A wonderful, terrible, excellent idea
Here's the real issue: I have two Suranas.
( Read more... )
(Fic) A History of Lies - 1 thru 6 (DAI/DA2: Cullen, Varric, OCs, Gen/G Rating)
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trant_book_n_curio with the opening of A History of Lies. From here I'll update one scene at a time hopefully a couple times per week until done (except when traveling or when moved to update other fic). Title: A History of Lies
Characters: Cullen/f!mage!Hawke, Cullen+Leandra friendship, Cullen+Aveline professional friendship, DA2 cast, and minor OCs.
Length: Serialized novel (in progress)
Genre: Political, espionage, fantasy historiographic metafiction, trainwreck romance subplot, canon-extension, novelization, self-indulgent pastiche.
Themes: Expatriates, government corruption, undercover agents, historical records, government paperwork, political cover-ups, life under totalitarianism, not knowing how to say ‘no.’
Summary: When Cullen Rutherford is promoted to the Gallows’ second highest post of command, this new knight-captain is given the task of ending corruption within templar ranks. After an investigation goes wrong, Cullen makes the uncomfortable decision to hide an apostate’s secret. Using this secret to his advantage, he pressures the apostate into an unconventional partnership, all for the sake of keeping Kirkwall’s people safe. Meanwhile, Cullen searches for the humanity that remains inside himself.
.:. AHOL's Table of Contents .:.
Fiction, History, and Sausage: One
Dragon Age, Cullen & Varric, SFW
Cullen and Varric discuss how to write fiction and history
Fiction, History, and Sausage: Two
Dragon Age, Cullen & various chantry brother OCs, SFW
Cullen recalls a dispute over Kirkwall's history
Fiction, History, and Sausage: Three
Dragon Age, Cullen & various templar OCs, SFW
Cullen recalls his boyhood in Honnleath
Fiction, History, and Sausage: Four
Dragon Age, Cullen & Varric, SFW
Varric drops heavy news on Cullen while in Skyhold's tavern
A Broken Compass: Five & Six
Dragon Age, Cullen & various chantry brother OCs, SFW
Cullen begins his story of Kirkwall
...
If you happen to catch a typo or formatting error, feel free to let me know here. This was more text than I am normally able to find quiet time for and many interruptions occurred. I'll eventually copypasta the html from these posts over to fanfic.net or where ever.
(Fic) Blood Writing - Chapter 1 (DAI: Elaana Lavellan, Cullen, Gen/G Rating)
Blood Writing - Chapter 1
Dragon Age Inquisition - Lavellan, Cullen, Gen/G Rating
“The first thing Lavellan noticed about Commander Cullen were his overly large feet.”
... read over here ...
FIC: Superpowers [Dragon Age 2: Cullen, f!mage Hawke]
Superpowers
fem!mage Hawke/Cullen
850 words, rated T/PG/SFW
During a conspicuous moment of stillness on the eve of war, Kirkwall's most notable mage suggests to Cullen that he should leave.
Written for missema's prompt on the 2014 Dragon Age Kiss Battle.
FIC: Best Friends [Dragon Age 2: Aveline, Cullen, G]
Aveline, Cullen (Dragon Age 2)
1950 words, rated G
Aveline might have thought of Cullen as one of her closest friends if not for the troubling secret they shared.
Read on AO3
Fic: May the Maker have Mercy (DA2, Cullen, OCs, teen rating)
May the Maker have Mercy
Cullen, OCs, Rated: Teen, 1830 words
In 9:35, Cullen leads a team of templars who must apprehend a child in a fishing village outside of Kirkwall. (part of this timeline)
(http://ahistoryoflies.tumblr.com/post/67125248576/may-the-maker-have-mercy)
FIC: What He Wants - Chapter 6 (Cullen/f!Hawke)
What He Wants - Chapter 6
Chapter Summary: For a devout templar who takes Andraste's sacred verses to heart, oral sex is a religious experience.
Chapter 6 rating: NSFW, but of a literary variety with long paragraphs rather than the short sharp shock of pornographic words (so you might be able to get away with this on your screen at work?)
Overall story rating: M / explicit sexual content.
Written for DAKinkMeme prompt - Hawke hides an unintentional pregnancy from the father, Knight Captain Cullen. After she gives birth, Cullen attempts to reconcile.
A/N: Phooooo. Author is slow at editing, all of this was written eons ago. A few more completed chapters are waiting for edit but hopefully I have a little more time in my schedule now.
FIC: What He Wants Chapter 5 (DA2, Cullen/Hawke, AU Kirkwall)
Chapter summary: After Cullen and Hawke sneak out from the party in her family's mansion and into a private garden, they enjoy each other and a bottle of wine. (Occurs in 9:32, after Act 1 but before Act 2)
Chapter 5 rating: NSFW - smut abounds.
Overall story rating: M / explicit sexual content
Written for DAKinkMeme prompt - Hawke hides an unintentional pregnancy from the father, Knight Captain Cullen. After she gives birth, Cullen attempts to reconcile.
A/N: Finally, the first part of the promised smut. More is coming once I cycle through updating a few other things at the top of my editing pile. ;)
FIC: Nothing I Can Say to You (Cullen/Mari Hawke, 2500 words)
Rating: Safe for work (although story contains minor use of foul language).
After Ser Thrask’s death, Mari Hawke is distressed. Frustrated Cullen tries to keep the situation under control.Story assumes that Cullen & Hawke have been in an established relationship since the end of Act 2. (An earlier draftof this was written in Feb 2013 for the DA Kiss Battle.)
Story is part of this larger timeline.
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= Nothing I Can Say to You =
Cullen leapt over the side of the boat as it neared the shore. His feet splashed toward the beach. Salt water leaked into his boots and the heavy fabric of his skirt soaked up to his knees. He hardly noticed the cold wetness seeping throughhis tabard and trousers and into his socks. Instead, he ran as fast as he could along the edge of the shore, keeping tothe hard-packed wet sand. The metal plates of his armor clattered. His sheathed sword slapped against his side,threatening to loosen itself from its buckles. Cullen didn’t care.He made a sharp turn and lumbered up the beach. Hisboots sank as the soft sand moved beneath him, every step thrice the effort it should have been. When he reached thedunes, he scrambled up, grabbing fistfuls of fibrous sharp-edged grass as his footing slid out beneath him. Once heheaved himself over the top, he sprinted up a path. By the time he reached the old ruins, he was too late.
(FIC) Untitled scene - Mari Hawke/Cullen (in A History of Lies)
Mari Hawke and Knight Captain Cullen (sometime in 9:35, a bunch of months after they became a couple)
Mari stood naked, not far from the foot of her bed. She leaned back with her shoulders touching the wardrobe door, her arms crossed over her chest, right hand clasping the boney point of her left elbow. Midnight hair hung in thick clumps, still wet from the bath.Her weight centered over her left leg as her right foot tapped an agitated rhythm. Lips pursed, she sucked in her cheeks, accentuating the hard angle of her prominent cheekbones. She shifted her weight to her right leg and her left heel responded with a rapid staccato.
Mari Hawke was what an artist would create if limited to drawing lines. Every place where one would expect curves, she was the purposeful intersection of sharp strokes. Her long straight-waisted body made a picture of unwavering planes that met at hard angles.
Shifting her weight again, her toes tapped her annoyance as she stared at the bed. The blankets and top sheet were half pulled back in a rumpled pile, making a half moon outline around the space where Cullen sat.
Whatever the hell they argued about earlier no longer mattered to him.
(Fic) Unthinkable Peace (Cullen/Mari Hawke, M)
Title: Unthinkable Peace
Fandom: Dragon Age 2
Length: 2150 words
Characters: Cullen/Mari Hawke, Thrask
Summary: Thrask’s insubordinate suggestions anger Cullen. Cullen would prefer to be in the Champion’s bed.
Notes: Part of this timeline. Written for pendency’s prompt: “Thrask’s thoughts on Mari/Cullen”
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In that lingering moment between dreams and wakefulness, Cullen lay within a hot cocoon of blankets, Mari’s sleep-heavy limbs holding him down. He let another minute pass. Maybe more. He might have slipped into sleep for an unmeasurably long moment.
FIC: What He Wants Chapter 1 & 2 (DA2, Cullen/Hawke, AU Kirkwall)
Dragon Age 2, Cullen/f!Hawke (not my Hawke -- inspired by kmeme prompt)
Apostate Marian Hawke hides an unintentional pregnancy from the templar father, a man quite different from herself. After Hawke gives birth, Cullen attempts to reconcile. (Written for a Dragon Age Kink Meme prompt)
Read on AO3
Read on ff.net
Fic: A History of Lies, Ch. 1 - A Kiss to Save the Day
A History of Lies - Chapter 1: A Kiss to Save the Day
Dragon Age: Cullen/Mari Hawke, cast
Rated R
Summary: As political stability in Kirkwall decays, Knight Captain Cullen must learn to provide leadership in an impossible situation. Meanwhile, he forges an unorthodox relationship with an apostate named Mari Hawke.
Chapter 1, “A Kiss to Save the Day,” opens in the middle, less than a week after Hawke battles the Arishok and is declared Champion of Kirkwall. Cullen has been told to accompany Hawke on an official visit to Cumberland. Unbeknownst to Cullen’s commanding officer, Meredith Stannard, the beginnings of a romantic relationship between Cullen and Hawke have been secretly blossoming. Now, on their trip to Cumberland, everything is about to change…
----
Throughout the day, Cullen rehearsed the barefaced lie he would write in his evening report.
Starting early in the morning, when he and Hawke set sail, heading west out of Kirkwall Harbor, alone on a tiny, single-masted boat, Cullen shuffled words in his head, moving them like pieces in a puzzle. He sought out innocuous patterns. Simple statements that read as unquestionable truths. He sprinkled in details to add touches of realism. Stock phrases to confirm what his readers already thought. By noon, he had composed his evening report more than a dozen times. Each time he felt satisfied with the picture his words would paint, he chided himself for creating a premeditated lie. After all, nothing worth hiding had occurred. At least, not yet. And then Hawke would catch his eye as she brushed back her windblown hair. She’d flash him a smile far warmer than his templar title should invite. In his head, he refined his fiction one more time, building the shield of words that would protect him while he sought out what he knew he wanted. She gave him strength, and everything about him and Hawke was a matter between himself and the Maker. This time, Cullen refused to feel shame.
VL's Neria Surana - Warden Challenge, Day 1 - 4
Currently doing the 30 Day Dragon Age Warden Challenge (character development exercise) over on Tumblr. I'm posting archives over here with a few days batched up into one. Here are Days 1 through 4 (Describe Your Warden's Background, Describe Your Warden's Appearance, Detailed Description of Warden's Personality, Descriptions of Warden's Relationships with DA:O Companions).
Fearliath's 30 Day Warden Challenge Master Post
Day 1. Describe Your Warden
NaBlo #5: Description and Snippet of Fic WIP "This Bird Has Flown" (Alistair/Surana, Surana/Cullen)
Sorry to not keep on schedule with my NaBlo posts yesterday and the day before. I started writing this post on Tuesday morning but a combination of a deep lack of sleep, a 12-hour workday, and all of the hullaballoo with the U.S. elections squarely got in the way of finishing this post. By the time I got home, the 6th of November had come and gone, and I was a crazy mix of drunk (wheee, alcohol), wired (wheee! Great election results!), and exhausted (booo… no solid sleep for days…). Yesterday, I decided to take a MUCH NEEDED “fall off the face of the earth” day. I slept until early afternoon (yay! Sleep deficit resolved!) and then I sequestered myself in a coffee house with a book. Dinner somehow ended up involving a lot of tequila as my dinner-mates monitored state and county election returns (at that point, only 60ish% of our state’s vote had been counted, and less so for our populous county). I finished writing this post late last night (after sobering up) but was too tired to post it. Clearly I need to catch up with my NaBlo posts by doing double posts over the next few days.
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Today’s post is about one of my WIPs, This Bird Has Flown (Alistair/Surana, Cullen/Surana). A 500 word excerpt from my draft of the first chapter is at the bottom of this post.
This Bird Has Flown grew out of the first DA:O fanfic that I drafted almost a year ago. The story hasn’t yet seen the light of day because the idea needed a lot of time to cook. Along the way, it merged with a few other story ideas until one day the whole thing just *CLICKED* and I could see the entire novel. At that point, I only needed to sit down and write it. (Harharhar.)
While TBHF is narrated entirely by Alistair, the story is just as much about Neria’s friendship/relationship with Cullen in the Circle and Alistair’s prior friendship with Cullen as monastic brothers as it is about Alistair/Neria, Alistair’s relationship with his royal-blooded family, and Alistair feeling unsure about what he wants out of life.
( Read more... )
NaBlo #4: Reco for "In Peace, Vigilance" by Abadir (Dragon Age, Cullen/f!Surana, Jowan, m!Amell)
Each week during NaBloWri Mo, on Mon/Tue I’m posting recommendations for fan made graphic novels that include Ser Cullen in a major or supporting role. (Each Tue/Wed for NaBlo I’ll blog about my Cullen WIPs before going back to blogging meta for the rest of each week).
This week’s reco is “In Peace, Vigilance,” by Abadir — a buddy adventure with romance subplots (featuring Cullen/f!Surana).
( Read more... )NaBlo #3. Which Ser Cullen is in your canon? (And how might that change your expectations for Cullen
NaBlo #3. Which Ser Cullen is in your canon? (And how might that change your expectations for Cullen in DA3?)
Am I looking forward to the possibility of Ser Cullen making an appearance in the DA3? Yes. Definitely yes. If Cullen ends up as a companion character, I’ll hunt the game for clues to figure out how to recruit him as early as possible. If a little Cullenmancing is available, I certain that my PC will lay out the welcome mat for that templar, no matter the roller coaster ride the romance provides. Flaws and all, Cullen’s characterization has interested me so far and I love how Greg Ellis brings this character alive.
But, despite all of that, I actually have doubts about Cullen playing a major role in DA3. Why? If Cullen is brought back as a companion character, the breadth of his prior history makes him a difficult and polarizing character to write.
( read more... with lots of character arc graphs! )NaBlo #2: Cullen’s Personal Growth During His Quest For Trust (and a preview of two problems this po
In yesterday’s essay I wrote about Cullen being one of Dragon Age’s best kept secret. In it, I mentioned how Cullen has a character arc with a “fall and rise” plot structure but the player’s choices will reveal more or less of his story, providing either a richer or weaker variant of his arc. Today’s essay takes a look at what is arguably Cullen’s most interesting and most complete arc—the arc that gives him the most screen time, the most personal growth, and the greatest explanation for his on-screen actions.
( Read more and see pretty character arc graph! )