Hawke/Anders Secret Satinalia Master Post
Nov. 19th, 2015 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mikkenekoHawke/Anders Secret Satinalia
Let's celebrate the holiday in style with our favorite birds
Let's celebrate the holiday in style with our favorite birds
(art donated by kirkwallgirl.tumblr.com)
Sign ups for Secret Satinalia are now closed. No further requests will be filled.
What is Secret Satinalia?
It's Secret Santa, Thedas style! ...That's not helpful? Okay, let me do a little better: Secret Satinalia is a celebration of the gift-giving spirit of the holiday by arranging a round-robin style giving of gifts. Each participant puts their name in a hat, and then all the names are drawn out at random; the person whose name you draw gets a gift from you, and you'll get a gift from whoever draws your name.
But in secret! That part is very important! It has to be as secret as Anders' activities with the mage underground! ...So in other words, not really all that secret.
How do I get in on this action?
Easy! Just reply in the comments of this post below. Replies are screened, so the only people to see your post will be the moderator (me) and yourself. Anon commenting is on, so even if you don't have a Dreamwidth account (because let's be realistic, who in 2015 still uses dreamwidth? ...Ahem) you can still sign up here.
Remember that if you sign up to receive a gift, you are also committing yourself to giving a gift. You give one, you receive one. That's the spirit of Satinalia. Try to create a gift that is respectful of the giftee's preferences. Remember, give gifts like the Warden, not gifts like Hawke.
What kind of gifts can I give?
Fanfic, fanart, and graphic edits are all welcome, so do whatever you do best! When filling out the form below, you will be asked to give multiple gift ideas. At least one of the prompts should be made in the spirit of an art prompt -- in other words, something that would lend itself fairly well to visual representation. So "Anders and Hawke snuggling in front of a fire" is more of an Art Prompt, while "Anders having a Hamlet-length internal monologue on the merits of Hawke's butt" is more of a Fic Prompt.
Smutty requests are perfectly OK, but as with the "art prompts" please try to include at least one non-smutty prompt so that your Satinalia buddy has some flexibility.
There's not much time until Satinalia, so try to keep your request fairly simple. Fics should be fairly short (5k or less) and art should stay within a few panels.
I prefer Marian Hawke/I prefer Garrett Hawke. Is that OK?
Both mhanders and fhanders fans are welcome. In order to make sure that everybody ends up with a prompt and a gift that they are comfortable with, you'll be asked to specify in your entry whether you prefer male Hawke, female Hawke, or are okay with both. We will make the effort to match up mhanders and fhanders fans with each other so everybody gets the thing they like the most.
When is my gift due? What should I do with it once it's ready?
You should aim to have your gift ready for your Secret Satinalia buddy by December 21. Once it's done, come back to this post here. Reply screening will be off, but anon will still be on. Post your fic or art in an anon comment, and the moderator (me) will contact your Satinalia buddy to let them know where to go to find it! I will also be posting links to all of the entries on Tumblr, under the tag #Handers Secret Satinalia .
Do I have to stay anonymous? I want to share my gift with the world!
The initial gift-giving should be anonymous -- that's the Secret part, after all -- but once the event is over, you can feel free to publish in your usual venues with your name on it!
I don't have time to read that whole wall of text. Can you give the rules in tl;dr format?
Sure!
1. To sign up, make a screened reply in the comments below. Fill out the form (just below this) with all the information. Remember that if you sign up, you are committing to giving someone a gift as well as receiving one.
2. After the sign-ups close on 11/22, you will be contacted by the moderator (me) with the name and request info of your selected Satinalia buddy. Pick one of the three gift ideas, and start writing/drawing.
3. Try to finish your gift by 12/21. When it's finished, reply here (again) anonymously with the fic or a link to your art. The moderator (me) will contact your giftee to let them know that it's ready.
4. After the event is over, you can repost or publish your gift anywhere you like with your name properly on it.
5. All posts on tumblr about this event will use the tag #Handers Secret Satinalia .
6. That's all! Have fun!
To sign up, fill out this form (please answer all the questions!)
- Tumblr URL?
- Best way to contact? (e-mail? tumblr message system OK?)
- Do you prefer M!Hawke/Anders, F!Hawke/Anders, or are equally comfortable with both?
- Three gift wishes! (At least one of the prompts should be an Art Prompt, and at least one should be a Fic Prompt.)
- Notes and No's: Any preferences or dislikes you'd like your Secret Satinalia buddy to observe, such as "no Justice bashing" "no rivalmance please" or "I am okay/not okay with custom Hawkes." Or if you have none, just write a happy Satinalia message!
Any questions? Ask the moderator (me)! Question and answer comments will be un-screened, so that everybody can read them.
gift for Ironspined
Date: 2015-12-20 07:01 am (UTC)It was their first, since fleeing Kirkwall, and dates had a tendency to come and go with little notice on the road. Before meeting Hawke, the holiday had held little significance for the former Circle mage. After all, it was a day for spending time with family and loved ones. What use for a man who'd never truly belonged anywhere?
But Garrett had a way of making seemingly inconsequential things special. Like eating cheese on the balcony before bedtime, or sitting in front of the library fireplace late at night, or that little strip of red cloth he'd given Anders years ago. So, too, had Satinalia come to be a special day for the mage. No matter how busy he'd been with the clinic or the mage resistance, he'd always made a point of spending the day with Garrett, drinking hot apple cider (in spite of the fact it never truly got cold enough in Kirkwall to warrant such a warm beverage), and badly singing holiday songs with Boddahn and Sandal.
On the run, however, was another matter. Boddahn, Sandal, and the rest of their friends were long gone. The Kirkwall estate would not be decked out in holiday finery this year. Nor did Anders believe they would have the opportunity to sample any cider, despite the growing chill as they'd traveled south into Ferelden.
Despite his reservations, Garrett had finally reluctantly conceded to Anders’ insistent requests that they seek more permanent shelter to hole up for the winter. They might be recognized in even a small town but they would almost certainly perish if they tried to keep traveling in such miserable weather. Eventually, they had taken refuge in a small chasind village near the edge of the Korcari Wilds. It was small and isolated enough that Garrett felt it relatively safe, and the heathen locals bore the Chantry no love so Anders also felt safe, provided he didn't openly work his magic and reveal himself for what he was. Instead, he posed as a traveling medicine man, offering soothing balms and tinctures made from nothing more threatening than the local plantlife. (If he happened to infuse each with a blush of magic every night to increase their potency, well the locals were none the wiser.)
Garrett still insisted on spending his days patrolling the perimeter of the little village. Just in case. There was not much he could do to help Anders anyway and he reasoned it might give them a little bit of warning should they need to make a sudden getaway.
When Hawke left that morning without saying a word about what day it was, Anders knew something was wrong. How could Garrett have forgotten his favorite holiday? He must be more worried than Anders had believed. The mage hoped his plans to surprise his love would go a long way toward restoring some of that lost joy Hawke had once displayed.
Instead of working on restocking his potions that day, Anders spent the time decorating the modest little hut they were calling home for the winter. He didn’t have evergreen branches to hang above the door and mantel, so the healer was forced to use bundles of drying herbs tied together with strips of red cloth he'd cut from one of Garrett’s old shirts. Normally, they lit dozens of little candles to add to the festive air but candles were scarce in the small village. In lieu of candles, Anders got creative and hung tiny magelights all across the ceiling until it twinkled like stars. He just had to hope none of the locals stopped by and started asking questions. Decorating done, he then set to work cooking the duck he managed to trade a chasind hunter for, roasting it with onions, potatoes, and mushrooms. It would be the largest meal they'd had in months and he'd been saving up for it in secret.
Once satisfied with his handiwork, there was nothing left for Anders to do but wait for Hawke to return from his patrol.
So Anders waited.
And waited.
Hawke had been late, before, of course. Anders assumed he'd stopped to talk to one of the villagers. After all, Garrett had grown up traipsing through the surrounding countryside. He had more in common with these folk than he did Anders in some ways.
So the mage puttered about his little worktable and tried to get some work done while he waited, the feast beginning to grow cold. He tried not to think about what else might be keeping his lover out late. It would be just their luck to be driven from this place on Satinalia, forced to flee in the depths of winter with naught but the clothes on their backs.
He began to tense at every passing footstep, his nerves keying up ever higher with the influx of traffic. They were along the main road through town. This sort of traffic wasn't unusual. Or so he tried to tell himself. It was nothing. Garrett would be home soon. He fussed with a few of the lights, moving them around in an attempt to look more aesthetically pleasing before he simply put them back the way they were.
Any minute now, surely-
The doorlatch lifted and hot panic surged into Anders’ gut. He would not go down without a fight. He called upon his magic and backed against the far wall, prepared to throw everything he had at the intruder-
-and was greeted with a fuzzy, whiskered face that turned green eyes on him with a quizzical little mew.
Anders blinked and released his magic as the kitten was carried in by an exhausted, snow-covered Hawke. The dark-haired man grinned sheepishly at Anders and extended the squirming kitten toward the mage.
“Sorry I'm late. Took me some time to track down this little one.” Garrett paused and looked around, noticing the decorations and the scent of roast duck in the air. “Anders…” he said softly, voice trembling with a hint of emotion. “Did you…?”
It was obvious he had and Anders grinned, relief and happiness flooding his limbs until he felt giddy. “Do you like it? I'm sorry I couldn't find real candles and the duck might be a little gamy because they've all flown-”
He was cut off as Garrett swept him into a tight hug and kissed him, the meowing little ball of fluff caught between them and voicing her displeasure.
“Happy Satinalia,” Garrett rumbled, dark lashes framing burnished eyes as he gazed fondly at Anders.
“Happy Satinalia, love.”
Re: gift for Ironspined
Date: 2015-12-22 04:34 pm (UTC)