Intro

Hello everyone! Welcome—or alternatively, welcome back if you've already been following me—to my new fanfic. I'm sure some of you are probably disappointed that this is not more Hetalia, and I am sorry, I did promise you all more of it, but I'm all Hetalia-d out at this point after writing a whole freaking novel off of just one tiny aspect of it—yeah, all of history's canon to Hetalia *tears*.

Anyway, shortly after I finished Stars, I kind of had the rest of the summer to goof around on the computer, so I came across a new obsession, which is, of course, Dragon Age, if you couldn't already tell. I do apologize to those of you who already follow me and have no idea what this DA crap is, but all of you should really just play it. Even if you don't like video games, just play it! It's basically like watching an interactive TV show. Oh, and do start with the first game, Origins, because it's really great even if its graphics are shite and all of the mage armor looks like ass.

But I digress. One of my favorite aspects of fanfiction is getting to take all of those Noodle Incidents—humorous or otherwise—that the characters mention and running away with them. Of course, these don't make very good multi-chapter stories, so I've decided to write a series of semi-connected oneshots based on all of those little stories that don't often get told. I tried something similar with Portal a few years ago, but didn't get very far, mostly because I was also kind of writing a screenplay—also of Portal, for those of you who are interested—at the same time. Those of you who have been following me know that there's no way I can work on two big things like that at once. However, before we get started, I just wanted to write a little intro to be clear with what exactly you're likely to find inside so you know right away if this story, oneshots, thing, is your cup of tea.

Just what is this thing, anyway?

I kind of had this idea to frame all of these oneshots in the context of Varric's stories that he's writing down and telling people, because if you have a canon storyteller, you might as well use him. That being said, I also hope to include some stories from Origins, before he was introduced. I have devised ways to explain how he knows everything within the context of the story, but some of it might remain unexplained. Just go with it.

How knowledgeable of the Dragon Age canon are you?

I've played the first two games and all of the DLC for each, and am about halfway through Inquisition as I write this. I haven't read any of the novels—yet—nor have I read the comic trilogy. I intend to remedy these things very soon. I have read the first World of Thedas volume, but not the second one, as I was afraid to spoil Inquisition. I tend to strive for canonity in my fics, so if I get some aspect of the world or someone's backstory wrong, please politely inform me so that I may correct it.

Multiple universes give me a headache. Which one are you using?

I'm not going to use the "Bioware" canon necessarily because I don't know the whole of it—Does anyone? The canon is going to be based on my own playthrough, but I'm trying to go with the general consensus of the fandom in terms of world state. Things you need to know: Alistair is king, but he's not married to anyone. Bethany died (Hawke is a mage) and Carver is a Gray Warden. All of the companions from II are still alive, which includes Anders. All other details will be revealed as the stories are told. If I'm missing any of the really big decisions, just let me know and I'll stick 'em in.

What are these oneshots going to be about?

I'm going to try and include some random little stories from almost every character. A lot of them will be backstories or parts of backstory because I really like those things. The early chapters will probably have less Inquisition stories until I get more familiar with the characters. DA II might get more than its fair share of stories because unlike the rest of the fans, it happens to be my favorite game in the series, at the very least where the characters are concerned. I know, begin the shaming. Bring in the torches and pitchforks and turn me tranquil because I have committed blasphemy.

What about the PCs? Will they be included?

I will probably use Hawke as a characters quite a bit because her personality tends to be more well-defined, but in regards to the other two heavily customizable main characters, I'm going to try not to focus on them as much as I can because I realize that everyone has a different image of these characters, and a lot of people will drop this story if they don't act like the readers expect them to in their heads. This isn't the fault of the readers; it's perfectly natural to have different opinions. I drop a lot of stories for this very reason. So I'm going to leave the "main characters" as vague as I can get away with. They will have to be mentioned somewhat, of course, so I'll describe their basics here:

Hero of Ferelden: Female Human Mage, Amell.

Hawke: Female Mage, Marion Hawke, Humorous.

Inquisitor: Female Elven Bow-Wielding Rogue, Lavellan.

How about the other characters?

As with everyone who has played DA, there are some characters that I like more than others. This might be because I think they have more interesting backstories, or I just like their personalities more, (or I have a desperate need to get in their pants), or any number of reasons. That being said, I'm going to try to tell stories about as many of the characters as I can, but some of them are probably going to get extra love. Anders, Zevran, Isabela, Morrigan, all of these characters are liable to get more stories than the others. So, if you like the above mentioned faces, then you are in the right place. If you can't stand one or more of these characters, be warned.

What about the Shipping?

Again, because multiple characters can be romanced in every game, people are going to have different opinions on ships. I'm going to try to focus on other things, but I'm positive that there will be at the very least one story I have planned that will involve a ship. Thusly, some ships may sneak in between the cracks. Fem!Hawke x Anders is a BIG one, as is Morrigan x Alistair, so just be warned. I'll try to leave warnings at the beginning of the stories that do involve ships, so you can skip any NOTPs.

Requests?

If you have an idea for a oneshot, feel free to send it to me! I'd love to hear it. Just because you send it to me, however, does not mean that I WILL write it. If I like your idea, I might use it, I might not. But please do send me requests! At the very least, they might fuel other ideas. Generally there's no character that I don't like, so sending ideas about some of the characters I don't think about often (see my favorite characters list above) would be awesome. I also feel the same way about ships. There are one or two that I really don't like, and I won't do any NSFW (at least from requests), so please don't send me any overly kinky ideas.

Whoo! That was long. Thanks for sticking through it. I just feel like it's best to get everything out in the open so everyone knows just what they are about to read. And for those of you who are looking at this right as it's being posted, don't worry, I'm not cheating you out of a chapter this week. It'll probably be posted within the next ten minutes. See you then!

~Hedgehog