A 29 year old veteran of the skeleton war who is currently enjoying the bi panic of many games. I create art and writing occasionally banner by @noxiousmelody
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 lifelines
Alix and Olivia talk grief, fandom friends, and sticking with it
Alix: So, I know we've started writing for this year, but, casting your mind back to last year, was that your first time doing DABB?
Olivia: Yes, it was! It was actually my first time even writing fanfiction at all--I really ended up jumping in feet first lol!
Alix: Wait I'm sorry, what, you had never written fanfiction at all and you decided to jump in by writing a 25k fic????
That's incredible.
Olivia: What can I say? I've never liked starting small haha!
Alix: No kidding!
Olivia: I had done a ton of original writing before--I was a longtime NaNoWriMo participant back in its heyday--so it wasn't quite as frightening as I think it sounds when I say it sometimes. So I didn't think I was being quite as ambitious as I was at the time.
Of course, fic is a whole different ballgame, working with existing character voices and such, and I had never published any of my original work before, so it did end up being a little more daunting than anticipated.
Alix: What made you decide to take the plunge?
Olivia: So I burned myself out on original writing back in 2020/21 and ended up taking a really long break. It wasn't until I played Veilguard when it released that I felt some of that creative spark coming back, and when I went back and played the other DA games and fell in love with more characters, I started having more and more ideas of what was happening in between the moments we see in game. I was considering writing an AU focusing on my Hawke during Inquisition and kicking around what that worldstate would look like.
Then in May, my dad passed away. It was expected—he was ill. But it was still devastating. I remember being on bereavement leave, sitting with my mom and scrolling through tumblr—because what else do you do when you're grieving and off work?—and saw the DABB announcement.
I asked my mom, "Do you think this would be a good idea, or would it be too big a commitment?" We both agreed it would be good for me to have something positive to focus on, and people to talk about writing with. So I signed up, committed to writing about that initial AU idea, and...the rest is history!
Alix: I'm so sorry about your dad. I don't know if knowing it is coming makes it any easier, right? I'm so glad that DABB gave you something positive through was obviously a very difficult time.
Olivia: Thank you. Yeah, in some ways, it's easier and in some it's harder. Grief is never really easy, after all. But DABB really was a lifeline. I went in expecting just a project I could sink my teeth into and unexpectedly discovered a community that I cherish immensely to this day.
Alix: The community really is incredible. I made friends (including you!) who I keep in touch with a year later. It's pretty amazing for that.
Olivia: It's so special!! I've never had fandom friends before, and it's so much fun to have people to talk about silly headcanons with, who egg me on in my ideas, who I can egg on in theirs. I'm very grateful!
And the experience is so supportive, too. Everyone is ready to hype each other up, scream about what you're doing, help brainstorm and get you over a rough patch. It's just a wonderful community all of you mods have built!
Alix: Obviously sign-ups for this year have closed, but for anyone doing DABB for the first time this year, do you have any advice?
Olivia: I think my advice is: stick with it, especially when it gets tough. There were a lot of times I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish, and thought maybe I should just give up. Obviously life was happening to me a lot last year. I got behind and discouraged. But I talked to the community about how I was feeling and got the encouragement I needed. It was worth being vulnerable, worth persevering, and really seeing how much I was capable of, even during a really difficult time!
I guess my secondary piece of advice, hidden in there, is: lean into the community! We all have each others' backs, and we all want each other to succeed
“Soon” is now xD relearning how to draw after health issues✨ -that I hope won’t return for a loooong time please and thank you-
Have some Viago being a gentleman to his beautiful wife 💕💕
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Get more from Avvar Queen on Patreon. Creating Fanart, Character art, concept and much more!. Support Avvar Queen and get exclusive access t
So I was going to wait to dig through the artbook until I actually finish the game BUT I decided to quickly skim through to find the companion pages to see if Lucanis has any that show without the cape and there are a couple, very small though (note; I tried messing with the brightness on the pics to see better)
Made me realize this thing on the back of the cape;
Is, in fact, NOT part of the cape and is instead ANOTHER GODDAMN KNIFE strapped to his back going through a hole in the cape
HOW MANY KNIVES DOES ONE MAN NEED
Also I did carefully search up 'no cape' mods and found a couple so I have that as ref as well
The game features a set of crowd NPC-only retextures for the Orchestrator’s Long Coat. Unlike most other NPC outfits, their textures are in 4k rather than 2k.
Check out the tag for more useless facts: #useless davg fact of the day!
This comment was left on a post about making the most of the Libby app. "Excessive use of generous lending policies" is the most absurd phrase I've ever seen anyone use to discuss libraries.
Working on back grounds, lighting, and any excuse to draw Lucanis Dellamorte without a shirt. 🥰 There's also something so fun about drawing a character that has styled hair in a situation where they can let it down.
My problem is that I want to write, except when I'm writing I'm not reading, but when I'm reading I'm not painting, but when I'm painting I'm not crafting, but if I'm crafting I'm not meal prepping, but if I'm meal prepping I'm not exercising, but if I'm exercising I'm not cleaning the house, but if I'm cleaning then I'm not writing, and then the day ends and it was just ten hours of youtube while I tried to Decide.
