Dragon Age Fic: Settling In

[thedawn]

Title: Settling In
Pairing: F!Hawke/Isabela
Rating: PG-13/Soft R?
Warnings: Some vague sexytimes. General awkwardness.
Word Count: 6805
Disclaimer: Dragon Age and its characters sadly belong to BioWare, not me.
Summary: Isabela has decided to stick around and give this whole "family" thing a shot. Now comes the really hard part: facing Hawke's friends.

Comments

[thedawn]

Thank you! Writing this Hawke has been very interesting for me, because I didn't start out with a plan for her, really, just a vague sort of understanding of who she was (well, who she needed to be for the story to work). I'm glad that her strength is showing through, because I feel like Isabela tends to be her greatest weakness. Not in a bad way, but when it comes to Isabela, it would take a lot for her to say no (which, I mean, who could blame her? :P).

It's funny how much of this particular installment came as a total surprise to me. I wanted to show Isabela facing everyone, and interacting with them again for the first time in years, but I didn't really know how, which is probably why this took so long to finish. Almost everything you pointed out is stuff that just sort of jumped in there out of the blue (but once that farm animal thing popped into my head, there was no way I could leave it out :P).

That last moment in particular I was actually really unsure about. It was one of those moments that always makes writers sound like crazy people, because I was sitting here staring at the screen, wondering how to transition to getting everyone out of the house, and Isabela pretty much just took control and jumped in, like "I'll handle this". I was worried that it might seem too natural, since she's still getting used to this whole family/parenting thing...but I think in the end Bethany's probably the easiest part of it for her to deal with--she's easy to please, and won't judge Isabela if she makes silly mistakes. It's everyone else's expectations that are hard to deal with.

Anyway. Thanks again. I am superglad you enjoyed it, and I apologize for the mini-novella reply :P

[ivory_auror]

Ah, so true about Bethany being the safe place to start. (I'm having flashbacks to when I lived with my best friend and her 2 year old for a while. That was an adventure) I felt that even though Isabela may have taken control of that one situation, it doesn't mean she's necessarily found her paternal instinct. Yea I don't think there could be a "too natural" adjustment…as natural as she may feel with Hawke and Bethany (when she does), she's still Isabela. And we love her for it ;)

Um, is that the ~end end? :P

[thedawn]

Um, is that the ~end end? :P

Oh, certainly not. I've got at least four more installments planned out, plus the rest of Family. That will take it up through the endgame, and after that...I haven't quite decided yet. There are a lot of fun ideas that have danced around in my head, so there may be life for this little family after they leave Kirkwall :)

[ivory_auror]

Good :)