#iwyn x solas

[thevikingwoman]

Saw a post on Finish your WIPs February and I was not going to do any of that, except Solas and Iwyn insisted. It was fun writing them again.

Originally started in 2021, for a kinky bingo prompt of "infidelity", here's Solas and Iwyn enjoying some art, and each other - acting on their attraction to each other after Iwyn's husband leaves.

Fandom: Dragon Age | Words: 4114 | Read on Ao3

Iwyn Lavellan x Solas | Modern AU | smut Rating: Explicit. Infidelity, smut, fluff, angst, Iwyn is lonely, her husband is a bit boring, Solas is lonely too, nothing new here though, oral, piv sex, safe sex, casual relationship

Casual Fun

There is a surprising amount of rich, beautiful people at the museum. Solas knows many donors are more interested in getting their name in the brochures – or even better, in brass on the entrance pillar –but they still attend events to mingle and make sure everyone else knows they are there.

It’s still more crowded than he anticipated. The foyer is busy, a string quartet plays, and the trays of canapes and sparkling wine are quickly refilled.

The patrons of the arts, all dressed up. It doesn’t matter why people are here – the museum is free Wednesdays and Sundays, and hands out scholarships to young artists and that matters. Solas doesn’t much care about making connections or socializing, but he does care that there is money for the arts, and this is why he donates himself, of course.

It’s the opening of the A. Brenhan exhibition – a renown Orzammar artist who rarely allows his works to be shown on the surface. Solas had hoped to see the collection relatively undisturbed, and initially the throng of people had dashed his hopes. When he makes his way to the special exhibit on the second floor, he realizes he was wrong. Very few people wander the exhibit. It seems everyone is more interested in the spectacle that is themselves.

He spends some time on the charcoal sketches. It’s mostly architecture. Forgotten Thaigs and empty corridors and old houses. The story behind them is more interesting than the sketches themselves.

Most people actively browsing the gallery are in pairs or small groups. Like himself, they might have a more serious interest in the art, or simply worry about missing out. While he appreciates the peace and quiet here, he does wish he had someone to discuss the art with.

Solas moves to the next part of the exhibit, what Brenhan is most known for. Oil paintings on large canvasses, larger than Solas is tall. The kind of work you hang in museums, or maybe in mansions of some of the very rich. No matter, the artist’s fame is well deserved. Most of the paintings feature Dwarven architecture, ancient and modern both, but above them an impossible sky. Brenhan is a traditionalist, and has never left Orzammar, and doesn’t truly know what the sky looks like. The effect is eerie and unsettling, and meant to be so.

“I can’t decide if I love it, hate it, or just find it odd.”

Solas is startled by the woman next to him. He’d not noticed her, or assumed she was part of the group that moved on.

“It’s captivating nonetheless,” he offers.

“I agree. It’s one of the more interesting exhibits recently.”

He turns to her, and she is captivating too. Her dress is a shimmery white, contrasting with her tan skin and red hair piled on top of her head. Diamonds drip from her pointed ears and her green eyes sparkle. As she moves, his eyes are drawn to the high slit in her dress and her tall heels.

He quickly looks back at her face, and she smirks at him.

“Do you often attend the openings?” he asks, and realizes this is almost as cliche as do you come here often? He wanted someone to talk to, and now he wants to sink into the floor.

“Most of them, if I can.” She smiles and holds out her hand. “I’m Iwyn.”

He takes it, and she gives a firm handshake.

“Solas.”

“So, Solas, are you familiar with Brenhan’s work?”

“Some. I have not seen such an extensive collection before. From what I understand it is the most comprehensive exhibition of his works. Outside Orzammar, of course.”

“Yes, I’ve heard so too. I did see some of his work in the Museum of Modern Art in Denerim, but it was only a few. I do find his work intriguing, and a lot more impressive in person.”

“It’s the scale of it. It doesn’t translate well to a catalogue.”

Iwyn agrees and they talk more about the paintings, moving from one room to the next in the exhibit. He learns that her interest in art is recent, and he has plenty of knowledge he can share with her. Her own insights are unique and interesting still, seeing the soul and emotion of the pictures without the baggage of art study. The conversation is invigorating and easy.

Sometime later, an elven man joins them. He’s a little shorter than Solas, with a square jaw and long dark hair gathered in a bun at his neck. He leans over and kisses Iwyn on the cheek.

“Hello, dear.”

“Solas, this is my husband Halier. Halier, Solas is an art enthusiast and he’s been sharing interesting thoughts on the exhibit.”

Solas heart drops in chest and he instinctively puts space between him and Iwyn. He’s enjoyed their conversation immensely, and working to steer the conversation away from the art and towards leaving for drinks. Like a fool, he’d ignored the large diamond ring on her finger. It went with her earrings and bracelet.

Halier grunts and thrusts out his hand, and Solas can do nothing else but take it.

“Solas. I’m sure I’ve seen you before – where do you work?”

“I’m a partner at Evanuris Wealth Management.”

“Of course. I must have seen your picture in your office. I’m a partner with Lavellan, Lavellan & Sabrae Law Firm.”

“Very nice.”

Solas isn’t here to discuss business. Most days, he doesn’t hate his job, or the family business, and he’s glad it allows him to support the arts like this, but he also doesn’t want it to consume his life. He isn’t here to discuss business.

“Are you done here?” Halier directs his question at Iwyn, but does not wait for her response. “I’d like to get out of here, I have that early flight tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer. Take the car, I’ll grab a cab.” Iwyn fishes a valet ticket out of her clutch, and lightly kisses Halier’s cheek. “Don’t wait up.”

“I won’t. I have to be at the airport at 6am. Goodnight, dear.” He takes the ticket, and nods at Solas. “Solas, nice to meet you. We can discuss business at some other time, perhaps. Thank you for entertaining my wife.”

“A pleasure.”

Solas watches as Halier leaves, but his attention is soon back on Iwyn.

"My husband finds these things terribly boring,” she says. “We're donors, and he likes his name on something cultured along with the tax deduction, but that's it."

"And you don’t find these things boring?"

“I like the events, and the art. Especially with interesting company.”

He doesn’t know how to interpret that, with her sly smile and sparkling eyes and husband retreating down the stairs.

“The art is certainly better with good company.”

He closes a little of the space between them, and he wants her to forget her husband existed. Fuck.

“I’d love to look at the final part of the exhibit. Do you want to join me, Solas?”

She brushes past him, her fingers skimming his arm as she gestures towards the last room they have not explored. He’s no idea if it’s deliberate, but the heat of her sears him through his jacket.

They spend another thirty minutes, at least, taking in the final room. The art is interesting, but more and more he finds himself staring at Iwyn. She catches him, at one point, causing him to quickly avert his eyes and stumble over his words.

Iwyn puts a hand on his arm.

“How about getting some drinks? It seems you’ve lost interest in the art.”

“I’m looking at a different type of art, even more interesting and beautiful.”

It slips out before he can stop himself, but she just gives him a crooked smile.

“Let’s get out of there, Solas.”

-

Iwyn takes Solas to a nearby bar. There’s a risk someone would know her and her husband, of course, but she’s willing to take it. Halier already knows she was talking with him, and they’re just here to talk a little more. Maybe, she admits, she wants to more than talk. She likes his eyes on her, the intensity in them when he looks at her. She likes his voice, and the way he called her beautiful just earlier. Brazen and rebellious.

The bar is nice enough, a regular upscale bar matching the surrounding office buildings, galleries, art museum, restaurants, and symphony hall. She thinks it was featured recently in the nightlife section of the local newspaper, but she isn’t sure. Iwyn orders the featured drink, The Divine’s Night Off, with crystal grace infused gin, brown sugar syrup and Navarran orange liqueur. Solas orders a fruity pink grapefruit vodka concoction.

They make careful small talk, at first. About art, and the museum and the ballet (Solas is a fan, Iwyn isn’t) and other arts that the city offers. They carefully avoid talking about work or what Solas does for a living. It’s clear that his company and her husband’s do some business, and she doesn’t want to think about that.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you at the donor evenings before. We – I try to go to most of them.”

“I have been a donor for a while now, but the last two years I’ve been in Kirkwall. For work.”

Solas makes a face, and she grins. No one really likes Kirkwall, not even the people from there.

“Happy to be back in Wycome?”

“Most certainly. Kirkland is boring at best, and polluted and prejudiced at its worst. It is a relief to be back. Though I must say that I did not expect the event to be that enticing.”

His voice sends shivers down her spine.

“I’m very glad you’re here, Solas. It made my evening a lot more exciting so far.”

“So far?”

“It could become more exciting.”

“How so?”

“I’m sure you can figure it out.”

She’s bored and lonely most of the time, if she’s honest, and Solas offers something new and different. She wants his hands all over her. She wants to fuck him. There are many reasons she’s still married to Halier, but mediocre sex isn’t one of them. She never thought of meeting someone like this, flirting like this. The thrill of it is lightning in her veins, and the fact that Solas knows about her husband intensifies it.

Solas takes a sip of his drink, and traces the edge of his glass. His fingers are long and elegant.

“I would very much like to. Figure it out, I mean.”

She’s made up her mind, and she doesn’t want to wait anymore. Iwyn is out of her comfort zone, but there is something about Solas that draws her to him. She needs to know if he feels the same, and she’s no reason to hide her intentions.

“Sweet talker.”

“Iwyn, I…” He pauses, and looks serious. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”

“Solas,” she says, as she reaches across the table and places her hand on top of his. “I know a hotel, nearby.”

“Yes,” he replies, to the question she didn’t ask.

They pay for their drinks and slip out into the cool night. It has rained while they were at the bar, the wet sidewalk reflecting the lights from the street. Boldly, Iwyn pulls Solas close and kisses him, soft and quick. He freezes, and she’s about to apologize when he pulls her close again and kisses her back. This time there is nothing soft or gentle about it.

“We should probably find that hotel,” she mumbles when they pull apart. As much as she wants to keep him close, she also wants him naked. Solas seems to agree, nodding and taking her hand. It’s only two blocks to the hotel, and they manage without too many stops for kisses. The entrance is well lit, gold handles in the glass doors.  

She hesitates in the lobby, but only briefly. She is certain. Solas hand is at the small of her back, as if it belongs there. As if they’d checked into a hotel together a million times before.

“Can I help you?”

The human behind the counter looks very bored. It’s quite late, and the lobby is empty.

“We need a room for a night. We don’t have a reservation.”

Solas is close and she draws on the confidence in his presence. He wants to be here. She wants to be here. What they’re doing is no one else’s business.

“Sure.” The girl taps on her computer. “Nightly rate 399. Credit card and Id, please?”

“Let me,” Solas says smoothly, and she supposes he right. It’s not that she can’t pay, but it’s better it’s not her name. Some part of her doesn’t care, craves the danger of it. But she’s not quite ready to self-destruct her life.

Solas hands over his cards, and the girl dutifully enters his information into her system. She hands them two keycards. She looks too tired and underpaid to ask about their lack of luggage.

“Room 906, elevators are down and on your right. Checkout is at 11am tomorrow.”

Solas thanks her, hands Iwyn one card, and starts down the hallway. Iwyn grabs his hand.

“One moment.”

She heads to the hotel convenience store, determined and casual all at once. She looks at the little stand of toiletries – deodorants, cotton buds, razors.

“Do you have any condoms?”

The dwarf behind counter grunts, and pulls out a silver cardboard box from a cabinet behind the counter.

“19.99.”

She hands him her credit card, and puts the box in the purse when the transaction is complete. The dwarf grunts again, and fiddles with his phone.

Iwyn hurries after Solas, and puts her hand in his when she catches up.

-

They slip inside the room, and the door closes with a soft thud behind them. Iwyn pushes him against the wall, and catches his lips in an eager kiss. He slips his hand through the tall slit in her dress, caressing her skin, like he’d been wanting to all night. He kisses her neck, she gasps.

“You’re so beautiful,” he says. He pulls back and really looks at her. A thought occurs to him. “Does your husband know you’re here?”

He isn’t really certain why a beautiful woman wants with him, and her husband is certainly handsome enough. If he’s part of someone’s kink he’d like to know.

“No. Does that bother you?”

He shakes his head.

“Good.”

Iwyn walks to the bed, and drops her dress on the floor. It pools around her feet, leaving her nude except her lace panties and tall heels. She twists off her diamond ring and drops it on the bedside table.

“He won’t know anything,” she states.

She is breathtaking. He tentatively touches her arm, her shoulder. Runs his fingers across her collar bone, and down her chest. She gasps when he cups her breast briefly, before skimming over her ribs, resting his hand on her hip. He follows with kisses, all the way down the body until he kneels before her. He frees her legs from the dress, folds it, and toss it on a chair.

“If he did know – your husband – would you be in danger?”

She laughs at this, and cuts herself off. She looks at him earnestly.

“Thank you, Solas, for asking. I wouldn’t be. He would be severely disappointed, I suppose. Just like he severely disappoints me.”

He kisses her knee.

“I will endeavor not to, in that case.”

“Very good.”

The way her voice drops when she praises him sends a bolt of arousal straight to his dick. So does the fact that she’s here, with him, while her husband has gone home alone.

He runs his hands up her legs, and kisses her lace covered sex. She gasps, a low involuntary sound, completely lovely.

“Sit down, please?”

She does, sitting herself on the bed behind her. Before he can lean in closer, she lifts one foot, pressing her heel against his chest.

“You’re overdressed, Solas.”

“Of course.”

He takes off his jacket, and unbuttons his shirt. Iwyn crosses her legs, and follows every move with hooded eyes. He hopes he measures up. With his chest bared he leans over her and kisses her, deep and hungry.

“Everything, Solas,” she says.

He complies, taking off his shoes and dresspants and socks and boxers. There’s no elegant way to go about it, but Iwyn is just sitting on the bed, leaning back on her elbows with a small smile on her face. She smiles wider when he’s finally naked, and he’d happily suffer a little awkwardness to put such a smile on face.

Iwyn uncrosses her legs.

“Now where were you?”

Solas slides down in front of her. “Right here, I believe.” He slides his hands up her calves, past her knees. She yields to his gentle pressure, and lets her legs fall open. He kisses the inside of her thigh, and again, his lips caressing her silken skin all the way up to her lace clad mound. He kisses the lace, and she moans deliciously when he breathes hot air against her. He draws his head back to look at her, glorious above him, and caresses her with his fingers. He slips two inside her panties, touching her slick heat. Iwyn bucks against him, his other hand firmly holding her left leg.

“More,” she growls, and he draws her panties aside, leaving her clit exposed, pink and swollen. He teases it, and rubs against the sides of it, and then he presses down on it.

“Like this? Softer? Harder?”

“Harder, softer. Alternate.”

He smiles, and does as she asks, causing her to gasp and writhe. She is alluring, her half-covered sex arousing, her wet cunt inviting. He wants to taste her, to make her scream. He keeps working his fingers, and kisses the inside of her thigh. When he reaches the top, he licks up her cunt, reveling in her taste. She moans, a deep throaty sound and he groans too. He looks up at her, her shiny red lips parted, her cheeks flushed with desire.

“More?” he asks.

“Yes, please. Now.”

“I think I’ll get rid of these first.”. He smirks at her, moving his hands across her panties. They’re pretty, but in the way. He pulls the fabric a little up, making the lace rub against her clit, and then down. She lifts her hips easily, allowing him to slide them all the way down her legs. He carefully pulls the panties over the heels of her shoes, leaving them on her feet.

He doesn’t tease this time, no matter how inviting the soft skin of thighs is, but sits right up between her legs and spreads his palms over her hips. Her legs part wide for him, and he lowers his mouth to taste her again. He licks and sucks her sensitive folds and her swollen clit.  He’s rewarded with a low moan, her head thrown back. He adds his hand, his fingers teasing her opening. Iwyn takes the opportunity to throw her leg over his shoulder. She’s wet and soft, clenching around his fingers, her juices coating his chin. Her heel digs into his back, pressing him closer to her, a beautiful counterpoint to her sweet taste.

She is all his, right here, even if it isn’t so outside this room. Not that she belongs to anyone but herself, not truly.

Solas keeps working his fingers, his tongue until she shudders around him, moaning and trashing against him. He lets her come down carefully, gently easing her out of her climax. Her leg slips to the floor and she relaxes into the bed.

“That was – very good.”

“Yes?”

“You did good,” she says again, firmer this time. His already hard cock jumps at it. He wants her and he wants her approval more. He wants to be good enough for her. He’s here with her, and her husband isn’t. He’s the one who slides his hands all the way down her legs, and gently takes off her shoes, kissing her ankles. He’s the one who crawls into bed after her when she swings legs up to stretch out on it.

He’s the one who asks her, “what can I do next?”

“Touch me,” she says. “Like you care.”

Solas is suddenly furiously angry, overcome with a need to punch Iwyn’s husband in the face the next time he meets him. He won’t, of course, and refocuses his attention on Iwyn. He just met her tonight, but he does care. He wants to touch her, to please her, right here in this downtown hotel. He also wants to talk art with her again, to get to know her better. He shoves that thought to the back of his brain. Being the one the satisfy her will have to be enough.

“I do care, Iwyn.”

She looks stunned at his earnestness, perhaps like she regrets her vulnerability. He patiently lets his fingers wander up her torso, feather-light. Iwyn recovers and smirks.

“Get on with it, then.”

He does, his hands wandering across her chest, teasing her nipples as he dips his head to kiss her. He learns what makes her moan, what makes her arch her back. Her hands are not idle either, sliding up his body, digging into his shoulders. He groans when she traces one finger up his cock, and wraps her whole hand around it. She pumps it slowly and all thoughts flee his mind, his hands randomly touching her, needing to feel her skin beneath his hands in any way he can. Iwyn sits half up, and kisses him.

“Lay back, Solas,” she says, extracting herself from under him.

He does, laying back and lets her continue to do as she pleases. Her hand is back on his cock as she grins, her other hand holding him firmly down when his hips jerk. He’s so hard it aches, and he almost can’t hold it together when moves faster, twisting her hand a little.

“I’m going to fuck you.”

“Please, please, Iwyn.” He’s ready to beg for anything, has been since he first laid his eyes on her.

She lets go of him, and finds the packet of condoms, opening one. Her nails are expertly manicured, a deep green color. The diamond bracelet glints against her wrist. She rolls the condom over his cock.

Seated above him, she drags her nails across his chest, her cunt hovering out of reach. He wants. He needs, he needs her now.

“Please,” he says again. “I need – “

She lowers herself on him, heat surrounding him, perfect and far too slow. When he moves, thrusting his hips up impatiently, she puts a hand on his chest.

“Stay still.”

Her eyes are burning, and it’s not a question. A demand. A test. He complies and grows impossible harder. Iwyn moves with agonizing slowness. His hands find their way to her waist, supporting, but not changing her pace, letting her stay in control. They’re both panting, eyes caught in each other.

Finally, Iwyn moves faster, leaning more on her weight on his chest as she collapses a little forward. He grips her hips tighter, and she nods. Now he moves with her, into her. It’s tight and hot and wonderful, and he moans her name as he throws his head back. Iwyn brings her own hand between her legs, and they both move faster, erratically. She trembles above him, glorious and beautiful, and his own orgasm takes him by surprise, intensity coursing through him.

Iwyn collapses fully on his chest, and he wraps his arms around her. She sighs and kiss his neck, as she slides off him, then tucks herself into him. Solas deals with the condom, and lets himself enjoy her warmth next to him.

"I don't normally do this," she says.

"Neither do I."

"Fucking a married woman, or engaging in one-night stands in general?"

Both. Either. He just nods, and kisses her brow. She idly caresses his shoulder. It feels far too comfortable.

“I’m glad I did,” she says.

“As I am I.” 

They lay intwined, and he holds her. A minute. An hour. A moment. Long enough to pretend this belongs to him.

She slips away well before dawn. Home, he supposes, to her husband, or an empty bed he has left. Back to her real life.

She kisses his cheek.

"Thanks, Solas. I had a good time."

He squeezes her hand.

"Me too," he says, and he smiles, as wide and genuine as he can.

Casual fun, another man's wife.

The door clicks shut after her.

#dragon age #dragon age fanfic #solavellan #solavellan fanfic #iwyn x solas #writing about Iwyn #AHH it was so nice to write them again #they are happy and married in almost every timeline #here they get to be messy #just a bit #had 3000 words of this just lingering in my wips #very happy to throw it out there #finish your wips #viking writes #published 2/29/2024 #leap day seems apt for leaping back to solavellan #solavellan hell is eternal

[buttsonthebeach]

A Softer World

I think I may be a little bit early on this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY @thevikingwoman!! I wanted to treat us BOTH for our birth month with some sweet OT3 fluff and smut. Sorry it’s so short <3

The masterpost for this shared AU can be found here.

Iwyn is @thevikingwoman‘s OC! And, as always, Iwyn and Ellana are not related despite sharing the last name Lavellan.

Pairing: Solas x Iwyn x Ellana

Rating: Explicit for brief sexual imagery

**********

What Ellana has found that she loves the most about her lovers is their softness.

She does not think that this is what the outside world sees about either Solas or Iwyn right away - they are forceful people, argumentative, passionate, opinionated. Perhaps that is why Ellana treasures their softness all the more. It is something hidden away from the rest of the world.

She loves the softness of them first thing in the morning, especially. Bleary eyed and cozy in their bed, none of them particularly willing to get up. Resetting their alarms and burrowing back into the covers, and sometimes that second time rearranging their limbs and finding comfortable pillows was even better than the way they fell asleep.

She loved the softness of them coming home to the house that was theirs now. Iwyn taking off her shoes and then immediately her bra, putting her hair up if it wasn't already. Solas immediately removing his stiff, formal working clothes and emerging from their bedroom in his sweatpants and his beat up old t-shirt (his favorite was one from his own college days, of a long gone band called Dread Wolf Rising). His colleague, Dorian Pavus, had come over once, seen him like that, and declared him an apostate hobo.

"Well, he's my apostate hobo," Ellana had said, kissing Solas's cheek noisily.

"Ours," Iwyn had corrected from the couch.

Dorian had laughed, a kind sound. It was an open thing now, the three of them, in all their social circles. Welcome and cherished. The subject of sweet and teasing jokes like when's the wedding?

Ellana's heart flutters when they make jokes like that. Because she can imagine marrying this, their shared softness - can imagine celebrating and enshrining the weight of Iwyn's hand in hers when they go for a long walk in the evening. The way Solas sometimes dances with Iwyn in the kitchen if he’s playing music while he cooks. The way he cups her own face and looks down at her like she is precious.

She is precious to them. To both of them. She can imagine marrying that feeling, the one they all share.

(She loves the softness of the three of them in bed, of course. The softness of spread thighs and fingers seeking heat. She and Iwyn love this particularly in Solas - him lying on his stomach, clutching to the pillows and sheets, or to the woman beneath him, while the other spreads him open and fingers him there until he is a shaking mess, utterly spent, utterly soft in every way he can be, deliriously affectionate in his afterglow.)

Once Ellana knows she wants something, she does not hesitate. Usually that's a good thing. This time, it does make her wish she'd been a tiny bit more patient.

"We should get married," she says one morning at breakfast, apropos of nothing. It has been about a year since that first wondrous night, months since the three of them moved in together. She is certain.

Iwyn and Solas both look up at once, not quite shocked - or not shocked in a bad way, at least - but not gasping with excitement either. Ellana feels her cheeks heat up. She should have been more romantic - planned something out.

"I mean - will you? Marry me? Both of you?" Ellana asks, her voice going higher than usual.

Iwyn and Solas look at each other now, smiling.

“Yes,” they both say, one after the other, almost tripping over the words, already standing up from the table and coming towards Ellana, and then she is swept up in their warmth and their love.

Iwyn and Solas each have their turn to ask after that. Iwyn asks them both while they are out on a hike overlooking the city the three of them have come to call home. Solas asks them both in bed the morning after that. Both times the answer is a chorus of yes (and after Solas asks there are even more repetitions of the word, because they are already in bed, and what better way to celebrate than pressed close to each other, bodies wet and aching with need).

There aren’t rings ready for any of the three proposals, but they go out and buy them together after Solas’s. They all choose something simple, durable, with small filigreed designs on the bands that they each approve of. The weight feels unfamiliar and yet pleasant on Ellana’s right hand, where she’ll wear it until they wed.

But the most important part is that nothing changes, not really, after they’ve all agreed to marry each other, while they start considering dresses and suits and venues and honeymoon locales. The softness Ellana so loves is still there. They have all found a place to call home, and it isn’t the walls of the house they’ve rented together. It’s each other. A safe harbor from all of life’s storms, where they can all let their guards down and exist as the purest, most vulnerable forms of themselves.

Ellana plans on holding on to that forever.

#beach writes #ot3 #together au #iwyn x ellana x solas #iwyn lavellan #ellana lavellan #modern au #thevikingwoman

[fiadhaisteach]

Things I’ve Read(ish) This Week* - 2021.11.06

A little something different this week; because I was/am too sick to focus on anthing, I didn’t read anthing new (including chapters, 'cause I didn't want to risk missing any of y'all's awesomeness). Instead I only read my favorite bits & pieces of several stories; sometimes a paragraph before I was distracted (or had to take my glasses off), sometimes a chapter (or two), and so etimes skipping around willy-nilly.

So... a short list of the chapter updates I managed and then a few of the stories I was skipping about because I know them so well, it didn't matter if I was hopscotching through them. (A few may be missing because my brain is still a bit fuzzy).

Subscription Updates

A Singular Shadow by AntlersandFangs - {Solas/MGiT, Cullen/MGiT, Solas & Cullen} (Ch. 64)

Wicked Things, What a Wicked Game to Play by Cracking Lamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 57)

Unwritten by UnrealRomance - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 232-233)

Dissonant Verses, Dread Wolf Guide Us by Alexis_Trvlyn (@itsalexistrvlyn) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 16)

Soladaar Drabbles by Shaykai (@shaykai) - Solas/M!Adaar (Ch. 4)

The Sound of Steel on Stone, Lost Elf by lavellan22 - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 8)

Fade Objects, Object-oriented Fadeology by KeeperSpock (@outragedvulcan) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 11)

Bloodied & Broken World State, Bloodied and Broken, Rogasha'ghi'lan (The Brave Guide) by youworeblue (@dreadfutures) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 16)

» side note - multiple chapters may mean multiple updates; or might just be me refreshing my memory, reorienting myself in the story, or rereading some for fun.

Favorite Story Fractured Fairy Tales ReReads

These are just copy/pasta'd from my spreadsheet, so complete works (and some HSE WIPs) will have word cunts & current WIPs (and some HSE WIPs) will have a "fill in the blank" chapter slot. When part of a series, I may, or may not, have touched multiple works, but this is TIRTW easy mode. 😊

Tales of the Fade Walker by Rawrzimon (@rawrzimon) - Solas/MGiT, Iron Bull/F!Trevelyan (Ch. )

Til It Squeaks: A Modern Girl's Take on Thedas, Twist by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGiT - 197,291 words - complete

The DA Alternate Universe Chronicles, For Goodness Bakes by RogueLioness (@roguelioness) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 65,619 words - complete

No Longer A Game by Here_To_Be (@nolongeragameart) - Solas/MGiT - 347,357 words - complete

Becoming Boone, The Unwritten End by SolainRhyo (@solain-rhyo) - Solas/F!Trevelyan - 142,396 words - complete

The Voice of a God by Solverne (@solverne-02) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 32,586 words - HSE WIP

Iwyn Lavellan & Solas: Timetravel AU, ⚜️Temporal Arrangements, ⚜️Temporal Arrangements: Flip POV by Viking_woman (@thevikingwoman) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 29,836 words - each work complete

Keeping Secrets by ElvenSemi (@elvensemi) - Solas/OFC - 593,636 words - HSE WIP

Diary of a Dislocated Knife-ear, Dislocated Souls: Skyhold by LonelyAgain (@thereallonelyagain) - Solas/MGiT, OFC/ OMC (Ch. )

Lies upon Lies by theHidden1 (@the-hidden-1) - Solas/MGiT - 80,819 words - HSE WIP

A Singular Shadow by AntlersandFangs - {Solas/MGiT, Cullen/MGiT, Solas & Cullen} (Ch. )

Companion Anise Lavellan, Savior of the Damned by salexectria (@salexectria) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. )

I Have Found a Home (Ian x Solas), ⚜️You Are Dalish, Are You Not?, ⚜️The Wound is Where the Light Enters You, ⚜️You Brought the Colours Out, ⚜️The Perfect Song At Imperfect Times, ⚜️First Kiss, ⚜️Was it Only a Kiss?, ⚜️Dreaming in Colour, ⚜️Sleeping Together, ⚜️A Name That Fits, ⚜️What Colour is Love?, ⚜️Should I Learn to Kiss and Talk?, ⚜️That Mercy you to others show, show that Mercy to me, ⚜️And My Heart Cannot Be, ⚜️I Cannot Come In (Unless You Dream of Me), ⚜️Naked, Vulnerable, but Completely Content, ⚜️Apodyopis, ⚜️Honey Dust, ⚜️Romantic Firsts, ⚜️Solas & Ian Drabbles, ⚜️Who Am I in Your Arms?, ⚜️The Slightest Ones by theharellan (@theharellan) & TheBraveHobbit (@theshirallen) - Solas/NB!Lavellan – 57,065 words - each work complete (except Drabbles)

Piece by Piece by apfelgranate (@notenoughdragons) - Solas/F!Adaar - 6,299 words - complete

To Start Anew by ZeeTaoHime (@rivainisomniari) - Solas/OFC (Ch. )

I Come To You With Nothing, ⚜️I Come To You With Nothing, ⚜️Love, Burning Bright, ⚜️Companions by CommonEvilMastermind (@commonevilmastermind) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 14,755 words - each work complete

Virtually Faded Universe, ⚜️Protection, ⚜️The Black Devil, ⚜️Virtual Friends, ⚜️Virtually Faded, ⚜️Virtually Torn, ⚜️Virtually Separated, ⚜️Virtually After, ⚜️A Faded Companion°, ⚜️Virtually Unspoken§ by AntlersandFangs (@thededfa) & Celtic_Lass (@thecelticlass) - Glorfindel/OFC, OMC /OFC, Solas/MGiT, Cassandra/MBiT, Thranduil/MGiME - 857,784 words - complete       ° side stories, alt PoVs, & art       § extended scenes for us smut lovers

A Man's Word is His Bond by howlsmovinglibrary (@ashatarsylnin) - Zevran/F!Surana - 35,128 words - complete

A Whole New World by RogueLioness (@roguelioness) - Solas/MGiT (Ch. )

Looking Glass, ⚜️Looking Glass, ⚜️Little Sacrifices, ⚜️Pride's Point of View, ⚜️Looking Glass Tumblr Prompts️ by (@feynites) - Pride/F!Lavellan, past Solas/F!Lavellan - 337,757 words - HSE WIP

The Lioness and the Wolf, The Lioness and the Wolf by Arden (@shift-shaping) - Solas/F!Surana - 155,775 words - complete

pressure point by 17734 - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. )

An Elvhen Revolution: Freedom Will Sing by Spade_Storm - Fen'Harel|Solas/MGIT - 33,687 words - HSE WIP

Veilfire Library, That Kind of Lonely by Wootensmith (@wootensmith) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 358,270 words - complete

Prompts and AUs, Marked for Death by oxygenforthewicked (@oxygenforthewicked) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 11,211 words - complete

Isii Lavellan (Non-Canon AUs), ⚜️Tranquility, ⚜️Tranquility: Bonus Material by geekyjez (@geeky-jez) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 128,155 words - complete

There was a lot less reading than this might look like. 😲😆😍

*TIRTW & can recommend (previous weeks & TIRTW Key/Legend)

#spotlight Saturday #fic recommendations #writer recommendations #tirtw #things i've read this week #solavellan #solas/lavellan #solas x lavellan #solas/oc #solas x oc #solas/mgit #solas x mgit #solas x adaar #solas x trevelyan #solas x surana #zevran x surana #aisteach reads #aisteach recommends

[galadrieljones]

2019 Writer’s Year in Review

tagged by @pikapeppa. thank you!! I always enjoy this exercise ^_^

Word count: 

The Lily Farm - 163,580

That he may hold me by the hand - 29,146

Original fiction - 14,780

Total - 207,506

Number of smut scenes: I don’t really keep track? Probably a dozen or so. It is definitely true that I don’t write as much smut for Arthur as I did for Solas. My writing style has chilled out in that sense. I still write sex scenes for sure, but full blown smut is pretty rare for me. For Solas, sex was kind of like a theme. I went to it all the time to develop his character. For Arthur, it does not serve the same thematic function. 

New things I tried this year: Using more tropes, like good old fashioned bed-sharing, fake relationships, etc. They work really well for my Arthur pairings, and I think it’s helped my plot writing a lot. 

Also, this year I have been working consistently on a fic for a mlm pairing, Arthur x Albert (That he may hold me by the hand) I have never written a fullblown love story between two men before, only as a secondary-ship, so this is a first for me. I was nervous, but I did a lot of research in preparation, and I have learned a lot about the history of male sexuality and its various forms and perceptions in pioneer times and the late nineteenth century. It’s really been one of my favorite projects to date, and definitely the most straight up romantic love story I’ve ever written.  

Favorite thing I wrote this year: I like all the stories I wrote this year. The Lily Farm has become a romantic but humorous fix-it with a big plot, as I’m literally rewriting the end of the game. I love everything I’ve gotten to do with Mary Beth’s character, and it’s given me the chance to just make her into a true heroine. Yours, Sadie Adler was a sad endeavor, and I cried while writing it, but it was a plotting challenge for me, and I am proud of what it became. That he may hold is a sort of smaller scope love story for me, but I love this about it best of all. I love Arthur and Albert and I always had a soft spot for the Arcadia for Amateurs mission, because it shows Arthur at his most charming and quintessentially chivalrous. 

I also love the original stuff I’ve written and the story I’ve started to build. It’s a return to roots for me and exploration of a place and a family of characters that are all like people I grew up with. It’s not really a story I’ve told before, so I’m excited about that.

Favorite fic I read this year: I haven’t read nearly enough fics this year, but a few memorable experiences include

Temporal Arrangements by @thevikingwoman (A time travel AU for Solas and Iwyn Lavellan--clever in its plot and very emotional, a good redemption arc for Solas, and Iwyn is a most classic and stoic Lavellan who I love dearly. Neat Arlathan aesthetics.)

safe and sound by @cosmiclattes (A super good take on what could have happened with Arthur and Eliza all those years ago. Sad, beautiful details, will murder you.)

how to be a lion when you were born a wolf by @cosmiclattes (A beautiful alternate ending to the game. I won’t give anything else away, but read it!!)

Up on the Homestead (a series) by CedarTheBarefoot (Arthur/John. A smutty tale of country living and a quiet romance. Arthur and John are both very in-character here and it’s kind of like this renewed sense of pastoral innocence but its edges are not sanded down. Good realism and process-writing. Awesome smut. It is good to see them safe.)

Of Sons and Daughters by writehavoc (A sweet, romantic story in which Arthur accidentally falls in love with Dutch’s daughter. Emmeline is a very innocent OC who has been deeply sheltered and is now kind of working toward her own sense of independence. Very good chivalrous but conflicted Arthur. One of the coolest premises I’ve seen.)

Writing goals for 2020: To finish both The Lily Farm and That he may hold, and then to focus most of my energies on my original stuff for a while. I would like to finish a book. I am hoping 2020 is the year!! Or, well, I’m gonna work for it lol. (I will still be here, of course...hyperfixations will always call. lol)

tags for @thevikingwoman @bearly-tolerable @cosmiclattes @ladylike-foxes @squidproquoclarice @starsandskies @ma-sulevin @idrelle-miocovani @a-shakespearean-in-paris and anyone else who would like to do this. please tag me if you do!! ^_^

#on writing #year in review

[thevikingwoman]

hi viking!! 21, 38, and 49 for solas & iwyn, please?

Thank Ellster!! great to hear from you Mwah!

21. Who typically tends to initiate intimacy first (this can be a conversation, action or anything)?

Iwyn. She's more bold and direct about her desires and need for intimacy.

38. What would be their ideal evening in?

Just hanging out in the same space, both of them reading. Solas something research-y, Iwyn something fiction (mystery novels!). And then sex. Maybe even complicated sex ;).

49. Is there a word or gesture that makes either of them melt?

their pet names for each other; Solas calling Iwyn vhenan, Iwyn calling him ma lath. By now these carry so much weight and history, and no matter what they have each other.

oc relationship asks

#oc ask meme #relationship meme #iwyn x solas #iwyn lavellan

[thevikingwoman]

47. Crave for the micro stories?

Thank you! 100 word challenge for @dadrunkwriting.

Iwyn Lavellan x Solas | rating: T

Crave

Iwyn Lavellan’s outfit is perfectly suitable. She has not donned her armor, yet her authority is undeniable, Inquisition pin on her breast. That is not what draws Solas’ attention.

There’s a place where her neck meets her shoulder, just above her collar bone. He wants to touch. Trace a finger down the side of her neck, soft skin underneath. Dip two into the notch above her collarbone. Slide his whole hand beneath her blouse.

Solas’ fingers twitch.

His focus should not be on her. Not now. Not in this time. He cannot afford to jeopardize his mission.

Yet he craves.

#iwyn x solas #solavellan #solavellan fanfic #dragon age fanfic #100 word challenge #viking writes #Solas being Solas #published 5/28/2022

[thevikingwoman]

46 for the 3 sentence prompts?

thank you! "Shimmer" for @dadrunkwriting 100 word challenge.

Iwyn Lavellan x Solas | after Trespasser | angst rating: G.

Shimmer

Most days are fine. Everything is just fine. Life goes on, letters to write, work to organize, diplomacy to manage. It keeps her busy, other problems buzzing away in the back of her head.

Some days are different.

Some days, a haze greets her when she wakes. All the pain, all the questions she pushes away finds her; her dreams shimmering at the edges of her mind. She knows she must return to them, if she wants to find him. Stop him. But she is not yet ready, heaviness in every limb.

She wakes. She breathes.

Some days are fine.

#Solavellan #solavellan hell #solavellan fanfic #dragon age fanfic #iwyn x solas #writing about Iwyn #viking writes #published 5/28/2022

[thevikingwoman]

I just really love the “fuck first, figure out feelings later” trope (is it a trope?)

I also love the opposite of slowburn eg - this turns to mutual pining in a fwb/fuckbuddy scenario.

#I think I’m so physically awkward myself #I love characters that live through their physicality first #anyway #iwyn x solas #illia x veyer

[thevikingwoman]

37 and 39 for Iwyn and Solas please?

Thank you bear!!

37. Who is more likely to avenge their S/O if they were hurt or killed?

HEH. I mean, it's so tempting to say Solas - we've all seen the Trespasser explosion, right? - but I think he'd also be more accepting of losing Iwyn than vice versa. He has already resigned himself to losing her once? He'd just be oh my purpose, my duty and be sad and go on.

but Iwyn - Iwyn doesn't give up, and her control freak tendencies grow when pressed. She'd be furious, she'd be determined, she'd call in favors. I don't know if she'd avenge as much as try to change the world itself to get him back. (This is all under the assumptions she's not the one who had to kill him. Then she'd just - well do it)

39. Do they dance? If so, who's better?

They do, and they are both able to. Iwyn enjoys it more, Solas is better.

OC relationship asks!

#oc ask meme #solas x iwyn #iwyn lavellan #<3

[thevikingwoman]

So I realized @sunshinemage has drawn all my major Main Character OCs (and some bald dude) and I thought it would be fun to put this them all together like this.

I'm forever thankful and stunned by Rory's work, and all the love and detail they put into every work; commission or gift or personal project. Thank you Rory 💚🥰

Meryta Khatin (FFXIV wol, commission 2023)

Bhrianna Osirion (Wayfarer, hue portrait commission 2022)

Vy Shard (Wayfarer, gift/personal project 2022)

Illia Strand (Wayfarer, commission 2021)

Iwyn Lavellan x Solas (Dragon Age, commission 2020)

#<3 #art #art by rory #thank you #look at all of these!!

[thevikingwoman]

tagged by @ubejamjar - thank you Ube! and in something similar by @a-shakespearean-in-paris - thanks Shakes! so I'm combining!

tagging @hylfystt @redwayfarers @sunshinemage @hythlodaes @lilbittymonster

Get to Know Me - Viking

Three Ships

Solavellan, dormant but forever and always I suppose. Most specifically my Lavellan, Iwyn and Solas, because I love them and their dynamic and I miss Iwyn.

Meryta/Tansui, because this is my latest ship and I'm not sure why I picked a minor character but I did and now I'm here.

uuuhh what else? There is something about Aymeric/Estinien that interests me when done in a specific way, but otherwise I guess I did write Hien/Magnai so there's that. MOSTLY compelled by wol/anyone because I love people's wol ships.

Last Song

I don't recall to be honest 😂

Last Film

I watched 75% of Fast X on an airplane. I have never watched any Fast and Furious movies and it was exactly as ridiculous as I imagined. In a good way I think? though like with many other contemporary action flicks - too long and by the time the plane landed and I hadn't finished the movie I don't feel compelled to do so. The narrative tension is zero, I know where it goes.

also. not enough cars, and not enough car porn

Currently Reading

Nothing - I just finished The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, and I'm considering what to pick up next. Probably the second book in The Expanse series, though it's been awhile since I read the first. Or maybe a new book in a series by Nalini Singh which just came out.

Currently Watching

We started watching Mandalorian season 3. And as a family we're watching the newest season of Top Chef

Current Obsession

I guess FFXIV, broadly? More specifically I guess yhe Confederacy and Tansui (BYE). Everything DoH.

also, pistachio lattes.

Currently Craving

Less work, more fanfic

#about me

[thevikingwoman]

AO3 fic stats meme

tagged by @a-shakespearean-in-paris and @myreia thank youuuuu!

rules: give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

I also thought it was interesting to add dates!

Fic with the Most Hits: Temporal Arrangements | Dragon Age: Inquisition | Solas x Iwyn Lavellan | longfic | written 2018-2020

Second Most Kudos: Home | Uprooted (Naomi Novik) | Agnieszka  x Sarkan | one-shot (book coda) | 2019

Third Most Comments: Hay | Dragon Age: Inquisition (modern AU) | Solas x Iwyn | longfic | written 2020-2021

Fourth Most Bookmarks: Home [again!!] | Uprooted (Naomi Novik) | Agnieszka  x Sarkan | one-shot (book coda) | 2019

Fifth Most Words: Bright Are The Stars Above | Dragon Age: Inquisition | Solas x Iwyn | short story collection | n/a

I wish I hadn't published my short stories as one story, but it's too late to change.

Fifth Most Words without shorts collections: Together | Dragon Age: Inquisition (Modern AU) | Solas x Iwyn Lavellan x Ellana Lavellan (unrelated) | short story | 2019

Fic with the Fewest Words: Bhrianna Osirion - Child of the Desert | Wayfarer IF | Wayfarer MC | microfic | 2022

I'm not surprised some of my most popular fics are my long fics - especially posing so many of my DA shorts in one story. I do wish I had the fortitude to write more longer fics, but the date ranges speak for themselves.

Endlessly humbled by Uprooted fans - it's not a very active fandom, but it's clear a lot of people are fans of the book (you should read it too) and enjoyed my little fic

tagging @galadrieljones @allaganexarch @buttsonthebeach @redinkofshame @roguelioness @kittlesandbugs @bearlytolerant and anyone else who wants to

#fic stats meme #meme

[thevikingwoman]

Iwyn Lavellan and Solas: The World 

by @paperwick

The beginning, the end, the full circle. 

This represents Iwyn and Solas, their post-canon story. It’s the end of the story, but it’s also the beginning - a new start from a love that endured. They complete each other, and together their own stories can come to the end, to the beginning, to where they have always needed to be.

-

I’ve wanted a romance tarot for Iwyn for a very long time, and I’ve admired @paperwick‘s art right since I joined tumblr. I’m super grateful to finally be able to commission them. 

The is art is so beautiful and I love every little detail, the colors and the everything. The way they are together, the heart motif, the glowing crystal grace. Perfect. Thank you @paperwick.

#Dragon Age #Solavellan #Solavellan fanart #dragon age fanart #art of Iwyn #Iwyn x Solas #paperwick #thank you!!! #art for viking #solas

[thevikingwoman]

Hi Viking! Happy Friday! Iwyn and Solas angst - ❛ oh, now you care? ❜

Thank you @dreadfutures and @potatowitch, who asked the same :)

Some Solavellan angst for @dadrunkwriting

Fandom: Dragon Age. Words: 914

Iwyn Lavellan x Solas | Just before final quest | angst Rating: T. Mild sexual references, magic, yearning, mention of battle, angst, the well of sorrows

Voices

“… and the Duke of Savronne has committed two hundred men. They should arrive in a few days.”

“It’s a solid plan, if Corypheus waits that long.”

“And the plan for his dragon? Are you quite certain, Inquisitor?”

Iwyn nods at Morrigan. It should work, right. That’s what she was told.

“I do need you signature on the requisitions, Inquisitor. I know the battle is coming, but for the Duke’s men and horses we need…” Josephine goes on, and Cullen mentions the lack of hay for their own troops, hoping the duke brings his own provisions. Cassandra agrees with Cullen.

Iwyn pushes her chair back, a loud screeching sound which interrupts the argument. She waves at Josephine and scraws her signature on the paper.

“There are also these matters –”

“I’m sorry, Josie. I need to rest.” She shakes her head and nods in the general direction of everyone else. “Cullen. Leliana. Cassandra. Morrigan. I’m sure you can work out the details.”

She doesn’t run from the war room. She walks quietly, keeping her movements contained and smooth. She tries to keep to the shadows too, unseen and unheard. She pauses when she reaches the doors to the main hall. She really wants to escape to her room, to the fresh crisp air of the balcony and her locked door. The hall is full of people, though, and she knows she’ll be intercepted.

Iwyn slips out into the garden. Maybe she can hide behind the gazebo, and maybe if she lays down in the moist soil, she can drown out the whispers in her head.

She narrowly avoids Mother Giselle, in no mood for lecture no matter how well meaning it is. She means well, but she’s not interested in Chantry wisdom. Especially not right now, with the voices of the Well trying to tell her… something. It’s all jumbled together, and her Elvish was never any good. There’s no one else in the gardens, not even Kieran. She supposes Morrigan doesn’t want him to roam alone right now.

In the end, Iwyn decides to sit in the dark shade of the gazebo, resting her head against the stone. She closes her eyes and breathes. Strangely, it’s easier to keep the voices at bay when everything is quiet. It’s almost as if they want to join the conversation when many people are talking. Today it was almost overwhelming, and they’re still here.

She breathes. She let them fill and empty her mind. In and out.

Light footsteps hit the dirt path. Maybe, if she keeps her eyes closed, he’ll just walk past her.

“Inquisitor? Is everything alright?”

No such luck. Solas presence is warm, a familiar blanket she wants to wrap herself in. She clenches her hands around the bench so she doesn’t reach for him.

“Just fine,” she gets out.

She doesn’t need to open her eyes to see his frown.

“Are you quite certain?”

She doesn’t reply, and Solas doesn’t leave. The bench jostles slightly as he sits on the other end.

“Inquisitor, I – if the anchor is bothering you, perhaps I can help. My resources are at your disposal.”

Not the resources that she wants. She opens her eyes a little, and the voices sound angry or hungry. Or perhaps that’s all her.

“So, now you care? And no, it’s not the anchor.”

“I have not stopped caring.”

If he cares, she doesn’t know why he needs to withdraw from her, now when she needs him the most. It’s not a discussion she wants to rehash.

“It’s the voices, the Well,” she admits. “They’re very loud, but I can’t make anything out.”

His lips draw to a thin line. This argument is not much better, but her choice was made, and she would do the same again. Solas has made his opinion clear too, and it seems he doesn’t want to argue either, for he just nods.

“I do know a spell that might help. If you’d let me try.”

“How does it work?”

“It is a bit difficult to explain, but the spells main usage is for mages who have engaged with many spirits through long travels in the fade or otherwise. It can leave the mind fatigued with new thoughts and impressions. It serves to erect a barrier between the new knowledge and the mage’s brain, but allowing the knowledge to siphon through more slowly. I think I can repurpose it for your situation.”

“You think?”

“Nothing is without risk, and the power of the Well is unlike anything else. As you might have noticed.”

She leans back against the wall again. Breath in, breathe out. Push away the cacophony in her head.

“Go ahead, Solas.”

He scoots over next to her, and places his hands at her temples. His lips are very near, and she closes her eyes. She’s quite certain there’s another way to drown out the voices, but he’s made himself clear. Instead, she feels his magic rush through her temples, cool and crisp and ancient. It builds inside of her until she’s bursting, and then it stops. Solas hands fall to his sides, and he pulls back slowly. Their knees still touch.

“How do you feel?”

She breathes. There’s a murmur, a whisper, and a trace of Solas.

“Better, much better. Thank you, Solas.”

“Anytime, Iwyn.” He jerks back, and scrambles to his feet. “Inquisitor. I will take my leave. We must be ready for battle soon.”

Iwyn stares at his retreating back and sighs.

#solavellan #solavellan fanfiction #solavellan angst #iwyn x solas #the well of sorrows #viking writes #when stuck do solavellan angst #published 12/17/2021

[thevikingwoman]

For DADWC: ❛ you can’t save everyone. ❜ for Solavellan, maybe?

Thank you @oxygenforthewicked and @biblioteknician for this prompt! Some angst for @dadrunkwriting

Fandom: Dragon Age. Words: 417

Iwyn Lavelln x Solas | After Trespasser | Angst Rating: G. angst, sadness, the fade. Mention of canon-typical violence.

Winter

The wind is strong enough to sweep a branch across the bluff, rattling across his path until it gets stuck in a path of heather. The stone is wet and slippery, and ahead the sea is churning under a stormy sky. Iwyn’s red hair is like a red beacon at the edge of the cliff ahead, whipping wildly about her face. Solas thinks it’s loose today. That’s different. Solas blinks the rain out of his eyes all pulls his fur overcoat closer about him. Water still finds it’s way down below his collar, and with an irritated gesture he stops the rain.

He walks the last distance to the cliff outcrop, standing next to Iwyn. She looks up at him, her face wet.

“You stopped my rain.”

“There was no point in it.”

She arches and eyebrow, and says no more. He sighs and sits down beside her.

“I did not ask you here,” she says. “Not today.”

“Are you certain?”

The wind is still strong. The sea is raw and wild below, and a small boat fights against the waves. He’s tempted to calm the sea or make the boat disappear, but he leaves it be.

After a few minutes, or hours, Iwyn puts her head against his shoulder. He doesn’t ask what happened.

“I heard from my – my clan. Some traders left for a trip to Markham. They didn’t make it. Highway bandits or angry peasants or chevaliers. I don’t even know. I don’t have enough people to keep the roads safe.” Frustration seeps through her last words. Keeping an army is difficult, especially when your pollical supporters are withering away.

“You cannot save everyone.”

“At least I haven’t given up on it.”

He can’t breathe, suddenly and unexpected, the frigid air stuck in his chest.

“Ir arbelas,” he gets out. “I am sorry about you clan members.”

He means it, though clan Lavellan has not made it easy for him to gain allies among the Dalish. Not that he expected anything else.

“Don’t be sorry, Solas. Change.”

A gust of wind hits him, and he is alone on the bluff, Iwyn gone to another part of the fade or the waking world.

He breathes out, and calms the storm and the sea. The small boat pulls up on shore, a lonely spirit looking up at him before it disappears into the woods. He considers making the sun break through the grey clouds.

Instead, snow starts to fall, covering the ground in brilliant, bitter white.

#solavellan #solavellan fanfiction #iwyn x solas #dragon age fanfiction #this prompt was very Iwyn #regular Solavellan angst #viking writes #published 11/05/2021

[thevikingwoman]

7. Whoops, That Ring of Flowers and Mushrooms was a Portal for whoever you like?

alright, so I had a lot of fun with this, but it got a little bit out of hand. So it did take a little while. For @dadrunkwriting

Fandom: Dragon Age | Words: 3708 | Read on AO3

Iwyn Lavellan x Solas | post-Crestwood | fairytale? romance? humor? Rating: Teen. Swearing, magic, love, canon-divergent, dread wolf reveal

The Mushroom Circle

“Look, there’s a fairy ring. My brother used to –”

Before Iwyn can ask what a fairy ring is, the greens of the Emerald Graves swirls around her, and her body feels like it’s being thrown into the air. Cassandra’s voice fades behind her and she bumps into Solas. He was walking right behind her, but now they’re jostling around, like ships on a wild sea, except there is no up or down, only darkness. She tries to hold on to Solas, but there is nothing.

She lands with thud, but it doesn’t hurt. She feels soft grass, and it smells a little like sugar. Iwyn opens her eyes, and above her the sky is blue, a canopy of golden-leaved trees swaying gently in the sweet breeze. It does not look like the Emerald Graves. She scrambles to her feet, looking for any danger.

“Awake, awake! Welcome to my realm!”

The cheerful voice is behind her, and it belongs to a tall person with medium brown skin and long dark hair in tight curls. She’s clad in what appears to be leaves, and is hovering just above the ground. Not by magic, but by fast-moving, almost translucent wings. They look like dragon fly wings, except she has twelve of them, and they shimmer in the sunlight.

“Who are you? What are you?”

Iwyn reaches for her bow and an arrow.

“Don’t bother! You’re caught in my ring, and you can’t hurt me. You’re stuck.”

Iwyn looks down, and notices a ring of mushrooms around her. More alarming, she sees a very large black wolf sleeping behind her. Its tail is twitching, but it appears fast asleep. Iwyn decides the winged being is the bigger threat. She steps towards her, and smacks against an invisible barrier right above the mushrooms.

“What?”

“I told you. You’re stuck until I say you’re not. You and your companion. He’s boring though, all asleep.”

“My companion?”

She folds her wings back and lands as she shrugs.

“Sometimes my magic makes other people’s magic freak out. It made him take his other form.”

“Solas?”

“That’s his name? What’s yours?”

“I’m in the fade.” Iwyn concludes. They must have stumbled into a rift, maybe even the one they were looking for. She hopes Cassandra and Varric are alright. “It didn’t look like this the last time.”

“Not the fade! Bah! The fade boring. All full of rocks and seas you can’t drink.”

Iwyn nods. That is true enough, though you can’t really drink any sea. Can you? She’s on uneven footing, and has no clue what’s going on, and apparently Solas can shapeshift. Or maybe her imagination is running away with her. Time for change in strategy.

“I’m Iwyn. Who are you?”

“Ahh finally! Nice to meet you Iwyn. I’m Lharissah, and this is the domain of Fairies.”

“Hello Lharissah.”

Lharissah bows, and flutters her wings.

“Iwyn, you and your companion are trapped in my ring and in our realm until I send you back.” She grins. “It’s all very exciting.”

Iwyn arches and eyebrow and waits.

“You do want to go back, right?”

“I have to go back.” Iwyn flexes her hand, the anchor humming under her skin. She can’t see it, though, which is weird.

“Ahh yeah, that bit was weird. I made it sleep.”

Iwyn stares at her hand.

“Now, to go back you have to complete – three difficult tasks for me! They’re very important.”

“You know most people just ask without trapping anyone.”

“Trapping is traditional.”

“What do I have to do?”

She wishes Solas would wake up, or that she knew if it was really him. She kneels down and brushes her hand over the soft, dark fur.

“Don’t bother. He’ll sleep for awhile. So much trapped power, I had to.”

Iwyn frowns.

“Your worried!” Lharissah claps her hands excitedly and her wings buzz. “He’s your lover, isn’t he?”

“No. Yes. I mean – it’s complicated.”

“Seems like you should uncomplicate it. But anyway. We can do that later. For now, you have an important task. I need you to fetch something that’s very dear to me.”

“Of course you do.”

“Good.” More excited fluttering. Iwyn is surprised she doesn’t take off into the sky. “I need you to climb a mountain, and bring back a unicorn feather. I promise I’ll wake him then.”

“A feather? Not a goat or a druffalo or whatever a unicorn is?”

“Oh, you can’t bring me a unicorn. You’re… not qualified.”

“I see.”

The whole thing is very bizarre. Hopefully she can get it over with, get Solas turned back into an elf, and go home. There’s still a chance this is a dream, but for now it seems easier to just go along with it.

“The feather is shiny, with a full rainbow of colors, and very, very pretty. I really need it.”

“Where do I go?”

Lharissah points to a mountain some ways off. It raises itself above the canopy like a shiny tower of rock. Iwyn sighs.

“It’s closer than it looks, don’t worry. The unicorns make their nests there. Go, go now, and come straight back.”

Iwyn steps carefully out of the mushroom circle. Nothing attacks her, nothing feels different. Lharissah makes shooing motions with her hands. Iwyn looks at the wolf – Solas – one last time, and takes off.

In the end, the unicorn feather isn’t hard to find. The fairy was right – the mountains are closer than they look, and once she is there, a bit of stealth helps Iwyn grab a big, shiny feather. It’s multicolored and shimmering in the light, changing through all the colors of the rainbow depending on how she tilts it. She considers picking up a few more, but decides against it. She was told to get one, and somehow it seems important to follow the request to the letter. Iwyn only catches a glimpse of the unicorns themselves – big horselike creatures, nimble as mountain goats and feathers in place of manes and tails. Their nests are littered with the bones of small creatures. It’s probably better to leave them alone.

When she’s back, the wolf is awake, and pacing the perimeter of the circle. Its eyes are a piercing blue, and it sits abruptly on its haunches when it sees her.

“Solas?”

There’s a weird sensation at the base of her skull, almost a tingling. The wolf growls.

“He’s fine. I’ll turn him back, but you got to be inside too,” Lharissah says. “Go, go in!”

She does. The wolfs runs towards her, and then stops. Tries to make itself smaller, but it’s the biggest wolf she’s ever seen, and it makes her laugh a little. Maybe he’d expected her to be afraid, but now she’s certain it’s Solas.

She pets it, and it glares at her.

“Good, good,” the fairy says. “Now, do you have the feather?”

Iwyn draws it from her vest, and hands it across the barrier.

“I accept this token as fulfillment of the first task,” Lharissah says, more solemn than before. She strokes it. “Soooo pretty.”

She takes off, circling them, and there’s some glittering dust in the air. Magic shimmers around the wolf, Solas, and then he’s an elf. He’s sitting on his ass in the grass.

“You’re a shapeshifter?” she asks, and offers a hand to help him up. He accepts. She still doesn’t understand why he didn’t tell her before. It’s an uncommon magic, but not unheard of.

“It is a long story.”

Lharissah giggles.

“This is all very charming and all, but we’re on to our next task. You want to go home, right?”

“Why don’t you stop the games and let us go. It would be better for all of us,” Solas says. He’s projecting an air of power and command, reminding Iwyn of the few times she’s seen him truly angry.

“Nuh uh. That’s not how it works.”

“Let us out.” Solas voice is steel, angry and low. He blasts the barrier, eyes almost glowing in the low light.

Lharissah just giggles. Again.

“So much passion,” she says. “I can see why you desire him. If it’s over, though, can I have him?”

“He’s mine,” Iwyn growls, fed up with all of it.

Lharissah laughs loudly this time. “Complicated indeed. I think it’s simple. Sorry, wolf, I can’t let the barrier down. You haven’t completed all the tasks.”

“What do I need to do next,” Iwyn says, resigned.

“I need your names.”

“I’m Iwyn Lavellan.” A strange request.

“All of them, all your names. What they call you, Harold? Something?”

Ah.

“Herald of Andraste. Inquisitor.” Iwyn considers. “Hunter of Clan Lavellan.”

That should be it.

“Great! Perfect. Ahem. I accept your truly named self, Iwyn Lavellan, Hunter of Clan Lavellan, Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor.”

Lharissah bows slightly, and Iwyn nods back.

“The next task?”

“No, his names first.”

“My name is Solas.”

Lharissah arches an eyebrow. Solas sighs.

“My parents called me Ena’Solas.”

Our pride. He grinds it out, as if it’s some big secret.

“Very good,” Lharissah says. “But not all.”

“I cannot give you more,” Solas says.

Lharissah shrugs. It looks slightly odd, wings and all.

“Then you’re stuck.”

“Varric calls him Chuckles,” Iwyn adds.

Lharissah nods. “I’ll accept that, but I there’s more. So many years, so many names.”

“Enough!” Solas magic flares, and it slams against the barrier. “This is preposterous!”

Iwyn places a hand on his arm, drawing his attention away from the laughing fairy. “Solas. Just tell her. I will be alright.”

Solas looks at her, for the first time really, since he transformed. His eyes shine with untold stories. He shakes his head.

“Ir arbelas.”

He turns his attention to Lharissah.

“Very well. I am Fen’Harel. The Dread Wolf, He Who Hunts Alone, Lord of Tricksters, The Great Wolf, Roamer of the Beyond, Bringer of Nightmares, The Old Wolf.”

Iwyn steps away from Solas, trying to process. Her whole body feels foreign, weightless, heavy.

“Are you satisfied?” Solas snarls.

Lharissah bows, solemnly. “I accept your True Names, Ena’Solas, Solas, Fen’Harel, The Dread Wolf, He Who Hunts Alone, Lord of Tricksters, The Great Wolf, Roamer of the Beyond, Bringer of Nightmares, The Old Wolf, Chuckles.”

Iwyn is stuck somewhere between is it true and how can that be and why didn’t you tell.

“What the fuck, Solas?” is what actually comes out.

“I – ” he starts, and falters. He reaches for, her and curls his hands and let them fall to his side. “I never meant to – I’m sorry.”

“You already said so. As you did two weeks ago.”

He looks at her, endless sorrow in his eyes.

“Now you understand why.”

“Oooh this is going to be good.” Lharissah says. She’s flown to a large rock at the other side of the clearing, and here she folds her legs and wings and sits down, resting her chin in her hands, her curls spilling over her shoulders.

“You! There were three tasks, right? What’s the third thing.”

This Iwyn can deal with. She can figure out about Solas later.

“Oh. I can wait a moment.”

“No,” Solas says.

Lharissah unfolds herself, shakes her head and looks down on them.

“Alright.” She sticks her chin out. “I need you to promise me your firstborn.”

“Please, please tell me this is fade, a bad dream,” Iwyn says, at the same time Solas exclaim a firm “no.”

“Please? I’ll let you go. I will find you when you get your complications sorted, and the baby is born,” the fairy says.

“Why do you want a baby?” Iwyn asks.

“Well, it’s traditional. Fairy circle, first born child.”

“Tradition is not really a good reason to have child.”

“But everyone asks for one.”

“Is that what you want?” Iwyn asks. “You don’t have to do what everyone else does.” She isn’t sure if it’s a promise that Lharissah has the power to enforce, but she’s not taking any chances. She isn’t giving up any future babies.

“Hmpf.”

Iwyn looks at Solas, who holds himself rigid and drawn back. He’s moved as far away from her as possible, and he does not look her in the eyes. She leaves him be.

Lharissah’s eyes dart between them, and then she sighs again.

“Alright. Bring me the sapphire, then.”

Before Iwyn can ask which sapphire, where and how, she’s surrounded by swirling darkness again. This time she’s isn’t thrown like a ragdoll though, just a swirling, unsteady feeling until she’s deposited in a dark space, her feet upon a sandy floor. She stumbles, and her fingers hit a roughhewn wall. Reaching out, there’s a wall on the other side of her too. She takes a steadying breath.

There’s a whisper of magic and veilfire springs to life in front of her. Solas holds a small flame in his hard, illuminating what appears to be a narrow stone passage, a cave or tunnel.

“Solas?”

“We appear to be somewhere underground. I suggest we pick a direction and attempt to find an exit. I have marked this wall with a rune in case we circle back.”

“Solas.”

“I see no differences in either direction.”

Solas turns, and walks away for her. Iwyn reaches for him, a hand on his arm. He recoils, and keeps walking. Her hand falls to her side.

“You owe me an explanation. Is it all true?”

“Yes.”

The walk in silence. The air smells stale and dry. The passage looks untouched, no footprints or – Iwyn leaps and pushes Solas aside and down. They land on the floor together, as a dull noise rings in the corridor.

“Trap,” Iwyn says, and points to the bolt embedded in the wall above them.

“Thank you.”

Solas is rigid beneath her, but warm and solid. They’re tangled together, her hand against his chest and her thighs across his hips. He tries to move, but she doesn’t.

“Iwyn. We need to find a way out, or this sapphire if we can.”

“What I need is for you to tell me the truth. Was everything you told me a lie? Some part of a scheme?” She pushes against his chest with both hands.

“Not everything,” he says, and he sounds infinitely sad.

She’s a fool and wants to kiss him.

“I will tell as best I can,” he says. “May I get up?”

She nods, and scrambles off him.

They move along the corridor again. Iwyn goes first now, looking for any traps, and Solas does talk. About years and magic and past wars, about mages and god-kings and endless corruption. About the veil and the orb and Corypheus. Meanwhile the corridor has split a number of times, and they’ve passed a couple of side passages. Solas suggested they draw a map, so ever so often they stop and sketch.

“Every time we move closer to here,” she points on the map, “we encounter more traps. I think that’s the right direction.”

“The place is designed as test or a trial. I have not met a being like Lharissah before, but I have heard rumors from spirits who can cross the realms. I believe we have to complete her task.”

“This way, then.” Iwyn starts down a corridor to their left, and marks it on their map. “Why did you not tell me before?”

“That this is a trial?”

She grins, despite herself. “No, the whole Fen’harel thing. The orb.”

“I wanted to, but I didn’t know how. I was afraid that you would despise me. That you would not – that you would not understand.”

“And now?”

“Now I have no choice.”

“I see.”

He stops. “That was not how I intended to say it. My hand may have been forced, but I hope that – that you will forgive me. That you will not… not…”

“Hate you?”

“Yes.”

He sounds miserable. Part of her wants him to be. He’s brought this on himself, and misery is a well deserved consequence. Another part of her wants to comfort him, to reassure him they can work through this no matter what. His secrets are so big and unfathomable, it is only natural he’s been reluctant to share. That part of her wins.

“I don’t hate you, Solas.”

She takes his hand. Maybe it’s selfishness or wishful thinking. She still loves him. Maybe it’s foolishness.

“Thank you.” He exhales. “Iwyn, – ”

“But I don’t know what happens next, Solas. You want the orb, and what happens when you get it? How much power will you have?” She’s stopped, holding on to his hand like it’s some kind of lifeline, like it will convince her he is real and there and alive, and not some far off power her mother swears at. “How much, and what will you do with it? What will happen if you take down the veil? I love you, Solas, but I’m not sure what that means anymore.”

“Vhenan, Iwyn. This is why I had to let you go. I cannot expect you to – “

“To what, Solas? To love you? To help you? What?”

She starts down the corridor again, pulling him along with him. He hasn’t yet told her what his goal is, not truly. Solas stops, and the veilfire flame with him.

“My people are sleeping, waiting, stuck as long as the veil is here. I doomed them, and I have to undo it. The return of my world would spell the doom of yours. Ir abelas.”

She breathes, in and out, for ten heartbeats.

“There’s a dart trap here.” She’s been staring ahead in the half-light. “Do you want me to try and disable it, or just throw up a barrier?”

“Barrier.”

Solas casts, his bright blue light filling the corridor. They rush through and the darts slam useless against his barrier. Iwyn continues, releasing another trap which opens the floor in front of them. Solas constructs a thin bridge of force, and they scamper across. Finally, they corridor opens up to a large, dark room, Solas’ veilfire a tiny glow that can’t illuminate all of it.

In the middle of the room, a single beam of light hits a giant sapphire resting on a pillar. It’s almost comically dramatic, much like the shimmering unicorn feathers. The traps have been very real, though. Iwyn stops Solas with a hand on his chest.

“You did not tell me, because you know I have to stop you. To fight you.”

Solas says nothing.

“You believed it easier to walk away. To give up on what we had.”

“No. Being with you – I was afraid I’d abandon my plan, neglect my people. I thought for a moment…” Solas closes his eyes and shakes his head. “It hardly matters now. I understand you will try to stop me, and I cannot let you.”

“That’s bullshit, Solas. You didn’t give me chance to make that decision.” She yanks him close, and kisses him on his lips, hard and searing. “We’ll get out of here, and then we’ll find some other way.”

She turns and focuses on the floor, the pedestal, and all the possible traps. They really can’t do anything while stuck here, and she is not ready to give up on them. Solving impossible problems and saving Thedas is what she does now, apparently, so she’ll figure this out too.

First, Lharissah needs her sparkly gem.

Solas is only frozen momentarily, and then he lights the veilfire torches circling the room. With the magic, it’s clear there’s a puzzle to solve in the floor while they make their way to the middle. It takes them about fifteen minutes to figure out the pattern, and they make it safely to the pedestal. She can’t see any traps, and Solas can’t detect any magic. Carefully, she removes the gem.

The room plunges into darkness.

“Run!”

Solas grabs her hand, and she can hear something hissing, sliding, moving. Sand is pouring into the room, and she runs with Solas, out the room and down a corridor, the floor moving, the whole labyrinth shaking. They turn down a passage on the right, and Iwyn manages to pull Solas back when pit opens on front of them. There’s no time to backtrack, and they both make the jump. The floor jostles, and they lurch forward, and run again, turning away from the ever present hiss of sand filling the corridors.

“We have to get out. Hold on.”

Solas’ magic envelops her, and they’re flung sideways, upwards. She holds on to him and the sapphire. They tumble out on soft grass, dotted with sweet-scented flowers. Above them, a moon hangs between the stars.

Iwyn laughs, and rolls on top of Solas and kisses him. He kisses her back enthusiastically, opening his mouth with a sigh.

Somewhere, there’s a flutter, and then clapping.

“Sure you’re not reconsidering the firstborn?”

Iwyn rolls off Solas and they both get up, neither of them bothering to answer.

“Here’s your gem, Lharissah.”

Iwyn toss it, and she catches it, her face grinning. It isa rather pretty gem.

“Wonderful. Beautiful. I knew you could figure it out.” She holds it up, and let the moonlight sparkle through it. “I suppose I must accept this token as the completion of your third task.”

“Now I believe you must follow through with your part of the bargain,” Solas says. “Send us back.”

“You could stay here, just so you know. Build a cabin, live your lives, sort out your complications… No one will bother you here.”

Iwyn knows it’s true. This place seems far away from Thedas, not the fade, but not quite real either. There are no rifts, no anchor, no Corypheus here. Whatever Solas is, whatever is part of his past, it doesn’t matter here. For a moment she considers it.

“No. We need to go back. Too many people depend on me.”

Lharissah shrugs, golden dust shimmering in the air.

“As you wish.”

Iwyn takes Solas hand, and they are thrown into the void again, swirling, moving, and spat out on the dark grass of the Emerald Graves. It’s night, and they’re inside the mushroom circle where they started. There’s two tends pitched nearby, and Varric and Cassandra are arguing.

Everything is as before. Solas squeezes her hand.

Everything has changed.

She kisses him, briefly. They’ll work it out.

#solavellan #solas x lavellan #solavellan fanfic #dragon age fanfiction #iwyn x solas #listen I don't usually let prompts get out of hand #but this was a lot of fun dialogue #I hope the its fun at least! #viking writes #published 10/22/2021