I’ll do Anacrea because pretty much everything that can be done for Varlen has been done

💋 How affectionate are they with their friends? Their family? Their romantic partner(s) (if they have any)? Are they more physical or emotional when it comes to displaying their affection? Why?

📀 How easy is it to shock your OC? To confuse them? To lie to them, to manipulate them? How are they with feelings of trust? Can your OC be trusted? 

🍐 What is your OC’s mentality? Are they overall positive? Negative? A bit of both? Describe their thought patterns and reasoning behind their choice making!

Send some OC questions?

“Do you think you can teach me that?”

Katsuro glanced up, a flicker of surprise dancing across his face as Anacrea nodded towards the bench. The knife in his hand was held comfortably, his grip firm but designed for something far different from combat. Before him, resting on the edge of the stovetop, was a row of neatly sliced carrots, each perfectly round disk forming a pleasing contrast against the dark wood grain. It was funny, but some part of her almost felt like she had walked in on something she shouldn’t have. After all, it was rare she spent time watching anyone while they were cooking. In fact, she wasn’t sure she ever had.

“Teach you how to slice vegetables?” Katsuro cocked his head slightly, pausing before reaching for a second carrot. “I am surprised that is not already a skill in your possession. Your kitchen is impressive enough to warrant it.”

A faint smile tinged the corner of Anacrea’s lips as she folded her arms and leaned against the door-frame. “I rarely cater for more than myself. And when I do, I hire someone with more… finesse in the art.” Her eyes flicked over to the tall pot resting on the stove. “A stew?”

“It is a good staple, and the weather is cold.” There was always something so charming about the way Katsuro responded to questions. It was never as simple as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. There was always an explanation. A justification. Something more than was strictly needed, for the sake of clarity. “I take it you will eat anything in your larder?”

“I am not one to buy food I dislike.” Oh, if only he knew the kind of food she truly liked. But some things simply were not to be shared. Wine and a meal, however, was. “I admit, I am curious at how far this skill of yours extends.”

She is definitely in quite a volatile headspace when she joins the Inquisition, and naturally extremely distrustful of Templars. Withdrawing into her work is basically how she copes with trauma, but I wouldn’t consider it the healthiest mechanism for her. She keeps a lot of anger bottled up inside, and you only really see it when discussing things like the Circles/Chantry/Templars. While she won’t necessarily stand there and argue about it, there is a definite air of anger and bitterness about her, and she will dismiss other people’s views on the matter almost immediately if they do not align with her own. 

I think the first time she really starts coping with it all properly is after the Inquisition, when she makes it her mission to find displaced mages and help them find safety and instruction. It feels a little like making up for not being able to save her friends on the night of the Ostwick massacre. 

Vivienne (Initial)

Anacrea dislikes her quite intensely from the start, given her view of Circles and their very different experiences in them. I think part of Ana is resentful because she knows she was like Vivienne in terms of her views until the Templars committed the massacre at Ostwick. In her mind, Vivienne is just someone who was lucky enough not to suffer at the hands of an inherently dangerous and violent institution.

Vivienne (Over time)

I don’t think Anacrea really resolves her issues with Vivienne. They don’t spend a lot of time together due to their differences. She respects Vivienne’s abilities and knowledge of court, but finds her view of Circles to be too narrow and dismissive of the experiences of too many. I think if they actually sat down and talked out their issues, they might realise they agree on more things (for example, Ana thinks it is important that mages have a place of learning to go to, but that it should be run by mages for mages, which isn’t too far off Vivienne’s endgame). But they never really do.

Dorian (Initial)

She doesn’t take too well to Dorian at the start, mostly because he comes across as a bit flippant and dismissive of very serious events. While she approaches things from a very stern and logical path, he was more likely to try to lighten the mood crack a joke, which she found frustrating and counter-productive. She was also wary because of his Tevinter heritage, but once he started coming into his own regarding the Venatori she eased up on her suspicions. 

Dorian (Over time)

Ana actually does grow to get along with Dorian, and even value his wit and humour in hard times. She was so shaken from the Ostwick massacre at the start of Inquisition that she found it nearly impossible to make light of... well, anything really. But he had a way of getting her to stop and wind down, and once she relaxed a bit around him, she actually found they could have conversations that were incredibly stimulating and cerebral. She had certainly misjudged him, and can actually be found seeking him out at times, both for work and just good company. 

Solas (Initial)

Anacrea found Solas very interesting right off the bat. He seemed calm and astute, and knew a great deal about magic that she had only ever considered in passing while at the Circle. As a source of information, he was excellent, and seemed to take little issue discussing the finer intricacies of magic and the fade with her. While she never actively sought his company, she respected his knowledge and found his personality one of the least jarring among the companions. 

Solas (Over time)

He certainly had her fooled about who he was, partly because she didn’t spend a lot of time with him, partly because she was unfamiliar with Dalish gods and culture, so the thought would have never even crossed her mind. The betrayal, naturally, changed how she thought of him, and she would spend many nights considering their conversations and his actions, kicking herself for missing things so small that she would have seemed crazy if she had raised alarm about them. She loathes nothing more than betrayal, and needless to say, she loathes Solas.

In which Anacrea and Varlen talk about honour.

                                                               ---

“And how did this happen, exactly?”

Varlen winced as Anacrea’s thumb brushed over one of the cuts on his cheek. “Sparring. Or, you know… something like that.” He did his best to sit still as the mage inspected his injuries with that cool, calculating gaze of hers. “Guess I need to get better at it, huh?”

She was silent for a long moment - a moment that seemed to drag Varlen all the way back to his childhood. Slowly, her fingers prodded and poked at his ribs. When he cringed, her amber eyes flicked up. “You were a hunter for your clan, were you not?” 

Varlen nodded stiffly as she re-tested the same spot. “Y-Yeah. Scouted, mostly.”

“I imagine stealth would be vital to such a task.”

A faint smile quirked up the corner of Varlen’s lips. “I’ve been told I’m light on my feet.”

“So, what happened?”

The question was so abrupt that, for a second, Varlen didn’t even realise she was referring back to the fight. “Oh. I… was trying to be more… you know…” He groped for the words to explain himself, not sure if they would just make him seem even more pathetic. “I wanted to do it right.”

Her inspection seemingly complete, Anacrea stood, her figure casting a tall silhouette against the backdrop of the hearth. The soft soles of her shoes silenced her strides across the room, and the sound of gently chiming glass soon replaced it. “What do you mean by ‘right’?” she asked, fingertips dancing across the tops of vials, turning, inspecting, sliding aside. “A fight is a thing to be won.”

A uneasy laugh worked its way out of Varlen’s chest. “Sure. I get that. It’s just… you know what soldiers say about… people like me.”

Despite his hesitant tone, Anacrea did not turn around and send him wilting into his chair. Instead, after pausing to hold a label to the light, she simply said, “Enlighten me.”

💎 Does your OC collect anything? Is there a reason? When did they start and is it beginning to turn into a little bit of a hoarding issue? What do they do with their collection?

Anacrea is definitely a hoarder. She collects books, primarily, filling shelves upon shelves until they spill onto the floor in the form of piles and stacks. She also collects plant samples which she sketches then dries. Her main pursuit is knowledge and adding to the academic sphere, so it is no real surprise she collects things that will help her achieve that. She does have a ‘humour’ section in her collection. It’s just made up of academic manuscripts that she thinks are bullshit.

☁️ What’s something your OC wishes they could forget? Why is this? Or, what is something that your OC has forgotten? (or do both!)

She wishes she could forget her relationship with Alton. It took her quite a bit of time and reflection, but she has reached a point where she realises she didn’t treat him the way he deserved to be treated. He was always more of an afterthought to her, and it was a very unbalanced dynamic. If she could, she would go back and simply not enter a relationship in the first place. It was just never a priority for her, and she sees no reason to try to force the matter upon review. 

8/10

She would finish the chapter first.

Anacrea Trevelyan

👍 Does my muse prefer to be asked on a date, or would they rather do the asking?

💯 What is my muse’s ideal date?

🎆 Is my muse into monogamy?

Cyrus 

👰 Would my muse ever get married?

🌟 What is my muse’s sexual/romantic orientation?

Well it is truly no contest: Anacrea

She’s just the most built for leadership of all my OCs. She has more self-confidence and skill than any of the others, and is always ready to put her money where her mouth is. Tough decisions don’t scare her away. In fact, she enjoys working through complex problems, trying to work out the most optimal strategy. What she would need are people to keep her grounded in compassion, as she can potentially lose sight of the fact that she is dealing with people’s lives when making choices. She ain’t full Machiavellian, but it’s a CONCERN(TM).

Decisions:

“Ssh. Stop fussing. I’m just braiding your hair.” Anacrea paused what she was doing, regarding Katsuro with a flat look. “You prefer it out of your face, do you not?”

It was clear to her that Katsuro was not used to such… treatment. He sat rigid on the edge of the bed, eyes trained on the wall - a posture of endurance. Softly, she sighed, shifting so that she was kneeling behind him, her fingertips combing out the tangles in his long, dark hair. 

“It is more practical,” he agreed after a moment. She took care to gently run her nails across his scalp with each sweep - an effort to get him to relax. After all, he had already proven most willing to bend beneath her touch. “I rarely take it down.”

Anacrea chuckles. “I know. That is why I did it.” She paused. “On the proviso that I would return it to its proper state, of course. Not that this does not suit you.”

Even though she could not see his face, she could practically feel the warmth radiating from his cheeks. He was a pleasure to tease. “It suits me?”

“Mmhm.” She began twining the hair between her fingers, pulling the strands gently into line, beginning at his left temple. “You are quite a challenge to unravel.”

Katsuro snorted softly. “You did not seem to have much difficulty.”

“When’s the last time you slept?”

Hanin just shook his head - hardly a response - and continued staring into the smouldering fire. The frown anointing Anacrea’s brow deepened. She moved closer.

“Hanin. Enough. You will be of no use to anyone like this. You know that.”

The radiant heat of the blackened wood barely even reached them. It might be nearing dawn, but the night’s chill still hung in the air. Ana folded her arms across her chest as a shield against it. To think, he had been out there all night…

“What difference does it make.” His response wasn’t a true question. Not when delivered so flatly. “They’re gone. I wasn’t with them, and now…”

It took everything Ana had not to give a frustrated sigh. “You were bedridden. And still should be, in my opinion.” She gave him a detached once-over, noting the curve of his spine, the heaviness of his eyelids. “You can’t expect the Inquisiton to leave an entire squad sidelined because their Captain is indisposed. It’s not practical.”

“Fuck practical.” The words were barely audible. His fingers curled in towards his palm, but it was nothing even close to forming a fist. He didn’t seem to have the strength for it. “I should have been with them.”

Nyvera was inspired originally by the idea of “what if the envy demon really did manage to impersonate the Inquisitor”. I was curious about a character who was just utterly self-centered and only in it to pursue their own goals and desires. That was how Nyvera was born, and while I scrapped the Envy demon idea, I still like playing around with just a... generally unlikable person with very few redeeming qualities. At the end of the day, she’s in this world for herself. She’ll get what she wants no matter who she has to step on, and feels no remorse about that. After all, why should she? In her view, the world revolves around the takers, not the givers.

Anacrea was my first Inquisitor, and I liked the idea of RPing a character that was a bit older and more level-headed than what I usually went with. Originally, she was your typical mage badass, with a focus on storm magic and the arcane warrior spec (mostly because it was fun to play in-game), but she lacked any ability to heal. That skill just... evaded her, and she compensated by turning to alchemy. As time went on, she evolved into being less combat-oriented and more scholarly minded, losing herself in the study of herbs and plants to the point that she might disappear for days on end. She’s still a mage, and can use her spells for combat, but she would rather not distract herself from her main pursuit. She can often come across as aloof or detached, but it is usually because her mind is elsewhere, not because she doesn’t care. When she is truly needed, she will give a person her undivided attention. 

I’m not really sure what inspired her, to be honest. She just kind of... happened.

Skyrim!AU. Approx. 650 words.

“You look like someone interested in making a little coin.”

Anacrea paused and glanced across, one dark brow arching in the direction of a red-haired man in leathers that certainly didn’t scream upstanding citizen. “What gave me away.” It was less a question and more a demand. She was not fond of the idea that she looked even remotely impoverished.

The man didn’t miss a beat. “Just a look in your eye, lass. You have the same spark I did, back in the day.” He sauntered closer, a subtle flick of his gaze drawing Anacrea’s attention to a nearby jewellery stand. “A shiny gem is worth more the less you pay for it.”

“Are you suggesting I steal it?”

The man winced slightly, motioning downwards with one hand. “Not so loud, lass.”

“Apologies. Given the circumstances, I was not aware this was a covert operation.” Raising her index finger, Anacrea made a circular gesture. “We aren’t exactly alone, and you are…” She cleared her throat. “Well, I have seen subtler.”

“That so?” Arching a brow, the man reached out to shake. Curiosity piqued, Anacrea obliged. He had a firm grip, but then again, so did she. She met his eyes and did not falter as she felt something cold pressed to her palm.

When they parted, she could easily make out the shape of a ring. 

She’d been looking right at him the entire and hadn’t even seen him take it. 

“Is that supposed to impress me?” she asked, clicking it pointedly back down onto the jeweller’s stand and sliding it under one of the displays. “You may be good with your hands, but you need to work on your canvassing. I am no thief.”

Massages are usually for muscular pain or stress relief for Anacrea, but if she had a partner who’s massages turned into something a little more... intimate on occasion... she certainly would not be complaining.

She also enjoys giving others massages, although generally it serves a purpose other than sexual. Or, at least, that is not her intention when she initiates it.