servant of clio

Fanfic and rambling. Things you'll find here: Mass Effect, Ninja Turtles, Dragon Age, crafts and needlework, and anything else that might strike my fancy.

[servantofclio]

Dragon Age OCs: Links

Complete roster... for now!

WARDENS

Kascinda Tabris (rogue, romanced Alistair)

Maeve Surana (mage, romanced Zevran)

Coran Aeducan (warrior, romanced Morrigan)

Nim Amell (mage, romanced Leliana)

WARDEN-COMMANDER

Azalais Caron (rogue)

HAWKES

Jocelyn Hawke (rogue, romanced Anders, really belongs with Varric)

Aderyn Hawke (mage, romanced Fenris)

Valencia Hawke (warrior, romancing Isabela, unfinished playthrough)

INQUISITORS

Branwan Lavellan (rogue, romanced Solas)

Simon Trevelyan (warrior, romanced Dorian)

[servantofclio]

For the writing meme, 18 & 27!

18. if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

I keep them sometimes, but I had to go hunting this time! I don't seem to have any deleted pieces saved from recent fics.

But I found a deleted passage from this older DAI fic -- deleted because I ended up switching POVs for this scene.

When Branwen had read The Tale of the Champion (she and Fioled and Kerrith and Awena had passed around a copy between them, which quickly grew worn and stained with dirt), it had been one of the strands of the story that most fascinated her. In Varric’s hands, Merrill’s story was a tale of hubris and regret, of knowledge better lost and a Keeper’s tragic death. Branwen had always wondered how much he really understood.

27. your favorite part of the writing process

Hmmm, this is hard to say! I think I might like best capturing the initial idea or inspiration -- there's usually an emotion or piece of dialogue that is the driving motivation for a given scene, and I really enjoy the act of getting that down.

(list of asks here)

[toasthaste]

according to An Immense World, apparently giant squid eyes are, like, UNREASONABLY large, even for something their size living at those depths. the next largest eyes on earth, blue whale eyes, are less than half the size, and swordfish, who live at similar depths as giant squid and have the largest eyes of any fish, have eyes that could fit inside a giant squid's pupil.

eyes hit serious diminishing returns wrt resource costs vs vision quality as they get bigger, so the question became: what the FUCK do giant (and colossal) squid need to see so badly that they couldn't see with swordfish-sized eyes that's justifying that massive energy cost? that nothing else in the deep ocean needs to see so fucking badly??

turns out the one strength eyes that big really have over much smaller eyes is: seeing large glowing objects in water deeper than 500 meters from an appreciable distance.

sperm whales are the primary predator of giant squid. sperm whales don't glow. BUT! water that deep is full of bioluminescent creatures-- these creatures light up when bumped into. something a sperm whale's size is continuously bumping into those critters, it's just surrounded by a glowing field all the time when it's swimming at those depths, visible from a distance-- if you have the right eyes-- as a massive glowing shape. so basically the only reason to have eyes the size of soccer balls is if you live in the deep ocean and your life depends on having a heads up when a hungry sperm whale lurking around

and also I gotta say, the imagery... the huge lurking threat betrayed only by the ambiguous glowing shape of its movements through the water, is really evocative, if spooky deep-sea games aren't already using that to make things extremely ominous then they should really start

[servantofclio]

2. and 10. please! ✨

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

I have been writing a lot of Neve Gallus, and her POV comes pretty easily at this point, so hmm, maybe not so much an exploration...

I'm writing a few things for my current Inquisitor, who is romancing Josephine, so I'm exploring her POV a little bit, and Josephine definitely notices things and has some distinctive interests (she notices and cares about appearances more than some characters, she's very attuned to manners and subtext of social interactions), so that's a bit of an exploration.

10. what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

I mean, I have still unfinished drafts that have been sitting for years, so there's that.

For longer fics that are actually finished: it looks like I started writing Second Chances somewhere in fall of 2012 and finished posting it in October 2013. So about a year all told, it looks like.

I honestly can't think if there are any one-shot drafts I've let sit for longer than that. I definitely have some drafts that I look at occasionally, think "I could post this with just a little tweaking," and then I don't, but maybe I still will!

[servantofclio]

5 and 14 for the fic writing questions :D

5. first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

"This time, though, Neve wasn’t doing it alone."

From an opening that might get substantially reworked, but that's what it is right now.

14. where do you get your inspiration?

Generally I fixate on a character and then a situation. Since the vast majority of what I write has been game-based fanfic, I tend to get inspired by missing scenes or alternate POVs. What happened between this fade to black and the next scene? What did that character who's not the protagonist think about this situation? Why are these two characters interested in each other, beyond "I picked the right dialogue option"?

And when I get into a groove, the ideas just tend to build on each other. I had a long hiatus of not writing very much, and then I got back into writing earlier this year, and now I have a bunch of WIPs and a list of potential ideas.

[museaway]

✍️ more fic writer asks!

reblog & your followers can send asks with the questions they’d like you to answer!

the last sentence you wrote

a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

how you feel about your current WIP

a story idea you haven’t written yet

first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you)

your preferred writing fonts

if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…

start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

a WIP you’d like to finish someday

a trope you’re really into right now

a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

where do you get your inspiration?

favorite weather for writing

favorite place to write

talk about your writing and editing process

if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

in what year did you publish your first fic?

when did you publish your most recent fic?

do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that?

pick three keywords that describe your writing

how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

besides writing, what are your other hobbies?

are you able to write with other people around?

your favorite part of the writing process

your least favorite part of the writing process

how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

share a fic you’re especially proud of

[luna-azzurra]

Unpopular opinion but reading a lot does not automatically make you a better writer and i'm tired of pretending it does. Reading makes you a better reader. Writing makes you a better writer. They're related but they're not the same thing. You can read every book ever written and still not know how to be honest on the page. That part you have to earn separately and it costs more.

[wearwind-ao3]

I mean, I see what you're saying, but it doesn't meaningfully change anything in what that advice is getting across. If a person is already a writer, you'd have to willfully ignore the point to understand "be a better reader and you'll be a better writer" as "you don't need to practice." It's more if a "as you read, you will come across approaches, perspectives, and techniques that will inspire you to test your craft in new and exciting ways, so fill your cup if it ever feels stale or stuck."

Writing's an act of love. If it ever gets choked out by fear (of failure, inadequacy, clichè, etc), and clarity and honesty feel out of reach, the easiest way to dig it back is not to beat yourself up over inadequate skill, but to find that love in other stuff. Reading is writing in the same way firewood is flame. The spark happens in your mind.

[wearwind-ao3]

also because I just saw someone being like "I don't wanna read and imitate other people, I wanna write like myself!" and had feelings about it:

girl. I am holding you so gently right now. this is abject loneliness that you're subjecting yourself to. reading other people's thoughts doesn't take away from your own perspective, but what it gives you is the words to express yourself so that you will understand you. It gives you the literary vocabulary (images! symbols! metaphors! comparisons! pacing!) of your culture/s of choice, and shows you how use them to make sense of what you feel and what want to say, and then express it in a way that other people will understand you too. Literature isn't a rally where there's one voice blaring out for others to listen, it's a conversation. You're writing to be read. You and your readers will need a common language. You acquire that language by reading widely. And then not only do you get better at expressing your feelings to others, you find others who feel the same, and suddenly the world's a greater and more beautiful place where you can go, "you too?! I thought it was just me!"

I promise this is not taking one whit of your individuality away. You might be exposing yourself to all of those outside influences but the I in the centre, the mind that decides and interacts and feels, that's the voice that will always be unique. You just gotta channel it in a way that can be understood.

If you wanna write: read. Please.

[incidentalcomics]

A poetry comic from my book Thinking About Thinking: Impossible Thoughts and Complicated Feelings

[what-even-is-thiss]

I’m kinda surprised that nalbinding isn’t as popular as crochet and knitting tbh because it has an even lower barrier of entry tools wise and unlike crochet and knitting it makes fabric that you can cut.

I guess it’s because it’s slower or something.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Nalbinding aka needle binding is when you use yarn and a big sewing needle to make fabric btw

It also has a lot of different kinds of stitches you can do that make different densities of fabric.

Some people even make rugs.

[thewolfwaitsbelow]

I feel like part of it might be casual people are generally aware of the existence of crochet and knitting, even if they don’t know very much about either, but have never heard of nalbinding

[what-even-is-thiss]

Yeah I hadn’t heard of it until recently and I ordered a big bone needle for myself to try it out and that should be arriving soon.

I was surprised that I’d never heard of it though. It’s older than knitting and crocheting and even though it’s been done all over the world it’s super relevant to Nordic culture and my grandmother and I are both into keeping in touch with our roots a bit so I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it.

It seems like the sort of thing that would be popular even if not as popular as crocheting and knitting, considering the low barrier of entry.

[what-even-is-thiss]

You also don’t need a bunch of different sized needles for nalbinding or whatever. The size of the stitch is controlled either completely freehand or by pulling it against one of your fingers. Most people who have a lot of nalbinding needles seem to either have tried out wood, bone, and metal ones to see which kind they liked or they enjoy carving wood or bone and like making their own needles as an extra hobby.

It’s also a lot easier to freehand and adjust as you go than crochet or knitting and you mostly go by inches instead of rows and number of stitches so a large number of accessories like stitch markers or whatever isn’t really necessary.

Maybe the lack of accessories also makes it unpopular idk. People do like collecting things in their nests.

[the-color-of-sound-is-space]

I've been wanting to do so, I cannot find anyone who can teach me, and any books I can find on it are Ass in the Visual Learning department. Otherwise I'd be making the hell outta some nalbinded fabric

[what-even-is-thiss]

I found this channel by a nice man who makes up close tutorials

Happy Needlebinding

I create videos on YouTube to learn people how to needlebind using two fingers and your thumb. Needlebinding helps people to relax, relieve

[what-even-is-thiss]

I thought this would be kind of a niche post to make but I was quickly reminded that I’m on tumblr, the website full of gay people with one billion hobbies.

[what-even-is-thiss]

So my bone needle actually came this evening (yay!) and I’ve started trying this for real. It clicks in my brain way easier than crochet does. I’ve gotta work up the muscle memory but I think I can do this.

The downside as a beginner is that undoing mistakes is more time consuming than with knitting or crochet. You’ve gotta like sew your mistakes out backwards. Disadvantages of making a really sturdy fabric I guess.

I like the feel of this bone needle though and don’t think I’ll be trying the wooden or metal ones.

Also I think I’m gonna have to get good at doing Russian joining if I decide to get good at nalbinding because I don’t have wool yarn and the ends won’t felt together if it’s not at least 50% wool. A small price to pay for using big bone needle though.

Anyways curse of new fiber craft be upon ye.

[helila]

you know what actually, let this be its own post

[inthevoidzone]

Hey so I really love how Davrin's vallaslin is handled in Veilguard and how it ties into not only his arc, but his internal conflict between two halves and the choice at the end of his character quest.

First of all, I'm gonna say god/Creator rather than Evanuris for this post because I'm not talking about the actual historical elves with all the associated baggage and atrocities, but the maybe-false but still culturally meaningful constructs the Dalish created out of ancient half-remembered history to be their gods. In reality and even most fantasy, Gods aren't literally real, but are always meaningful. In universe, vallaslin are unique. In opposition to the default set that a player character gets to choose between and is also applied to generic NPCs, Dalish characters with bespoke facemorphs have unique vallaslin designs. Identifiying a particular Dalish elf's vallaslin in-universe isn't so much checking a chart for an exact match as it is studying the design elements and recognizing the symbology of a given Creator. Elgar'nan is represented by a play of light and darkness. Mythal by the boughs of a great tree. Falon'din by a design that is "as above, so below." And Andruil and Ghilan'nain are represented by a bow and horns respectively, as the hunter and the mother of halla. Writers have confirmed that Bellara and Cyrian's vallaslin honour Dirthamen, god of secrets, mysteries, and lore. And of course they did! It's pretty obvious where these two truth-seekers would be aligned. But the same writers were cagey about answering who Davrin's tattoos represent, and I think this is on purpose, because Davrin's vallaslin are meant to be ambiguous.

Assume they're for Andruil, the hunter who loved testing herself against stronger and stronger foes, who was revered by the Dalish as a warrior and a protector and who could never bear to remain at home. You can see the curve of the bow, the point of the arrow. Now, assume they're for Ghilan'nain, the nurturing creative spirit who created the gentle halla and then cared for them as if they were her own children. Now you see the delicate lines curving up into the shape of horns, crowned by a second set at the top.

(Davrin's mentor, Eldrin, wearing Ghilan'nain's vallaslin, alongside a render of the player character's options for Andruil's Vallaslin.)

You see where I'm going, right? This is Davrin's character arc! His internal conflict! The brave and fearless warrior ready to throw himself into the arms of death vs the caring and soft-hearted surrogate father to a magical creature. The young man who couldn't bear to stay with his clan vs the boy who sang to the halla. And the choice he and Rook make together at the end of his quest, where Davrin's conflict is reflected onto Assan and the other griffons. Brave fighter or nurturing caretaker? The hunter or the shepherd? Schrodinger's vallaslin. Devs won't clarify which it's intended to be because it's intended to be both.

[servantofclio]

If you could go explore any place on earth, with time money travel pto etc not restricting it, where would you go (up to three places to make it not too hard)?

Ohhh. I've been thinking this question over for a bit. One of the hard things about it is deciding whether to go to a new place or go back to a place I've been before, because I have really loved some places I've traveled to in the last few years.

One new place we've talked about visiting is Iceland, I've also thought that would be a beautiful and fun place to go.

One place to go back to is Malta, I love the Mediterranean, and we had a lovely short trip there a couple of years ago and would love to go back.

Rounding it out with somewhere very far away -- if time and money were truly not an issue, it would be very exciting to go to New Zealand or Antarctica or maybe even both!

[ororium-z]

Happy Pride!

[oopsallabominations]

[servantofclio]

Fic: Distance

Summary: When Neve came back to the Lighthouse, she'd promised herself to keep some distance from Rook. A chance injury in Arlathan makes that difficult in more ways than one.

Pairing: Neve/Rook (eventually, we're still in sort of a pining stage here)

Characters: Neve, Rook, Davrin, Bellara

Rating: Gen

Word Count: ~3000

AO3 link

The working title of this was "Day in the Forest with Darkspawn," but I gave it a more thematically resonant title in the end.

[servantofclio]

next day reblog!

[ouidamforeman]

my hot take on the fantasy genre is that it's not inherently bad to do a medieval europe based fantasy world or really any european inspired fantasy world, in fact i like that stuff and think it can be very cool and while yeah definitely diversify the historical cultures the genre bases fantasy worlds on, that's always good and having european culture be the default for everything ever is bad, the problem here i never see anyone talk about is that people keep somehow making medieval and early modern europe boring as fuck and not understanding anything about it

[heimeldat]

yessssss! Please can we have actual medieval fantasy instead of vaguely renaissance with modern flair? Can we have a bunch of randos traveling together to avoid dragon attacks on their pilgrimage to see the gold-plated skull of a famous paladin who died calling down fire from heaven on the pagan hordes? Have a guy in the marketplace selling penis and vulva charms guaranteed to protect you on your way to bathe in the sacred sulfur springs? Some lads hanging out carving promise spoons for their lady friends and talking about those weird foreigners who keep insisting "nothing" is a number? A female character who serves as a castle chatelaine and spends her time keeping account books and overseeing storage and organization? Merchant caravans traveling the Spice Road and avoiding phoenixes and giant ants along the way? A princess spending an entire year working with her ladies in the solar to sew and embroider that special gown for her wedding? Strangers sharing a bed at the inn, ladies in waiting sharing a bed with their queen (or sleeping on the trundle bed beside her), entire families sharing a bed in their little thatched house, because yes there often was only one bed? Collective cultural obsession with the proper order of all things and the natural hierarchy built into the world from the lowest insect to the divinely appointed king, with heated scholarly debates about where magic-users fit into this scheme? Widespread excitement about the invention of a new type of plow and how this will completely change farming techniques? Multiple generations working to complete a hundred-year building project? Constant arguing and politicking and back-stabbing and boot-licking between the church and the state? The philosophical joy of knowing your rightful place in the grand spinning harmony of the cosmos? The apothecaries and alchemists taking the first awkward steps into developing the scientific method? The all-pervasiveness of song and worship and moral debate?

Also for the love of God hide your characters' hair! There are a million incredible, ludicrous, delightful types of medieval headgear. Loose flowing locks are out of the question please.

[sainamoonshine]

All this, and also:

Put some fucking respect on the textile arts

[imsobadatnicknames2]

One of the reasons why I'm so annoying about the "why does this otherwise medieval europe-inspired setting have potatoes as a staple crop" is not only for the reasons I've talked about before wrt authors treating things that europe obtained through colonialism as universal timeless constants that have always been part of their cuisine, but also because like. medieval european culture is inherently linked to the material conditions of the feudal mode of production, and the introduction of potatoes as a crop to europe was such a game-changer for agriculture that like. I'm completely sure that, in a world where medieval europe had access to potatoes, feudalism (and consequently the entirety of medieval european culture) would have developed in a radically different way. So when someone inserts potatoes into their medieval-inspired world without any speculation about how this would alter these conditions it betrays a complete refusal to interrogate why things are the way they are from authors who usually claim to pride themselves in their in-depth worldbuilding.

[ijustwannawritepls]

How to Write When You Don't Feel Like Yourself

There are going to be days (or weeks, or months) where you sit down to write and feel... disconnected. From your voice, from your characters, from your ideas. Like the person who used to write your stories just packed up and left.

They didn't. They're just tired. Here's how to keep writing anyway:

Lower the bar (Until it's on the floor) You are not here to write something brilliant. You are here to write something. A paragraph. A sentence. A single line of dialogue. Movement matters way more than quality.

Write around the story Don't force it. If you can't write the scene, try: ⋆ A character ramble / journal entry ⋆ A conversation that won't be included in the final draft ⋆ A list of things the character would never admit out loud ⋆ A messy summary of what should happen Engage with the story from a different angle.

Borrow a voice until yours comes back No, not with AI. Read something that feels close to what you want to write, or watch a scene that captures the tone, then write immediately after. Not to copy, to reignite your instincts.

Write the emotion, not the plot. What is your character feeling in this moment? What are they afraid of? What do they want but won't say? What's being kept from them? The emotion leads, the plot catches up later.

Stop trying to "feel like a writer" first. You don't write when you feel like a writer. You feel like a writer because you write.

You are still a writer, even on the days it feels distant. Especially then.