#billows replies

[billowsandbreeze]

@feindrah

[billowsandbreeze]

Headcanon that the Angara, due to [plot reasons], are able to mesh genetically with any other sufficiently-sentient/evolved creatures. Much like the Asari, the resulting child is mostly Angara with a few desirable genetic changes. (Personal preference: human/Angara babies have five digits on each hand and fingernails.)

Oh, I love hearing people’s headcanons. My inbox is always open for these sorts of things. 

Now, as far as the angara go, they are a specifically crafted species by the Jardaan; so, there’s a lot for you to work with there, if you want to go down the road of them being reproductively compatible with other sentient beings. Or at the very least, Meridian could provide a bit of a spring board for those sorts of things (providing keys to their genetic code or what not). 

I do like the idea that children of angaran/alien pairings would be mostly angaran, rather than a sort of 50/50 spread, because genetics and inherited traits are never that simple.

You also might be interested to know, if you don’t already, that Peebee and Jaal do have a conversation about the method of asari reproduction. I believe it’s a post-exaltation banter, where Jaal seems a bit, well, wary almost that the asari seem to take the genetic material of other species to improve their own by only producing asari offspring. He even goes so far as to compare this to the kett (Peebee sets him straight and he apologizes for hurting her feelings). So, it would be an interesting thing to keep in mind if you explored your headcanon further. How would Jaal and the angara react to that sort of reproductive ability with aliens, considering their history with the kett? Even further, since aside from the kett, the Milky Way species are the first aliens the angara have met, how would they react to being able to reproduce with them at all? How would those pairings and offspring be treated, since there’s already canon evidence for prejudice against such things? There’s certainly a lot of interesting angles to explore!

As for me, I personally headcanon more blended and extended family groups, which adoption being the route to go if the couple (or more) want offspring. I feel like it’s appropriately both human and angaran to care for and love children that aren’t biologically their own, and for grandparents/aunts/mothers/uncles/brothers/cousins/thirdcousintwiceremoved/thatguyfromdownthestreet/alltheneighbormoms/et al to all be close and considered “family”.

[billowsandbreeze]

I love you. As for when it'll be available to read...well, with all I have going on this month, I'm strictly in the worldbuilding and outlining phase. But come July, I'm going to set a daily writing goal to hopefully bang out the rough draft in a couple of months. Shooting for around 80-100k words. After that, I'll be looking for a couple of good friend beta readers. ;3;

[billowsandbreeze]

5-10 for salty asks >:3

5.)Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*

Oh, boy, has it! I reentered the world of writing fanfic and participating in fandom after a ten year hiatus, because I fell in love with the world of Dragon Age, and, more specifically, wanted to write about my Lavellan and S*las. However, after two years and the shitshow that was Trespasser and its subsequent stanning in fandom, I can no longer enjoy that pairing. I like S*las as a villain. I like where he can go as this really fucked up character who thinks he’s doing the right thing. But I cannot stand how his fans have turned him into this noble sacrificing romantic anti-hero, building memorials to his victims as an atonement for his guilt, and shipping their OCs with him for the angsty Feels. I think it can be done well, and he’s an interesting character, but the fandom has ruined him and the pairing for me completely. And I honestly don’t think Weekes will be much better with it.

6.)Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*

I don’t think there have been any pairings that I’ve actively hated that fandom has made me see differently, but I do like seeing how fandom treats rarepairs, because usually those are the people who really look into characterization and think things through to make plots and pairings work. Fandom has definitely given me new perspectives on Samson, Loghain, Anora, Velanna, Briala, and my fav Abelas.

7.)Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?*

Way back when I was 18 or so, I was in love with student/teacher type pairings. I had a crush on my professor in college, and I dated a man who was a lot older than me. I thought I was one of those “mature for her age” girls. So, I saw no problem with that dynamic. However, as a 31 year old now, I absolutely cringe at those sort of huge age and power imbalances. It’s one of the reasons why I have such a hard time with Ryder and older character pairings (Evfra, Kandros, etc...) because canonically, they are only 22 and that’s so young! Same with really young Inquisitors paired with S*las.

8.)Have you received anon hate? What about?*

Never received any and have never sent any. I think it’s a pretty cowardly way to rage at someone, but we all have bad days and immature moments. If I have a grievance I either talk to someone privately or deem it not worth my time and not interact with them at all (and vent privately to friends to try to cool off). I’m always open to mature disagreements and discussions, but straight up hate, I’d probably just delete.

9.)Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Discounting the way fandom makes me feel about any character, I’d probably say my least liked character is Oghren, if only for how they went about his story in Awakening. I didn’t mind him so much in Origins, but Awakening really ruined him for me with how Bioware treated his story and used his drinking for comedic relief.

10.)Most disliked arc? Why?

Violence against women. It feels like lazy writing and a cheap way to throw in some angst and pain and grimdark feels. For example, the city elf origin. See also, Leandra in DA2 (I had to put the game down for a while after that). Any and all examples of fridging to drive a male character’s story forward.

[billowsandbreeze]

11, 12, 19, 22, 23 - any fandom you want

11.) Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Probably Loghain? I think people have very valid reasons for disliking him, and I don’t enjoy it when people try to handwave away all the bad stuff he does in Origins. But, I still really love his character. I think he’s an instance of Bioware doing a morally gray villain right. 

12.) Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Piggybacking on Loghain’s story, I really liked Anora’s arc in Origins. I like that she doesn’t bow down to the Warden. She has absolutely every right to want to keep her throne and is, by every indication, a good ruler. So, I never thought that she “betrays” the Warden. She’s a strong character who truly loves Fereldan (and gets absolutely shit on by the fandom).

19.)What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

LOL. Aside from the rampant misogyny, racism, and homophobia? People who don’t care who they step on to achieve some sort of perceived validation through notes/comments/bnf status. 

22.) Popular character you hate?

S*las if only because of his fans. 

23.) Unpopular character you love?

Sigrun. She’s not so much as unpopular in that people don’t like her. People just forget she exists, even Bioware. But I adore her.

[billowsandbreeze]

anonymous401 replied to your post: I've told you this before, but I think you have a...

Oh hello. I’m a new follower but I think I need to search for that fic… XD

Well, I don’t have any Dragon Age fic on this blog, but it’s all still up on my AO3 HERE. There’s some one shots, and then two longer fics for that particular pairing. <3

[billowsandbreeze]

I think it's implied that humans and angara have similar life spans, but I could be wrong. And yeah, late forties feels right to me. He'd be around 37ish when his family is taken, and then 42 when he takes over the resistance. That seems like a good age to have the wisdom, experience, and clout to be able to do that.

[billowsandbreeze]

Lol! Sorry! Jaalmance is 99% sugar. I can only do so much.