#volkoss

[emmg]

Plot twist: Rook meets Johanna for the first time and Emmrich just goes

“Oh no… that’s my ex-wife.”

Except surprise, plot twist inside the plot twist, they’re not divorced. Johanna wifed his ass up for the tax benefits and hasn’t looked back since. She still claims him as a dependent every year and lists “dumb as shit” under his list of qualifying conditions.

Emmrich, for his part, has thought about ending it. Many times. Sat there, pen in hand, ready to sign the paperwork. But then his brain goes, “Wait… would that be rude?” So instead he just kept being her tax husband, wandering the earth with a marriage certificate he’s too polite to void.

Johanna once walked in on him trying to learn how to suck dick from a medical textbook and instead of letting him flounder in peace, she gave him a full demonstration.

Emmrich was over the moon. Thought it was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to him. Got all starry-eyed and asked if they should go get dinner afterward. She ghosted him mid-blowjob. Man was still moaning when she left the room. Didn’t even zip him back up.

Now Emmrich just clings to the hope (prays, really) that Rook loves him for his big, squishy heart and not just his massive, throbbing Mourn Watch health insurance package.

Headcanons brought to you by me and @heylittleriotact spiraling together at 2am

[caughtnyact]

There is no fucking way the second that Emmrich held that Hand of Glory in his he didn't immediately know who it belonged to. A hand that he'd known for decades? A hand that once extended out towards his to pull him out of his own head? A hand so delicate in its own way, weathered by the years but unrelentingly unique? Lie to yourself, Volkarin, but not to me!!

[guacamolleee]

Fic Writer 5 Self Recs

tagged by @justjasper! Thank you so much!! 💖💖💖💖💖 Oh man, it was kind of hard limiting myself to just 5 but I tried! I wrote a lot this year, so here we go (in no particular order)!

Among The Multitudes

Emmrich Volkarin/Thana Ingellvar and Emmrich Volkarin/Johanna Hezenkoss | Mature | 41,111 words

This was my Dragon Age Big Bang 2025 fic, illustrated by the wonderful @the-font-bandit (which you can see in the banner above, the same banner in Chapter 1, and the illustration on Chapter 5!). If you ask me what fic I'm proudest of this year, it would be this one. It was a labor of love, over ~41k words, and is the longest thing I've written and completed to date.

The first word Emmrich learnt to read was Johanna. His eyes followed the sharp edges of each letter, cutting across his right wrist, staking some wordless claim, the ink as dark as blood. Each edge was distinct from the other, downward strokes hard and impressive, straightforward. Emmrich traced each letter — wrote it out, charcoal on paper, on leaves, fingers in the dirt, until they were identical to his skin, until he knew Johanna by heart. Then a second name came after, months later, much more surprising than the first. On his left wrist, all curving swirls, rounded letters, and sweeping lines, much more difficult for his young eyes to follow. The H molded into the A, pressed even closer to the N, as if written in a hurry, ink so light, the word untethered to its writer. Mummy had to help him decipher it, holding him close, her long dark hair plaited, the tips of it tickling his nose. She laughed, bright and tinkling — “Your soulmate has terrible handwriting, my love,” — before settling on Thana. Death. — Or, one Emmrich Volkarin, bearer of two soul marks, and a lifetime's exploration of the different faces of love and heartbreak.

kiss-drunk and sleep-warm

Emmrich Volkarin/F!Rook | Explicit | 5,290 words

This was my Day 7 entry for Emmrich Week 2025, and is, by far, my favorite of my Emmrich Week fics. It's a whole self-indulgent modern AU where Emmrich is a single father that fucks Rook the babysitter lmao. I also think it's one of the hottest things I've ever written.

He would apologize to Rook as soon as he found her — he hadn’t meant to come home so late. She probably had plans like any young adult on a Friday night, though thoroughly derailed at this point. It was so terribly hard to find a capable babysitter these days, especially one that his son adored and who adored him in return. He’d hate to lose her — Emmrich caught himself, clearing his throat as he pulled his scarf off, correcting all too quickly — for Manfred to lose her. At such a tender age, his son needed that stability, something Emmrich knew might not be something he alone could offer between his work and his research. That was all. Certainly nothing more to it. — Or, single dad Emmrich fucks the babysitter. He has a lot of Big Feelings about it. A modern AU.

Sunflowers & Moonblossoms

Sabine Mercar/Rook Thorne | Explicit | 5,513 words

@mushrooms-x-moss (who also made the graphic above!), @introvertedfangrl, and I have been cooking up a storm for our Sabine/Rook/Dominic Crossroads Island AU soap opera, and this fic is my "episode" wherein Sabine and Rook are totally just fucking as friends :) nothing more to see here, folks :)))) This turned out really good, I'm proud of it, and I hope it gets everyone excited for the next "episodes" of what is shaping up to be quite a telenovela lol

Sabine was not a jealous woman. She wasn't, really. But she swore she saw green when she caught Rook wearing that. Midnight blue velvet and silver stars, too big on Rook’s small but muscular frame, and obviously not hers. Though… the shirt was familiar in a way that left Sabine’s stomach churning. Dominic wore that the last time he visited the island when she caught them— Mouth curled into a grimace, she took a deep sip of her cup. Never mind that. — Or, Sabine and Rook kiss and make up — and do quite a bit more than that. Crossroads Island AU

make space for me behind your ribs

Emmrich Volkarin/F!Rook | Explicit | 6,756 words

This was my very first Emmrook fic posted and I owe a lot to it. I really feel like this fic kickstarted the longest creative period of my life and allowed me to make so many wonderful friends in the Emmrich community and the Dragon Age fandom at large. All that in turn allowed me to create and write even more and helped me become more confident in my writing. I love this fic very much :)

Emmrich was certainly no stranger to pleasure, to the shape of a soft body above or below him, hot breath in his ear, bodies flushed together. His years taught him well — such experience he was most willing to use, especially on the brilliant young woman in his arms. — Or, it's Rook's first time and Emmrich is more than happy to introduce her to such carnal pleasures.

sugar apples

Emmrich Volkarin/F!Rook/Johanna Hezenkoss | Explicit | 11,546 words

This is another self-indulgent modern AU where Rook gets to be the sugar baby to both Emmrich and Johanna (god. what a dream). It's a relationship study and I do think I managed to really get through the whole complicated feelings situation between these three lmao. It's my dream to eventually write a long fic set in this universe

Rook preened at the attention, and she supposed this arrangement suited all three of them. Overheated skin, trembling thighs — a sugar apple, swollen and overripe, skin splitting easily between two pairs of hands. — Or, Johanna, Emmrich, Rook, and their arrangement. A modern-day sugar baby AU in the form of a smutty relationship study.

Gentle and no pressure tags for some friends! @broodwoof @veil-song @mushrooms-x-moss @introvertedfangrl @the-font-bandit @thequeenofthewinter @caughtnyact @randomnonsensedragonage @the-bear-and-his-sunbird @rauferes @tevivinter @handsignals @jukkaricity @tarasmom @serstolas @in-the-drowning-deep @woundedsoul12 @arquennial @seaglassmelody and whoever else wants to share! Please tag me!

[volkoss]

Fic: tea and biscuits

A worried Emmrich checks in on Johanna shortly after her expulsion from the Mourn Watch only to discover she has plans of her own.

DRAGON AGE | VOLKOSS | WORDS: 3920 | RATED: E

Emmrich Volkarin had always known himself to be the type of man to overthink his own decisions. What if he were to put a toe out of line? Made choices leading to mistakes beyond rectification? Any slip-up, one moment of misdirected attention, and life’s otherwise inexorable flame could be snuffed out with so little as a misplaced breath! This most basic yet uncontrollable terror haunted him most nights, even slipping into his nightmares, when his subconscious should have been at its most restful, exploring the mysteries of the Fade. However, on this particularly fine evening, Emmrich was spared from the burdensome weight of his suffocating uncertainties for one embarrassingly simple reason: the confidence that tonight’s impending misadventure would undoubtedly be a terrible mistake. Indeed, it would be yet another in a series of many such mistakes he had already made today, such as having been tempted to attend Johanna’s demonstration at the College of Magi in the first place. And after that, what was one (or more?) blunder to supplement the list, truly? Emmirch had initially justified the decision to himself in this way: surely it was only polite to drop in on an old friend while one was in the area (for a given value of ‘in the area’), especially in the aftermath of such shocking, life-altering events (such as being expelled from one’s home of twenty-odd years). He had only wanted to ensure that she… looked well. That she was taking care of herself. You see, despite Emmrich’s numerous disagreements throughout the years with his erstwhile academic partner over matters such as ethical research methodologies and the appropriate applications of power, he had nonetheless harboured no doubt in his mind that their special bond of fondness, fostered over many years, would remain intact. And let the record show that on that count, he had not been mistaken! The unfortunate error he had made in regard to this particular calculation had lain elsewhere, somewhere far more fundamental. Or to put it plain: Johanna Hezenkoss had never been the tea and biscuits type. (Read the rest on AO3!)

[broodwoof]

hi brood 💖💖💖 gonna take this as an excuse to rant about volkoss in your inbox. this is probably incoherent but i have FEELINGS and they will not be contained. theres only five (5) fics under the johanna hezenkoss/emmrich volkarin tag on ao3 and TWO OF THOSE ARE MINE. I JUST NEED MORE, I AM ON THE VOLKOSS AGENDA.

i need the "you were destined for me. perhaps as punishment" vibe, i need the "he knew me by heart. it infuriated me that he knew me by heart" feelings. And its not even like. totally romantic to me personally. I personally headcanon johanna as aromantic and these two are in a queerplatonic relationship *then* a queerplatonic divorce that was hot gossip around necropolis for at least a year once johanna was exiled. they were more than full platonic friends, never quite full lovers either, but they *knew* each other better than anyone. Emmrich the sole soft spot of a woman made of razors and knives and all things sharp. Johanna pulling out the catty mean *ambitious* streak in a man who probably cried the first time he kissed someone or had sex.

they make each other better. they make each other worse. to know emmrich, you have *have* to know johanna too. to get that whole picture of him you need to see the haunting of her trapped in the blood between his rib bones!!!!!! in the blood and viscera of his guts!!!!!!!!!!! the "ITS SOMETHING TENDER. TENDER LIKE A BRUISE" thing going on or something!!!!!!!!!!

AND IN AN EMMLICH PATH, skull johanna could very much be the only person left of his old life. Manfred's gone, rook eventually dies, all his mortal friends also die. And who is left of his old life? Who was there from the start and somehow is still there at the end? JOHANNA THAT'S WHO. "ITS YOU. IT'S ALWAYS YOU" kind of thing you know what i mean??? There at the start and there at the end, tragically intertwined whether they like it or not, when their mortal lives become a only fleeting memory AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

clutches you and spins around

yes!!!! YES!!!!! listen i have been SOLD on the volkoss train since i first came across it mentioned. idek who said it first what is memory but i know i am INTO IT

they are soooo!!!! you literally said it so perfectly, they are just entwined, connected in a way that is so fundamental, so foundational, to the both of them!!!

you can't truly know emmrich if you don't know johanna!

and you can't truly know johanna if you don't know emmrich!!!!!

even before i hopped on the volkoss train i was utterly fascinated by the depth of their relationship. like... johanna is, on the surface, literally everything emmrich is opposed to! it was so tragic realizing that his enemy, his antagonist, was his old best friend

....but that wasn't enough lmao. no, no, it was never going to stop at "i have to turn against my best friend and that's horrible" it went all the way to emmrich announcing that he would have helped johanna achieve lichdom! and me fully, 110%, believing then and now that he would have!

don't get me wrong, they're very different individuals, but i think if i say that to me there is a lot of the same energy solas and mythal have, ppl will get how into them i truly am lmao. but that push and pull, the it-won't-work BUT it's-the-only-thing-that-works, the aching beating heart of you that is another entire person and you can't remove it!! you can't cut it out bc u can't live without it! without them!

they are just sooo woven together, it's unbelievable. and johanna is so cruel and so twisted up but even the fact that she can cut right into his core is evidence of how connected they really, truly are, how deeply known they are to each other

also i am living for the aromantic johanna, queerplatonic marriage, queerplatonic divorce vibes oh my god.... absolutely galaxy brained take my friend. and the frustration of it all! the "i found my person and i am their person and it had to work and it couldn't work and won't work but it has to and it will and it won't and-" augh....

"Emmrich the sole soft spot of a woman made of razors and knives and all things sharp." 😭😭😭 thisssss!!! he's her weakness!!! he's her vulnerable spot! literally him, the man himself, emmrich volkarin standing in front of her in veilguard; but also what he represents, what he reminds her of, the potential of youth and the particular kind of love they shared and the vibrancy of that time being full of potential even as it was quite certainly stained by deepest arrogance.

and now she's here and she's done what she's done and she's corrupted herself for her goals and she's failed to achieve those goals (at least in full) and god, it must smart. i imagine for a woman like johanna, she reads contempt into his willingness to help her, had she just asked. she doesn't need emmrich and she doesn't want that vulnerability! she wants to crush it! and if she can't attack the feeling inside her, well, she can attack the man himself-

and then. god. then. as you say. lich emmrich and skull johanna and they are just... bound together for eternity, really. a failed lich and a full lich, and he never preens or gloats about it, even though were the positions reversed she certainly would, and they both know that, and know that the other knows that, and so on-

but also they are just... there. and in some ways it hearkens back to those early academic days. long discussions that stretched carelessly into the night, only now it is careless because neither of them (i assume) need sleep, neither of them will age, and neither of them will die

and johanna has to be grateful he's there. not that she'd say it! or if she does, it'd be so far down the line and even then i find it hard to imagine. but deep inside, she has to be grateful that she's not abandoned to eternity alone, a skull without anything to distract her, perhaps even lost in the depths of the necropolis

instead she has emmrich, who has everything she wants, has it in the fullness she desired it, and has her completely at his mercy...

and literally all he does is make sure she's somewhere safe and talk to her. read books to her or sets them up for her. and they get to experience eternity and neither of them has to be entirely alone and-

😭😭😭😭

[caughtnyact]

Emmrich and Johanna live in my fucking head rent-free and I will never be over them. There is no universe in which they have a happy ending. Nobody is doing it like them!!

I could talk forever about how I see them as parallels to Falon'Din and Dirthamen:

The oldest stories never even name them directly, referring to Falon’Din as “Dirthamen’s shadow,” and Dirthamen as “Falon’Din’s reflection.” -- Codex Entry: Twins in Shadow

Johanna is everything Emmrich always wished he was- divorced from fear, bold enough to go where nobody else is willing to. He is jealous of her, in some ways living in her shadow. But Emmrich is also everything Johanna is not, and he reflects back to her all of her own shortcomings. He is outgoing, genuinely happy with his life lived, recognized as one of the most talented individuals amongst their Order.

"You are lost, and soon you will fade," the raven named Fear said to Dirthamen.

Emmrich, Friend to the Dead, a Fear of death rooted in not knowing what happens after, in fading into the unknown.

"Your brother has abandoned you. He no longer loves you," said the other, named Deceit.

Johanna, obsessed with knowledge, abandoned by the Order and by the only person she's ever cared about. Allowed to be twisted by ego and loneliness into Deceit.

'Divided. Cold. Two graves where there should be one.' -- Short Story: The Flame Eternal

Two fragments of a whole that fly apart like magnets. Inject them directly into my veins for real

[guacamolleee]

WIP Wednesday 💀

tagged by @fadetouchedlurker! Thank you so much!

A little Hezemmrook (Johanna/Emmrich/Rook) WIP for @mournwatchweek next week! Preview is not quite smut, but Rook is naked and it gets steamy

This is also set in the same modern AU as sugar apples, my sugar baby relationship study fic 😏😏😏

“Aren't either of you going to join me?”

Rook glanced behind her — Emmrich and Johanna were seated across the bedroom, facing her, a small coffee table between them.

“No.” Johanna flicked the ash from her cigarette into the ashtray, narrowing her eyes at Rook. “Strip, pet.”

Emmrich inhaled the smallest of breaths, leaning on his hand, elbow on the arm of the chair. He did not say a word.

She complained, a petulant little pout on her features that always made Emmrich laugh and give in, “Aw, but it’s no fun if it’s just—”

“Impudent girl. I should take you over my knee, but I think you’d like this that, wouldn’t you?” Johanna scowled, a fierce look on her face that made it difficult to protest. “Now strip. Do not make me ask again.”

Following without another word, Rook resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead focusing on the command: strip.

Slowly, the whisper of silk — true, expensive silk — over her skin, fingers tracing her neck as the other hand pulled the belt of her sheer dressing gown until it came free. Rook’s blood heated as she palmed her breasts, her stomach, her hips, watching them watch her, silk finally dropping to the floor with a single shrug.

Emmrich crossed his legs, always one to hide his desires when they played their games like this. Johanna did too with a sharpness that belied her arousal. How similar they were, though they would both deny it, especially the latter. Rook could almost laugh, but instead she looked at them expectantly, waiting for the next command.

With heated eyes, Emmrich spoke, hand reaching for her, “Darling, you are—”

“Quiet, you lickspittle,” Johanna snapped, words stinging. “I didn’t say you could talk.”

At that, Emmrich quieted again. But still he held his hand out, Rook happily obliging and sauntering toward him, hips swaying, feeling two sets of eyes watching her closely. When their hands met, he pressed her knuckles to his lips, the gentleman that he was, already pretending that Rook wasn’t naked before him. Though what she spotted beneath his trousers told a very different story.

Rook couldn’t help it, she pressed one knee between his legs, nudging them apart, Emmrich inhaling sharply and yet still did not speak, eyes half-lidded, waiting for what she would do next. The power was heady, going straight to her head, and she fell forward, brushing her knee against his clothed cock, jumping at the simple touch. She pressed again, deliberately, body curving to ghost her lips over Emmrich’s and—

Sharp nails against wood, tap, tap, tap. The sound jerked Rook from her path.

“Come here, pet.” The words were carefully neutral, but the underlying threat had Rook’s breath hitching, pulling away from Emmrich and sashayed over to Johanna instead. Johanna took her chin between her fingers, nail digging into skin, and forced Rook to look at her. “You do not kiss him. Understand?”

Rook swallowed then nodded.

“Good.” Johanna let go of her. “Now get on the bed.”

Gentle tags for a few friends: @thequeenofthewinter @broodwoof @veil-song @the-bear-and-his-sunbird @mushrooms-x-moss @onelooseskull @curiouswisp @handsignals @tevivinter @jukkaricity @redheadsramblings @woundedsoul12 @kirain and whoever else wants to play! Tag me!

[guacamolleee]

WIP Wednesday

tagged by my beloved @thequeenofthewinter

hello, here I am again offering the sugar baby fic. I hope ya'll aren't getting tired of it lmao.

this is Rook's POV because I am FINALLY done with Johanna's and Emmrich's. Going to start posting it on Friday-ish

Lunch had been lovely, it always was. But later, much later, they both had taken Rook for dinner, Emmrich always so keen on wining and dining her, as if to make up for something she couldn't quite put her finger on yet. Then the rain came down hard and dessert had to be served at home — Rook spoiled rotten from the attention. Johanna agreed.

“You spoiled little thing.” Johanna leaned over her, breath hot on the back of Rook's neck, sharp teeth dragging along skin, leaving a trail of bright red. “Coddled, over-indulged.”

“Yes, yes, yes–”

On hands and knees, Rook was split open on Johanna's cock — a large, heavy thing, ribbed for pain and pleasure both, and she swore she could feel it deep in her cunt and all the way to the back of her throat. Johanna wound a fist through her hair, pulling her neck back and exposing her throat to Emmrich. The forced arch of her spine hurt, cock driven deeper until she could not keep the tears spilling down her cheeks. Emmrich brushed his thumb over her eyes, gentle, always gentle, where Johanna was not.

“No, I don't think so, Johanna,” he softly disagreed, stroking down her cheek, playing with the bottom of her kiss-swollen lips.

“No?” Johanna raised a brow at him.

Yelping when Johanna pulled her hair harder, Rook was on her knees, arms useless as she scrambled for stability. Emmrich scooted closer, pressing her hands to his shoulders, her nails cutting into his skin when Johanna gave another sharp thrust, breath forced out of her lungs.

“Did you hear that, pet?” Johanna's voice turned low, right by her ear, the curl of arousal in her gut only tightening. “Tell me — who's right?”

“I— I—”

It was difficult to think, much less speak, the world a flurry of sensation and feeling, words losing meaning in the onslaught — Johanna's hand a tight fist in her hair, her other sharp on her jugular. Johanna could kill Rook right there if she wanted to — and the thrill of it swooped low in Rook's gut, slick weeping from her overstuffed cunt.

Then, Emmrich — oh, sweet Emmrich. Kissing her shoulder, light as a butterfly's wing, her breast spilling in his hand, kneading it until she whimpered and mewled under his touch. His other hand sneaked between her legs, tracing along her folds, feeling where she was split obscenely open before catching on her clit, expert fingers knowing exactly how much pressure to use to leave her gasping and clenching around Johanna's cock.

Overheated skin, trembling thighs — a sugar apple, swollen and overripe, skin splitting easily between two pairs of hands.

Emmrich nudged her, circling the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs. “Tell us, darling. You can do it.”

“I—” She sucked in harsh breaths, attempting to grasp at the words. She wanted to be good, for herself, for them — but her mind continued to draw a blank. “I— I don't know.”

Rook is very spoiled or not spoiled enough. Depends on who you ask 😔

gentle, no pressure tags for my dear friends @caughtnyact @the-bear-and-his-sunbird @randomnonsensedragonage @broodwoof @vivispec @volkoss @the-font-bandit @librivore42 @curiouswisp @hedwigoprah @silshinobii @rook-de-rivas and whoever would like to share! Tag me! 💖