City Elf Week - Day 4

Briala! Illustration I did for Ukrainian Dragon Age zine :)

City Elf Appreciation Week

~ 5th of August - 11th of August ~

Here are some optional prompts for next week! Please feel free to do whatever you like with them. Remember to tag @cityelfweek or use the tag #cityelfweek24!

Day 1 - Vhenadahl

- A pillar of many alienage communities. Firewood in others.

Day 2 - Folklore and History

- Show the folklore that city elves have created over time. Superstitions, stories, heroes, villains... anything!

Day 3 - Community

- Close-knit family, or claustrophobic little box?

Day 4 - Customs and Traditions

- Andrastian? Dalish? Somewhere in between, or something all new?

Day 5 - Alienage

- The only home many city elves ever know.

Day 6 - OC

- A day to celebrate original city elf characters!

Day 7 - Free Day

- All things city elf!

[original post][divider credit]

icon credit: @pridebicons

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SERA WEEK

October 13 - 19

Prompts (use one or both) Oct 13 - Denerim / Lady Emmald Oct 14 - Cookies / Fiberworks Oct 15 - Alienage / Dalish Oct 16 - Andraste / Magic Oct 17 - Inquisition / Winter Palace Oct 18 - Archery / Bees Oct 19 - Pranks / Halloween

Alt Prompts 1 - Journal 2 - Sera Was Never... 3 - The Breach

Rules No shipping with men (including trans men like Krem) No generative AI submissions (confirmed cases will not be reblogged/will be deleted from this blog) Explorations of homophobia must be tagged #homophobia cw; explorations of compulsory heternormativity must be tagged #hetcomp cw Explorations of other heavy themes - such as abuse, rape, etc. - must be tagged appropriately as well ALL forms of human-made art will be accepted

Hiiii! For Atros x Solas! "come, before the band stops playing. dance with me." Happy writing!

oooh this was fun thank you! my chaos boy........ i love him sfm 😭 @dadrunkwriting 558 words cws: mentions of background character death as in canon

Solas looked right here. Which was ridiculous, or should have been ridiculous, but… he did. He looked right. In the uniform that Atros had scowled to see, refusing to look in a mirror, detesting the idea of having to dress up and be presentable for a bunch of shems, but Solas just slipped in like he was made for this place. Even in his stupid little hat. He should have looked ridiculous. Atros wanted him to look ridiculous, had been expecting to have a good laugh, a shared joke between them. 

Instead, this. Solas wearing the uniform and the hat with a stunning grace and authority, and damn if that didn't do something to Atros. He had some thoughts about having Solas stay in that uniform tonight, but those would keep. For now they had to navigate all the complexity of the Winter Palace: and it was outrageously complex. When they got to the fighting—practically inevitable, really—it had come as something of a relief, although he had to choke down his rage at the servants' lives carelessly and cruelly spent. But at least he knew how to fight, knew the steps. This was honest, where the Game was all deception, saying what you don't mean, smiles like blades slipped between ribs except he only understood the second part. 

But it was strange that Solas understood it all. Strange that he carried himself the way he did. Atros had been watching him all night; in front of other servants he moved naturally, smiled warmly, was sincere. In front of the shems he was coolly indifferent, unaffected, poised. Their gaze slipped across him as if he wasn't there, blending into the background despite standing tall in plain sight. 

Even had he not been the Inquisitor, he knew he couldn't manage that. He was always going to be ill-fit here, always gangly and disproportionate, at odds with expectation. That was him. 

So when they were done with bloodshed and politics (were they even separate things in Orlais?) and he stood on the balcony trying to get some fresh air, something far from the thick rush of perfumes that had given him a headache as soon as he'd entered the palace, he was not terribly surprised that Solas joined him. He must have known this was the right moment… he knew everything else about this. 

What did surprise him was the other man asking him to dance. “Me? You're kidding.” His voice was deadpan but Solas' hand remained stretched out to him, bent in a slight bow. And he was smirking.

“Come,” he said, voice warm and with just the edge of teasing. “Before the band stops playing. Let's have this moment—dance with me.” A raised brow, a challenge. “Or does our brave Inquisitor fear dancing when it's not for political gain?” He scowled at the memory of dancing with Florianne.

“I was so scared I was going to step on her foot,” he muttered even as he placed his hand in Solas', inhaling sharply when that hand closed around his and drew him near. “I think now I should've.”

“She deserved as much,” Solas admitted as he led Atros in a far simpler dance, “but you conducted yourself admirably. And I am confident Josephine is relieved you danced well.”

“Can't let Josie down,” he shot back, lips quirking when Solas grinned. With teeth.

Marital Duo: A Performance

Part of the Alienage Soundscapes series for @cityelfweek

"TONIGHT, at th VHENADAHL: "Love, let me in" performed. BRING FRIENDS & DRINKS!"

—One of many haphazard posters distributed around the Denerim Alienage. The paper is thin, the ink cheap, and the words have been chosen with care to reduce the amount of text and thus the cost of printing the posters

WARNING! The following song talks about alcohol abuse.

(Lyrics and song without sound effects under the cut)

Love, let me in! Love, let me in! Love, it's dark and cold outside. Love, it's dark, and deep at night! Love, please let me in.

Let you in? Let you in? Won't your friends then take you in? Is the light out at the inn? Let you in? Let you in? Sleep outside, you bloody din!

Love, please don't shout. Love, please don't shout. The neighbors will wake and hear us be loud. The neighbors will ask why I am still out Love, oh please, don't shout.

Please don't shout? Please don't shout? I don't care if they see you out! Be proud that once you made me loud! Please don't shout? Please don't shout? Well, don't anger me, you lout!

Love, you’re mad? Love are you mad? Love, just hearing that makes me sad. I don't want to make you feel bad. Love, please don't be mad.

Don't be mad? Don't be mad? You drank away what coin we had! My patience has worn out, my lad! Don't be mad? Don't be mad? Leave me alone, you fucking scad!

Forgive me! Forgive me! My guilt is as deep as the sea, We can make up, love, can't we? Love, please, I'm sorry.

I will not forgive you yet. First, you will pay off your debt. Go and wake your brother up, Sleep in his house, sober up. I don't want you back again Til you got coin to sustain Us. Now go! I need to sleep! At least I got a job to keep. Think about what you've done!

my warden & inquisitor for me 8-9 years ago

13.09.2020 | Some Dragon Age 2 Elves… but like, less same-y…

Fenris and Merrill? They’re here

Day 2 - Folklore and History

A 100 word drabble for @cityelfweek :3 [divider credit]

A preacher's visit was always frustrating.

"What about us?" one of the kids whined.

"What do you mean?" Kallian whispered.

"What about us!"

"You and me? Girls? Elves?"

She fiercely nodded at the last word and Kallian smiled.

"I'll tell you later."

Afterwards, Kallian, Soris, and Shianni slipped under a boardwalk and waited for their audience.

They grabbed whatever props they could – loose string and pigeon feathers – and spoke of Aderyn, a city elf who weaved and stitched the birds and the sky to remind them that they could do more.

They never needed to know it was made up.

smolder