places, and if they are cut off troops at the front can become entirely cut off from supplies like food. Oceans can make this even more difficult, as old ships used to much more prone to sinking and could take months to get where they were going.

Is service voluntary?

The United States has a voluntary military, as of right now, which means that every one who serves signs up to do so. Previously, the US has used a draft, wherein some subset of AMAB people were pressed into service due to not enough people wanting to serve voluntarily (see: the Vietnam War). While the draft is gone, AMAB people between the ages of 18 and 25 in the US still have to register for selective service, which means they could theoretically be called up for service if the draft were reimplemented.

Countries such as Switzerland, Israel, and South Korea have conscription, which means that some subset of citizens (in some cases male, in some cases all genders) are required to serve in the military for some length of time.

There are advantages and disadvantages to conscription. Most notably, it leads to the military consistently being at least a certain size, especially when it or the war being fought are unpopular. On the other hand, the militaries have historically been less well-trained and suffer much more attrition.

Are they a standing military?

Most countries now have some form of standing military, but historically that hasn’t always been the case. It is expensive to maintain a standing military, and militaries were in some cases made up of militias or localized fighting forces that could be stood up as necessary.

Do they fight in uniform?

This may seem obvious, but insurgencies are militaries too, and they don’t usually fight in uniform. This can act as a significant advantage for insurgencies, who generally blend in with the general populace.

[heywriters]

I have a problem when writing physical movement. It paints a clear picture, but not a very colorful description as to what they are currently doing. Usually it's something like "he stood from the chair and walked across the floor to the window". I constantly try to reword it but it always seems bland. Is this a normal description to movement, or can I improve and how? Love your blog by the way. It has helped me out multiple times.

Bland descriptions of bland moments are normal and necessary. The only thing you might grit your teeth over is not being basic enough. I’m using your example real quick.

He stood from the chair and walked across the floor to the window.

Too wordy for such a simple action. Make it even simpler, like so,

He stood and walked to the window.

Same action, same understanding, saves the reader time. Also saves the hard creative thinking for the more captivating parts of your story. 

If you have a gut feeling it should be more impactful than that, you can add a little emotion into it.

He stood and stalked to the window.

He got up and trudged to the window.

He rose and hurried to the window.

It’s the same short, basic sentence just with a little more storytelling involved. Still, both dry sentences and emotional sentences are needed in the same book. Too much of either and you end up with a court testimony or a soap opera. 

If it’s meant to be simple, keep it simple.

Ko-Fi // Wattpad // Goodreads // Pinterest

[fixyourwritinghabits]

So I had trouble with this forever until I realized the most important thing is not what your character is doing, but why. So to look at the original sentence:

He stood from the chair and walked across the floor to the window.

Why is the character doing this? What prompts the action? Let’s say he heard a noise from outside.

He heard a sound from outside. He stood from the chair and walked across the floor to the window.

Now let’s narrow it down a bit. What kind of sound? What would make someone investigate? Let’s say it’s a loud crash, and before we dive back in, let’s talk about implied action. In the sentences above, we describe everything the man does, but we don’t have to. Perhaps in the scene before, the man has been sitting for awhile, so we already know he’s in a chair and will have to stand up before going to the window.

We therefore don’t have to describe everything - the reader will infer that the chair is in the scene even if we don’t mention it again, and we know he’s in a room he’s familiar with, so we don’t have to worry about mentioning the distance he has to cross. We know that the character will hear the crash outside - after all, he goes to investigate. So we can get rid of “he heard.” And since it’s a crash, the character will probably not simply walk across the room - they might dash, or rush, or hurry.

Thus the sentence becomes this:

A crash came from outside. He leaped up and rushed to the window.

Or any of the examples @heywriters provided, depending on your writing style and character. This makes your sentence punchier, smoother, and more natural to read.

There will always be variations - you may need to stretch action out for tension, such as a character slowly navigating a room, trying to find an intruder she can’t see. You may take an entire paragraph to describe someone making tea, because they’re angry at their partner and they want to avoid facing them again. They focus on making the tea slowly and carefully, all the while feeling their face burn with fury, their muscles tight resisting the urge to throw the cup across the room.

Try to focus on the why when encountering clunky sentences, whether it’s an action or a reaction to something, and you’ll find ways to make it connect to the rest of the story. Your reader won’t care about ‘bland’ sentences as long as they lead somewhere interesting.

[wafflewarrior111]

So... I found this and now it keeps coming to mind. You hear about "life-changing writing advice" all the time and usually its really not—but honestly this is it man.

I'm going to try it.

[missroserose]

I love the lawyer metaphor, because whenever I see “John knew that...” in prose writing I immediately think “how?  How does he know it?”  Interrogate your witnesses.  Cross-examine them.  Make them explain their reasoning.  It pays dividends.

[heck-in-a-handbasket]

All of this, but also feels/felt. My editor has forbidden me from using those and it’s forced me to stretch my skills.

[jennserr-writes]

seven sentence sunday

thanks for the tag @kunstpause! i uh, would’ve gotten around to it sooner if i actually had something sooner 😅

this here comes from a brand new, hot off the press AU that @chance-of-reaper and i have brainstormed for a few months and are only just now getting around to actually properly writing it lol

Even in the Hinterlands, the Breach wasn’t just visible—its effect was felt everywhere, far more than what the Herald was ever shown or what the game could reach. I should know, because I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes these past few days, since before the Conclave blew up and the Breach was formed, to now, two days after the fact.

Rifts had appeared in the areas near the Crossroads, where I’d arrived not even a week ago, though it felt like longer, with the amount of demons being spat out of them. There weren’t always many, no more than a handful at a time, but they came in endless waves that wore out even the most seasoned of fighters.

I was not—am not—a seasoned fighter. Not by a long shot. I only picked up my blades within the past year—not long after arriving in Thedas, really. 

would you like to know more?

tagging forward to @cassandra-pentughasst @elveny @kunstpause @inquartata30 @jt-boi-n7 @jkit45 @n0rmandysr1 @natsora and anyone else who wants to! as always, no pressure to participate!

[jennserr-writes]

wip whenever day

tagged by @lostinfantasies38 @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold @kunstpause and @heroofshield more than a dozen times in the past month alone lol

this bit comes from a mass effect wip fic that i’ve had sitting on the backburner for who knows how long, an AU of ME3 featuring Cora Harper joining Shepard and the crew of the Normandy SR-2 during the reaper war, working title Misery Loves Company.

“Like what you see, chica?”

Cora met his eyes. “I could ask you the same,” she said with a grin. She caught a glint of metal at his collar, then noticed a small Alliance symbol on his shirt over his chest. “Shore leave? Or a night off?”

“Something like that,” he said. “More of a pit stop, really”

“Between what and what?”

The large soldier was silent for a moment, chewing his lip in thought. While Cora waited for an answer to what she thought was a fairly simple question, the bartender placed their drinks on the bar in front of them. Cora took the opportunity to take a healthy swig of her beer. The man did the same, after a beat, although his version of a ‘healthy swig’ was much larger than Cora’s was, possibly even dipping into either ‘drinking competition’ or ‘drinking to forget’ territory.

“You ever hear about the Reapers?” he finally said after a long minute, setting his drink down and turning the full force of his gaze on Cora.

Cora felt blindsided by his question. “…Reapers? As in, those things Commander Shepard ranted about a few years ago?” She may have still been in Thessian space at the time, but news of the decorated Commander had reached nearly every corner of Citadel space, from her induction as humanity’s first Spectre, to saving the Citadel from a Geth fleet not long after, to her sudden disappearance just as shortly after that. It wasn’t long after she first went to Alec Ryder that word started spreading of the Commander’s return, out in the Verge, though Cora didn’t believe a word of it.

tagging forward under the cut:

@lostinfantasies38 @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold @heroofshield @kunstpause @elveny @dalish-rogue @lavellanvibes @n0rmandysr1 @jt-boi-n7 @charlatron @inquartata30 and you, if you want to!

[jennserr]

Bartender - Inquisitor - Valentina Amelia Kristina Martinez Ledoux-Hawke

Apostate - Champion - Adrianna Marian Hawke

12 years of Thedas’ bullshit really does a lot to a person.

I was lucky enough to commission @codenameyan to bring my girls Val and Anna to life once again and holy shit yall I can barely even begin to describe how much of an absolutely amazing job they did 😍😍😍 It was such a pleasure to work with Yan again, and I cannot recommend them highly enough 🥰🥰

[jennserr-writes]

OTP meme

thanks for the tag @schoute! 💙 good lord it’s been forever since i’ve done one of these after being tagged 😅😅 guess i’ll go ahead and tag @n0rmandysr1 @nightworldlove @beckily @kadaransmuggler @jt-boi-n7 @jkit45 and anyone else who wants to do it! 

(edit: finally added some art! credit to @the-upper-shelf​)

Adrianna Hawke and Valentina Ledoux

height difference | mutual pining | first kiss | first love | wedding | in-jokes | lgbt+ | family disapproves | friend disapproves | would die for each other | fake relationship | arranged wedding | cuddlers | pda friendly | and they were room mates | holding hands | secret relationship | opposing worldviews | opposing personalities | opposing goals | getting a pet | have kids | want kids | grow old together | relationship failures | rests head on shoulder | share a bed | token dummies | relationship doubts | they have a song | first date | share a jacket | sharing a blanket | mutual interests | study buddies | bathing together | crash into hello | accidental nudity | laundry | same hobbies | cooking for each other | big fancy gala | sibling rivalry | hair stroking | dancing | laying in the grass | watching stars together | watching the other sleep | shared values | friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | lovers to enemies | childhood friends | slow burn | love triangle | toxic relationship | sitting on each other’s laps | can’t be together | hugs | forehead touches | neck kisses | car/motorbike rides | compliments | nicknames | falling asleep together | late night talks | gifts

[jennserr]

absolutely massive shoutout to the ever amazing @schoute​ for bringing my Anna Hawke and her gf Valentina to life 😍😍😍!!! yall should abso-fuckin-lutely go support her and commission her if you ever get the chance!

[the-upper-shelf]

Couple commission for @jennserr of their ocs Anna Hawke and Valentina Ledoux , which are honestly two cuties ;w; <3

[jennserr]

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, YOU DID SUCH AN AMAZING JOB WITH THEM!!

[jennserr]

Valentina barely noticed her and Adrianna’s twined hands lowering, nor her other hand moving from Anna’s shoulder to the back of her neck, and not even that she was pulling Anna down towards her. All Val was aware of was Anna; Anna’s piercing blue eyes fluttering closed, her painted lips drawing nearer, the feel of her chest pressed to Val’s, the fingers pressing into Val’s waist, and the sharp, electric, almost smoky scent of Anna surrounding Val as she closed what little distance remained between them and met Anna lips with a kiss.

yall i don’t think i can even begin to describe just how incredible @codenameyan has been and how talented they are and how much of a joy it was to work with them to bring these two to life in such a beautiful way 😍😍😍 you should absolutely commission them if you get the chance to!

[jennserr-writes]

wip wednesday

finally i have something to post! only took like, what, a whole fucking month or so? two? jesus. thanks for the tags @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold @heroofshield @dalish-rogue!

this bit comes from what an au one-shot of one of my wardens becoming the inquisitor, with some extra shenanigans thrown in. no idea if i’ll ever finish or even post it but we’ll see.

And slowly, gradually, the world around her faded away; the moons and stars in the night sky, the lifeless body of the Archdemon, her friends, until the last thing she saw in this life was the face of her love staring down at her with watery eyes. Then she, too, was gone from her sight, and Eliza allowed herself to succumb to the darkness at last.

Except, it wasn’t to last.

What must have been only seconds later, she was opening her eyes to a world of sickly green light and fog.

Eliza blinked and sat up. Then she blinked again and looked around herself at her surroundings. Then she blinked some more for good measure.

Where was she? It reminded her of being in the Fade, what with the green sky and the way that everything seemed simultaneously unreal and too real, but the world around her looked like nothing she’d seen before. Yet, at the same time, it seemed all too familiar, like a memory just out of reach.

“Hello?” she called, “anyone else here?”

A shiver ran down her spine at the way her voice sounded both muffled and echoing in this strange place, and she involuntarily ran her hands over her arms, surprised to find she was no longer wearing her armour. As a matter of fact, she was no longer wearing anything at all; not a single stitch on her. Which would have been much more surprising, and unsettling, had something like this not already happened once before.

Eliza sighed. “Not again,” she muttered to herself.

Tagging back to everyone who tagged me and forward to @lostinfantasies38 @blarfkey @sharkapologists @kittimau @jellysharkbat @n0rmandysr1 @jt-boi-n7 @jkit45 @inquartata30 @rievu and you, if you want to! no pressure on anyone!

[jennserr]

wip wednesday

thanks for the tag @schoute! and hey, i finally have something to share for once!

this bit comes from the as yet unfinished fourth chapter of my main fic Well, Shit (i say, as if i haven’t updated it for almost two years), featuring my oc Valentina Ledoux’s first actual conversation with one Varric Tethras (which is like 80% of the reason it’s taken so long; it’s taken forever to get this right)

“So,” Varric said, leaning back in his chair, “what’s an Orlesian noble doing in a hole in the wall like this in Kirkwall, in Lowtown of all places?”

Val paused, instantly suspicious and on guard. “What makes you think I’m a noble?”

“You’re too clean not to be.” At her apparent confusion, he continued, “You’ve got no scars or blemishes, your teeth are probably the cleanest ones I’ve ever seen, not to mention your strange clothes,” he finished, gesturing towards her jeans. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fabric quite like that.”

Shit, she didn’t think he’d put her on the spot like that this fast. She had no idea what to do, hadn’t even thought about it or planned it out as an eventuality.

Val did her best to not show how much his deduction affected her. Truly, she did. But the fact remained that within moments of seeing her, he noticed almost everything about her that was ‘different’.

She couldn’t lie to him; he’d see through it in a second. Plus, she was a bad liar to begin with. She’d been lucky so far that nobody had really asked any particularly deep questions about her and her past, and the few times anyone had, she’d been able to deflect or tell them what they wanted to hear.

Maybe she should just do that; deflect, tell Varric what he wanted to hear, or even answer his questions with ones of her own. Maybe even tell the truth, or at least enough to be technically true. Or humour, that might work. Make a joke out of it or something.

…Who was she kidding, she was fucked.

rip val lmao

tagging back to @schoute and forward to @beckily @lostinfantasies38 @heroofshield @river-of-asgard @kittimau @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold @sharkapologists @dalish-rogue @cornfedcryptid @jt-boi-n7 @jkit45 @joking611 @n0rmandysr1 @inquartata30 @nightworldlove and you, if you want to! no pressure on anyone to do it!