Thanks for the tags @woundedsoul12 and @kogarashi-art <3
So I've been..... attempting to write again lately. My brain is kicking and screaming the whole time, but. There's been a scene stuck in my head for nearly two months now and I figured I might as well try.
[Rowan's] eyes drop down to the frown that’s carved into his face, then to the tense set of his shoulders. From there, they drift towards the left, tracing along the fresh scars that start at the base of his neck and wind like dead, broken branches down, down, down, until—nothing. He’s holding his half-open robe just high enough that it covers the worst of it, but the empty sleeve that hangs down and sways idly at his side can’t hide that there’s nothing left below the elbow.
He certainly doesn’t look like the Inquisitor anymore. Feels like it even less so.
Well. With any luck, it’ll all be over soon.
“Amatus?”
Even the parts he can’t quite let go of yet.
Passing along the gentlest of tags to @the-archons-moustache @in-the-drowning-deep @babydinosaur930 @juniper-and-dragonthorn @mythals-whore @lunastarhawk @handsignals @lemondelighted if you have anything you'd like to share!
From the OC x Canon asks, sending 5, 13 and 25 for Rowan x Dorian and/or Rowan x Davrin 👀
Thank you thank you my friend! 🫶
OC x Canon Ask List
5. Who said “I love you” first? How did it happen?
Rowan/Dorian: Technically it’s Rowan, but… indirectly? It happens little while after he drinks the Well of Sorrows, as they’re drawing closer to the final showdown with Corypheus. They’re lying in bed together at night, and Rowan’s awake with his mind racing in circles—he’s hearing voices, and he doesn’t know how much longer they have left, voices again, he doesn’t know if either of them are going to make it out of this alive, and even if they do what is the future going to look like, voices voices voices—until, finally, he stops it all with one thought he can control. One thought he’s… almost a hundred percent certain of, for once in all of this mess. He kisses Dorian’s shoulder and whispers “I love you,” thinking Dorian is asleep.
Dorian isn’t asleep.
And he doesn’t forget that Rowan said it, but he doesn’t say it back until a little over two years later.
Rowan/Davrin: Davrin says it first, for sure. I haven't actually done Davrin's full romance route in the game before, so I'm not sure if there's any canon dialogue where he says it? I don't think so, but if there is consider me corrected. Anyway, I know he doesn't say it in the canonical romance scene, but I think as the conversation continues he says it then. He just spent weeks thinking he lost Rowan, and they're about to go face down Elgar'nan—Davrin doesn't know when he might have the chance to say it again. Rowan would say it back too, I think. Quietly. Hesitantly, not because he doesn't know if he feels it, just because he never thought he'd hear those words come out of his own mouth.
13. What is one of the most pivotal moments when they are well within the timeline of their romantic relationship?
Rowan/Dorian: Oof. I mean, there’s a lot of those when you consider just the game events alone. Adamant is a huge turning point for them, though I’m not sure that’s ’well within’ the timeline? It’s not early, per se, but that’s pretty much what seals the deal for their relationship in general. I suppose—and I know I bring this up a lot, lol—it has to be the Trespasser break-up. Pivotal not only because it seemingly ends the relationship for the time being (I say seemingly bc nothing definitive was actually said, but when your boyfriend falls off the face of the earth for six months after a huge argument? Def looks like a breakup) but also because it makes them both realize just how fragile everything between them was, and probably had been for a long time. How much they were both still hiding from what they knew and felt. It’s what makes Dorian finally realize that he’s well and truly in love, and what makes Rowan realize that he can’t just go it all alone like he thought he could.
Rowan/Davrin: Easy cop-out answer here would be Tearstone/the Regret Prison, no? lol. That probably counts as the biggest one, at least until I work out more of what their timeline looks like. For what it’s worth, there’s definitely a pivotal moment after Blood of Arlathan, because that entire mission is an incredibly emotional ordeal for Rowan considering his past (just like it is for Varien, in his canon). I think that’s when he finally starts to come clean about a few things, and lets himself be more vulnerable with Davrin than he ever has been before.
25. To what degree to they engage in PDA or general physical touch?
Rowan/Dorian: Rowan isn’t big on PDA, but Dorian likes to get touchy, so they find a happy medium. A hand on the small of the back, usually, sometimes hand-holding, but that’s usually only around friends. In private, its hands all over (as long as Rowan is in the mood for it).
Rowan/Davrin: Not a whole lot. Shadow!Rowan is somehow even more guarded than his canon counterpart, and he also has a whole other slew of trust and bodily autonomy issues from his time as a slave. He’s not overly comfortable with touch as a whole, and even more finicky about where. (Not the ears, and usually not his back, and definitely do not touch him if he can’t see it coming.) Davrin figures all this out pretty early on even without knowing the full story about Ro’s background. Once Rowan starts to learn how to trust him, their physical contact is restricted just to when they’re in private. PDA almost never, at least until they're established post-game. (Though that isn't to say they weren't ever spotted tucked away in what they thought was a private corner of the Lighthouse, if Rowan was feeling bold enough to kiss him outside of either of their rooms.)
Thank you for the tag, @woundedsoul12 🫶 and @tevivinter tagged me in a WIP whenever last week too I think, so consider this a response lol
I’ve decided to get a head start on some Dorian Week stuff, bc June will be here before I know it. So, been grappling with this for the last couple nights:
cropped bc it’s just a ✨sneak peek✨ but the full thing is v v cute, trust. or it will be, if I can pull it off. I’ve been fighting with that formalwear for two days 😭😂 ngl I’ve almost given up a few times and gone a different direction, BUT I think it’s important to still try things that you feel are way above your current skill level. you might surprise yourself 🤷♀️
Gentle tags to @the-archons-moustache @in-the-drowning-deep @tevivinter @rooks-dagger @dudewheresmynug @serjory @serbarris @mythals-whore @juniper-and-dragonthorn @lunastarhawk @babydinosaur930 @chaosherald @handsignals @grand-crow @kogarashi-art @flowersforthemachines @pixiedurango if you have anything you’d like to share!
2 and 27 for both Rowan/Dorian and Rowan/Davrin 👀👀
Thank youuuu so much!! So excited to dig into Rowan/Davrin 🤩 (… Ravrin? No that’s terrible nvm)
OC x Canon Ask List
2. Who fell first? And who fell harder?
Rowan/Dorian: Rowan falls first, albeit very slowly, and it’s Dorian who gets hit in the face like a Mack truck later on. The thing is that both of them are very, very much in denial the entire time. More on this below, because the two questions kind of go together, lol.
Rowan/Davrin: oooh. Okay, I was tempted to say the same as the above, but honestly? I think Rowan’s the one getting hit by a truck in this one. Rowan as Rook is 1) significantly more repressed than canon!Rowan, and 2) incredibly driven towards accomplishing the task at hand. He’s not spending a whole lot of time dilly-dallying if he can help it, and that includes making eyes at any of his companions. (What do you mean he was swooning when Davrin crested that cliff under the sunset in the Anderfels? No he wasn’t, shut up, Harding.)
Davrin isn’t falling right away either, but I think he’d definitely realize that he is a lot sooner than Rowan does. He’s steadier, and doesn’t mind taking his time to lay the foundation. Maybe he thinks deep down that he shouldn’t be (Warden lifestyle, days are numbered) but he doesn’t so much strike me as someone who’s going to deny what’s right in front of him.
27. How long did they have feelings for each other and when did they realize they have feelings?
Rowan/Dorian: Alright, to elaborate on the above: A WHILE. I actually have an entire timeline written out for them broken down into months/years during and after DAI, lol. If I had it my way, their relationship would be a much slower burn than it is, but canon does give us a few hard dates with regards to the events in DAI—ex. the conclave and Adamant both happen in 9:41, so I had to cram a lot into the span of a year. (Which I’m not even sure if it counts as a slow burn, by that measure.) My justification for this is… well, times of crisis really bring people together, y’know? I think with all that happens during the game events, Rowan feels like he’s known Dorian a lot longer than he actually has in real time. They’re both almost constantly facing the risk of losing each other. It’s a rollercoaster of rampant emotion… and both of them are very bad at emotions. Basically, it’s kind of a slow crescendo through the first half of the game events, which then leads to a lot of intensity for the second half up until Trespasser, when everything breaks. Maybe the ‘slow burn’ is more when they have to learn to love each other again afterwards. I’m getting off track here. Anyway.
I would say Rowan develops ‘feelings’ pretty early on. Not too long after Redcliffe. He’s just not interpreting them as anything romantic for a while, and it’s only after the meeting with Halward that he realizes what he’s feeling for Dorian might be something more than just friendship. (For what it’s worth, the realization only lasts about five minutes before he retreats into denial about it, bc he’s been through this with a friend before and had his heart broken—he doesn’t want to risk it again.) (That doesn’t stop the yearning, though. He’s a mess.)
For Dorian, things start off as intrigue more than anything else. Rowan is unlike anyone he’s ever met before, for a lot of reasons (and that’s without the whole Herald of Andraste, great holy hope of southern Thedas thing). He’s quiet and a bit mysterious and very prickly, and Dorian wants to crack the surface. He just didn’t realize how much he was going to like what he found behind those walls. Whoops. He realizes that he’s Feeling the Feels right around the same time that Rowan does, after the confrontation with Halward. No one has ever defended him like that before, or treated him with so much kindness after what he perceived as a show of weakness (‘Maker knows what you must think of me now, after that whole display.’) But like Rowan, he goes right into denial about it. He’s not supposed to want this! He’s not supposed to hope for more, dammit!
Rowan/Davrin: I’m sure I’ll be chewing on this more as time goes on bc this ship is very new to me, but for now I’m gonna make it easy and say Weisshaupt was a turning point for both of them. Probably more so for Rowan, who absolutely couldn’t shake the feeling that a hole had been blown straight through his middle the closer they got to that Archdemon, and the inevitability that Davrin would be the one who had to take it down. And the relief that almost brought him to his knees when Davrin struck the final blow and didn't go down with it? Well, that's—that's certainly something.
Davrin isn't necessarily feeling it right in that moment (a bit too caught up in the fact that he just killed an Archdemon and he isn't dead, what the fuck, what is happening), but a little later on, as he grapples with what it means to still have this life ahead of him that he didn't expect to have... huh. Those thoughts he's been having about Rook, as he lies in his bed at night? The way his heart tugs whenever he looks at him? Maybe he should do something about that after all.
Thank you for the tags, @rooks-dagger @grand-crow @kogarashi-art and @chaosherald!
Picrew link here. Feel free to make your OC’s kids, or your OCs as kids themselves!
So, I did something like this a long time ago and made up a kid for Rowan and Dorian, but ultimately that was nothing more than a fun venture into AU territory because I'm not sure I picture them as dads. So that’s not canon, but you can read it here if you want. Besides, now that I’ve gone all in on Professor!Dorian, I think he gets his fill of the youth of Thedas anyhow.
But making them as kids? Yes please. I’ve had a vivid mental image of lil bab Rowan for so long and this Picrew finally brought it to life. So here's Kid Rowan, + Dorian:
Yapping below the cut:
LOOK AT HIMMMM. Sad grump face from day one. He probably just got back from training with his mother and getting scolded all day. His hair was a lot longer and fuller back then (an attempt to cover the ears that were too big for his head). No infamous halla-wallop eye scar yet, but he does have that little one on his chin from tripping over a riverbank and scraping his face on a pebble. And of course, the red scarf before it was a scarf—for a while it was simply a blanket that he would wear tied around his neck like a cape, until his father tailored it into something. Um. A little less childish.
Anyway, little kid Ro has no idea that he’s adopted, but always feels the underlying sense that he doesn’t belong for some reason. He’s generally a solitary child and wanders off a lot—fitting that the name he grew up with, Shielanas (often nicknamed Shie, pronounced like shy, which tracks) means ‘wanderer’ in Elven. Once he gets over his fear of heights, you could find him (or not) hiding up in the trees a lot of the time, observing his clan members from afar or just taking in the nature around him. He always felt more at home out there, amidst the fauna who couldn't talk back.
Kid Dorian strikes me as just as much of a firecracker as grown-up Dorian. A wise-cracking little shit who’s too smart for his own good. But, y’know, being a magical prodigy isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be either. (We know the path he went down.) When he wasn’t putting on a show and/or vying for his parents’ attention, I bet you could find him tucked away in the Pavus estate’s expansive library... until he was shipped off to boarding school.
I’m gonna pass on Varien this time, because it doesn’t feel right making him as a girl. BUT, as a bonus instead, here’s Rowan and Lucien’s daughter from the Rocienverse I have with @in-the-drowning-deep :
Aravas Lavellan-Trevelyan (say that five times fast). In the main Rocienverse, she’s born a couple years after Veilguard. Rowan spends the entirety of Lucien’s pregnancy wholly convinced that they’re having a girl, and at first it looks like he was wrong—until, when Aravas is around 5-6, she informs her dads that she is their daughter after all. (Rowan gets possibly the best “I told you so” moment of his entire life.)
She inherits Lucien’s big brown weapons puppy eyes, which in combination with her own version of Rowan’s wet cat impression are absolutely lethal. Rowan’s ears, because half-elves losing all of their elven features is BS. She also inherits Lucien's magic, and personality-wise is the best of both her dads—charming, kind, curious, sneaky, gentle, smart as a whip, and very, very quiet. She's almost completely non-verbal, and mainly communicates with sign language (a modified, one-handed version because both of her fathers are down an arm).
She's particularly close with Uncle Varien + Aunties Esha and Lace. Growing up, Aravas gets to spend a lot of time hanging around with Esha's birth clan (Clan Oranavra), and once she's old enough decides to join them full time. Overall, she is everything that Rowan and Lucien wish they could have had growing up: she's loved and supported with a whole gaggle of people who absolutely adore her. She never has to feel like she's wrong somehow, or like she doesn't belong. Their hearts are bursting with pride for her on the daily, and they're both just glad that they had a hand (ha) in shaping a world where their daughter can thrive.
I'll pass along some gentle tags to @the-archons-moustache @in-the-drowning-deep @tevivinter @babydinosaur930 @flowersforthemachines @handsignals @mythals-whore @lunastarhawk @davrinsleftpectoral @master-of-the-elements @pixiedurango @dudewheresmynug if you'd like to play!
Thank you for the tags @kogarashi-art @in-the-drowning-deep @rooks-dagger and @master-of-the-elements <3
Picrew link here
ROWAN X DORIAN
On the left we have Dorian sneaking a pinky hold in the library at Skyhold during DAI. I liked that the little green thingies kinda give Anchor vibes. (Dorian is the only one who can touch Rowan’s left hand without him flinching away.) Dorian totally wears a pinky ring, idc. If he isn’t wearing full gloves, Rowan at least has his archer gloves on almost always.
On the right is them post-Veilguard. Had to switch to Rowan’s right hand because, um. Well. Full gloves this time, because matching gloves makes it less obvious that he’s wearing a prosthesis on his left. Dorian wears his wedding band, but putting one of those on a fake hand doesn’t quite have the same effect, so Rowan gets a bracelet instead.
Passing along gentle tags to @the-archons-moustache @tevivinter @juniper-and-dragonthorn @mythals-whore @handsignals @babydinosaur930 @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @chaosherald @sandcastlekings @lunastarhawk @augustnugs @dudewheresmynug and anyone else who’d like to play!
Thank you for the tags @kogarashi-art and @sandcastlekings 🤍
Link to the Picrew here
Here’s Rowan and Dorian, hanging out on a shelf at Skyhold:
Rowan looking tired and 1000% done as always. And I’m not totally sure what Dorian’s outfit is supposed to be, but it kinda looks like he has the slutty exposed shoulder going on, so that works.
No brown eyes or curly hair options in this one (devastating) so no Varien this time 😔💔
I’ll pass along some gentle tags to @the-archons-moustache @in-the-drowning-deep @tevivinter @babydinosaur930 @rooks-dagger @chaosherald @handsignals @mythals-whore @pixiedurango @augustnugs and anyone else who’d like to play <3
Hi hi hello, for the ship asks, however many or few as you like out of: 🫂, 🎶, 😳, 🌪️, 🕰️, 🎪 please and thank you 😊
Thank you so much friend! Asks from this list :)
Rowan/Dorian
the return of braids!rowan
🫂 What's their favorite way to hold each other when words aren't enough?
You can’t see this in any of the pictures I have of them, but Rowan is shorter than Dorian (a 4-5 inch difference). Aka, the perfect height for him to stand with his arms wrapped around Dorian’s waist, head on his chest, tucked underneath Dorian’s chin. If they’re lying down, same idea, except that Ro will completely wrap himself around Dorian in that case - leg(s) around the waist and all. That kind of thing doesn’t happen often, though.
🕰️ If they could go back in time, what moment would they relive together?
Rowan has a lot of these. He spends a lot of time in his head rehashing the past and wishing he could get a do-over. But if they were both to agree on one particular moment, it would be the argument at the end of Trespasser that I talked about here. That’s something they both relive in their heads for a long time—they both said a lot of things they didn’t mean and what happened after the fact fractured them for years. They’d both want a redo for that. A second chance to, if not say the right things, at least try to do better and save themselves some of the pain.
🎪 Who plans elaborate surprise dates and who just wants to stay in?
Dorian is the big elaborate date planner, without a doubt; Rowan would much rather stay in. Which is not to say he doesn’t appreciate the gestures!! But he’d rather have a quiet day/night in, where they can shut the world out for a while and just have each other. I bet Dorian figures out how to find a happy medium, and just plans super elaborate date nights for them to have at home. (He says he’s not a romantic, but I can totally see him doing some cheesy shit like a trail of rose petals leading into the bedroom lmao)
