Hi everyone, I'm LittleLostMabari and I write fics for Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3. I'm also a fangirl for other things, and I take minific requests / asks!
Find most of these on AO3 @/LittleLostMabari.
(Dividers by cafekitsune)
One of The Good Ones
Fandom: Dragon Age 2 / Dragon Age Inquisition x D&D 5e / Forgotten Realms
Pairing: Cullen Rutherford x OC. Background F!Hawke x Anders, Isabella x OC, eventually others.
Rating: M (Canon-typical violence & behavior, check tags)
Updates on Tuesdays.
To Kirkwall, By Accident (Ch 1-3)
Champion of Men and Druids (Ch 4-7)
Breaking Faith and Other Things (Ch 8-9)
To the Gallows, the Long Way ‘Round (Ch 10-13)
For Want of a Moment's Peace (Ch 14-16)
The End Begins (Ch 17-20)
Injustice (Ch 21-25)
Smaller fics under the cut.
Other Fiction:
Dragon Age
#Veilguard30 Complete Fic List (October 2024) [Rating varies]
DAOWarden!Rook drabble [angst, Rating: T]
Davrin x reader!Rook oneshot [fluff, Rating: T]
Protagonists drabbles (DAO/DA2/DAI)
Baldur's Gate 3
Wine and Kisses [Gale x f!Reader post-game fluff, Rating: T]
Touch of Darkness [Gale x f!Tav angst, Rating: M, Work in Progress]
A Firm Kiss [Gale x gn!Reader, Rating: T (w/ CW)]
BG3 Pride Prompts (June 2024)
Day 4: Eating/Cooking Together [Shadowheart x Halsin x gn!Tav fluff]
Day 9: First Meeting [Wyll x m!Tav fluff]
Day 12: Journey Together [Lae'zel x f!Tav, post-Act 3]
Day 20: Festival [Aro/Ace Tav + Tadfools fluff, post epilogue]
Red Dead Redemption 2
And Death Follows [Arthur x grimreaper!Reader, drabble]
Villains Aren't Born [Arthur x fem!OC, song!drabble]
OC Lore
Eoree the Clanless [D&D Goliath Forge Cleric]
Poetry:
Sweetness of Mortal Love [Gale x Tav, Act 3]
A Worthy Path [Gale x Named!Tav, Act 1]
At the End [Gale x Tav, Act 3]
Tell Me What Happened [Original]
Gifts / Requests:
A Note To Fenris [Fenris x mage!Hawke]
A Firm Kiss [Gale x gn!Reader]
Not Going to Happen [Cullen x gn!Reader]
"I miss the dumbest things about him" [Gale Dekarios x gn!Reader]
i've been thinking hard about this and i don't think swapping cullen's role in da:i with samson's role in da:i would fix the problems with cullen's (that he was never forced to confront/atone for his past behavior nor reckon with the fact that he STILL sometimes dehumanizes mages - i love the guy but come ON)
i DO agree that cullen would make a great samson - a villain who is misguided into giving templars red lyrium because he "cares," his backstory fits that very well - he's been traumatized by mages, he feels the templars have been underappreciated, he thinks no one appreciates what they do anymore or takes them seriously - he DOES let a hawke who sided with the mages walk, but other than that, his fanaticism-as-a-trauma-response falls in line perfectly with this role in the story
BUT samson is not a good choice for a cullen - the "former templar turned general after he became Done With That Life" - either. samson spent all of da2 trying his best to get back INTO the templar order. yes, it was because he needed lyrium, but to me that makes his quitting arc less powerful; he's dealt with withdrawal many times and he's not as unsure in his ability to survive without it as cullen is. also he trafficked young mages into slavery, albeit unwittingly, and was not really that sorry to hear about how it went sideways on him (his reaction was kind of like "oh damn that's fucking bullshit! anyway"), and i don't think his "redemption" arc would have been any less lackluster than cullen's, not in the least because he committed less crimes - he was actively trying to help mages in his own way, he just fucked it up a lot.
that said i also don't think samson works as a great villain to cullen either...he was never as fanatic about templars being his Brothers In Arms as cullen was, he never had a strong hatred of mages (quite the opposite), and he and cullen didn't even seem that close before?? hell, samson's best moment in the game takes place when he isn't even onscreen: it's when you meet maddox, and maddox explains samson has always been kind to him. (which is another reason i prefer cullen in the "hero" role rather than the "antihero" one - ain't no way that dude is being nice to maddox. i wouldn't buy that for a minute.)
so if the problem is that cullen occupies both roles well and samson doesn't really fit into either of them, then who do we use as the other character...?
hear me out: meredith.
if the anime ALREADY revived her in the stinger (spoilers ig), could she not work well as cullen's villain? her "you're just like me" and "you're on the wrong side" speeches would hit harder this way. her being the "cause" of cullen's past misdeeds could potentially be examined more closely. and her feeling the templars have been underappreciated and that no one takes the threat of the mages seriously would work just as well with her as it would with cullen. also, it would be sexy. sorry i mean what who said that
however, you could also turn this around...i DO like cullen in the hero role better and also i support women's wrongs, but you could just as easily swap his and meredith's places (assuming you could fix her red lyrium problem - perhaps that could be her personal quest in da:i). meredith had good intentions and thought she was protecting people but did horrible, awful, evil things as a trauma response, particularly after the red lyrium started driving her even crazier. she needs to redeem herself, and confronting cullen as the enemy forces her to grapple with the fact that she took someone who was traumatized and trusted her and instead of trying to help used his paranoia and fanaticism as a tool and made him worse. also, her and varric on the same team would get real funny real quick
You'll likely notice that most of the site is full of links that go nowhere or lead to dead-ends. I haven't had the chance to reformat much to fit the site yet, but wanted to get it live and running!
Please be patient as I continue to work out the kinks in my webdev and html skills. In the meanwhile, I've made a very small, basically read-only discord where I will continue to post updates on the site's progress and you can contact me via submission form. Please use these to send QA feedback (asks are always fine as well)! These early stages are the most critical for me to fix problems such as accessibility or ease-of-use.
What does this mean for the future of the blogs?
They'll still be here, and I'll still update them! I'll still respond to asks and keep an eye on comments/replies, but the formatting will no longer be optimized for tumblr's layout, as it would be a lot of work to make both (and formatting is what has always taken the longest). I'll keep tumblr in the loop on site updates as well, and if you don't like discord, you can follow the DA Transcript bluesky for more frequent news!
Fanfiction is so silly. I am playing with my dolls and people are coming over to watch. Some of them even clap and give me compliments. And when I'm done playing, I can go and watch other people play with their dolls.
has anyone considered one of those time travel "fix-it" fics where a hawke left behind in the fade one day wakes up in lothering (or ostagar) and realizes they've been transported back a decade prior and decide to try to change the outcome of kirkwall. only to find out no matter how many different decisions they make it will always turn out the same. an ogre will always kill their sibling. bartrand always abandons them. leandra always dies. the arishok always attacks. anders always destroys the chantry. you know
I was thinking it through and if Sera is a survivor of the events that took place in the Denerim Orphanage as some of us suspect, then I do think she could deeply relate to Cullen's trauma with Kinloch.
it would also explain why Sera is so viscously against magic and frightened of demons to such a high degree, because she witnessed a massacre that then lead to a demon infestation. She watched friends, possibly adopted siblings, die at the hands of the city guard and demons raise up from their ashes. What happens if she falls one day? Will what remains of her become a demon? Will she succumb to rage and pain, then sword and flame?
And if Cullen saw the same thing, would she not understand what he went through? Would she not empathize with his fear and confusion? Would Cullen not see the same misdirected anger and torment in her as he did in his younger self and wish to help her? At least they could talk? Have some one to confide in. They might come from two different worlds but they have similar roots; they are poor Fereldens who saw the worst of the Blight and came out of it, but it didn't make them braver or stronger. Raw from the suffering and the weight of being a survivor.
Not from their perspectives anyway.
So, why not? Why not form a bond? Or at least, they could sit in quiet on the roof and make each other laugh a little.
Announcing the prompts for Dragon Age Sapphic Week 2025!
As a reminder, the prompts are merely guidelines meant to inspire ideas, not strict requirements. You can interpret them as you wish, combine, or ignore them - as long as your submission is centered around sapphic ships, it's a perfect fit for the event!
Don't forget to use the tag #DASapphicWeek2025 or @ us in the post with your submission to get your work featured on the blog. Any event fics posted on AO3 can also be added to our collection.
For more information, please check out our FAQ.
Looking forward to seeing you during #DASapphicWeek2025!
okay here's an opinion that will get me beat with hammers but really shouldn't
I think Cullen and Sera have a sibling dynamic that no one wants to capitalize on like they're both from poor backgrounds, they both have wariness of mages, they both love themselves some fucking sugar cookies, and Sera loves messing with people with sticks up their asses
and Sera, in her own ways, tries to get Cullen to have fun and also take care of himself. That cake bit was to mess with him SURE but Sera does things in a roundabout way so I 100% believe she noticed Cullen was on running on nothing but pure determination and needed to eat or he was going collapse. Sera is perceptive as hell and while I don't think Cullen would have told her about the lyrium withdrawal, she can put two and two together (and probably overheard things).
And Cullen's issues with Sera really stem from her being a prankster and just kind of full of nonsense, but again, he can look at the reports back from a mission and see there's a method behind the madness
and Cullen HATES nobility so if Sera steals the breeches off of every noble in Skyhold and pins them to the gates like a warlord displaying the bodies of their enemies
whose to say he stare at it from his window and have start laughing so loud he scares the ravens off his roof???
Reminders for fanfic writers who think it “doesn’t count”
✦ Your writing counts. like, a lot. If someone felt something because of what you wrote, then it matters. That scene you almost didn’t post? Yeah. Believe me, someone out there bookmarked it for a reason.
✦ Writing existing characters doesn’t make it “less than.” You’re building arcs, crafting dialogue, emotion, pacing. You’re studying character psychology like a scientist. That’s not “just fanfic,” that’s storytelling.
✦ “but it’s just fanfic” ...no. STOP, it’s craft.
It’s understanding tone. It’s hitting emotional beats. It’s layering theme and backstory and prose into something people feel. You’re doing the work, you just don’t get graded on it. (Which, honestly is a blessing.)
✦ Writing fanfic means you love stories enough to live inside them.
You care, deeply. You care enough to reimagine, to explore, to add something of yourself to a world you didn’t create and somehow still make it feel brand new.
✦ Someone out there rereads your fic like it’s their favorite book.
Maybe they’ve saved a line to their notes app,or they quote it to a friend. Maybe they just think about it when they’re having a bad day. That little fic you almost deleted, it’s comfort now.
✦ Your comments section is real. Every “I needed this” and “this made me cry in a good way” is proof, you don’t need a book deal to matter. You don’t need a publisher to have an impact, because you already do.
FANFIC IS WRITING! Fanfic is yours.
You’re not “just” anything. You’re a writer, own it. Be proud of that.
Flaws and Quirks in Male Characters That I’m BEGGING Writers to Explore
✧ Dudes who are bad at sports. Yes, Chad, not every male character needs to throw a perfect spiral in high school. Let him get hit in the face with a dodgeball. Let him (please) suck.
✧ The “pretty boy” who's not vain, just vibing. Like he knows he looks like he walked out of a Renaissance painting but has the self-esteem of a lost ferret.
✧ Shy, awkward boys who don’t magically become suave by Chapter 6. No, he’s still weird at parties and says “you too” when the waiter says “enjoy your meal.”
✧ Flirtatious guys who are actually super respectful. He's flirty but not a walking lawsuit. Shocker. He’s playful, not predatory.
✧ Male friendships that aren't emotionally constipated. Yes, two guys can say “I love you, bro” and not immediately punch each other to cancel it out.
✧ The soft-spoken leader. He doesn’t need to scream orders or have a “gruff, commanding voice.” He just talks, and people shut up and listen because he’s competent.
✧ Dudes with weird hobbies. like, your guy MC collect antique spoons or have a YouTube channel rating old vacuums. Why not. It’s his passion.
✧ Guys who are clingy and insecure in relationships. Not abusive, just genuinely terrified of being left on read for too long. He's trying his best, ok?
finding an error in someone else's fic: awe. we are all human - this is totally understandable and doesn't bother me whatsoever. it is almost endearing to know that others are not perfect, and in their excitement to share, they made a small mistake.
finding an error in your own fic: a merciful death is too kind for me. i deserve to be burnt on a pyre or publicly executed at dawn
Little Lost Mabari @littlelostmabari - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
