Wow, tagged by so many people on this one today. Thanks! (Rather than list all of you here, I'm just going to tag my whole list at the end.)
I did one like this a while back, but this is definitely a different quiz, so have fun comparing!
You can take the quiz here
Let's actually start with...
Aelinn Hawke
like the burn marks on my hands
you need to be loved gently, taken care of. you need to let yourself b taken care of. you deserve the kindness. you deserve to have fingertips pressed to yours, you deserve soft smiles and quiet laughs. you need to be kissed in the middle of the night, you need to be told it’s okay. you’re used to aggressive love, you you need it gently.
Oh dear. Yeah, that suits.
And then...
Tyria Lavellan
like a child loves the rain
you need to be loved in happiness and foolishness. a puppy love, a love so purely good, so full of happiness it makes your stomach ache. you need to be loved in a way that reminds you of the childhood you didn’t get to have. you need to be loved as if you’re feeling the rain fall upon your cheeks for the first time. refreshing, and clean.
Okay, aside from "the childhood you didn't get to have," this feels very Tyria.
And the reason we started with those two...
Castelin Cousland and Saadrah Mercar
(was because Cas got the same result as Saadrah)
till the end of forever
you need to be loved unconditionally. you need to be reminded that love is not temporary, that you deserve it. that those who love you will not leave. you need to be loved the way angels love humanity. or how devils love angels. you need to be loved in greatness, in fullness, you need to be loved hard and fierce. loud, shout it to the ends of the earth, your love won’t leave. you need to be loved when nothing else will be. you need to realize you are worthy even through the end.
My lady bookends, it seems.
Tag, everybody! (or hi, those who tagged me or don't feel like doing the quiz!)
Well, if this isn't stupidly cute. ;) Thanks for the tag, @mushrooms-x-moss!
Make your ferret OC here! 🐾
And, well, Fern went and made Emmrich to go with Ayla, so I figured I should do like the duck picrew and make the girls' love interests to go wtih them too.
Castelin and Alistair
Crowns, of course, and Cas is definitely the scrapper between the two of them. Alistair's just here to have fun.
Aelinn and Fenris
Hawke is the little demon in tube rat form, while Fenris would just prefer to be left alone to nap.
Tyria and Cullen
Tyria loves everybody. Cullen thinks the office supplies are his, and probably hoards them.
Okay, apparently if I'm tagged once, my brain goes "I don't think I have anything to fill out for this," but if I'm tagged twice, the gears start turning. 🤷♀️ Go figure. Thanks for the tags, @redaresss and @maagisterpavus!
1. Does your OC die before or after their lover? How old are they when they die?
2. How did they die?
3. What were their last words?
4. How are they mourned? How do all their loved ones react?
So for starters, I'm a consummate lover of happy endings. Sure, I can come up with more tragic ones (and have!), but for my DA ladies, it's Happily Ever After please. But let's see if anything comes up while I'm filling this out.
Castelin Cousland
1. Does your OC die before or after their lover? How old are they when they die?
Well, for starters, I have Headcanons™ for her and Alistair. I know there are theories bouncing around about Alistair not suffering the Calling because of dragon blood in the Theirin line, and I'm more than happy to roll with that as an excuse for him to live. Meanwhile, Castelin was searching for a cure during DAI, and I say she found one (limited in scope to just her until she can find someone to help engineer it into a solution for other Wardens too), so neither of them will be going because of that.
Honestly, I'm thinking they probably pass within hours of each other, around age 70 or so (somewhat shortened life due to the Joining, but definitely longer than the ~30 years they were told). Castelin would go first, and Alistair wouldn't be that far behind her because she was his anchor.
2. How did they die?
Quietly, in their sleep (for both her and Alistair). I think the two of them were reading together before bed, and she turned in early because she was extra tired. He realized she was gone, and just...went to sleep next to her and followed her.
3. What were their last words?
"Good night."
4. How are they mourned? How do all their loved ones react?
Their son arranges for a country-wide memorial to honor them, and they get a statue at the rebuilt Warden fortress at Weisshaupt. Their loved ones (any who are still around) are sad, but also comforted because it was peaceful.
Aelinn Hawke
1. Does your OC die before or after their lover? How old are they when they die?
Hawke dies after Fenris does. I expect the lyrium tattoos take a toll on him, especially later in life, so it's honestly something a relief when he passes and she carries on for her children. Maybe settles down and learns to play proper politics in Kirkwall, maybe takes up a position managing the Reformed Circle there as its First Enchanter. I think Fenris passes in his early 60s, while Hawke holds on stubbornly until she's almost 90 and is very much a firecracker the whole way (to the frustration of any Knight-Commanders she has to work with).
2. How did they die?
Heart attack in the Gallows courtyard after a meeting with the Templars.
3. What were their last words?
"Oh, thank the Maker, finally."
4. How are they mourned? How do all their loved ones react?
The mage students hold a vigil (which includes actual firecrackers, despite the protests of the senior enchanters). Of Hawke's friend group, only Merrill remains (and in my headcanon worldstate, she and Carver hooked up so she's family too), so rather than go and get roaring drunk at the Hanged Man like the friend group did for the others' passing, she instead visits Hawke's and Fenris's children and gets drunk there.
Tyria Lavellan
1. Does your OC die before or after their lover? How old are they when they die?
Cullen is surprised when he outlives his wife. He would have sworn that being a Templar was a hard enough life that he would have gone first. But she passes in her early 80s, while he hangs on for another seven years.
2. How did they die?
Nothing to do with the Anchor, thankfully. She simply catches a respiratory infection one winter and it wears away at her, and she passes right after seeing the first blooms in her garden open up for spring.
3. What were their last words?
"Cullen, look." (Pointing out the flowers.)
4. How are they mourned? How do all their loved ones react?
The family holds a Dalish-style memorial with her clan, and then a small Andrastian memorial at home. (There's a big Andrastian memorial in Orlais as well; no one from the family attends.)
Cullen then spends the next seven years organizing her notes with the help of his oldest grandchild, and publishes his own memoir about the Inquisition with her notes mixed in. He and his grandchild know that the Chantry will probably do what the Chantry does with "uncomfortable" history and portray the second Inquisitor as something more acceptable than a Dalish mage, but they can at least share their side of things. And maybe being Commander Rutherford will hold some weight.
Saadrah Mercar
1. Does your OC die before or after their lover? How old are they when they die?
Saadrah survives Lucanis by a couple of years. Both of them live to their 90s, a most impressive feat for a Crow in Lucanis's case.
2. How did they die?
Lucanis passes in his sleep. No one knows what happened to Spite after that. Once it's clear that Spite isn't puppeting his body after his death, Lucanis is cremated, as per general Thedosian custom.
As for Saadrah? Well, that's the bigger mystery. Saadrah spent those couple of years after Lucanis's death telling stories to her grandchildren and providing instruction as needed, but mostly wandering and taking on odd jobs here and there (for both the Shadow Dragons and the Antivan Crows) and apparently searching for something. All her family knows is that one day, she left a note and all of her weapons behind, walked through the eluvian into the Crossroads, and has not been seen since. More than a few suspect Spite might have been involved.
3. What were their last words?
Spoken? Probably something related to wishing her family a good night. The note told her family not to worry, that she'd found what she needed and everything would be fine, and reminded them all to look after each other, because her Shadows should stand together. The note also asks them not to make a big deal of things, and to carry on with their lives.
4. How are they mourned? How do all their loved ones react?
No, her family doesn't go prowling through the Crossroads for her. A few might try to retrace her steps, just in case she was showing signs of wandering senility in her advanced age, but they only got so far as the outskirts of the Converged City before the trail disappeared, and the only people who could ever find her when she didn't want to be found were her older brother and Lucanis/Spite, and both are gone.
Instead, they have a small, family-only memorial that includes any surviving family of the rest of the Veilguard as well (found family is still family), sharing drinks and stories long into the night, and then they place an empty jar in the same alcove as the one that holds Lucanis's ashes and say nothing more of it, per her wishes.
Challenge level: write out my happy endings but try to make them all at least a little different from each other (rather than four iterations of "they lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully in their sleep").
Okay, turns out thanks to some downtime today where I could brainstorm and be silly, I actually have this a lot sooner than expected. 😁 Thanks for the tags, @redaresss, @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai, @mushrooms-x-moss, and @rooks-dagger! Yours were all fun to read!
I used the fake text generator HERE, but there are also options HERE and HERE.
Castelin and Alistair
Sorry, Alistair, but spam-texting your wife during important meetings you're both attending is maybe not the best thing to be doing.
More below the cut because tall images.
Aelinn and Fenris
I'll just...let this one speak for itself.
Tyria and Cullen
You know Cullen is a consummate workaholic in every universe, and you know Tyria can weaponize his sister against him if she needs to.
Saadrah and Lucanis
Lighthouse breakroom fridge, anyone?
Tags to invite people to see (and hopefully laugh).
Thanks for the tag, @sorcerousadventurer, @sandcastlekings, and @necromanticsoul!
Here's the picrew
Horns! But limited skintone and eye color options, and no elf ears. Oh well, I'll live. :)
First row, we have Castelin and Alistair, fresh from a fight defending Ferelden post-game, perhaps? Or at least the doll versions of them being sold in the Denerim market (possibly direct from Orzammar). And then we have Hawke and Fenris, with equal parts sass and judgment stitched into their little faces.
And for the second row, Tyria and Cullen in a post-game peaceful moment together. And then Saadrah and Lucanis (and Spite), dressed up for a nice dinner or some such.
Thanks for the tags, @serialsforbellara, @sorcerousadventurer, and @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai! Took a break from other things to pull this together.
It's summer here and I want to see your OCs at the beach! Do they like the beach? What are they wearing? And how do they spend their time there?
And I could have just gone with photos pulled from the internet, but I have fashion bases for the ladies (because one of these months years days I'm going to draw their in-universe wardrobes), so I drew their beach-wear instead. :)
Behold, four ladies and their idea of what to wear to the beach! Yaps below the cut.
Castelin gets to dress like I do at the beach. Racer-back tank (yes, it's Warden-themed, though mine IRL is just striped) and board shorts, because then that's less skin you have to slather with sunblock, and then a hat to keep the sun off her face and and a flowy cover-up for a touch of girliness. Practical sandals that won't fall off, though. She probably burns easier than I do, though.
Hawke, meanwhile, went the bikini route, but with a practical sport style rather than something meant more for fashion. While I do wear a big hat like Cas does for just existing on the beach, a visor like Hawke has is what I wear when out on the water (more secure, dries easier, probably won't fall apart if it gets wet). In Hawke's case, it's mostly for keeping the sun out of her eyes while she ropes the other ladies into beach volleyball. (Not pictured: shorts and an oversized beach shirt for her cover-up.)
Tyria's sense of beach style trends more toward the fashionable but not too revealing type, so she's got a one-piece swimsuit and a sarong. Barefoot sandals because Dalish, other coordinating jewelry and a big flower for her hair, sunglasses because sometimes it's just too bright. Cullen's coin as a necklace.
Saadrah, of all people, has the smallest swimsuit because she likes showing off her wing tattoos. Her cover-up is a lace wrap for the same reason, which she ties around her hips when she has to hit the shops, and she adds some beachy jewelry to coordinate. She prefers basic flip-flops, easy to kick off as needed, and because she's my knife nut, she gets a diving knife strapped to one calf.
They all like the beach well enough, and Hawke is totally going to try to get a 2 v 2 game going. Who should be on each team? ;)
Finished my Cullentine @rutherfest piece for this week. I present to you Tyria holding Cullen and soothing him through withdrawal symptoms.
Safe and solid, protecting and proud. He feels like quiet, stronger when you hold him. — Cole
This was...a ride.
So I originally was trying to do this as painting practice with a limited palette, and experimenting with how I painted it. It really wasn't working out. I overworked it while trying to push and pull it into something I liked, and I considered scrapping it back to just the sketch at least twice. I ended up turning off (and then deleting) a few of the overdone layers and landed on something that was...fine. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.
The picture above is not that picture.
The picture I ended up with after the first attempt was this one:
Like I said, I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.
But I wasn't going to mess with it further, so I went to bed. Woke up the next day still disappointed, and spent the bulk of the day largely dissatisfied with it. So I decided that yes, I was, in fact, going to start over from the sketch phase again.
This time, I went with a method I'm more used to. Laid down the flat colors (in a warmer palette this time), shaded on a layer above that (using the flats to keep my shading in set areas with the magic wand tool, and keeping the shading softer and simpler), then colored the lineart and applied a handful of adjustment effects to unify the final product a bit better. And I'm much happier with the new one. The mood of it has changed too, with the different color scheme.
So, I guess this is a lesson in perseverance (fitting for this pair), and being willing to try again when something doesn't work. And also letting it sit for a day first.
Anyway, for comparison, sketch and the two painted versions below so you can see them side-by-side.
Yeah, I definitely like the redo best (sketch is second place).
Wanted to show off a preview of my piece I'm doing for @rutherfest's Cullentine event this weekend, because I'm pretty proud of how the sketch turned out.
This went through a few different structure layers to get everything to sit right (along with tracing a photo of my own left hand for Tyria's left hand so I could get the finger positions exactly how I wanted them). I might tone down just how much hair is in Tyria's bangs (especially the part hanging forward), because it's looking a little 80s right now. But I'm really happy with the lines of her face, and also (after a bunch of wrestling with it) Cullen's face.
My plan is to do a rough painting exercise with this one. Keep it loose, keep it fast. Maybe use a limited color palette. We'll see. :)
