I've just posted an interactive (fashionably late) Valentine's Day Special, featuring each of the main five ROs (Jaelyn and TML/TMO/TMM not included this time for various reasons) to my Patreon, available to everyone in the Insurgent and Equipoise tiers.
If you're interested in accessing the full versions of all the scenes, you can click this link.
The genders for the MC and the cast are all selectable; I've only randomized them here for the sake of making reading easier.
Here are a few short excerpts (sorry about the keysmash in Azur's excerpt, I didn't pick a proper name for the MC when playtesting ahaha):
Share your favorite romance scenes that you have written. Kisses, dramatic confessions, tragic partings, tearful reunions - whatever you like.
Thanks for tagging me on this one, @redaresss, @jenn2d2, and @chaosherald. I'm late to doing this, but I was deliberately holding out for the latest chapter of my longfic to be posted (and then I was working on other stuff too, but here we are).
And I have a couple of favorite romance scenes I can include on this one. 😊
I'm a sucker for a good kiss scene. Bonus points if it's also a bit awkward. Makes it feel more real. From What You Strive For, Chapter 19.
Even now, here he was, the coward, letting her walk away.
Everything was frozen. Numb. Foundering.
He had to do something before it was too late. Before the chance was lost forever.
And that terrified him.
Void take him.
Castelin looked up in surprise when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop, and then his mouth was pressed to hers, angle awkward with their noses bumping together but he didn’t care, because her lips were soft and warm and both of their teeth only a little bit in the way. He’d always wondered how breathing worked, and while he wasn’t sure they were doing it quite right, he managed to not suffocate either of them. His other hand hung uselessly by his side because he didn’t know what to do with it, but that didn’t matter because her hands weren’t doing much better, stiff and still and caught halfway between them. And Garrus, bless him, just watched instead of getting in the way again.
Good dog.
Alistair eventually pulled back, slowly, breathless. “That...wasn’t too soon, was it?” he asked, a little awed, a little desperate. “Please tell me it wasn’t too soon.”
Castelin didn’t respond. She just looked dazed, as though she hadn’t quite caught up with events yet.
Oh no.
Maker, I’m an idiot.
Castelin blinked. Looked up at Alistair like she didn’t know what to make of him.
What to do with him.
Probably stake him out for bogfishers to pick at or something. Likely after castrating him.
The Void could swallow him right then and there and it would probably serve him better than whatever Castelin would do and—
She grabbed the collar of his shirt.
This is it, this is how I die.
And yanked him down the inch or so needed to plant her lips on his.
Oh. Nevermind.
She definitely knew what she was doing. That didn’t surprise him. Why didn’t it surprise him? Castelin angled their heads just right to avoid smushed noses or clacking teeth, and her mouth moved in a rhythm that he tentatively matched, rewarded with a hum of satisfaction. Her fingers twisted in his shirt collar, keeping him close, the pressure against the back of his neck enticing instead of painful, and he leaned in closer when she pulled a little more. His heart hammered against her knuckles. Neither of them still had any idea of what to do with their free hands, moving in a clumsy dance around wrists and waists and elbows before settling tentatively on forearms or just dropping to the side again.
When the kiss—longer, warmer, the best part of Alistair’s day—finally broke, it was Alistair’s turn to be dazed. Definitely breathless. Maybe there was no way to do breathing right, but he didn’t mind. Castelin simply smiled, soft and small, but so full of warmth that actually reached her eyes that it spread to his chest too.
“Good night,” she murmured, and turned to walk away with Garrus again. He let her.
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “It is.”
And a second one, from the same fic, but Chapter 23. I could go with the steamy bit, but I actually like this scene of the aftermath more.
Alistair watched the firelight dance across tent canvas and listened to Cas’s soft snores against his collarbone, and wondered that he hadn’t been struck by lightning yet like all the Chantry sisters had told him. Maybe it would happen later, once he fell asleep. Or needed a few more indiscretions out of him first, just to be sure it was necessary.
He looked down at the curve of Cas’s freckle-dusted shoulder, at the spill of her coppery hair everywhere, and smiled.
It would be worth it.
Assuming he hadn’t scared her off, of course.
She shifted against him, skin on skin, and he shivered involuntarily and pulled her closer. Her hair smelled like soap, like trees, like wild things and kaddis and a certain mabari, and her skin, though scarred in places—her left arm especially, thrown across his chest like it could hold him down and was certainly doing a bang-up job of it—was soft and warm. He wished they could lay like that forever, and hang the Blight and Loghain.
“I am a lucky, lucky man,” he murmured.
She hummed softly into his skin and nuzzled closer still against the chill. Waking up, or simply dreaming? He couldn’t tell. He tucked the blanket more firmly around the two of them, and hoped it was the latter. She could use the rest.
A thought struck him. “Zevran isn’t going to shut up about this,” he muttered with a sigh.
“Mmm...I’ll fight ’im fr’you.”
Alistair tried to hide his surprised little jump behind a smile at the sleepy mumble that drifted up from under the cascade of hair. “Go back to sleep.” He stroked her shoulder in soothing circles.
“Can’t. Need t’fight an elf first.”
That startled a laugh out of him. “In the morning, Cas.”
She grunted and buried her face against his chest with a barely audible “love you” and a stronger “not goin’ ’nywhere.”
His heart fluttered at the words. “Good,” he said, swallowing against the swell of affection at her sleepy promises, and kissed the top of her head. “Neither am I.” He looked back up at the canvas overhead. “I’m staying right here.”
A quiet snore was his only response.
Of course, he had to move later when Garrus finally nosed his meaty bulk into the tent, flopping down across both of their tangled bodies like they were inconveniencing him. His weight crushed a muffled oof out of Alistair as all of the air was forced from his lungs. Castelin barely roused to mutter oaths and shove the mabari to the side, and then she tucked herself back into Alistair’s waiting arms without so much as a “by your leave”—not that one was necessary—but with a sleep-fogged kiss to his bicep by way of apology.
It all felt oddly comforting despite the extremely tight quarters, like sleeping among the dogs in the kennels again, only with the best—and if he had his way, last—bunkmate ever, and in no time he had chased Cas into a warm and peaceful sleep.
There's one more, but it's for Lucanis Week Day 5, which isn't up yet, so stay tuned for that!
Tags for sharing, visibility, all that. Share yours too if you want!
I would like to know, from my fellow writers, their favorite romance scenes that they have written. Kisses, dramatic confessions, tragic partings, tearful reunions, I want to know.
Thank you for the tag @fadetouchedlurker, I am staring at the screen trying to remember my favorite romance scenes. It's difficult!
I will tag some of the following (I think most others got tagged already?): @coacklebee @vanillastrange @theriothag @dayntee @prettypavus @crittadownunder @iamsuperconfused @summergreen009 @tinybatjoly + everyone I know I missed. Sorry I suck.
I am going to pick two because I cannot help myself. The first is the first time Solas and Isathe kiss - though they are in the Fade and using their persona's of Fen'harel and Aseradiva.
The Theory of Being
Chapter 12 - Touching the Veil
Aseradiva stood and began to wade through the creek, stepping gingerly so she did not lose her footing. Her hands held aloft at her sides for balance. The woman’s pale curly hair piled on top of her head, only a few ringlets free from the bun, they swayed from side to side as she moved. He finally answered her after realizing he had been staring, his words continuing their song, “I will admit I was thinking about you.” His internal conflicts always felt so much farther from himself while in the Fade, Solas willing to follow whims while he wandered there.
The elven woman nodded her head slowly, a small chuckle escaping her. She stopped to look at him for a few moments before stepping through the water to the bank he was standing on. Solas extended his hand much like he had the time they danced in another one of her memories. This time however, she took it without hesitation, stepping up onto the steep embankment so she was on solid ground, even with him.
Solas ran his thumb along the fingers that grasped his, the warmth of her skin pressing against his palm. The two stared at one another for a long time until he followed that impulse, that pull toward her. The urge that sat in the back of his mind every time he stood with her in the Fade. The one he liked to ignore and push away. Leaning down he gently pressed his lips against hers, the woman responded in kind. Soft kisses turning frantic between the two elves. Like they were starved for touch. Aseradiva’s hands found the collar of his tunic, grabbing onto it for dear life as he guided her away from the creek. Soft, sweet sounds vibrating through his mouth as she kissed him back. All other thoughts - the guilt, the conflict, melting away as he slid his tongue between her teeth.
Their movement stopped when he pushed her back against a tree. He pulled from the kiss only to grab her by the thighs, lifting the woman up. Her legs wrapped around his waist as they resumed. Solas felt the weight of her arms as she draped them across his shoulders. There was a faint glow that sat in the center of the woman’s chest, an echo of the spirit she was - is - shining through the skin and bone. That is what his made his body truly ache.
Solas was not sure how long he pinned her there.
A gasping breath coming from Aseradiva as she pulled from the kiss to lightly nip at his lower lip, sucking it between her teeth. He groaned softly. Her head drifted back toward the tree and Solas took the opportunity to graze his teeth against the skin of her neck.
Toward the back of her neck on the side was a set of three scars. They looked old and long since healed. It gave him pause and that moment he heard the woman speak again, “We really should not be doing -” her voice sounded sad and wistful. Like she hated herself for stopping them and he understood.
The logic began to return, biting at him and what he wanted, what he truly wanted in that moment. The two elves leaned their foreheads against one another, Solas still holding the woman up against the tree. They were trying to regain some semblance of composure, the sadness in her voice continued, “I wish I could. This… could complicate things da’fen.” He saw her swallow slowly, a deep and shaking exhale through her nose.
He lifted a hand from her thigh, looking into her eyes as he pushed some of the ringlets of hair that had fallen in front of her face. Her cheeks were flushed and there was a distinct sadness in her gaze. Solas unfortunately understood, as much as he wanted to. By the Sun and Sky did he want to, his life was complicated to begin with. He still wanted it though.
“There is not anyone who I would allow to call me little wolf, but it sounds beautiful coming from your lips.”
Her nose crinkled up as she laughed, chasing away the sadness there for a few moments, “If you can find me, da’fen. Then it may be worth the complications.” Aseradiva placed a gentle, chaste kiss on his lips before fading from in front of him. Wherever she was, she awoke in the world. Leaving him behind in her own memory.
Solas turned and leaned against the tree, sliding down into the grass. Maybe complicated could be worth it.
The bonus one below the cut is NSFW. One of my favorite smutty one-shots for Rhela and Geldauran. Cowboy smut - yeehaw.
Higher Than a Nug in a Twister
It started as a tingle first at the very tips of his fingers, slowly creeping its way up his arms and into his chest. So subtle, at first, that Geldauran hadn’t realized that the intended effect of the elfroot had kicked in. Permeated into his core being. Each muscle weighed down, heavy and unmoving while his mind floated, weightless. A combination that he did not know existed until that very moment. As if the Fade itself suffused into his skin. Enveloping him with an intimate awareness of the blood that rushed through his veins, each heart beat that kept this version of himself alive.
The weight of a body crawling up his own, the bed bowing beneath him - when did he get into bed? - caused his eyes to open, finally summoning the strength to open them. Fighting that endless pull into the nothingness that the elfroot assured.
Geldauran was entirely sure that his heart stopped dead in his chest the moment his vision focused. A strangled, needy groan found its way involuntarily from the back of his throat, witnessing the prettiest damn thing he had ever laid eyes on in his many, many lives.
Rhéla, endlessly pleased with herself if her expression was anything to go on, sat perched on his lap as if she owned it. All sin and curves while she straddled him, wearing nothing but that Void-forsaken, crooked smile and his favorite cowboy hat cocked on her head.
Rich, russet skin that damn near glowed in the firelight - looking soft and inviting. The smooth expanse of her stomach, dotted with scars from a life fiercely lived, caused every muscle in his body to tense. His hands shook, sliding up her bare thighs, palms and fingers pressed into her body to remind himself that she was real, and for some reason she had decided that he was worthy of her time. He never wanted to leave this life behind if she was in it.
If he wasn’t who he was, if he didn’t remember the Gods as they once were, he might’ve prayed - begged, even - to anyone who would listen that this feeling, what they had, would never end.
He couldn’t see much of her face, the brim of the hat obscuring her features, which allowed for her smirk to continue to steal the show. A hint of teeth, a single dimple, the left side higher than the right. “What? Mabari nip your tongue?” Rhéla’s voice dropped lower, a tease as she rolled her hips, his denim pressing against his groin in an enticing way. Geldauran’s hands tightened around her thighs, unsure if he wanted her to continue the torture or if he was ready to beg. She damn well knew what she was doing to him, and if she didn’t - well, she certainly had to feel it.
Rhéla placed her hands over his, guiding them higher up to her hips, his mind wandering into the future where he was -
“Rhéla.” Geldauran’s voice came out hoarse, and dangerously close to a divine petition, while his eyes rolled up. His head dropped back into the mattress, breathing ragged and shallow. The sensation of her deft fingers working their magic on his belt caused his head to swim. A soft click of the metal buckle as it was released. He opened a single eye to watch her face as she concentrated on the task at hand.
Full lips pink and parted, with a few fiery curls hanging in her face. Soft curves of her breasts, her breathing slow and deliberate. Muscles in her stomach shifting under the skin as she rose up on her knees. None of it easing the heat that had begun to pool in his stomach. “Sugar.” His voice cracked. “I don’t got it in me to -”
She interrupted him with a click of her tongue behind her teeth, shifting so she could push his pants down far enough to release him from his boxers but little else. Thighs pinned by her straddling him. The only thing he could do was lift his hips so she had an easier time, quickly sinking back into the soft mattress.
“Now, handsome. Let me do the work.” Rhéla’s voice was the only thing that managed to break through the haze caused by the elfroot. Between the way she said ‘handsome’ - breathy and quiet - and the way she looked at him, he was done for. Heat flooded his body as her hand trailed down his stomach. Skin on skin below his navel, weaving through the hair that led down until she wrapped her skilled fingers around his cock.
Already painfully hard and aching as she teased him. Her thumb ran along the bottom of the head, his hips jutted upward and hands twisting in the sheets. Rhéla squeezed a little tighter to keep him in line. Stopping him from bucking like a bronto, “Ah, ah. Not yet. I got plans for you.”
How on earth did the DATV team allow that scene to be placed at that point in the story???
HUGE VEILGUARD SPOILERS.
I romanced Harding (been pining for 9 yearssss) and after I did her personal quests and got her to 10 Bond I was surprised I didn't trigger a scene. As I headed into the final quests, I thought maybe it was a post-climax . . . climax (ehehe) but I just received the scene.
I'd just done a loop around the Lighthouse, talking to each of my incredibly distraught friends, spending time in Davrin's place mourning his and Assan's loss. Then I went to "Varric's room" to mourn him as well. To say this was the most depressing visit to the Lighthouse would be an understatement.
And *now* Harding's dtf? I think I needed a "I'm not in the mood right now, babe" button to delay it til a post-credits scene or something. After we get our fade-to-black after kissing, Harding's smiling and saying she could be happy like this forever.
WOMAN, DAVRIN AND ASSAN AND VARRIC ARE DEAD. WE AIN'T GOT ANY IDEA WHERE BELLARA IS. MINRATHOUS IS UNDER OLD GOD OCCUPATION AND THERE'S A PERMAECLIPSE. WTF YOU MEAN YOU'RE HAPPY.
Then we're cuddling and being silly and I'm like "This is how it's going to be from now on, huh? /giggle :D"
Um, pretty sure the world is probably going to end shortly if we don't put our pants on and get this sorted??
I'd seen some complaints about "pacing" for the story, but I've not felt any strong way about it until now. One of my favorite things about games with romance features is how giddy and giggly I feel when I get to flirt with my romantic interest. I'd always run to Josephine for my kiss and accidentally port myself to the garden. Life was tough back in the Inquisition.
Do all romances occur at the same point? What happens if you get your romantic partner killed (or kidnapped?) with choices before? You're just SOL?
Or, romantic snippets I've yet to find the right story to weave into. (Feel free to use and tag me; they're cluttering up my google docs)
~~~
“How long were you waiting?” he asked her as he approached.
“Not long,” she lied.
It always felt like forever, but she didn't mind the wait.
~~~
"I hate you," she said.
"Is that so?" he said, unperturbed.
"I hate you," she insisted. "I can't stand the thought of you."
"How considerate of you to tell me," he said dryly. "And at our wedding, too." He gestured towards the grand hall packed with loved ones and tolerated friends and forgettable acquaintances.
~~~
She knew he loved her, and she knew she loved him, but there were still so many parts of him she had yet to discover and learn.
Such as the fact that he hogged the sheets when he slept.
Or that he snored.
Or that he kept putting his freezing cold feet on the backs of her legs.
"I am going to smother you with my pillow--once you get off of me," she muttered at his sleeping form as he dared to drool onto her shoulder.
~~~
r/amitheasshole . posted by u/numberonehusbando
Dear users of reddit, am I the asshole? My wife and I were having a debate. She thinks I’m being ridiculous, but I assure you, I am the sane one in this conversation...
Yes please 🥺 I love how you wrote the romance scenes in CoE, esp. the spicy scene with Irus. Very poetic it's like reading those classic romance novels. It so good I want more ❤️
Thank you, Anon! It means a lot 😊 I try to keep things more prose-like for romance and ahem, smut scenes 😅 Personally, I feel that it adds more to the emotions and it fits better for a high-fantasy setting.
Sometimes I wish that COE was finished so I could focus on something else, more specifically romance, but we are still months away from that, so we'll all just suffer together 😞
also since im still up i have to do something on brand. Are the sex scenes gonna be skip to black or explicit. Personally explicit is best but thats just me
You can choose in game whether you want to read the smut or not.
