#set in the same universe as my other cullen & orsino fic!

[ziskandra]

Fic: paying it forward

Fandom: Dragon Age

Characters: Orsino & Cullen Rutherford

Rating: T

Summary: The first enchanter knew it was a bad sign when a Circle's knight-commander began to behave erratically.

(Or: glimpses into Orsino and Cullen's life after the Kirkwall Rebellion.)

Words: 2269

Excerpt:

Entering Cullen’s office without knocking had become something of a habit of Orsino’s, although there was much less urgency to his steps than the first time he had barged in uninvited. As soon as he pushed the door open, Orsino picked up on the sound of chair legs scratching against rough flagstone, and he entered the room to find Cullen pale and sweating, hunched over his wastebasket and glaring at it intently, as though it had solutions to all the mysteries of the world buried in its depths.

As Orsino walked in, he was already pulling on strands of the Fade. Healing magic might not be his specialty, but it didn’t need to be, not for something so simple as this. The knight-commander didn’t stop him, not like he had the first time Orsino had tired to help him like this; in hindsight, it had of course been stupid to spring magic on an unsuspecting templar. He would never have tried with Meredith, but it wasn’t like he would have wanted to, anyway. If Meredith had keeled over and died earlier than she already had, it would have saved them all a great deal of needless hassle, and half of Hightown wouldn’t still be buried in rubble, besides.

But Cullen was different, in a way Orsino couldn’t quite find the words to explain. He’d expected him to be just another Meredith, albeit less competent, for the better and the worse. But there was something about the new knight-commander that made Orsino feel almost responsible for him, the same way he was duty-bound to protect the mages under his care. Maybe it was because he had finally stood up to Meredith in the end, as she’d succumbed to the full depths of her paranoia. Maybe it was because he was so young. One of the youngest knight-commanders in Thedas, in fact. Maybe Orsino was simply relieved that he was no longer being screamed at across the hallway every day.

Or maybe it truly was as simple as the mystery. He’d worked alongside Meredith for the better part of a decade, and he’d had a decent measure of what made her tick. Then again, Meredith had been the type of woman to wear her heart on her sleeve, as much as most of Kirkwall would have been inclined to disagree. Yes, Knight-Commander Meredith had hated mages, but more importantly, she had also been terrified of them. Not that this had been of much solace when she’d ordered the death of every mage in the city, but at least it provided a motive…

… hence, the question remained. Why was their new knight-commander attempting to abstain from the very substance from which he drew his powers?

“Knight-Commander,” Orsino started, in the same tone of voice he used to sooth anxious apprentices, “you’re not well.” Gingerly, he rested his hands on the sides of the other man’s head. Read the rest on AO3

[ziskandra]

hi ziskandra! some ao3 wrapped questions for you:

(05) What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

(15) What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

(19) What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

05. a work that got more feedback than expected! Honestly, probably both of my Cullen & Orsino fics (the morning after & paying it forward). I'm used to gen fic not getting as much attention as shipfic, so I was surprised that they outperformed my Meresino fics by a substantial margin.

Then again, Meresino is a... bit of a controversial pairing, and Cullen and Orsino are both popular characters who don't have much content together despite being in the same location for several years, so perhaps I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was. It was a lot of fun bouncing them off one another, and I would definitely be down to write more in that universe in the future! 15. what WIP am i taking into next year?

Basically everything that's in my WIP folder is getting slowly rotated in my brain forever; it's not uncommon behaviour for me to write half a fic, forget about it for several years, and come back to it and finish it off! I only excise things from my WIP folder (into a 'discontinued' folder), if I'm certain I have no interesting in thinking about that story anymore. There's a couple of Ace Attorney things featuring the von Karmas, but I'm gonna focus on Dragon Age for now bc otherwise I'd be here all day! Anyway, it's mostly Meresino at the moment, featuring: 1. A continuation of All's Fair, which covers Orsino and Meredith's arranged marriage over the years and how them having a deeper understanding of one another's psyches means Orsino actually has a fighting chance of stopping Meredith before it's too late (a lot of other people get roped into this scheme, because nothing can ever go right for Orsino) 2. Prequel to Precipice, featuring Meredith and Orsino's relationship when they were younger -- I really want to dive into how it's harder to leave institutions when you actually have something to lose, but also all the intersectional issues that come up with being both an elf and a mage in the Dragon Age setting. Because, like, a lot of my Meresino thoughts come from my experiences in being in interracial relationships with people who have more systemic power in comparison to me, and navigating that space between loving a person and hating what they represent, and realising at what point someone needs to like... stop trying to change them. 3. A Meredith backstory fic (gen flavour this time), basically set in the same universe as the blackest night. I had a lot of thoughts related to that fic that I simply did not have time to include due to the short nature of the writing period, and I REALLY want to get into the nitty gritty of how Meredith's trauma and implied neurodiversity led her to a no-win situation and her eventual spiral into despair. (And also my thoughts on her relationship with Ser Wentworth, and how she basically spent her early templar years as a carer while staring down the unavoidable implications of her own future, as well as Knight Commander Guylian and everything that happened with the templars' conflict with Viscount Threnhold). 4. Lastly, a sequel to Side Effects, featuring tentacles bc @sharksister prompted me and who am I to say no?

19. A pairing I want to explore next year Hawkedith! I have a few ideas I've been toying with, but I was finding it hard to focus on them with Mersino occupying so much of my brain space. Maybe once I finish some of the above, I'll have time to pivot... we'll see! Ao3 Wrapped [Writer's Edition]