#culavellan

I love these sorts of tags, thank you so much @virshiral 🌿💚

This is a great activity in procrastination (but I am currently working on chapter 3 of A Witness to My Crimes and chapter 69 of The Theory of Being, I promise.)

I am going to try and choose one chapter of a few different fics, which is a little difficult to narrow down on some more than others (looking at you, The Theory of Being).

From The Theory of Being, Chapter 8 (To Break Chains):

The song continued and began to crest. A buildup of emotion and sound at its peak. Wait, no. This wasn't right. This never happened. The song was new to her, one that never rang through the halls of the Forgotten.

I chose this chapter for my longfic because it was the scene that popped into my mind that sort of inspired the entire story.

I was driving down the road and a song (Theory of Being by Audiomachine) came up on my shuffle, and I had a daydream-y kind of moment with Fen'harel at a masquerade and the thought of 'what if Lavellan was a Forgotten One?'

So reaching that chapter and writing out that vision, it'll probably remain as one of my favorites.

Dragon Age - Explicit - Solas x Lavellan

From A Witness to My Crimes, Chapter 2 (Payback's a Bitch):

More flashes. Like an old film running off its tracks. Screaming. Riley yelling his name as she clawed at the ground. He never felt helpless before and he fucking hated it.

Granted there are only two chapters to choose from in regards to this one but c'est la vie.

I had been mulling around dabbling outside of the Dragon Age fandom for awhile, and had done some one-shots here and there but this one is turning out to be one of my favorites. The tone change in terms of what I am used to writing has been fun, leaning into a toxic dynamic and playing around there has been great.

I am really proud of how I meshed the past and present in this chapter, along with the fine line between intimacy and possession later on in the chapter.

The Boys - Explicit - Soldier Boy x Cataclysm

From One Nug Short of Sensible, Chapter 3 (A Nug Worth Keepin'):

Her palms felt cold against his clammy cheeks. All he could think was how pretty she was. A light, purposeful pat refocused him, bringing his attention back to her while a weak chuckle dropped from her lips, "You can tell me I'm pretty later. Can't check out on me now, cowboy. Gotta let me gloat about this later."

The first of my Rhela / Geldauran stories in a multi-chapter. There is something about these two that has captured my heart so so much. I am decidedly not normal about them in any way (gods, look at how much commissioned art they have now...) and had low key made me the 'cowboy person' in a few writing circles which is... endlessly hilarious to me for a variety of reasons.

I wanted their attraction to be instantaneous but both of them trying to ignore it for as long as they can. This story was meant to be a one-shot, turned into 3 chapters and is just about my god reincarnation modern AU Geldauran (as a Texan-style Sheriff) meeting his eventual Undersheriff and love of his life.

Dragon Age - Teen - Rhela Ghilain x Geldauran

From This Forgotten Binding, Chapter 8 (Banal'rasen or Mien'harel):

Hope that began to crawl underneath his skin. Hope that was broken, and bruised. Like a soldier who could only pull themselves forward with their fingers. Clawing at the dirt beneath them. But that hope was there, alive, and refusing to surrender to the idea that the course of his life was already decided.

I love this entire story for so many reasons and I truly wish I could share it with more people. It's from my first fandom event (summer DABB 2025!) and it was my first dive into a true AU.

Forgotten Gods, god reincarnations, modern Thedas (with magic!), museums, universities, archaeology, the works. It had so many things crammed into it and I am so immensely proud of it.

This chapter (much like my chapter chosen for The Theory of Being) contains the scene that sort of kicked off the entire idea. A walk through a museum of relics owned by the Forgotten Ones.

Dragon Age - Explicit - Solas/Fen'harel x Isathe/Aseradiva

From Mending Strings of Loss, Chapter 2 (Confronting Fears):

About ten minutes after their arrival, as Cullen was passing a message to a scout, his door swung open violently. Ellana standing in the doorway, both the Commander and the scout jumped at the noise. The Inquisitor pointed to the door, "Out, I need to speak with Commander Cullen alone." Maker's breath, she is still mad. She also had him cornered. The scout made a swift exit and every part of Cullen wished he could follow.

I chose this one as it appears to be the first one I finished for the Dragon Age fandom? It was a short, 2 chapter piece. Some of my early early work but I also love it as something to look back on and see how I have changed in terms of my story telling, and own writing ability.

It also isn't Solavellan, which is fun! And I truly enjoy torturing Cullen (affectionately).

Dragon Age - Mature - Cullen Rutherford x Inquisitor Lavellan

[An official report from the Inquisition military front in Emprise du Lion arrives accompanied by a modest, nondescript letter, privately addressed, in the Commander’s handwriting]

Chapters: 19/? Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age (Video Games) Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford, Female Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford

CHAPTER 19. THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED

"Commander, you were saying something?" If Josephine had already noticed something, Riwan couldn't tell: the Antivan Ambassador surely knew how to bluff. Nonetheless, she kept her eyes locked on the map of Thedas in front of her, biting her lips in order not to laugh. The war council that day was perhaps the most excruciating and absurd experience of her life: forty minutes had already passed and they had both clumsily acted as if nothing had happened between them and though she could sense an air of expectancy and amusement rising from Leliana’s part, she thought they were doing great. She had managed to cover her blushing cheeks soon enough after she saw him standing behind the table, but now she couldn't stop grinning. The Commander, on the other hand, looked like a marble statue, staring into his reports, unable to raise his gaze for more than a few seconds, if not to meet her eyes and then hastily avert his gaze while blushing uncontrollably. "...Commander?" Cullen snapped back to reality. He was staring straight in front of him, fixed on Riwan's smirk and gleaming eyes for at least the tenth time that day, though for all that Josephine could see he could as well be looking at the door behind her. "Ah-Yes, I was- I was talking about our successful- I mean-" "Cullen, you are allowed to breathe, you know that, right?", Leliana said. "Yes, thank you", he growled, "Our scouting expedition in Haven's ruins was successful, Inquisitor."

"The Inquisitor has come back from the Exalted Plains." "So I've heard." "They saw her wearing an elven armour, you might want to ask her if-" "Ask what? Me? Ask the Inquisitor something?!" "Yes, you always complain that the clothes from your clan were more comfortable than these ones..." "And have the Commander slain me because I do not wear our official armour?" "You are a Dalish just like her, I'm sure she'll listen to you." "Of course, as if the Inquisitor meddled with us..." "I just wanted- Look! There she is!" The two soldiers stared at the figure walking briskly through the barracks, directed to the archers' field. "Man, the archers surely are lucky." "Pfff. I really don't understand you, she just looks... Plain. Totally normal." "Plain? How could you say that she is plain? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror... knife-ear?" "Oh, easy there, orlesian scum." "Even if she were plain, last night, when she returned with her party, Kaara told me that she stopped at The Herald's Rest and offered a round to everyone inside!" "We should ask Kaara to put on those Dalish robes. See if they fit." "Ha! I bet five silvers that she can't even put one of her thighs inside them!" They burst out laughing. "Soldiers! It is sparring time, not chatting time!" They froze, looked at each other as their faces gradually turned white. It was the Commander. He got near them with a look on his face resembling that of a wild beast ready to strike its prey. "Ten laps of the field. Now!" "Ser, with our armour on, Ser?" "Yes, with your armour on! Go!" He crossed his arms and looked at the two poor sods who started to clumsily run around the field, causing a stir among the other soldiers. "Can I leave them to you for a minute?", he asked lieutenant La'Nen. "Of course, Commander. I'll keep them in check." "Thank you." He jogged towards the archers' field, headache pounding accordingly to his paces. He stopped for a brief second and looked at her from behind: she had a leather thick skin ornated with Dalish motives and leather gauntlets, her arms tense and muscles flexed in pulling the bowstring. Her hair was growing so long that she had started carrying it in a high ponytail whenever she practised. She was so focused that she barely heard him coming. "Have you come to distract my soldiers, Inquisitor?", he said in a low voice, flanking her with crossed arms and looking in the distance towards the dummy she was aiming at. "Fenedhis!" she yelled, as she released the bowstring and sent the arrow inches higher than its intended destination. "Have you come here to distract me?" She lowered her bow and looked at him. A smile immediately surfaced in her eyes and on the corners of her lips. "Perhaps...", he smirked in return. They stood awkwardly one beside the other. Many things that he wanted to say to her stirred inside his mind, but he felt not able at all to voice them. "You came back yesterday night and didn't even come to greet me..." "We stayed away for merely a week. Besides, if you stopped putting your soldiers guarding your tower and impeding me to enter..." He chuckled. "You're right... But you can- you can enter whenever you want. I mean-" She laughed, “I don’t believe you!”. Maker, he wanted to kiss her so badly. "You-you've finally found Dalish armour..." "Yes, the clan in the Dales was so kind as to giving several pieces of clothing to me. I paid them dearly. You should've seen Cassandra's look..." "I can imagine... It looks good on you." "I know", she teased him. Her ears looked even more pointed and long with her hair held back. "Stop it,” he said, averting his gaze from her smiling lips, though he couldn’t stop smiling himself, “will I- See you tonight?" "Yes, if you don't lock yourself up in your tower..." "I won't." "All right." "Goodbye then." "Goodbye." He stood there, unable to move. She moved her head questioningly, hair floating in the breeze, the smile still on her lips. "All right, I'll just- go" Her laughter rang behind him as he paced away. Maker, he felt so stupid.

30 DAY PROMPT CHALLENGE (DRAGON AGE). LIAWYN LAVELLAN//CULLEN RUTHERFORD. WORD COUNT: 2196. 

There was something calming about the meditative silence that hung over Skyhold’s gardens in the early hours of evening. Most of the pilgrims were attending the daily evening services at the Chantry. Proper members of the Inquisition had stumbled off in search of food or company. Liawyn’s companions and her advisors rarely looked for her there and, if she was careful, she could blend into the shadows and effectively find solitude for at least an hour or two. As the sun set in the sky, the shadows of the battlements stretched over the trees and grass and flowers, fading away nature’s colors until it was impossible to tell that they were even there.

Until it was impossible to tell that they were already fading away to begin with.

Liawyn pulled her knees into her chest, huddling further into a dark corner with a good view as she watched the doors to the Chantry. What must it be like, knowing the teachings of your religion instead of aimlessly chasing wisdom that had long since been lost? Was it easier? Would it be enough to ease her ever curious mind? Could the Maker bring color back into her world?

Or was she doomed watch what had once been brilliant fade until there was nothing left.