dragon age character study fic recs

I'm back with another fic rec list, this time focusing on character studies! There were so many more than five that I flagged as interesting 👀 when I was putting this together, so there's definitely a chance that this theme makes a repeat in the future.

Check these awesome fics out! And leave a comment + kudos to let the author know you did💜

Vote in this poll to help me choose a theme for next week's rec list (:

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New Tricks by Penknife (@penknife)

Dorian Pavus & Cullen Rutherford, Josephine Montilyet & Cullen Rutherford & Leliana | G | 1968 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: Five times Cullen found that he didn't have to do everything the hard way. Mer's Rec: If you're into Cullen & Dorian friendship, or really any Cullen friendship, this fic will be right up your alley. Penknife does an excellent job of contrasting Dorian as a beleaguered academic (beloved) with Cullen's quieter intelligence. They also highlight Cullen as a strategist and commander, not just the "send the troops" guy, and the advisor interactions resonate with coworker friend energy, which I loved. I always adore fics that explore Cullen's habits and traits leftover from so many years as a Templar and this story seamlessly weaves in those details, which brings a real depth to both Cullen and his interactions.

Names Are Cloaks by EllanaSan

Female Adaar & Josephine Montilyet | G | 2963 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: They can’t have that, she supposes, the Herald of Andraste being called names behind her back… The only way the situation could have been worse is if she had been an elf. She could tell the ambassador that there are people in this very camp disrespecting her at every turn but she is far too used to it to care. They call her oxwoman. They call her witch. They call her chosen or your worship. They call her Tal-Vashoth. Names are weapons. For the bearer to hold and to wield. Names are cloaks. For the bearer to wrap themselves in and discard when outgrown. Mer's Rec: With Bioware's scant lore about Qunari and the Qun, I was impressed by how this story immersed me in Adaar's history. Tidbits from canon interwoven with fascinating-slash-heartbreaking details about the Qun, Vashoth, and Saarebas, plus her introspective musings on the past and her identity make this Adaar stand out from the cookie-cutter protagonist in the best way. I want to know more about her! From Josephine's dialogue and mannerisms to the uncertainty, fear, and alienation the Herald can experience in Haven, everything about this story feels like it could be straight out of the DAI canon.

I have outlived the night by lilith_morgana (@senseandaccountability)

Loghain Mac Tir, Minor/Background Relationships | T | 2106 words | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Author's Summary: He's five, he's eighteen, nineteen, twenty, forty-six, and fifty-five, he's fifty-six, fifty-seven and ready to die. Instead, he lives. Mer's Rec: The emotion in this fic is so palpable, so visceral, and it slaps you in the face the way careful consideration of complicated characters should. With repeated contrasts between Loghain in his youth versus his later years, the author takes us on a journey from hot-headed kid to weary veteran, and it just makes your heart ache😭 It features strong exposition on Loghain's motives, feelings, and regrets during the Fifth Blight, which I love to see since it's fairly absent from the game itself. Their portrayal of Loghain in Inquisition also felt fresh and different, including a conversation with Cullen, which is a dynamic I hadn't considered before and found incredibly interesting to read. And of course it ends on a bittersweet note, as it always does with Loghain.

To Yield Is Not Weak by disasterhawke

Alistair/Anora Mac Tir | M | 4018 words | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Author's Summary: She may not like her new husband, but Anora Theirin is not about to let the world treat him like it has treated her. She will do whatever it takes to earn his trust. This is not quite what he expects. An Anora character study that explores her arranged marriage to her husband's bastard brother. Mer's Rec: this 👏 was 👏 everything I wanted out of an Alistair/Anora fic! While I think antagonism between those two has a place, this fic explored their relationship through the lens of teaching and working together, rather than animosity. It works SO well and there was a definite give-and-take, with Anora running the show immediately post-coronation, but gradually softening her harsher edges and highlighting Alistair's strengths while they grow as rulers. Anora's internal monologue, not only about Alistair, but also Cailan and Loghain, does a fantastic job showing the humanity she usually has to hide, without diminishing her competence in the least.

when the bough breaks by gummies (orphaned)

Morrigan, Flemeth | G | 1124 words | No Archive Warnings Apply Author's Summary: In her hands, the mouse is kept still. The only movement Morrigan feels from it is the beating of its tiny heart. With her eyes closed, it almost seems that she is holding in her hands its heart alone. Tiny, vulnerable, and so stutteringly fast. It must be afraid, Morrigan muses. Something twinges in her chest. Empathy. She cannot help the flare of protectiveness inside her. For now, the mouse is hers. Plucked from the world from whence it came, tucked away and safe. She wonders if this is how Mother feels of her. Mer's Rec: What struck me most about this fic was the author's grasp of character voices. Flemeth is just as cunning and calculating as she comes across in game, but I was beyond impressed by their young!Morrigan. I could see and hear so clearly how Morrigan would get from the childlike hope she has in this story to the harsher, bitter Morrigan we meet in game. I don't even know how they did that, but it was incredible to read, even as this slice of Morrigan's childhood and her abuse at Flemeth's hands was breaking my heart.

Don't forget to get your fic and art recs lined up for tomorrow's Fan Work Friday!

warden-commander Aedan is So Done you guys ft Anora and some Cousland armor ✌️

mistress to the king and queen of ferelden

so’nan tabris belongs to @mermianar

POV you are Celia Mac Tir

World of Thedas Vol 2 / The Near Witch by E.W. Schwab / Vikings S04e14 / House of the Dragon S01E07 / The Pain Scale by Eula Biss / Mathilda by Mary Shelley / Woke Up New by The Mountain Goats / Isolde by Gaston Bussière (1911) / Engravings Torn from Insomnia by Olga Orozco / The Last Toast by Anna Akhmatova

1) Aeducan deserves much more love & attention 2) Oghren is a buddy fu 3) LET ANORA KISS A LADY DWARF GODDAMNIT!!

⁽ᵒʳᶦᵍᶦⁿᵃˡ ᵘⁿᵈᵉʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵘᵗ⁾

one thing that i think is true about anora is that she’s so accustomed to ruling as anora-and-cailan she’s forgotten that it wasn’t just her. it’s so typically mac tir to forget that diplomacy and winning hearts actually matter instead of simply being the meaningless frippery of politics that someone has to do before we can get to the cold hard work. cailan’s contribution to the partnership was his charm and popularity. anora is blunt, as direct in her ruthlessness and betrayals as she is in her leadership, and too proud to lie or apologise, all of which is her greatest shortcoming as a ruler and certainly the number one reason players and wardens keep her from the throne. and that’s not players and wardens being superficial; this is a major deficiency for a ruler. having the charm to easily convince the warden to like and back her is a skill she could have and doesn’t. having staunch allies in denerim that answer to her not her father is a skill she could have and doesn’t. there’s a reason the epilogue slides for a partnership with alistair emphasise him contributing with the kind of travelling and people pleasing fundamental to medieval kingship, which anora never seems to bother with on her own

i don’t say any of this to put down anora; from a player’s perspective all of it strengthens her character, and from an in-world perspective, alistair’s equally as incapable of doing what she does. i just like to discuss that her style of ruthlessness and directness has its strategic drawbacks—people react to being betrayed and talked down to—and by contrast being friendly and likeable has its strategic value. i like that the mac tir abrasiveness has genuine political consequences left and right, and how especially applicable it is in a choice-based game where the personal response these characters manage to get from you really matters. i also think it’s one of the most compelling arguments for a joint ruler ending that, as the epilogue slides suggest, they can potentially fill in for each other’s lacks

Dragon Age: Awakening + textposts

still boggles my mind that in the year 2024 most players still ignore anora's character just to reduce her to a lying backstabber, when she only goes against you if:

you reveal her identity to ser cautherine and howe's soldiers, defeating the entire purpose of her disguise and also ignoring what she told you literally one minute before about how they can't know she's escaping with you - thereby betraying her first

you ignore her completely in denerim after she asks you to come talk to her, and only show up to the landsmeet

you bring up loghain's fate, and when she tells you that she would rather him be spared if possible, you tell her to her face that her father has to die

Anora mac Tir

et tu, loghain?

It's cursed, I know

Gray Warden, lady Aeducan, her boyfriend, king Alistair, and his wife, queen Anora

anora mac tir / florence + the machine / rebecca ferguson / loghain mac tir / elizabeth i / florence + the machine / david gaider / r. h. sin / arcane / belovedbi / solasfenharel

musings on anora mac tir, as well as her relationship with her father

I’m so insane over Loghain and Anora’s relationship. The way her facade of poise only breaks when she sees the Wardens mean to kill her father, and won’t accept a chance bargain for his life. The way he would never have harmed her, Anora knew this (while also knowing Howe WOULD) and thus she gambled expertly with that hand to free herself while making the best case for this plan to the Wardens. The way he doesn’t decry to her denouncement of him during the Landsmeet, out of love AND the fact he knows she, like him, believes herself to be acting in the best interests of the country. The way he tries to comfort her upon facing the certainty of his own demise.