The thing I really love about other folks Dragon Age OC's is there is so much variety, and so much passion. You have some folks who like to stick to canon. You have some folks who take canon as a jumping off place. And everyone has made little people up in their heads that they love! It's a little piece of them, that they put together (even if it's not based on them, they made it!) And they are willing to share that with other folks! It's show and tell! An invitation to play! And I find it fascinating.
In case you think I'm tough and scary (you don't think this), just know that if you leave me a comment on my fics telling me how it's in the middle of the night where you are, but it's still the afternoon where I am, I will tear up because what do you mean that my last time I took an English class was high school-ass writing made it all the way to you on another continent? Another hemisphere? Another timezone? What do you mean my home-spun, typo-spotted, purple prose found you and you're writing a comment in the middle of the night because it moved you enough to share that with me? What do you mean? (I'm crying, and that's a threat)
Woo, I'm back filling out the cards because somebody has to hype people up, and I have taken this duty as a mantle of honour (or whatever some dude said). I have already shared my fic recs (marked with burnt orange Xs here). This time it's just me sharing some peeps in this fandom I admire, stuff I or my frendos have made.
@thelighthouse-server
The Bingo Cards to play with are here
B1 - Made a playlist
I have no shame, so I will share my ever-growing playlist, because I can't think of one of top off my head
C1 - Participated in Dreadrook Week
AHHH so so many, but some that instantly come to mind - @amellderiva, @wickedviago, @lostiel, @missriggie, @solrookera, @the-scarlet-rot, @woundedsoul12, @depmode
D1 - Made a Video Edit
I may be biased and I ain't hiding it. I suck at saving tiktoks, but I never miss saving from one person - @lostiel
And ofc I am sharing the edit that Lolita was kind enough to use my GDL audio for.
E1 - Multishipper
So many of you, my beloved moots, but I have to bring in my dear @wickedviago in here. Solas may not be your first man, but I think he would understand being second after Viago.
A2 - Tag Game Guru
So so many, but I always enjoy learning more about Vesper, and seeing a tag come in from @litchigaming!
D4 - Cross-Platform promoter
@solrook92 so many incredible tiktok edits and memes, always cracks me up!
E4 - Made photo edit
Some of my favorites:
You know far too much, lethallan... by @idunnaldwir
and I suppose I had you by @wickedviago
solrook's memories by @amellderiva
A5 - Made fanart
My two ultimate Dreadrook artists are @br0ps and @solrookera! Everything they do always hits just right.
B5 - Meme-magician
Hands down, ones that never fail to make me laugh - @amellderiva, @lostiel. Two of the funniest people on my feed.
A3 - Positive influence
You should have known this was coming, my beloved wife/mother, but most importantly, my very dear friend, @idunnaldwir. From the moment you dug me out of Reddit trashcan and took me inside, I knew I was home. You give so much of yourself to support all of us who come across your way, never expecting much back. You are a warm ray of sunshine to my cloudy day, a comforting blanket against world's bullshit, someone I was blessed to meet and have an opportunity to work, laugh and just be with. You have done and given so much and continue to do so much, and I love you. lol, yikes, look at me being sappy as fuck.
AND for B2 (#1 Fan), D2 (Posts regularly) & B4 (Cheerleader) I nominate ALL OF YOU. Because all of you dear moots or not have it in you to not just lurk but to create, share and support everyone in the community and you do!
idk i’m just feeling the warm and fuzzies today so allow me to be emo for a sec
Back in November (?) I posted my very first fanfic on ao3. I’ve written before, but had never posted because sharing stuff you write is scary. BUT i’d written a lot and i thought it was good and i was going to continue writing it anyway, and i thought it was a shame that there wasn’t enough Davrook content out there, so i pulled the trigger and posted.
In the midst of this I was seeing a lot of discourse on tumblr about a lack of engagement on ao3. So i told myself that was fine and if even one person liked it, that was enough.
But honestly…i was really pleasantly surprised. I was getting kudos! I even got a couple of consistent commenters, which was even cooler. (Hi @elf-trash and if anyone else is here know that you are very important to me) and i guess i don’t know what counts as a normal amount of engagement, but any at all felt really special.
And then, a couple weeks after i posted my first few chapters @thedissonantverses tagged me in a WIP game and forced me (lovingly) to link to my fic here. And at first, that felt really scary. BUT through that i was able to find a really amazing, supportive community that includes lots of other writers/ artists who are also very talented and kind. ( @basedonconjecture @pinayelf @flowersforthemachines i know there are more of you so please know i appreciate you)
So all i want to say is thank you for your support its been really amazing and it’s only made me want to write more. I have at least two more works planned because you guys have made it so much fun. (which isn’t to say i didn’t consider deleting it at least 13 times. I did. But i think that’s normal)
And to any writers/artists who are my new mutuals i am going to keep tagging you in WIP Wednesday and promoting your work because i want everyone to have the same support for their work that I’ve gotten. Fandom is just really cool and i feel like I’m rediscovering joy that i haven’t had since i was like fifteen.
Anyway I’m just feeling really emo today and i want you to know ily okay bye
- Tumblr Dragon Age fanfic authors fiercely voluntarily building fandom community and supporting artists+authors
- get back into writing fanfic and writing in general after ... many years
- 50 millionth playthrough, decide to make my DA2 Hawke a bard
- start making playlists for her
- mmmm not enough
- start dusting off VERY old skills
- teaching myself animation
- start practicing and playing music again??? first time in adult life??? holy shit???
- writing + art + music my forgotten holy trifecta
- oh my god I feel so free. so happy
- I am having so much fun off in my little corner but it's because of Fandom and I love you all and also shout-out specifically to @hyperions-light and @thedissonantverses and others 💜 bless u
A personal, rambling, Veilguard/Taash positive post.
I shouldn't have to disclaimer this, but this post is not bashing anyone's religion, I'm just talking about my personal experience with it.
2nd Disclaimer: This post contains mentions of feeling gender dysphoria, implied or stated religious trauma, and personal life experiences that add to the feelings of positivity towards the game and the characters within it.
Anyone who has seen my posts as of late will know I went on a bit of a downward spiral for a bit, but to turn it back around in light of some recent events and a post I saw(not sure when) I want to acknowledge something about The Veilguard.
You can say what you want about the game because having your own opinion is your right, but I for one am glad I gave it a chance despite the naysayers and haters because it gave me something I desperately needed as I battled with depression and constant ongoing fear and isolation based on my own gender identity.
I've never made it a secret that I don't really have any friends(I have 1 and I would kill for her), my parents kept me isolated like a lot of dangerously dogmatic Christians do(got nothing against the religion just the people who use it for evil). I didn't even meet anyone and engage with the world outside my immediate family until I was 17 and went to college(much t my parents chagrin).
Which for anyone who grew up that way, knows how the world will chew you up and spit you out in a broken heap because you were always taught the world is evil and only your family is safe and can be trusted because religion blah blah. And on top of that you have no life skills. I never went to school, I was homeschooled. And I failed abysmally.
But I digress, so let's get back on track.
I didn't realize I was Trans/Nonbinary until I was in my late 20's because my parents keep everything very strict, anything alphabet mafia is THE DEVIL!!! and should be ignored/vilified and etc.
Of course I knew something was up when I was 11 because that was when I started having massive bouts of gender dysphoria. I knew I wasn't what I was born as but obviously never had the words for it.
It wasn't until my friend came out as Trans to me a little while before Veilguard came out that I started to understand what I was feeling was everything that can be ascribed to someone born into the wrong body.
But with how I'm stuck with living, I am forced to hide all this about myself because it is not safe to be out and proud, so I'm in the closet and only out and proud on discord and tumblr. Each day I am forced into something I know in my heart I'm not.
So, for a moment, put yourself in my shoes and imagine what it was like to have a game that not only let me choose my pronouns/identity and used them in the conversations but also presented me with a character that I could relate to so deeply, Taash.
This game made me cry for a few reasons but what always stuck with me was Taash and their journey. That I could be the person I wish I had during the whole "figuring myself out" phase, for them.
It healed a part of myself that raged and despaired at my circumstances, and it solidified in my heart and mind that I am nonbinary as well as Trans.
Do I understand it all yet? No, and I don't really have a lot of resources outside of google to help with that either. But just having a form of engagement that let me be myself even in fantasy, and be the rock and beacon for someone else during their time of confusion and frustration, means so damn much to me, to a level you will never understand. Unless you've also lived it.
And in another vein, Veilguard brought back my creativity. I talked about this in another post but I had my spark killed by other fandoms, and that's part of why I pulled back from this one because i can't deal with the people who can crush my soul, again. I have precious few things in this life, and my enjoyment of certain mediums is one of them.
I have fics with hundreds of thousands of words that will never see the light of day because of the fandoms they were written for and the horrible people in them who ruined and murdered all my joy and love for the thing the fandom was about. I also recently purged my Ao3 for when I hopefully have something to upload to it.
Thanks to the DA fandom I've also had my writers block(that I've had for months) fought off in a valiant battle(lol) and all it took was some honesty and a second opinion. Well, and the admittedly anxiety-inducing decision I made to reach out to mutuals/followers for their advice.
I've said that this fandom is a lot of things and I'll always be DA fandom critical, but I'm also DA fandom positive because there are a lot of good people here too, they are just oft drowned out in the weeds and thorns of the less savory kind; if my block list is any indication.
No game series has ever made me want to be as creative as I have been with my crochet either. I'm slowly working my way through the Veilguard companions. And though Assan is really trying my patience and I want to throw him across the room because I can't get his limbs right, I wouldn't change that desire to create and perfect a plushie, for anything in the world. Especially right now.
Its given me a focus and a drive, and in my life that's something I can never take for granted.
So, in conclusion, maybe The Veilguard isn't a lot of things that people wanted, but I think we need to acknowledge that it was exactly what a lot of people needed too.
There are so many good takes on the game that I have read. About how the game deals with grief and its underlying message of it, about how important the inclusion of certain marginalized groups(LGBT) in it, is(especially in light of current events). I was wonderfully represented in this game and I'll always love The Veilguard for that.
No one will ever make me hate you. You're my flawed diamond in the rough.
