#cullavellan week

I’ve been away for a while, doing college stuff (I’m graduating in December!!), but I’m back with some fresh bold ideas!

That’s right fellow shippers! The time to celebrate this lovely pair of nerds has arrived once again!! A whole week dedicated to fanworks of varying kinds and the wonderful creators responsible! :D LET’S GET EXCITED!

Cullavellan Week will occur the week of September 11th this year!

The days’ themes are as follows:

Day 1 (September 11th) - Mabari, Halla, and Harts, oh my!

We all know Cullen winds up with a mabari, but are there any adorable animals that the pair share? Or perhaps your Lavellan has someone to add to the mix! This day is all about pets!

Day 2 (September 12th) - Meet the Family

C’mon, it was inevitable! How did Lavellan introduce Cullen to their clan? Or, how did Cullen introduce them to his siblings? Or BOTH, if you’re feeling daring! :D

Day 3 (September 13th) - Partners in Battle

It’s no secret that the Inquisitor and Commander are experts in combat! Show them in action out in the field!

Day 4 (September 14th) - Throwback Thursday

Is there a particular fanart or fanfic that you’ve been DYING to redo or remaster? Now’s your chance to do so and share it with the rest of the Cullavellan crew! Be sure to link or add the original work as well!

Day 5 (September 15th) - Formal Night

Time to get fancy! Whether it’s for Halamshiral or another occasion, get these two cleaned up and looking spiffy!

Day 6 (September 16th) - Support

Times can be tough for this couple, be it individually or as a pair. From an unwanted Mark to lyrium withdrawal, it’s always better to have a shoulder to lean on! Why not share how they do so?

Day 7 (September 17th) - What the Future Holds

With DA4 right around the corner, how will your Lavellan and Cullen be involved? Or, if they’re staying out of the limelight, what are they doing instead?

Make sure to tag @cullavellanheaven in your works or to put Cullavellan Week 2017 in your tags so I can find your posts once they go up! You can always submit to the blog as well. Any fanworks that are NSFW or have content warnings will be tagged accordingly - and anything too extreme will NOT be shared!

A/N: I said I would take part in this so I HAD to write sth for my favourite promt. They’re a fighting family though, my darlings. So expect appearances from some other companions. Not proofread cause it’s three in the morning here. NOTE: Dorian’s my inquisitor’s best friend, thick as blood those two (no Tevinter pun intended... okay maybe a little ;) )

note: I revised/proofread anyway. Cause who needs sleep right? So this is an updated version. (I’d hoped nobody would reblog it to the cullavellan week blog in the meanwhile but damn you guys are fast. ;) )

Short: Cullen rutherford and his Inquisitor are known as experts in combat and tactics, but it couldn’t get any more dangerous than when they they worry more about each other than themselves... or could it?

Cullavellan Week Day 3: Partners in Battle

If Cullen knew one thing, it was that the Inquisitor was a force to be reckoned with. She was as deadly with swords as with words. She spoke with a strong will to her men, but to him she spoke differently, in a softer manner. Unfortunately that second part served as a catalyst for his worst nightmares. She was off guard when she was near him, and it made him frantic with worry. Who said she would not off guard be when fighting alongside him? Their concern for each other in battle had so far been a blessing but he was painfully aware of it only needing to be a curse once for him to regret it until his dying day. He noticed from time to time how she would look for his face between the battling soldiers after hearing a cry, holding her breath until she saw him. Blood across her armor, strands of wildly out of place hair framing her face, sometimes some small gashes on her body. But all she cared for in that moment was him. He hated it.

Of course, he knew he did the same. They’d saved each other on numerous occasions because of it, but as he lunged to save her he knew he was giving an unengaged nearby enemy an opportunity attack on him. He could deal with that danger, for he was saving the life of not only the woman he loved but also the driving force behind the inquisition. For her, looking after her replacable commander simply could never be considered a smart move, no matter how much she disputed it. He understood that she had to be out there but he wished he could blur himself from her vision entirely when she was. She should not be put at risk, especially not for his sake. She was too important. Without her, the Inquisition would falter and he would never forgive himself. No matter how much he longed for a life with her after she was done saving the world as they knew it, he would sacrifice himself for her in a heartbeat. 

 ‘BEHIND YOU!’ She swerved around, trusting in his words, and allowed her sword to gain momentum in the process. Fighting with her was like dancing. She moved with a grace and determination which he didn’t know was due to her roguish training or her Elven heritage, but it was hard not to look at sometimes. She slashed across the enemy’s torso and before she even got the chance he dealt the final blow. She looked somewhat out of breath but the closest thing to a goddess he’d ever seen nonetheless. “ Maker, you’re beautiful.” “ Cullen, focus.” She moved away from him again.  “I will not lose you because you are too damned determined to keep me from letting you fight alongside your men!” Cullen grimaced, plunging his sword into a charging enemy. “If that is what it takes to keep you safe...” He took his sword back out “so be it!” She was starting to look worn out, bloodied, dirty. He decided to stick closer to her, protect the true leader so the troops wouldn’t lose morale. At least that’s what he told himself, pretended to rationalise his actions when keeping her safe. Truth was, that nothing about them was even remotely rational. He loved her. If anything happened to her… 

A magic blast blew an uncoming enemy a couple of feet away behind him. As he looked over his shoulder he noticed Dorian; “Keep your head in the game and on your shoulders, you can stare at the pretty girl later.” Cullen nodded in thanks before he looked back at his lover. She looked angry. “Cullen for fuck’s sake, keep yourself safe instead of trying to save me. I do not need saving.” Cullen heard a familiar voice cry out and felt her pushing him away. “Go! Help him!” Krem was on the ground, Bull seemed to be getting closer to him as well as the other chargers but none of them was close enough. Cullen dispatched of a couple of enemies waiting for Bull to join him. Bull came through the masses, annihilated any oncoming enemies with remarkable ease. The inquisition was clearly winning and their adversaries became all the more rabid and lethal for it. They would be routing now, if it hadn’t been for the red lyrium.  Their eyes seemed glazed over, they were animals more than humans. Rabid, bloodthirsty, they noticed someone wounded and tried to add numbers to bodycount. Behind Cullen and Bull chargers started to stabilise Krem. Some of them looked worse for wear as well. When Bull shouted “HOW IS HE?” another voice yelled “He’s gonna make it!” from behind them.

Cullen had his head in the game until the attacks stopped on Bull, the chargers and him. Instead, they chose to focus on other targets, finding it impossible to get through to the people tending to Krem. Cullen looked for her again. He noticed someone going at her from the back, Cullen yelled out to her, ran , but she didn’t hear in time and he knew couldn’t get there fast enough. “ CYRI! TURN AROUND! “ An arrow flew at Cyriana’s attacker, Sera’s, but blood stained the inquisitor’s back as she cried out. She kept standing, but she was shaking on her feet. “ GET HER OUT OF HERE, WE’VE GOT THIS!” Cullen was almost with her, and noticed Dorian rushing to her aid as well.

Cullen grabbed her and yelled at the others to cover him. When he reached the nearby forest with her in his arms, he stopped running. He put her down, gently, and steadied her. He wanted to look at the wound but wasn’t sure she could even stand on her own. “ I’m fine. It’s a fleshwound, nothing more.” “ You are not fine.” “ Damnit Cullen, I have to be there!” He got her to sit down so he could stop the bleeding. He did not carry the medicine to help her. Instead, he attempted to simply stop the bleeding. Cullen looked at her. “ We outnumber them ten to one now. How did he even get to you?” “ I don’t know.” “ You’re used to me watching your back, you shouldn’t have sent me away.” “ Yeah, I should have. They’re as important as me. Krem is as important as me. You are, too.” 

What? It’s Cullavellan week again? Sign me the heck up

Day 1 (September 11th) - Mabari, Halla, and Harts, oh my!

We all know Cullen winds up with a mabari, but are there any adorable animals that the pair share? Or perhaps your Lavellan has someone to add to the mix! This day is all about pets!

@cullavellanheaven I’d already sort of written Mara and Cullen meeting each other’s respective families, but I hope this piece keeps with the spirit of the day being all about family even if it’s not about them being introduced to each other’s families. About 1k words, Cullen’s POV, Reparation AU. 

Also on AO3. 

The road to South Reach stretched out in front of Cullen, long and dusty in the summer heat. The sun was beginning to set, taking most of the heat with it. The sky was streaked in orange and purple, the clouds refracting the light as they shifted over the tall peaks of the mountains. It was still early enough in the summer that everything was still green, and snow still dusted the highest of the peaks.

It was just him and Mia walking along the road, but David, Bran’s mabari, padded along beside them. Mia had needed to run into town to pick up a new tool she’d ordered from Denerim. Cullen and Mara had been over for dinner, something that was becoming a weekly occurrence and so he’d gone too.

He hadn’t had as much time to talk to Mia as he would have liked since they’d gotten back from Ostwick. He was trying, and he could tell that Mia knew that. She’d been so relieved when they’d gotten home, and he hadn’t had the chance to talk to her about it. He couldn’t blame her though. He knew why. Besides Denerim, the last time he’d said goodbye, he hadn’t seen his family in twenty years. The worry was more than deserved.

“You’re quiet,” Mia said, arm bumping his as they walked.

Cullen’s hand flew to his neck. “My apologies, I was just caught up in my thoughts.”

Mia nodded, blue eyes too understanding. He glanced away unable to bear the weight of it. “You’ve got quite a lot on your plate right now. Between a wedding and another group arriving.”

Cullen couldn’t hold back a smile. “My plate has been more full, and with things much less exciting.”

Mia laughed. “I know. Everything is alright though?”

“Yes. I could ask you the same thing. We haven’t had a chance to really talk since I got back.” Cullen kept his eyes on the road, it was easier than face his sister. They were learning to have the tough conversations. He had more learning to do than she did, but old habits ran deep. It was altogether too easy to gloss over the things that bothered them. There was no healing there though; that much, Cullen had learned.

“Oh, everything is alright. I was worried while you were away though,” Mia admitted.

“About?”

Mia shrugged. “That you’d find that the world needed to be saved again or something. That you’d get delayed. Something.”

And there it was. The reason behind all of that relief.

“I think I’ve had my fill of saving the world. Quiet life for me from now on, I think.” Cullen meant every word. The Inquisition had saved him, and given him purpose. And yet, he believed he’d earned the quiet. And for someone who didn’t believe he was deserving of much, that was a big deal.

“Running the clinic counts as quiet?” Mia asked with a smile.

“As quiet as it’ll ever get, I suppose.”

They didn’t speak for a moment, the only sound between them the crunching of the gravel beneath their feet.

Then Mia spoke, words quiet and filled with so much hope it nearly broke him. “I’m so glad you’re making your home here.”

Cullen chanced a look at his sister, and realized the mistake he’d made when he saw her eyes were misty. It suddenly became very hard to swallow. “This is home.”

Home had been somewhat complicated. Even after he left, Honnleath was home. After the Blight and his family leaving, it was still the only home he’d ever known. The Circles he lived in had been familiar, but not home. Skyhold had filled that void for a while, but nothing had felt as permanent or right as South Reach. It was where his family was, and he’d longed for it on those long nights crossing the Waking Sea. And of course there was Mara too. Home was even more complicated for her. And yet, South Reach had become hers too.

Mia’s arm wound around his waist and he slipped his arm around her shoulders as they walked. “I’m so so glad to hear that.”

“I went back to Honnleath, once,” he said, voice quiet and years back.

Mia twisted to look at him. “You did?”

He nodded. “A few years ago. I don’t know what I was expecting, or hoping to find there. I remember standing on the dock of the lake, and wishing desperately for it to be the same. It just wasn’t.”

He’d hardly allowed himself to think on it. The trip had been nice, a brief reprieve for him and Lorraine. But now that it was no longer gilded in sentiment and emotion, he remembered the disappointment he’d felt. He’d dreamt of returning to Honnleath, of that homesick feeling finally being banished by going back, by seeing what life had been. There was no such magic in Honnleath. It didn’t live up to the ghostly memories that were nearly twenty years old.

“We’ve gone back, a few times. Visit mum and dad’s graves. Bran and Rosie and I tell stories the whole way, but going back just isn’t the same. We haven’t gone in a few years. It just…” her words trailed off.

“It isn’t home,” Cullen finished for her.

Mia nodded. “And I feel guilty about that. That the place where we grew up and where we had mum and dad and each other just doesn’t mean as much as it feels like it should.”

Cullen understood the feeling. The guilt. “I think mum and dad would be happy you’ve built us a home here, together.”

“That we’re all here, together.” Mia sucked in a breath, steadying herself.

Cullen tightened his hold on her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. “You’ve done good.”

Mia angrily wiped at her eyes. “So, what else needs to be done on that cottage of yours?”

Cullen didn’t call her out on the subject change, didn’t push. They were going to be okay. That much he knew.

The scene is like a moment from Mia’s long-winded bedtime stories. She is perfectly still in the glade, sunlight staked into the ground in a crescent around her in fat, honeyed bars. There are cottonwood puffs drifting like springtime snow through the air, a sprinkling of spindly white tangling in the burgundy hair behind the delicate pointed tips of her ears. Her hand is outstretched, the soft edge of her smile tipped like the lilt of a lullaby as she dips her head low in a bow.

The hart is magnificent and intimidating in stature, dwarfing her in front of its proud, cream-colored chest. The rack of antlers cut an uncompromising line across the canopy. This is a creature of strength and power… of ancient times and she has approached it without fear or hesitation. He thinks that its inky eyes appear omniscient, appear to glint and recognize the musical elvish that she speaks.

“Ir mirthadra” she says. He knows only spare words here and there and he knows she has said that she is— something. The hart slowly lowers its head and touches its snout to her open palm and he thinks that the quiet but solemnly respectful exchange makes her momentarily ethereal…. that she is beautiful but worlds away.

It was not an uncommon thought that leapt to mind, often times the reason he was so hesitant to act on the growing feeling of affection he was developing for her. Their initially openly hostile relationship, burdened by suspicion and misunderstanding, had been tempered by the true violence of his lyrium addiction and her patient hand on his chest, her wary but unwavering trust, and the respect she did not hesitate to express for him. She was a mage. He was a templar. And somehow her smiles were unreservedly kind and while rare, came increasingly easily for him.

This moment among the wildflowers, tangled in the grasses and light of scent against the richness of wet earth, felt fairytale-like. She is unburdened by title and circumstance that he can see hardens her features and knots her brows and— small without her armor. She is unguarded and vibrant with just him here, taking him sprinting and careening through the forest as her wild laughter tangles with his disbelieving but willing relinquishing of stoicism. When he told her to investigate the anomaly of a creature that his scouts had found, she insisted he accompany her. He was a trespasser in the Emerald Graves, a disruption to the warm, eternal summer that possessed this place.

She gestures for him to come over and he pushes through his own hesitation at the glint of excitement in her eyes. The hart turns to him with a snort, black nose wet and nostrils flaring. He looks to her and she is biting her lips to hide a laugh, placing a reassuring hand on his upper arm. “What do you think?” she asks hopefully, “If I told Horsemaster Dennet we were bringing a hart back to Skyhold?”

He laughs, “I think he would much prefer this to the dripping, blackened thing you dragged back from the bog several weeks before.” “We'll likely still get an earful.” she takes his hand and placed it on the hart’s chest letting her palm rest and remain on his knuckles. He feels the steady breath and slow thud of its heart. Her palm is calloused and small and pleasant against his own skin. He looks at her and sees the kind of wonder that plays warmly on her flushed cheeks. She looks at the beast with a bittersweet nostalgia in her expression. “The Elvhen rode these from Arlathan. They are creatures of bedtime stories.” she murmurs, “They are incredible.” He pulls back quickly, feeling oddly disrespectful by continuing to touch it, but she does not let go of his hand. Her tone is colored with a notes of a challenge, “You should name it.” “Me?” he shakes his head, “That seems hardly appropriate. The hart would be your mount after all."

Fandom: Dragon Age Pairing: Cullavellan Genre: Fluff, Pets AO3 link: Here! Description: A series of drabbles and works based on prompts from Cullavellan Week 2017. Featuring fluff, angst, and everything in between.

Day 1 (September 11th) - Mabari, Halla, and Harts, oh my!

We all know Cullen winds up with a mabari, but are there any adorable animals that the pair share? Or perhaps your Lavellan has someone to add to the mix! This day is all about pets! (Major thanks to @captainsaku for the beta work, as always. <3)

“His name is Falon.”

The stable was quiet, save for the nicker and bray of the horses and mounts that the Inquisitor had collected across her travels. Cullen had come down to check on his own mount—a Fereldan Forder that Dennet had recommended for him—only to find the Inquisitor tucked into one of the back stalls, cooing to the mountain of a horse she had claimed as her own.