Archive of Our Own

Are you an artist or writer who craves some dwarf-centric content in the Dragon Age fandom? Do you wish you had more fanfiction or fanart to fill that smol paragon shaped hole in your heart? Do you too wish that dwarves were given their proper place at the fandom table (even if, yes, a step stool is required?)

Then may we invite you to plunge into the deep roads with us in the inaugural Paragon of Their Kind Dragon Age Dwarf Exchange. This is an exchange, ran through AO3, that shines a spotlight on our under 5 feet tall friends. Dwarves of any kind - from Cadash, Brosca, and Aeducan to Dagna, Harding, Varric, Sandal, and others are all fair game! Any pairing or grouping can be nominated - as long as it features at least one dwarf.

This exchange is open to ANYONE who wishes to participate and can draw or write ONE piece by the deadline.

Thank you to the wonderful moderators and designers of the Black Emporium Rare Pair Exchange for the inspiration and encouragement. I have used so much of their design as a template and I am in debt. Please check out:

Black Emporium 2020 Collection
Black Emporium Tumblr
Black Emporium Dreamwidth

A Paragon of Their Kind is a fanwork gift exchange that showcases dwarf love in the Dragon Age Fandom. Any pairing is eligible as long as it contains at least one dwarf from the Dragon Age fandom.

This is the Parent Collection. For specific years - please go to "subcollections" to see that years rules and FAQs. Although they remain stable, there are small tweaks and updates as needed.

Values and Rules for the Exchange

This is a safe space for fans and content creators. Everyone involved in this exchange is entitled to respect and kindness. Conflicts happen, because people are people, but when conflict does occur we will work together to solve it in a way that upholds basic dignity and our values.

Our values are as follows:

All people should be treated with respect, even when we disagree with them.

Discrimination against people due to race, sexual orientation, gender presentation, disability, religion, or literally anything else not on this list is wrong.

People who engage in behavior driven by discrimination will be warned once, then removed from the exchange.

All people of traditionally marginalized groups are welcome.

All people are entitled to create content they choose to create.

All people are entitled to choose what content they consume.

As such we have some rules:

This exchange accepts works of any rating as long as they are tagged appropriately. Participating in the exchange means that you understand and accept that.

All content creators must state what they will not draw or write when submitting their offers. No creator will be forced to create content they do not wish to. For this reason, we ask people to be very clear and thorough when filling out their forms.

All content consumers must state what they do not want for people fulfilling their requests. No consumer will be gifted content that has a “do not want” in it. For this reason, we ask people to be very clear and thorough when filling out their forms.

All characters in content created must remain true to their cannon skin color presentation (no white washing). With this in mind, we will accept minor variations in skin tone that does not dramatically alter appearance. OC Dwarf characters may have the skin tone of their creators choice.

In addition, all characters who are described as homosexual in cannon must not be featured in heterosexual couplings (ie: Dorian featured with a female character in a romantic relationship.)

This exchange does not accept works featuring pre-pubescent children in sexual situations. We will accept appropriately tagged works featuring adolescents engaged in consensual sexual activity or romance. We will not accept adolescents engaged in non-consensual or dubiously consensual sexual activity.

We accept OCs (Cadash, Aeducan, Brosca) of any gender presentation - please indicate if the dwarf protagonist you submit is male, female, non-binary, or of another gender presentation. If the moderators have questions, we will post them and ask you to contact us.

This exchange does accept works that depict non-consensual and dubiously consensual sexual activity but they must be tagged appropriately. This exchange will also accept works dealing with abuse, substance use, and other themes that could be considered problematic. They also must be tagged appropriately. Works that are not tagged appropriately will be removed from the exchange and creators will be contacted.

All conflicts in this exchange that cannot be solved between the conflict participants, or any issues with a request/offer must be brought to the moderators attention.

We ask that works submitted adhere to basic standards of readability in terms of grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. If you need assistance finding a beta, the exchange will gladly assist you!

All works must be a finished art piece (at a minimum clean, finished line art on unlined paper) or a fic of 500 or more words. There is no maximum. Treats may be any length but must be finished.

You are obligated to deliver one finished work by the exchange due date. If there is going to be an issue, please contact the moderators.

This exchange is anonymous, please do not post your creation or reveal your recipient until after the creators or revealed, then you may post wherever you like. If you post early, you will be in violation of the rules.

Stories and art must be written specifically for this exchange and cannot have been previously created and posted. They cannot be part of a series that is posted. They can feature OCs you have used before, but the work must standalone and be complete.

Depending on the extent of rule violation and the amount of violations, people may be banned from future exchanges, asked to take corrective action, or works may be removed from the exchange. The Moderator team has sole discretion in making these decisions.