Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Content Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandom(s): Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age - All Media Types
Major Pairing(s)/Character(s): Cullen/Amell
Purposeless and passionless after the Inquisition saved the world while she was in the Deep Roads, Solona Amell finds herself at loose ends. An accident with a Tevinter medallion sent to her by Dagna results in Solona traveling back in time to the Inquisition. Through trying to prove herself, Solona rekindles old friendships and finds a path forward she thought closed to her.
More from Ana: AO3 | @lyricallyriumao3
More from Philly: @inquisiorastoria | BlueSky | AO3
I participated in the DABB and was so incredibly lucky to be partnered with @inquisiorastoria for the event! Please check out her absolutely gorgeous art!
Thank you so much to @inquisiorastoria for being a dream to work with and the mods for all your hard work on running the event!!
In which Astarion and Gale argue while standing over a corpse, Astarion commits grand larceny, and I'm the kindest I've been to either version of Elara the entire 65k words so far.
on your computer or on your phone | one-shots or multichapter | <5k or 10k or >10k words per chapter | chronologically or jump back and forth | planning things out or winging it | drabbles or plot or character study | dialogue or action | romance or comedy | mystery or horror | alternate universe or close to canon | writing new content or editing your work | finishing a WIP or starting a new one
Extra questions
How long on average do you spend writing 1 chapter?
Usually 3 - 4 days, but if I'm going through a rough patch it can be weeks.
How long do you spend editing?
A few hours! I do a near re-write then first pass in google docs, a second pass in the ao3 previewer, and one final read in ao3 if I'm not sick of it yet.
Favourite thing to write?
Banter!! I love writing couples or friends for whom their relationship is play.
Hardest thing to write?
Torn between fight scenes or characters I don't like. I want to give everyone a voice even if I don't personally enjoy them as a person.
Fic/story you are most proud of and why?
For BG3, it's just a oneshot, but I think Sometime Around Midnight. I feel like I did a really nice job getting into Act 2 Astarion's head (plus I liked the banter between him and Elara, and I love explaining gameplay limitations through fic. Why does Astarion never bite you when you're awake? He's afraid of intimacy, obviously).
For DA, definitely Veritas. I adore Hawke, and writing Cullen fairly in DA2 when I completely disagree with him on mage rights was a huge challenge but I think I walk the line of him having "reasonable" opinions but still being wrong (from my pov).
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I was tagged by @dragonagedorks <3
Absolutely no pressure whatsoever tags for @inquisiorastoria @theluckywizard @briannasroger and @tiredtruffle
Wasn't tagged for Elara (my BG3 Tav) but I am going to cheat (can you cheat at tag games?) and do one for her anyway. The offering that would wake her as a forgotten god:
your name carved into their skin
"i wanted you to know i was yours. so i gave you space beneath my ribs." there is no altar, no offering bowl. only skin. they etched your name where no one else could see, whispered it into the wound. you return through blood and obsession, a god reawakened in sinew and self-sacrifice. your name pulses under their skin still. this was never about belief. it was about belonging.
I was tagged by @dragonagedorks, thank you so much! I love this one.
If your OC was a forgotten god, which sacrificial offering would awaken them?
Use this quiz and this picrew
silence, kept too long
"i never forgot you. i just stopped saying it out loud." some faiths are quiet. they did not scream your name. they whispered it into candlelight and let their mouths close around it like a secret. the silence stretched, but it was never empty. when they need you most, they do not shout. they just stop breathing, and wait. you are the pause between the lightning and the thunder.
Just for fun, as Iām working on the next chapters of each of their stories:
Picrews of Solona (my HoF), Elara (my Tav), and spawn Elara (my Tav who ran out of inspiration and rolled too low to persuade Astarion out of Ascending)
Would rec Ars Moriendi or Veritas as the entry fic for Solona, Sometime Around Midnight for Elara, and Transposed for spawn Elara.
Link to the picrew if youād like to make your own!
Tagged by @tired-truffle @dragonagedorks @theluckywizard and @briannasroger Thank you all!!!
Last song listened to: Canāt Take My Eyes off You (thanks, Spotify daylist āold soul costal grandmother sunday morningā)
Currently watching: The Bear! Iām in season 2 and Iām enjoying it so far.Ā
Last movie: Titan: the Oceangate Disaster (do documentaries count? It was good!)Ā
Currently reading: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
Sweet/spicy/savoury: Spicy!! Then savory and sweet tie.Ā
Relationship status: Happily married to someone who lovingly puts up with my fictional crushes
Last thing I googled: āwhatās your flavor tell me whatās your flavor commercialā The song was STUCK in my headā¦ and itās apparently a doll commercial!Ā
Currently working on: Transposed, my BG3 longfic; Amantes Sub Rosa, my Inquisition AU; the last chapter of Ex Somniis, where Cullen and Solona meet in the Fade; weāre about halfway through my DA2 fic Vertias (the next chapter may or may not contain an identity reveal); and Iāve got my only Solona/Alistair fic working, too.Ā I also am cooking up a Hawke/Cullen oneshot because I don't already have enough on my plate.
Just for fun, I made picrews of Elara, my Tav in my ongoing BG3 Tavstarion fic, Transposed!
Left is Spawn Elara, and right is main universe Elara! Despite what my writing and both of them would have you believe, she's basically still the same person. Mostly.
Transposed (51442 words) by LyricalLyrium
Chapters: 13/?
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary:
Set post game. On the one year anniversary of killing Cazador, Spawn Astarion and Ascendant Astarion swap bodies. In one reality, a living Elara struggles to give Astarion back the sun while coping with his newly possessive behavior. In the other, Astarion has to face what the ascended version of him has done as he tries to find a way back to his world.
Just posted Chapter 13, in which Elara recruits Shadowheart and Rolan, realizes Ascendant Astarion is a lot more alluring than she expected, and finally gets a moment's reprieve.
Rules: post the beginning lines of your most recent 10 published fanfics, then attempt to tag 10 people!Ā
Thank you @dragonagedorks and @ndostairlyrium for tagging me!
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Transposed | Astarion/Tav | BG3 | 39,150 words | ongoing
Summary:
On the one year anniversary of killing Cazador, Spawn Astarion and Ascendant Astarion swap bodies.
The sun shone brightly on Baldur's Gate, heat tempered by a cool breeze.
2. Amantes Sub Rosa | Cullen/Amell | 23,428 | onoing
Summary:
As the youngest Knight-Commander and First Enchanter in Kinloch Holdās history, Cullen Rutherford and Solona Amell navigate running the Circle, politics, and being completely and desperately in love.
Though Greagoir had always said he would retire the day Solona Amell became First Enchanter, that turned out not to be entirely true. He lasted one full week before calling Cullen into his office.
3. Sometime Around Midnight | Astarion/Tav | 2,448 | oneshot
Summary:
Since that first bite in camp, Astarion only feeds after Elaraās fallen asleep. On a night when heās hungry and sheās struggling with insomnia, heāll have to face his vulnerability around her and accept how intimate an act feeding truly can be.
Astarion should have realized it would be bad from the name alone, but the Shadow-Cursed Lands were truly turning out to be even worse than he imagined.
4. Veritas Vitae Magistra | Cullen/Amell | 45,484 | ongoing
With Hawke officially declared Champion of Kirkwall, Cullen is relieved he no longer has to worry about working with an apostate. Unfortunately for him, she gets caught up in some Grey Warden business and drags him along. Cullen finds himself drawn to her warden contact, a woman in disguise for "mission-related" reasons.
There were days Cullen missed the circle in Ferelden.
5. Ex Somniis | Cullen/Amell | 32,162 | ongoing
Cullen, who has never before been aware in the Fade, finds himself in Solona Amell's dreams. In the waking world, she's alone in the Deep Roads and in need of companionship. He's happy to oblige.
The words on the page were swimming, and Cullen fought to keep his eyes open.
6. Can I Be Your Memory | Astarion/Tav | 5,086 | twoshot
After praying to Shar in her temple, the Lady of Loss unexpectedly takes Tav's memory of suspecting Astarion's motives and recontextualizes their entire relationship. Elara finds herself head over heels, and Astarion is thrilled to see his plan so thoroughly realized and Elara so desperately devoted - isnāt he?
Trekking through the cursed lands had been bad enough. Finding Arabellaās parents dead, running into Raphael, and helping her undead sort-of situationship (could they even call it that much?) make a deal with a devil had all drained whatever was left of Elaraās patience for the day.
7. Such a heavenly way to die | Astarion/Tav | 557 | ficlet
During the discussion in camp about how she would want to be killed, Astarion choosing decapitation leads Elara to an answer that might be a little too truthful.
Of all the things Astarion could make small talk about, Elara's preferred way to die was the last she expected.
8. Venefica | Cullen/Amell | 17,259 | complete
Re-telling of the Broken Circle quest in an AU where Solona was never recruited to the Wardens. Angsty Cullen/F!Amell.
The demon would not break him.
9. A Grace in Denial | Alistair/Amell | 10,152 | ongoing
Alistair ended his relationship with Solona and is using a healthy dose of denial to navigate their new dynamic as king and chancellor.
A week after his coronation, Alistair was just beginning to adjust to the whole ābeing kingā thing.
10. Envy | Cullen/Trevelyan | 3,258 | twoshot
During Champions of the Just, the Envy demon takes Cullen's form as a way to get to know Trevelyan better. You'd think a mage would be better at spotting demons.
What shocked Evelyn the most was how easily Lord Seeker Lucius was defeated and how easily the Templars swore loyalty to her, a mage.
"As if thinking of her had manifested her, Hawkeās boisterous laugh drew Cullenās attention. She and Revka must have been circulating through the room, making introductions. They were only a few heads away.
Both women were a vision - most of Revkaās long brown hair was pinned up in a bun, a few small curled tendrils framing a delicate porcelain half mask heād never seen her wear before. A beautiful, shimmering diamond necklace adorned her neckline. Her deep blue dress consisted of an intricately embroidered bodice, which clung to her frame, flowing into a voluminous ball gown skirt.
Hawke looked equally striking, with her black hair pinned away from her face but let down. Her skin contrasted sharply with her crimson dress, and Cullen couldnāt help but admire how well the two looked together. Revka caught his eye. Though the surly expression on her face didnāt change, he noticed her subtly elbow Hawke, who followed the Wardenās gaze to him. She grinned and turned back to say something he didnāt quite catch before dragging Revka over to him."
Chapter 6 of Veritas vitƦ magistra by LyricalLyrium (her Tumblr)
Reblogging to gush about how absolutely incredible and gorgeous this piece is (thank you so much!!!) and also include the fact that she went to the effort to put in canon-compliant DA constellations in the dress embroidery.
Seriously having the scene illustrated like this is such a dream.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Baldur's Gate (Video Games)
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Astarion/Tav (Baldur's Gate), Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Original Female Character(s)
Characters: Astarion (Baldur's Gate), Tav (Baldur's Gate)
Additional Tags: Vampire Bites, Vulnerability, Act 2 (Baldur's Gate 3), Working Through Astarion's Issues (Baldur's Gate), Denial of Feelings, Manipulation, carrying on the proud victorian tradition of writing a vampire bite instead of smut, consensual pretend somnophilia about being bitten if you squint?, Falling In Love, Idiots in Love,
"Just pretend Iām not here,ā the half-elf said. āI mean, I have to be here, because my blood has to be here, but Iām -ā she cut herself off and huffed. āIām a sentient canteen, is my point. I wonāt move. Just do what you normally do.ā
Set during Act 2, pre-confession. Since that first bite in camp, Astarion only feeds after Elaraās fallen asleep. On a night when heās hungry and sheās struggling with insomnia, heāll have to face his vulnerability around her and accept how intimate an act feeding truly can be.
