For the prompts ‘the Inquisitor’ from the Dragon Age list, ‘roasted’ from the official Inktober 2018 list, ‘pet’ from Nadja Wieland’s character building prompt list, and ‘ancient tree’ from the world building list.
So here’s Ameneth, post-game, camping out somewhere in the Emerald Graves and cooking supper while her hart takes a nap.
This is still very much a WIP but I really like how the glaive is coming along so I’m posting it before I inevitably ruin the linework. I’m still in denial that between a Dalish First and Dagna they couldn’t work out how to do ANYTHING with the real Sulevin Blade.
This is what the Sulevin Glaive looks like in my fic and in my head, because I firmly believe in fan-patching canon with fic and art.
Hmm, there are so many good ones in the Courting meme to choose from. Hmm, mmm, hmm *wiggles*.... 16. 19. 2. For Ameneth (and Solas ;D )
:D Thank youuuuu~!
[snip]
16. Do they have at least one bonding activity they devote to doing with their partner exclusively?
I have this sneaking suspicion that both Ameneth and Solas tried to introduce Culturally Important Activities during the courting and in pretty much every instance the other party TOTALLY missed the subtext because they have only a vague understanding of what the other’s culture actually looks like. Am definitely tried to hint that she’d like Solas to help her with her hair and then had him worrying that an injury was bothering her and she couldn’t manage it herself and trying to find someone WITH hair and a better grasp on contemporary fashion to assist her, which was not remotely what she was looking for, and I think she probably missed a few of his cues, too.
Although in her case some of that was also because she’s generally aggressively resisted courting and one of the best ways to be uncourtable was to politely decline anything that would be a Together Thing, so by Inquisition it’s basically her knee-jerk response with anyone who she thinks might be interested and she realizes 15 minutes later that yes, actually, she WOULD like to do that, wait, come back.
One thing they do that most people would not consider couple-y and which I’m pretty sure all the other mages judge them for is joint casting when they’re warding campsites; they’re both exactly nerdy enough for it to be fun instead of work, and they’ve got remarkably compatible casting styles. Am does not mean for this to become A Thing. It becomes A Thing.
She refuses to cast wards with anyone else for YEARS, even after Trespasser, up to and including clanmates.
19. What was their first impression about their partner/person they are courting?
Am: The universe is merciful, I’m not alone among hostile humans, THERE’S ANOTHER ELF HERE.
Solas: How is she not DEAD?!
2. When they have a crush on someone, how do they let them know?
Am basically did not REALIZE she had a crush for a while, because of course she wanted to ask him questions, he knew all kinds of interesting things! And of course she wanted to spend time around him, everyone else was human or very devout or weird or all of the above (or Varric). She was romantically attracted to him for quite a while before her libido sat up and said, ‘yes, hi, I exist and you wanna smooch him’ and then she kind of went, ‘sorry, hold the phone, WHAT?!’ and by that point he also kind of wanted to smooch her so it all worked out.
They’re both terrible at relationships. It is legitimately hilarious to me that Am managed to start one pretty much on accident just because she didn’t realize how into him she was or how loudly she was broadcasting it.
I basically want to ask all of the questions from that Dragon Age prompt but I will settle for 3 and 4 from Solas, 1 and 3 from Vivienne, and 1 and 2 from Cass (or whichever of these r interesting to you meep)
:D Yay, thank you! I have actually done all of them, so you can have everything for those three. <3
Cut because this is loooooong.
Solas1. Did your Inquisitor engage Solas academicallywith questions or were they uninterested in his experiences?
This is probably obvious from [waves expansively at blog], but Ameneth was fascinated by Solas’s perspective. She asked himquestions pretty much constantly, thought about the answers, and then came backwith more questions. She occasionally also had to walk away after an answer because otherwise she’d be snarly and rude, but that became less frequent as they got to know each other both because she got used to him and to keeping her temper and because he would be a little less inclined to deliberately misunderstand and/or try to provoke her.
2. Did they agree with his opinions about spirits, that they werefriends and trustworthy? If not, what did your inquisitor believeinstead?
She always considered them another people, with good and badapples just like any other group. Seeing the degree to which trustingin them MADE them trustworthy was interesting for her – she’dhistorically been pretty leery of anything that came out of the Fadejust because not trusting was so much safer. If you don’t trust someone trustworthy, you miss out on something. If you trust someone untrustworthy, you end up possessed or dead. The risk/reward ratio did not look good from her initial understanding. She was certainly moreamenable to interaction with spirits after the game than she wasbefore it, after seeing Solas interact with spirits and getting to know Cole and seeing how things worked among the Avvar.
3. If your Inquisitor was told they were “unlike others of theirrace” by Solas, how did they respond? Were they angry or grateful?
Both. She was flattered that he thought she was special, of course (she had a crush on him and that was nice), and she does make an effort to be patient and open-minded indiscussion, but she was also offended on behalf of theDalish – she knows her people never show to best advantage whenconfronted with disdain and scorn, so she felt like he’d nevergiven them a fair shake. Which is true.
4. Did your Inquisitor think of Solas as Fen’harel or did theycontinue to think of him as their companion, a friend, if he was oneto them, even after discovering who he was?
Solas is always going to be Solas to Ameneth, no matter what elsehe is – to her, ‘Fen’harel’ is a part of him the same way ‘theInquisitor’ is part of her. Which is to say, it’s how otherpeople see them and is only tangentially related to who they actually are. She also wasn’t nearly as surprised by that revelation as she could have been –by the time they visited the temple in the Arbor Wilds she was like,‘oh, obviously he’s from ancient Elvhenan, that makes sense’ but she was also a littledistracted by the fact that he’d just squished her heart like agrape.
5. What did they choose, stop Solas or attempt to redeem him, andwhat motivated their choice? Fear? Love?
Redeem, because she thinks there’s more going on – he’s madethis mistake in haste before, and regretted it, so she’s prettysure there’s a threat he isn’t telling her about because hedoesn’t think it would make a difference. She thinks he is verydumb sometimes. So obviously she’s going to hunt him down and beatup whatever has him scared enough to be an idiot and then drag him home to meet her clan.(This will probably not work out well for her even if she’s right about his reasons.)
Vivienne1.Did your Inquisitor share Vivienne’s views on the circle of magi ordisagree and why?
Ameneth disagreed with Vivienne on… uh, almost everything about mages. Shewas very politic about it, and generally asked questions instead of arguing,but Ameneth thinks the Circle being under Chantry jurisdiction isvile and that there is no repairing that system because the abuse isa feature not a bug. She’s glad Vivienne had a good experience with the Circle but she knows it’s not like that for everyone, and even putting someone good in at the top only works until that someone loses their hold or dies.
2. Did your inquisitor view The Game as worthwhile or did theydetest court intrigue? How did that affect their relationship withVivienne?
Ameneth thought it was a construct, but one that she needed tounderstand in order to get what she needed out of Orlais. If she’s going to fight, she’s going to do itwell. Vivienne taught her a lot, and Ameneth appreciated havingVivienne on her side, so far as that went (they both understand mutually beneficial relationships, and they interacted comfortably as allies long before either would have called the other ‘friend’).
Playing the Game is a matter of leverage and maneuvering. If you do it well, you can get whatyou want even if you start with next to nothing, and both of them understand that because they have both needed to parlay nothing into something. This doeslead to a certain degree of recognition between them; they’ve bothbeen outsiders with limited influence who found ways to build thatinto actual power.
It’s just that Ameneth also thinks the whole thing is a ridiculous illusion, even if enough people buy into it to make it matter. So they have a weird thing going on where they recognize something in each other that they see in themselves while also internally screaming ‘HOW ARE YOU SO WRONG’ about… uh, almost everything. They’re very polite about it, though.
3. Did the feelings of your Inquisitor towards Vivienne change atall after completing her personal mission about Duke Bastian, if yes,in what way?
Ameneth was honored that Vivienne let her come along; that was agreat mark of trust, in her eyes, because Vivienne goes to a lot oftrouble cultivating a persona as an ice queen, as madame de fer, andthat showed a very soft heart under her armor. Ameneth feltcompassion towards her, after, and knowing that a lot of Vivienne’s arguments about the Circle came from wanting to protect everyone shecould because she CARED about them made Ameneth give her ideas moreweight.
Am still supported mage freedom, but she was moderately lessmilitant (or at least less OVERTLY militant) about it, after.
4. Was Vivienne ever considered a candidate for Divine by yourInquisitor? Why was, or why wasn’t, she made Divine by yourInquisitor?
She was considered, and Ameneth did publicly make some noise supportingher, but she threw most of her actual weight behind Leliana. Ameneth is, after all, a Dalish apostate who kind of wants to seethe Chantry dismantled – and if she can’t have that, she’lltake the next best thing, which is turning it on its head and making it kinder and more heterogeneous.
5. How did your Inquisitor feel about Vivienne? Friends? Allies?Rivals?
Allies, certainly. Friends… yes, but in a very odd sort of way.They like each other and understand each other UNCOMFORTABLY well fortwo people who fundamentally disagree on most important issues.
Cassandra1.Was your Inquisitor Andrastian? Did their religious beliefs affecttheir relationship with Cassandra?
Ameneth is not even a little bit Andrastean and this is one place Am does not even try to be polite or circumspect or patient (with the exception of the conversation at Haven, when she is still quite reasonably concerned that she is about to have her head chopped off). She is not Andrastean, she is never going to BE Andrastean, there was a war over this, her people lost and have been wandering Thedas ever since because fuck you. Cassandra does not really appreciate this stance. Ameneth just tries not to get into it; she would like to be on good terms, and talking about religion makes that VERY HARD.
2. What was Cassandra’s role in the Inquisition to yourInquisitor? Was she a crucial friend/ally or an unnecessary soldier?
Cassandra scared the hell out of Ameneth for the first severalweeks, but they eventually did manage to become allies, then friends.Cassandra was an important resource for Ameneth because she DOES knowso much about the Chantry and the historical Inquisition – those were kind of relevant. Ameneth helped Cassandra find out more about the old Inquisition, too, both because shewanted to know herself and because she thinks knowing the past isvital if you’re going to build a better future. Ameneth (provisionally) trustsCassandra to help do that even before they’re friends, because it quickly becomes clear that Cassandra is genuinely honorable and has no patience for bullshit; she may not do what Ameneth would consider the best thing, but she’d also never do anything Am would view as outright evil because Cass has a very strong moral compass and Am thinks it points more or less the right direction.
3. Did your Inquisitor push Cassandra to rebuild or abandon theSeekers of Truth? Why?
Rebuild, because they provide a check on the Templars and Amenethwould really like to see as many of those as possible. Am had some reservations about this, but she’s hopeful that everyone knowing all the secrets will go a long way towards making them less susceptible to abuse and awfulness in the future.
4. Did your Inquisitor agree with Cassandra’s vision for theChantry? Did they choose her as Divine?
Not really; Cassandra doesn’t go far enough in wanting to see things reformed and Am would probably disband the Chantry entirely if anyone gave her even half a chance. She supported Leliana instead.
5. Does your Inquisitor know all of her middle names?
Yup. Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena… Ameneth had to memorize aLOT of geneology because the Dalish gene pool is really quite tinyand they’re very dedicated to remembering their history; knowingwho’s descended from whom is important. (Am has a whole lot of ancestors she’s very proud of and she knows exactly how she’s related to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.)
2. What did they choose to do with him and how did they feel abouttheir choice? Were they guilty about leaving him in cell, if theychoose to do so?
Ameneth always considersimprisonment idiotic, as a punishment. Here’s the thing: There is no way the Dalish practice incarceration in any meaningful fashion, and given their population, it also seems staggeringly unlikely that they kill people for anything but the most severe infractions. You kill someone if they’ll do whatever it was again. You exile them if the infraction isinsufficient to warrant death but they will still be more of adetriment than a boon. And by her judgment, Blackwall has spent years tryingto STOP being the man who committed that crime. People change andgrow, and he has been changing and growing into someone worth a damn, who is useful to those still alive.She chose to let him serve as himself, because she thought he wasstrong enough to wear his name and bear up under the weight of hissins. She wanted him to do better and believed he could, and thathelped him do it.
Sera
2. Did your Inquisitor see Sera as troublesome or simplyfun-loving? Did they join in for her pranks?
Ameneth likes Sera, most of the time, even if she also finds herknee-jerk rejection of anything ‘elfy’ kind of bewildering. Theygot a prank war going between them, for a while, because Ameneth sawpeople having to clean up after some of Sera’s pranks on theadvisors and was like, ‘you need distracting to temper yourimpulses and avert disaster. Also this will be fun! :D’ (What it wound up being was horrifying for bystanders, but being involved meant Ameneth had an excuse for helping clean up the results; most of the time people got very twitchy about her doing actual work).
Cole
2. What did your Inquisitor think of Cole’s ability to see intopeople’s thoughts?
Am thought it was fascinating, but there were also a few conversations abouthow if people didn’t say something probably they didn’t wanteveryone around them to know and maybe he should make sure no oneelse heard if he was talking about something that made themuncomfortable or nervous.
Yes, even if she was Very Interested and wanted to know and would helpif she knew.
She also occasionally used him as a sounding board for exactly that reason, though; she’s often a creature of many minds and him seeing into her head made it easier to untangle her own thoughts. Also it was just… really nice, hanging out with someone who could see everything in her head and clearly liked and approved of her anyway.
Iron Bull
2. How did your Inquisitor react to the Chargers? Did they utilizethem as allies or leave them to Bull?
Ameneth pretty much considered the Chargers to be Bull’s (verysmall, very weird) clan. She checked in on them now and again, butmostly let them do their own thing (which worked out well) andoccasionally sent them booze (which got her good will but alsooccasionally billed for damages). Thinking of them as his clan was also a big part of the reason she pushed for saving them over making the alliance - they’re Bull’s clan, and she’d do ANYTHING to keep her own clan alive, and if he’s hesitating it’s because he’s been told that the Qun is the most important thing but his feelings are telling him something else. Bull might beQunari, but the Chargers are HIS, and that’s more important. Clan > Everything Else. (I really do kind of want to write the AU where someone kills Clan Lavellan because I am entirely serious when I say that Ameneth would vanish into the night and start splinching nobles across the Free Marches until everyone who was even TANGENTIALLY involved was dead.)
Varric
2. How did your Inquisitor feel about Varric’s situation withBianca? Who did they decide was right about what Bianca did?
Ameneth thinks that relationship is pretty unhealthy, honestly, and that Biancais a terrible person for using Varric’s feelings when it suits herand ignoring him the rest of the time. She’s also weirded out by the idea of accepting an arranged marriage when you have a strong emotional connection to someone else - given Dalish elves pretty regularly leave their clans when they fall in love (we’ve heard of at least two instances in the games that I can think of off the top of my head, even if it always seems to go disastrously), I think they consider love to be a really compelling reason for LOTS of things, up to and including leaving your family and responsibilities, so Bianca is a whole series of ‘oh my god what is WRONG with you?!?!’ thoughts wrapped up in someone manipulating one of Ameneth’s friends and making bad choices. Am really, REALLY does not like her at ALL and thinks Varric deserves so much better. (Also she thinks Bianca is probably wrong about everything ever.)
Dorian
2. How did your Inquisitor feel about the Necromancyspecialization? Were they intrigued? Disgusted?
Curious, mostly, although also significantly unnerved. She’s aFirst, she’s seen a LOT of walking corpses exploring old ruins, andthey have NEVER been on her side before. Also a little squicked, because now that she’s not distracted by fighting the dead things for her life, they’re kind of disturbing. At least the fresher ones don’t reek of rotting meat?
