Black Emporium Letter

[rhovanel]

Dear Black Emporium creator,

Thank you so much for creating something for me! This is one of my favourite exchanges and I am so excited to be participating in it again, and I can't wait to see what you come up with - I love a good rarepair. I’m always thrilled to receive anything that someone has made for me, so don’t worry, I’ll be happy with whatever you create. All of my prompts are just possible prompts, and if you have your own idea or plot bunny, you are welcome to chase it. You are also welcome to mix and match prompts - if I've written a prompt for one pairing that you think might work for another, I will probably like it. And cameos from other characters (outside of my requests) are always very welcome.

My taste is generally broad - I'm happy with any rating, with anything from gen to shipfic and anything from slice-of-life stories to long, plotty adventures. I’ve included a list of general likes below, but you're by no means beholden to them.

In terms of Dragon Age specific likes, I love everything about this world. I love the complex worldbuilding and lore, the epic stakes, the tough moral dilemmas (and the grey morality), and how genuine the relationships between the characters are. I'm a big fan of post-Trespasser stories, and I also love canon-divergence stories. If the Warden, Hawke, and/or the Inquisitor makes an appearance in a story where they're not in the main pairing, I have no preference for race/gender/personality - give them whatever identity you would prefer. And you're by no means beholden to this, but I do prefer a world state that's pro-mage. 

And finally, I've requested some of these pairs in other exchanges this year, so feel free to look at some of my other letters. 

General likes:

• stories that play with form and narrative: epistolary, poetry, time loops, etc.
• angst - break my heart, author
• stories about storytelling and the power of narratives 
• found families
• bittersweet endings
• stories about the power of hope and persevering through difficult times 
• character studies
• complex protagonists and antagonists - i.e. both with morally grey, but understandable, motivations
• heists and adventures
• characters who are competent and unapologetic about who they are
• stars, trees, and the sea
• AUs: I don't usually request AUs for exchanges, but there have been so many good AUs in this exchange in the past, so if you like an AU, go for it (just no AUs in which the characters are students, please)

 

Relationship likes:

• mutual pining-happy ending narratives
• stories about falling in love
• enemies (to friends) to lovers
• relationships based in communication - talking, challenging and testing one another, wordy declarations/gestures of love
• talking/flirting/falling in love through dancing
• banter, bickering, and humour
• equal power dynamics between people
• moments of quiet intimacy 
• first kisses
• gift giving
• there’s only one bed
• “holy shit they’re hot in that outfit”
• porn with feelings

Smut likes: talking during sex, non-penetrative sex, oral sex, desperate sex, arguing that leads to sex, sex in places outside of a bed (although beds are good too!), anything to do with hands and touching (hands in hair, hands pinning wrists/legs, fingering, etc), kissing, body worship, extended foreplay, switching, explicit consent.

 

Art likes: Honestly, if you’re drawing me something I will probably backflip out the window, because I have no artistic talent and am constantly in awe of what other people produce. I am fond of non-sexual intimacy between characters, and mundane, slice-of-life moments, and I love bold colours and interesting line work. I like tarot style art, art nouveau, and comics (!!!). And if you'd like to draw me some smut, go right ahead (just tag it so I don't accidentally open it on a bus).
 

DNWs:

• pairings with a major power imbalance (e.g. student/teacher, etc)
• incest
• underage
• non-con or dub-con
• stories with internalised prejudice as the main theme (homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, etc)
• kidfic
• character de-aging (e.g. high school AUs)
• abuse (physical or emotional)
• A/B/O dynamics or mpreg 
• pregnancy

Onto the pairs!

Alistair/Zevran Arainai

This pair is god-tier, it surprises me every year that it's still technically a rare pair. I always love these two together - Alistair's terrible awkwardness meets Zevran's smooth teasing. I'd love to see an outrageous Zevran, a flustered Alistair, but a genuine connection between the two of them. They both have a lot to offer one another's problems and perspective, and I'd love something that allows them to learn from one another. If you're writing post-DAO, any world state is fine.

 

Possible prompts:

• I would DIE for something set around the time of (or after) Inquisition - give me older, wiser Wardens! How do their paths cross again? How does their experience change their relationship?
• They end up stranded in the field together, and if they’re going to get back to camp in one piece, they’ll have to learn to work together (and share a tent)
• Zevran infiltrating some kind of fancy event which Alistair is attending (either as king or a Grey Warden representative) - hijinks ensue
• Post-DAO: Alistair accidentally hires Zevran for a job OR Zevran accidentally takes on a contract against Alistair
• Fake dating/fake marriage: maybe King Alistair marriages Zevran to secure an alliance with Antiva, maybe they go undercover as married while on Grey Warden business
• I would also die for anything with these two at the Winter Palace
• These two always work well in AUs, so if an AU takes your fancy, I will love it (but no high school AUs, please) 

Briala/Lace Harding; Briala/Leliana

I loved Briala from the moment I met her - clever, cunning, strong in her beliefs - and I would love to see more of her. She has interesting parallels to both Leliana and Harding - she's part spymaster, part scout - which is why I've paired her with these two. I love the idea of both of these pairs as opposing agents or partners, either working against one another, or working together towards the same aim. Basically, give me intrigue and flirting!

Possible prompts:

• An epistolary romance would work SO WELL for both of these pairs. Briala and Leliana sending each other intel between Skyhold and the Winter Palace? Briala and Harding exchanging notes from the field? This would be equally great if it was partnership from the beginning or if it was enemies to lovers - teasing notes that turn into something more.
• Leliana and Briala have to work together to solve some kind of intrigue/problem
• Every time Harding goes to scout out a new location, she discovers that a mysterious elven woman has been there before her
• If you want to write post-Trespasser, there are so many great scenarios regardless of which side Briala is on. If she's on Solas's side: enemies to lovers intrigue vs established relationship angst? If she's on the Inquisition's side: how do Harding/Leliana come to trust her? 
• MASQUERADE. BALLS. That is all.

Dorian Pavus/Solas

I first encountered this pair when I wrote a story for this exchange in 2017, and two years later, I am still completely, utterly in love with them. I LOVE THEM.

Remember that time Varric told Dorian that “just because two people dislike each other doesn't mean they're about to kiss, Sparkler”? Varric, you have never been more wrong about anything in your life. Their relationship is hostile at first but I think they have so much to offer one another. Solas challenges Dorian ideologically, but Dorian, more than anyone, has the potential to remind Solas of the pleasures of being alive, and the value of this world. I’d love a story in which they realise how they’ve misjudged one another.

 

I will take basically anything with them - enemies to lovers, bickering and sexual tension, established relationship fluff, even Trespasser angst - whatever takes your fancy. My only request is that they’re equals in their relationship - no mentor/student-esque dynamics, please. Yes, Solas is basically a god, but I fully believe that Dorian can give him a run for his money - I mean, the man invented time travel AND Skype.

• They end up stranded in the field together, and if they’re going to get back to camp in one piece, they’ll have to learn to work together 
• Solas once tells Blackwall "You should have seen me when I was younger. Hot-blooded and cocky, always ready to fight." Is this what he sees in Dorian? 
• Of the whole Inquisition, Dorian and Solas were perhaps the most comfortable people at the Winter Palace. Leliana decides to send them out on more undercover missions at balls across Thedas. 
• The Inquisitor asks them to work on devising new (or more efficient) forms of spellcraft, and they spend long nights in the library together on the project. Magic isn’t the only spark that’s in the air. 
• Dorian brings Solas as his date to some magical congress as something of a joke. It doesn't end up being a joke.
• If you look at the infamous early promo image for the game, Dorian and Solas are staring at one another (and you cannot convince me otherwise). In Haven, they’re both in the same courtyard; in Skyhold, they’re together in the library. Why can’t they keep their eyes off one another? Why are they always seeking out one another’s presence? 
• Post-Trespasser. Break my heart, author - and it's entirely up to you if you repair it again.
• FAKE. DATING. Maybe they have to pretend to be a couple when Tevinter comes visiting (to ward off an arranged marriage for Dorian)?
• TIME LOOPS/TIME TRAVEL. So many great possibilities here - Dorian ends up in Ancient Arlathan, Solas goes forward to a time in which he and Dorian are together and he's decided against destroying the world.
• I'm sorry I wrote so many prompts for these two, I am trash for them

Female Cousland/Anora Mac Tir

Female Wardens were ROBBED of the ability to marry Anora and I will never quite be over it. I love Anora - uncompromising but fair, who has a clear sense of duty but can also be stubborn - and she works so well with Cousland. I'm particularly into the mutual suspicion turns into mutual respect dynamic between the two of them. I'm happy for you to do whatever you want with Loghain.

Possible prompts:

• Anora and Cousland enter into an arranged marriage post-Landsmeet. How do they adjust to their situation? I'd love a "they catch feelings" situation here.
• What does Anora do while Cousland is off trying to solve the Calling?
• A canon-divergence where Cousland had always been promised to Anora (sorry, Cailan) - how do they react when she becomes a Warden?
• I'd love to see the two of them at the time of Inquisition/post-Trespasser
• If you want to go angst, I'm happy for a story about a Cousland who makes the ultimate sacrifice. I'm extra happy if she comes back as a spirit and haunts Anora.
• *slams fist on table* TIME LOOPS. DAO is so great for time loops because there are so many decisions that have a massive effect on your world state, and I'd love to see a time loop story here with the both of them (Anora has to try and save Cousland from the ultimate sacrifice? Cousland has to try and find the best solution for a stable Ferelden, or to save Anora from some kind of peril? SIGN ME UP. 

Flemeth/Leandra Hawke

Every year you have to nominate something that you'd never have thought of in a million years, and this year, this is mine. WHO NOMINATED THIS??? This is some next-level thinking.

Honestly I don't entirely know what I want for these two, so surprise me, author/artist! I am very taken with Flemeth in DA2 (it's my favourite appearance of hers) - she's so wise and powerful and enigmatic. I'd love to see her interest in Hawke extend to Leandra herself, and I'd love to learn more about Leandra's own magic.

Possible prompts (very tenuous - as I said, I have no idea what I want!):

• Leandra spends her nights walking in the Fade and keeps finding herself drawn again and again to Flemeth 
• Flemeth helps Leandra develop her magic in some way
• Fix-it fic - Flemeth saves Leandra from her horrible, horrible death
• A pre DA2 in which they meet when Leandra is younger - or maybe they meet repeatedly again and again throughout Leandra's life? 

Iron Bull/Solas

I love how these two play off one another. They’re so different and yet so similar: both so observant and perceptive, so thoughtful and intelligent, but with completely different philosophies and ways of relating to the world and to other people. I think they reach a point of strong mutual respect, and I’d love to see something that fleshes that out. There's also some fantastic potential here for post-Trespasser angst, if that's the way you want to go.

Possible prompts:

• Chess game banter (chess game sexual tension!!!)
• Anything with the two of them debating history and politics and philosophy
• A hurt/comfort scenario - Bull spends so much time caring for others, I’d love to see him under Solas’s careful attentions; or vice versus, Bull’s empathy for a touch-starved and lonely Solas 
• Good old-fashioned "they get stranded in the field and have to work together to get back"
• Bull’s reaction during (and after) the big reveals of Trespasser - did he already suspect something with his training? Does he believe that he can save Solas?

Leliana/Morrigan

 

This is also a god-tier pairing. I love these two individually and I love them even more together. They're absolute equals in their intellect, their cunning, and their determination, but they have very different opinions and ways of seeing the world. I'd love anything with the two of them arguing and debating, and I'm particularly interested in their relationship around the time of Inquisition, when they're both older and wiser.

If you're writing post-Trespasser, I have no preference for whether Leliana is Divine or not - do whatever suits the story.

 

Possible prompts:

• It's a classic, but: the two meet again for the first time in many years at the Winter Palace (we were ROBBED of that scene, Bioware, honestly) - how do they respond to one another? Bonus points for mutual pining all these years. Extra bonus points for a dance.
• Morrigan takes Leliana into the eluvians, and they get trapped there and have to work out how to return
• I'd love to see the two of them working together post-Trespasser
• If you want to do something set at the time of Origins, sharing a tent that goes from antagonistic grumbling to late night conversations to intimacy is my weakness. 
• A hurt/comfort scenario would be fantastic - they'd both be so stubborn about admitting that they were hurting, and I'd love to see the other be the only person who sees through their facade, the only one who they're willing to let help them
• An AU with these two might be fun - professor AU, space AU, tattoo shop AU, whatever you want (except high school AUs)
• And if you just want to make me some smut for these two, I will take it. Gladly.

Merrill/Morrigan

I just like the idea of these two together. On the service, it's a classic grumpy/sunshine pairing if there ever was one, but I think they both have interesting similarities - they're both extremely dedicated to their cause and to knowledge, and they're both not afraid of going against conventional wisdom. I'd love to see them interact.

Possible prompts:

• "My travels have lead me to many strange places, Inquisitor. Once they lead me here. It offered sanctuary…for a time, I was safe from those who hunted me." Why is Morrigan suddenly an expert on elven history in Inquisition? What was the ‘sanctuary’ she spoke of to the Inquisitor? Answer: Merrill, who fixes her eluvian and goes wandering through the Crossroads, crossing paths with our mysterious witch of the wilds. Something sweet but sad would work well here.
• Morrigan and Merrill both arrive at Skyhold at the same time to advise the Inquisitor on arcane/elven matters. How do they react to one another? Bickering that leads to mutual respect that leads to something more would be amazing here.
• One of them gets magically injured (or cursed) when experimenting (maybe with the eluvians, maybe with something else), and there's only person who can heal them. (yes, I know Merrill can't heal in DA2, but just go with it)
• If you'd like to do an AU, I can absolutely see one in which they're both rival professors or something similar 

Ser Cauthrien/Anora

I'm a big fan of Anora, who's uncompromising but fair, who has a clear sense of duty but can also be stubborn. And then there's Ser Cauthrien and her unwavering loyalty. The two are PERFECT for courtly romance/loyalty stories.

Possible prompts:

• Post DAO, Anora rules as queen, with Cauthrien as her bodyguard/protector. Anything would be great here - a slice of life moment, mutual pining because they both have such clear ideas about propriety, some hurt/comfort when Cauthrien gets injured protecting Anora, whatever takes your fancy.
• Pre DAO, Cauthrien fights in a tournament (or something) for Loghain, but ends up being drawn to his daughter. Give me your best knight romance!
• I'd love to see the two of them at the time of Inquisition - if Anora is queen, what happens when Cauthrien accompanies her to Skyhold, or to the Winter Palace? 
• I can imagine a time loop story here - what if Cauthrien is so loyal because she's been stuck in a time loop protecting Anora over and over again, until she finally gets it right? (love is the solution. love is always the solution to a time loop)

Svarah Sun-Hair/Female Adaar; Svarah Sun-Hair/Cassandra Pentaghast

I loved Svarah Sun-Hair from the moment I met her. She's such a well-constructed character - formidable and strong, but extremely wise and generous. She's also, I have to admit, a stone cold fox. I'd love to see more with her and some of my favourite DA women. I'm also really interested in the Avvar, so if you wanted to do some worldbuilding here, I will eat it up with a spoon.

Possible prompts:

• Pre-Inquisition, Adaar's mercenary group takes on a series of jobs for Stone-Bear Hold. How does their relationship develop? 
• Post-Inquisition, while Cassandra is trying to rebuild the Seekers and re-evaluating her beliefs, perhaps she spends some time resting in Stone-Bear Hold. 
• Both Cassandra and Adaar struggle with finding places to belong - Adaar as Tal-Vashoth, Cassandra after the Seekers collapse - and I'd love to see them find some kind of refuge with the Avvar
• Training! I'd love to see Svarah training Adaar/Cassandra in Avvar fighting techniques
• Svarah comes to Skyhold for some reason (this could be a canon-divergence or post-Jaws of Hakkon). How do Adaar/Cassandra react?