#( but realistically the way I see it with Orla is that Asharen knows that solas needs to be humanised in a way that Solas is actively tryin

[mercysought]

Forgive me if you've talked about this somewhere before and I missed it, but does Asharen believe there's an opportunity for her to reconcile with Solas? Are there specific steps that would need to be taken, or specific things he might do that could prevent this reconciliation?

character questions! // accepting // @keepslore

I don't think I have except in very few specific threads? Or drabbles maybe? And even then it's been scraps!

I went into Veilguard fully blind so I had no idea that the Inquisitor would even be there, I had hopes they would be but I couldn't have predicted that we'd even have a chance of influencing this. The reason why I bring this up is because I fully thought for most of the game that Asharen wouldn't have, that she would have moved on - and while writing her I think at most points until Veilguard comes that she believes this herself.

It's through Veilguard and that she is like: Oh. this is Not Good™️ Truthfully, it's not so much about steps to prevent her from reconciliation but getting her to a place where she might even consider that to be an option grounded in reality - because she fully believes that it isn't.

For a larger part, towards the middle of the eight year interval before Veilguard Asharen stopped drinking tea for the pleasure of it but just drinking the teas that keep her from dreaming. There is a quote from Critical Role that without going into too many spoilers that is "How am I supposed to get over you if you keep sending ravens to me?" and that quote is basically about how someone has moved on (in this case died) and yet they keep sending signs in the world that they are with her, watching her.

In part, as a non-dreamer, it's because she is concerned what information Solas might gleam and use against them as the Inquisition works towards getting him to stop. The other part is because Solas cannot tell her to move on and live in peace for the rest of her days and then continue to visit her in her dreams. It is not kind and while she loves knowing that he would visit because it tells her that he does still love her or she is in his thoughts, she also knows that sort of hope would serve neither of them. So when they meet again in Veilguard, it truly is like eight years of basically no contact, Asharen wouldn't even truly know if they even tried to continue visiting her in dreams lmao

All of this said though, It's already a labour of love, because it needs to be, to have gotten to this point eight years down the line and having sacrificed so much of her life and taken up a title that she never wished to pick up again - so there is no Asharen in Veilguard without a love for Solas. And she does continue trying to reach out to him, in ways that she knows she might reach him (for example, some spirits find unsent letters and unearth them in the fade much to her dismay, or other spirits upon wanting to help her do carry one or two missives), to get him to stop.

Especially in my canon universe with Orla as a Rook and in an universe where Varric is actually dead. What he does to Orla in putting her in the fade prison. The thought that she has been wrong about the person he was is a question that hangs really heavily in her mind, and she is glad to have an excuse to keep her mind busy. Though she holds on.

As for things that could fully stop a reconciliation: it's hard, I think that the crux of this is because I think that the first 'vhenan' is what really rattles her and all bets are off after so long of being away. And I think this is also one of the reasons why it's really so difficult to ship with Asharen in Veilguard.

I fully think that the going off into the fade is a fully spur of the moment, and though Asharen considered as a possibility, for herself, outside of Solas - honestly, she considered it mostly from the point of view of using the dagger and hoping the well and the magic within might be similar enough to allow her to fix this herself. So, this would certainly prevent a reconciliation lmao.

Asharen is ungodly hard to ship with during Veilguard but I did once say that if anyone could sway her it would be Emmrich and I do stand by that even if I think that's such an utter and thankless climb for him, he deserves better. So I will leave this as a maybe, a soft thing.

I would say that other people's opinion wouldn't be enough (Orla, Émilie). I think, maybe, the only two that would give her some pause would be Varric or Cole but even then, she has a thick and stubborn skull. I think that in most cases, though I rarely get to write it beyond drabbles, they both prefer to believe that the person that Asharen sees is still in there - the same way that they would with Varric.