I've only JUST caught on you're doing kissing asks. 75 - kissing with intent to distract. Ignore me if you've got more than you want to do
Thank you so much for the prompt! I really am sorry it has taken this long
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75. Kissing with the intent to distract
The sun had gone down hours ago, leaving the library lit by little more than the glow from the fireplace and the occasional lamp, left alight in case of late-night visitors set to plunder the knowledge held by the thousands of books housed within. The glow of a guttering candle softy illuminated the alcove in which a figure sat curled upon the window seat. Rain splattered the leaded glass of the tall windows, the wind creeping its way through a cracked pane causing the candle to splutter, and forcing the enraptured reader to adjust position to better view her pages.
Ysabelle heard him long before she saw him. Stealth had never been Alistair’s strong suit and even without plate armour, his steps lacked subtlety. She could tell from their hesitant nature that her husband was trying to move as quietly as possible. She decided to let him live the illusion of creeping up on her unawares a little longer, and continued with her reading.
The book had only arrived that afternoon, and from the moment the package had been handed to her, she had stolen away to the library to bury herself in its pages. She delighted in the adventure and romance which conjured memories of her own escapades, only with less immediate risk of being stabbed.
She could hear the fidgeting of her husband’s feet, he never had been able to keep still or silent for long. It was one of the reasons that, when her cousins brought their children to visit from Soldier’s Peak, the bairns adored playing hide and seek with their not-so-formal king, shrieking ‘found you uncle Alistair!’with absolute delight when he inevitably gave away his position.
“It’s late, love. Come to bed,” a voice whined from the shadows.
“I wondered how long it would take you to give up. You’re getting better, my love,” she smiled and clutched the book tight to her chest. Despite the late hour her eyes were bright from the thrill of the tale, “I can’t come yet, it’s just getting good!”
“What could possibly be so good that it would prevent you taking me to bed? Let me see.” His eyebrow quirked skyward, a lopsided grin spreading across his lips.
Five years of marriage and he still looked just like sweet young Warden she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. And didn’t he just know how to turn it to his advantage, treating her to the kind of looks that used to set her heart aflutter over the campfire.
But Ysabelle was not so easily played, “Oh, I know you, Theirin. Look with your eyes, not your hands.”
Five years of marriage had also taught her that he was thoroughly incapable of ‘just looking’ at anything. Izzy, I just want to look at the puppies. I’m just going to see what the cake looks like. And his favourite, whenever she was dressed for an event, just let me look at you,which only ever resulted in them being late for whatever occasion they were supposed to attend.
He reached down, trying to slip his hands around her waist, but she had always been quicker than him. Her hand was at his chest, pushing him gently but firmly away to arm’s length, tilting her head away to continue her perusal of the novel. He huffed, leaning a little more weight against her hand in the hopes she would relinquish her grip and allow him closer.
“You know if I drop you, we’ll both go out the window, right?” She stubbornly remained facing away from him, but couldn’t help catching his reflection in the leaded windows, her armour of concentration beginning to crack.
“You wouldn’t drop m—” She playfully removed her hand from his chest, causing him to topple forward momentarily before catching himself. The startled yip he let out leaving her in fits of giggles.
He flopped down next to her, pouting like a petulant child in the face of her laughter, “I thought you were supposed to love me.”
“And I thought you knew I couldn’t resist a challenge.”
It was a truth that had led to a good few of her scars, and a number of discussions with their former companions as to what counts as brave, and what counts as stupid.
Izzy shuffled closer to him, appreciating his warmth as the fire had begun to die down, leaving a chill to settle over the expansive room. He draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close enough to rest his cheek on the top of her head. His breath ruffling her hair, which had been set loose from the courtly styles, falling in an untamed copper cascade down her back and sweeping shadows across her face as she continued to study the text. The only hint of disruption in her activities showing in the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Now, you just sit there, like a good king, while I finish my chapter,” she teased, trying to maintain her rapidly crumbling concentration. A feat she would only be capable of if she could keep her eyes from lingering on her husband.
“Of course, my queen,” Alistair purred, a mischievous glint in his eye, “I’ll not make a sound.”
She was barely a third of a page further into her reading before a soft kiss landed on the top of her ear and began to track its way down. So, this is your plan. Determination held her steady for the moment. You’ll not win this one, my love. As her earlobe found its way to his lips, his breath tickling her neck, she suppressed a tremble and redoubled her concentration on the text that was so intent on eluding her. Did I read this bit already?
A satisfied shiver travelled through her shoulders at the feeling of warm lips dragging on her skin and the graze of stubble. Oh, Maker. His tongue deftly traced a pattern below her ear, his lips withdrawing momentarily just to blow freezing air onto the moistened skin. This time the tremor was irrepressible, leaving her heart beating so hard in her chest that she was sure he must hear it too.
“That’s cheating,” she murmured, unable to stop herself tilting her head to allow the kisses to travel down her neck. Her mind was fogged, her resolve completely shattered. She couldn’t even make out the words on the page anymore, her focus barely a speck on the horizon, dwindling further as his fingers traced along her chin, coaxing her round to face him.
Five years of marriage and she still got lost in those eyes. So warm and gentle, that had seen such horrors and known such loss. That once had masked his pain with mirth, now incapable of hiding anything. They hypnotised her, rendered her incapable of thinking of anything but him. So many times she had looked into them before throwing herself into the jaws of death, willing to tear the world down around her if it would stop him suffering even a moment’s further pain.
“You w—”
His lips caught hers, hungry for the contact they had denied themselves, but never entirely regretting their games for it made the prize all that sweeter. She twisted awkwardly on the seat, desperate to envelope herself within his arms. She pulled herself into his lap, the book slipping from her fingers and clattering to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
There was a void where his lips once were. Hands that had been at her waist were now on her shoulders pushing her upright on his knee. For a moment her lips strained in a hopeless attempt to find his again, before she opened her eyes and fixed him with an indignant stare.
“I did win, didn’t I?”
An impish grin spread across Alistair’s lips as he regarded the frustration written plainly on his wife’s face, took in the heavy rise and fall of her chest, revelled in the fading echo of the defeated book.
In one smooth movement he stood, throwing Izzy over his shoulder like a particularly regal sack of potatoes. With a smack on her rear, which she of course reciprocated, he marched out of the library, her laughter echoing through the passageways, pealing louder than the midnight Chantry bells drifting up from the city below.
Hiya! For the fic asks, The Falcon and the Rose, question 15 - what did you learn writing this fic? Thank you!
Thank you for asking!!
Where do I start with Falcon? It’s by far the biggest project I’ve ever done (and there are still almost 30 chapters left to write. wut.) and I’ve learned so much, about worldbuilding and pacing and planning and my own tendency to purple prose. I think i may need bullet points...
When writing dialogue, if you get stuck, make someone else interrupt, and it’ll avoid awkward silences or stilted conversation
Waking up in a cold sweat at 3 am worrying if your protagonist is active enough is perfectly normal
Never be afraid to completely switch POV if a chapter isn’t going in the direction you want it to. Also, if a scene feels like it’s starting to drag, it’s probably a good idea to cut it and tell the important bits in flashback
Planning/writing ahead is your friend. When the story starts coming together, there will be moments earlier on that would be foreshadowing for a plot point you hadn’t thought of yet, so creating a buffer means you can go back and change things before anyone is any the wiser
There are a lot of plot holes in Dragon Age lore
There’s probably a load of other stuff that’s seeped in subconsciously, but that would probably take me a separate 100k words,so....
Mage, no question whatsoever. Blame too many different things hardwiring “wizards get all the cool shit” into my head. But also, like, it’s not exactly an incorrect reflex. Why stab someone when you can boil their blood form the inside or paralyze them with a glowing glyph of energy?
Okay to be fair, in Origins I played a warrior, because Reaver seemed fun and I kept accidentally Flambéing the party.
(specialization wise, in 2 Force Mage then Blood Mage, since I spec Anders for Panacea. Inquisition Rift Mage, because Knight Enchanters are just boringly good).
4. Templars or mages? Which do you support?
Just take this and find me a sticker with Anders’ face/name on it to glue on.
Like, lots of complex and pseudo-lore supported philosophical/moral reasons to go into, but if nothing else every example we see in the games show the templars being really fucking terrible at their jobs (preventing blood magic, stopping mages from messing around with demons). So you’re really getting all the oppression (and resultant desperate willing to make deals with said demons) for seemingly no appreciable benefit.
11. Top 5 favourite female companions?
Well, it’s about to very obvious I’ve spent more time on 2 than the other two games combined, but-
1. Merrill
Look, ‘dangerously naive but actually terrifyingly competent and well intentionned mad scientist” is an archetype I feel a surprising amount of attachment to, and she’s really the magical equivalent of that. Also, apparently like, literally the only person in Thedas with the willpower/basic benevolence to use blood magic without going all murderkilly? So that speaks well of her. Anyway, she’s adorable and also right about everything, and I have absolutely romanced her every time I’ve played DA2.
2. Isabella
Just amazing dialogue and banter, which goes a long way with me. Like, an extremely long way. And just an amazingly fun character generally, plus I’m generally a sucker for the whole ‘cheerfully amoral bastard with a heart of…silver, maybe?” types.
3. Aveline
Still my pick for Supreme Generalissimo of Thedas, in terms of being the only person in the world who can handle power and responsibility without losing her head one way or another. Her relationship with Isabella remains one of my all-time favorite things in any big-budget video game.
4. Leliana
But, like, Inquisition Leliana specifically. Whose an adviser, not a companion, technically-does that count? I mean, she gets as much/more screen time and dedicated content than any of the non-Solas companions, so I’m saying it does.
Anyway, “Well intentioned spymaster/manipulator drowning their own doubts in pursuit of what they have honestly convinced themselves is the Greater Good” is, like, my catnip, generally. And you have to admit, making a militant Cathari Pope in 1500 is pretty hilarious.
5. Sigrun
Second best dwarf ever. Should be in more stuff. Bring her back.
Sorry if you've answered this already. Do you have a favourite book/books? What kind of things do you enjoy reading, fanfic aside, if you have the time and mood?
hello! this is a good question, but sadly, i don’t have a good answer 😅 the thing is, i majored in writing, literature, and publishing in college and as a result, i needed to take eight literature courses over the course of four years, and they each had a tonnnnnn of required reading. this basically made me not enjoy reading. the last time i read something of my own choice for fun was my senior year of high school when i read the a song of ice and fire series, which i enjoyed, and i was generally into ya/fantasy at that point in my life, but i haven’t read for fun since then! outside of fanfiction, anyway.
i’m a professional copyeditor and i read things all day, so when i get home, i don’t usually think to myself, “hm, i would really love to read more stuff now!” that said, i do read a lot of fanfic and prefer to search by the characters/tropes/genres I’m currently writing so i get can inspiration or a good feel for what i do/don’t want to include in my own fic.
Hello! Re the romance asks, 1, 3 and 7 for the general and both Cullen ones? I love your opinions on Cullen and I would love to hear those specifically if you don't feel like doing all of them! Thank you!
I absolutely feel like doing all of them because I have a LOT of opinions on Cullen! (especially in the context of he and my Inquisitor as a couple) So here we go!
I’ll do this with Inquisitor Arielle because she’s honestly my fave ❤
(also I hope you like long answers because it kind of happened… Sorry!)
1. What was your Inquisitor’s first impression of their partner? What was their partner’s first impression of them?
Kind of mixed really? On both of their parts I think. Not because of either of them did anything wrong or to upset the other. Basically as soon as they saw each other there was a definite spark (which I think if anything made them more nervous about each other) but Cullen knew she was a mage from the start and I think was probably a bit like ‘Would she want to be with a former Templar?’ and after Arielle found out he was a Templar she had the ‘Would he want to be with a mage?’ thought, but also she had some not-so-great experiences with Templar’s in the past and she did have to run for her life from them when the Circles all fell apart so she was just scared she’d get attached thinking ‘he’s different’ and then he’d do something to show he wasn’t because that’s generally what Arielle’s experience with people has been like up till that till that point.
3. When did your Inquisitor develop feelings for their partner? When did they realize they had feelings for them?
I mean, like I said, there was always a bit of a spark between them. I think Arielle realised her feelings first but really tried to ignore them, probably after she talked to him as he was training the soldiers when she got back from Val Royeaux, at that point she shook it off and went ‘WELL LET’S JUST IGNORE THAT FEELING’. I think after she had been at Haven about a month or two (I think they were at Haven at least that long?) I think it really, really, really hit both of them when Haven was attacked how much they cared about each other and then by the time they got to Skyhold they were both completely enamoured with each other.
7. What is your Inquisitor’s favorite quality about their partner? Why?
I think she’d have a hard time picking out just one thing really. I think if you really insisted she pick one thing she’d say how gentle he can be, when she met him he had this stern serious tough look on his face all the time and then the more she got to know him the more she realised ‘actually he’s just a big softie underneath all that armour…’ just things like how drastically softer his voice gets when he talks to her or how he’ll just gently stroke her hair our of her face. I think she realised she brought that out in him more when she was getting Samson’s letters and one of the party members (I think Iron Bull says this? I could be wrong) said that maybe Cullen would ‘crack a smile for once’ and she got so confused because she always see’s him smiling and then went ‘oooh wait he’s smiling because of me….’
1. Did Cullen withdraw from Lyrium or continue taking it? How did that choice affect your Inquisitor’s relationship with him?
Oh the second she saw how bad he was that day he was talking to Cassandra she was having none of it, she doesn’t even like using the Lyrium infused staffs anymore because it just reminds her what Cullen’s been through. I mean obviously it was his choice but if, after their talk, he had said ‘I still think I need to go back on Lyrium’ she’d have been really disappointed. Of course there’s some consequences to that, like his nightmares being worse and the other Lyrium withdrawal effects (I imagine he’s probably in a worse mood on bad days so they’d probably get into arguments ever so slightly more often on those days), but she’s more scared of what would happen if he went back on it after having come so far not using it. The main effect it has on her relationship with him is that she’s gotten a lot more protective of him, she looks for healing potions that may hold off some of the effects, if she hears he’s upset or distressed about something she’ll rush over to him (I mean within reason, if she’s the other side of Thedas and hears something then she’s not going to suddenly turn her horse around unless it’s really dire then, but still worries.) Not that it’s totally one sided, after she starts opening up about some of the more upsetting parts of her life I think he get’s a little more protective of her as well. Neither are over-protective, they just worry about each other a bit more often and are pretty quick to respond when one of them’s upset.
2. Did your Inquisitor and Cullen get married during Trespasser? Why or why not?
They absolutely got married during Trespasser! As for why, I mean apart from they’re the love of each others lives…
It was probably quite a big deal for Arielle, probably for Cullen as well I mean he didn’t have much sense of a future when with the Templar’s and the last thing he expected joining the Inquisition was to find Arielle, but for her however… She had been given up so easily by her own family when it was found out she was a mage, they didn’t want anything to do with her and wanted to cover it up so nobody thought that their was magic in their family. So she was sent to the circle and didn’t hear from them again until she became inquisitor (and even then it was to go ‘use your title to help house Trevelyan! We need to get you married of to a noble right away!’ and then arguments followed when she told them to piss off) and then once joining the circle when she brought it up it was ‘you’re a circle mage now, circle mages don’t have lives and families. Besides all children born of circle mages belong to the Chantry!’ so that was it. She didn’t think she ever would get married because she didn’t think it was an option, so when Cullen proposed she suddenly realised it was an option for her! And to Cullen no less! So it was a pretty big deal for both of them, but especially Arielle, she found her family in the Inquisition and with getting married she made it official. Also I think she probably took Cullens last name as well, she didn’t really want to be a Trevelyan after everything with her family, she used it for being the inquisitor as she was known as ‘inquisitor Trevelyan’ but outside of anything where she needed to sound important she was just Arielle Rutherford.
And I think that’s all the questions you picked out for me! Although I do have one more ask (I did this one first because it came first in my inbox) so I will have a couple more of these!
How do you feel about the voice actor/character relationship, especially in light of the Greg Ellis/Cullen thing? I find separating the two easy but I can see why people are desperate to attach one to the other. Less meta if the above doesn't qualify, I think Anders' story is actually highly sympathetic and find that he is such a brilliant character. What's your take on him? Sorry, it's very late whilst I'm typing these, disregard if they aren't quite what you were looking for!
Hi friend! These are exactly the kind of questions that I am looking for (and I do apologize for taking so long to respond - I realized I had forgotten to do blog posts for one of my online classes - OOPS!)About Greg Ellis/Cullen and the voice actor/character relationship:Toxic is the best word that I can find to describe my feelings about an inability to separate VA from character. In the case of Ellis, even if one were to not be opposed to his political ideals, it is pretty despicable of him to manipulate and bully his own fan base by tagging them and then calling them out for being [rightfully] pissed at him. It’s classic gaslighting - which is a common abusive pattern exhibited by narcissists. I do not presume to know Mr. Ellis from atom, so I won’t say that he is narcissistic, but his behavior attests to such. Furthermore, due to his kind-of-fame, he has influence over people. Influence that he abuses. He has some radical believes about psychotropic medications that can be dangerous if not deadly to people with mental health problems, believing that people can solve their problems without it. (NOT TRUE: Time and again, research has shown that a combination of medication and psychotherapy are the most effective treatment for many chronic mental health disorders like anxiety, OCD, depression, PTSD, bipolar I and II, panic disorder,etc. Further, some disorders like ADHD and schizophrenia are predominantly treated through medication.) TAKE YOUR MEDS KIDS. Cullen’s VA is not Cullen and he is not your hero. **EDIT** It was brought to my attention that I didn’t mention that medications do not work for someone and that the wrong medication can be deadly. This is true, and it needs to be noted here. As a foil to this, I also believe that this lack of ability to separate the two is harmful to the VA. An example that pops into my mind really easily is Steve Valentine who voices Alistair. He is a talented and prolific actor who has had guest and starring roles in multiple shows and is also an incredible magician. He is also just a really nice man, and I think that fans sometimes take advantage of that. We need to remember that he is a real person with real feelings and just because he is a celebrity does not mean that we cannot make him uncomfortable with our behaviors.
About Anders:Anders IS interesting isn’t he? He can be misleading at first (much like Alistair), because he is very sarcastic and makes lots of jokes. He also deflects and avoids his true feelings a lot. We learn that Anders has experienced repeated traumatic experiences from very early on in his life. He was mistreated by the circle, even being put in solitary confinement for an ungodly long amount of time for wanting to visit his lover. The moment he is finally free he gets conscripted by another restrictive order and feels trapped again. In adulthood, he finds that his former lover has been given the magical equivalent of a trans-orbital lobotomy. It is devastating.Many of his early and middle life experiences fit the bill for criterion A of PTSD as listed in the DSM-5. He has experienced trauma, he has witnessed trauma, he has learned about trauma happening to someone he loves. It is likely that he also experiences many of the other symptoms of the disorder as well. Think about the times when he sees something triggering and Justice takes over. It is much akin to dissociating. Because of his trauma, Anders lies (for fear of betrayal…again, and for fear of hurting others) and he also takes some other drastic actions (but those aren’t necessarily symptomatic of trauma - they’re more driven by a need to correct the wrongs in the world - change is rarely peaceful).Anders is smart, driven, and passionate, but he is also stubborn and reckless.All of this makes the perfect combination for a revolutionary, in my opinion. **EDIT** It was also brought to my attention that Anders is canonically bipolar. While it is possible for someone to have comorbid PTSD and Bipolar I/II, I do not support him being written as such because I think it propagates some horrible stereotypes.**
WHOA BOY here we go, you asked for it - Teal, scarlet, maroon, periwinkle (I only know this colour from the sims), mauve, blush, lavander, saffron (totally jealous I didn't think of the multi-warden thing), timberwolf (wth is that), crimson (but I'm rubbish so nvm), chartreuse (I can't spell this one), burgundy (have I done this one already?)
TEAL = We have a lot in common
SCARLET = You have influenced my decisions/thoughts on something
MAROON = You taught me something new
PERIWINKLE = You make me laugh
MAUVE = You are really talented
BLUSH = Seeing you on my dash makes my day a little better
LAVENDER = You inspire me
SAFFRON = I love your ideas
TIMBERWOLF = I trust you
CRIMSON = We should collaborate on something
CHARTREUSE = You’re my homie
BURGUNDY = I get excited when I see posts from you
You are waaay too kind!!! ❤️❤️❤️ big big big love to you for putting up with my craziness!!
