#caitlin lavellan

[mollymcbendy]

My rogue ( tempest ) inquisitor, Caitlin Lavellan.

[azdesertwillow]

I'm a huge fan of your Caitlin fanfic. I'm able to read your writing and imagine the characters voices saying it all. The only characters I've had issues with are Solas, which you acknowledged. And Sera, I'm just not sure if you've captured her yet.

Thank you so much! I struggle so much with Solas because I keep hearing Ianto Jones and/or the real GDL and just can’t get a handle on Solas. turianboyfriend is a LARGE reason why Solas sounds remotely in character at all. In the rough draft form, I may as well just use a cardboard cut out of Solas for how accurate it is.

Interesting fact about Sera…

(Cut for new readers)

Sera though was nearly killed off with Vivienne in an earlier draft of the fic, partly for that reason. What changed was I came up with the idea for Cole feeding false information, and with Vivienne and Cole I knew I could make her death hurt, even for those who don’t like Vivienne. Fuck, I was even getting choked up as I was writing it. 

Sera offers a lot of challenges for me. Partly because she is one of the few romances I haven’t done because I have been so caught up in other stuff and I refuse to watch any videos so I can experience it for myself. But also because it is very easy to descend into a caricature of her (just say ‘fuck’ and ‘wut’ a lot) and Sera is more than that. I’ve always felt like there was something off with her but since no one said anything before, figured it was just in my head. So thank you for the critique! I’ll spend more time making sure she’s more accurately written.

(as for Solas, I don’t know what to do. I just can’t seem to crack that egg… I deeply regret that joke already.) 

[azdesertwillow]

15 for Cat. ^.^

15:WHAT MAKES YOUR OC ANGRY?

Being wrong and general cruelty. This really showed itself in Trespasser when

CUT FOR SPOILERS

Solas says he will do the thing. She is just SO angry at him. She blames him for how she was raised - an outcast, even in her own clan, because of her magic; nomadic because of the fall of Arlathan; the Inquisitor because he gave to Orb to Corypheus.

All that would have pissed her off already, but what just infuriates her is that if it weren’t for the risk to everyone, she would agree with Solas. Her magic made her feel isolated, but she blames the people - not her magic - for that. If they all had magic too, she wouldn’t have had to be protected from the shemlins at almost all cost. She’s more pissed at herself that she wants to help Solas, even though she knows it’s wrong. But in order to protect everyone else, she has to do what she also thinks is wrong. 

Also, boring books.

How well do I know my OC’s?

[azdesertwillow]

35, 36, and 57 for Cait please?

HO35:HOW FLEXIBLE IS YOUR OC?

Caitlin’s pretty flexible. In the morning she does stretches to wake herself up. After a lifetime of that she’s bendy. Since she has pretty much zero strength, so on the battlefield she relies on being able to get the fuck out of the way. So she’s nearly cartoonish in dodging energy attacks.

36:WHAT TURNS YOUR OC ON?

Blushing. Good hair. Confidence. Good thing Cullen has all three (though I think her reaction to Cullen’s hair pre-DAI would just be ‘oh honey... :/  ... No...’)

57:WOULD YOU CALL YOUR OC ADVENTUROUS?

OH YEAH. Caitlin was pretty sheltered within her clan. The Conclave was her chance to prove her independence. First week on her own was basically “What’s This?” from Nightmare Before Christmas.As a result, what would freak most people out, she’s all ‘sure why not.’  Weird Orlesian Food? “Sure why not.” Untested magic Dorian does not approve of? “Sure why not.” Jumping from the third floor of the library? “Sure why not.” Pretty sure how she got caught up in the events at the Conclave was because she saw creepy light and weird chanting coming from where Corypheus was and thought, “Sure why not.”

How well do I know my OC’s?

[azdesertwillow]

IT’S DONE!!!!1!!!ONE!!!!

Sweet holy fuck the first draft of Part 2 of A Rest That Peace Begets is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Like it still needs two big revisions/clean up, and as tedious as that stuff is, it’s all just editing. All of the actual major writing is done!

So what’s next? 

After my editor and I go over it and discuss any major changes that need to happen (cutting scenes, adding scenes, reordering scenes) I go back and really start making it readable (there’s just a lot of lazy writing and bad dialogue). Then her and I start working on and fine tuning the individual chapters, which then get published and then you read them.

But this also means that I can trust myself back on Tumblr again and can turn my time-wasting extensions off. While I’ve been on here a little bit the last few days in the evenings when I’m on my phone, I haven’t allowed myself to log into the website on my computer in something like 3 weeks or so.

So for old followers, I’ll be resuming my regular posting (after I catch up on a few messages and some meme’s I was tagged in) and for all the new followers I gained during Love Your Artists week, you get to see what my blog is usually like. Hope you stay around! 

Ughhhh it feels so good to put this part behind me! Lots of important things happen in it but I’ve really been looking forward to all the other stuff that comes after it! (and I’ve missed chatting with you all!)

[azdesertwillow]

Cullen x Inquisitor #38 - What are they like in the bedroom? Any kinks/fetishes/turn-ons? Anything they won’t do?

Cat and Cullen are pretty straight-forward. Cat likes playing with Cullen’s hair (running her hands through it, dragging her nails  across his scalp, tugging it) and Cullen likes it as well. Mild role play (Cat has a mild hero worship/obsession with Lyna Mahariel, the Hero of Ferelden Cullen will indulge her a bit). Cullen doesn’t really like letting go of control due to his past issues and magic is a BIG no. Sexy-times in water became a no just simply because they tried it once and it just was a fail.

But most of the time their sex is that goofy-playful-fun time sex. That intimacy that comes from just enjoying time with the other person. And the bad nights are just full of comforting and cuddling. 

But all of that was before Cat was kidnapped by Corypheus...

Send me a pairing and a number and I’ll tell you... (though I suspect with Eurovision, Tumblr is a bit distracted today...)

[azdesertwillow]

So it’s pretty much the middle of the night here... So I have to ask, is there anyone actually awake to read some sad angsty garbage. Because I just finished the latest chapter (the Big Reveal chapter) and I know I should wait... but I don’t wanna...

[azdesertwillow]

2, 10, 12-15, 19, 26! For the inquisitor headcannon meme!

2: What class are they? Does this reflect upon their personality? 

Rift mage, and in some ways, yeah. At least, it’s revealing in so much about how Caitlin makes her choices. But her preferred branch of magic is fire and fuck yeah that summarizes her up pretty well.

10: How do their personal beliefs effect their choices and dealings with others?

She tends to react with her gut more than is wise. She’s been pretty sheltered but is also pretty opinionated so sometimes her understanding of the situation is misguided but she doesn’t care and just goes with it.

12: Did they sacrifice Hawke or the Warden? Why? 

(this is the question I wanted to answer the most!!! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work this into the story but it says a lot about Cat)

Hawke. She didn’t even hesitate.

The Hawke in her world is just horrible. I based her a lot around Umbridge from Harry Potter. She was racist against elves (gave Fenris to Danarius), full of self loathing against mages (killed Anders, sided with the templars) and was in a rivalry with everyone except Sebastian. Cat was actually downright TERRIFIED of Hawke and hated her being in Skyhold.

On the other hand, Caitlin was about 13-14 ish during the 5th blight when the Hero of Ferelden, a young Dalish elf, saved the world. Cat has a big hero worshipping thing going on for Lyna Mahariel and the chance to meet the Hero’s boyfriend Alistair! Oh she was just besides herself. Cullen almost was a bit jealous of how much time Cat was spending with Alistair until he found out that all she wanted to talk about was the Warden (something Alistair loves to do as well).

So for her, the choice was easy. She wasn’t going to leave behind the Hero’s lover and it rid her of someone she viewed as a very dangerous person.

13: Did they side with the mages or templars? Why?

Mages. Not just because she’s a mage but because giving her unconventional magic lessons, she kind of built up what the circles were in her mind, closer to how Dorian describes the Tevinter circles. Finding out the realities of Circle life was a rude awakening (but we’ll get to that in the fic…). But that ideal is why she’s good friends with Vivienne. Vivienne helps her rectify her own imagination and with the harsh reality.

14: Are they diplomatic, aggressive, passive, political, etc.? How would you explain their personality?

Mostly a jokester. Her and Sera are pretty close in that regards. But it is very much a mask and is a very closed off person. And if you push her too hard she becomes very aggressive. But it takes a while to get under her skin.

15: Which part of the storyline affected them most? Why?

In the canonical storyline? Adamant for the above reasons. In the ARTPB ‘verse? Arbor Wilds because of REASONS.

19: How does your Inquisitor differ from your Warden? Your Hawke? Are there any characteristics all three share?

Cat’s World state is actually my very first Warden. I lost that playthrough so none of the DLC or DA2 got played with in that world and I would have abandoned the character if the Keep wasn’t there. So she reflects much of my play style throughout my very first Bioware game: WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING? Cat isn’t as collected as any of my other characters. She feels very much like a fish out of water, which is exactly what my first Warden was like. Plus they’re both Dalish. She’s similar to my canonical Hawke by being an utter smart ass. But she has almost nothing in common with the Hawke of her world.

26: Name one to three things that you headcanon about your Inquisitor that is not/cannot be confirmed through in-game choices.

So here’s a bit that I don’t think I will ever be able to work into ARTPB.

Her clan life was complicated. She was pretty protected and sheltered and she hated it. Her mother was the clans previous First and she died in childbirth. There isn’t a strong magical line in the clan but they waited until she was old enough to have started manifesting magic before they would look for another mage to bring in. 

Cat though didn’t want to be a mage. She wanted to be a hunter. But when she was about 6 or 7, out came her magic. 

Her father had died a few years earlier and it was just her much older brother to act as her advocate versus the needs of the clan. He was the reason why she grew to love her magic, explaining how much easier it would be to kill spiders by setting them on fire. He is also the reason she was finally able to leave the clan for a bit to go to the Conclave. So yeah, that worked out well... (I think if I ever get the chance, I want to write about her and her brother. He and their relationship is based off of Mr. Darcy and his sister Georgiana from Pride and Prejudice, if Georgiana was a massive brat like Cat is).

(Thanks for sending me these questions! I’m in an odd holding pattern with the next chapter but I really wanted to do something with Cat today. New chapter should be up on Saturday morning, which is looking to be the schedule the story will keep)