#Sola is a baffle

[v-arbellanaris]

sorry i WILL shut up about this (and start posting abt my new hawkes) but seeing "can you guys take a breath" and "decisions from 10+ years ago in southern thedas will not affect the current timeline set in north thedas" from specific blogs is genuinely wild. as if we don't literally live in a world where we are STILL just starting to face consequences to actions taken 10+ years ago, and as if US politics 10+ years ago did not have anyyyyy global ramifications for anyone outside of the US even 10+ years later. like. rivain, antiva, nevarra are all IN southern thedas wdym??? im half tempted to start actually listing out all of the things our decisions could have feasibly impacted 10 years later but seeing this take from blogs that genuinely still discuss the impact of the exalted marches on thedas hundreds of years later is WILDDDDDD

[iamthelordofcheese]

We can finally put the Solas Dawgs out talk to rest, this man just has molded toe armor

My proof under the cut for potential spoilers by cutscene circumstance, nothing explicitly shown

Another character also has molded toe armor, the toe armor is different lads

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

I'm going to be an oddball and say my favorite Inquisitor relationship is between them and Cole. It can be so gentle, kind, and touching sometimes.

[mrs-gauche]

[teamdilf]

My partner is going to walk into the room to find me in tears so many times my first time through Veilguard, isn’t he? I think I’m gonna have to warn him.

[coldbycrossfade]

unironically if you like astarion

zevran is like....1.0

primordial elf

lighthaired elves with (jamie lee curtis voice)Trauma my beloveds

[nirerhyz]

why did they decide to Chernobyl all of the lore? They somehow simultaneously managed to add nothing new to the world and "resolve"/retcon/eliminate everything interesting that already existed.

Hey, look at our flashy action combat! Too bad about the world of Thedas. Don't pay any attention to how things are totally inconsistent with how they worked in previous games, and be happy with the cameos/references to all that history.

[onewomancitadel]

I don't even understand the point of fandom bullshit that's invented and easily refuted by paying two seconds of attention to the thing you're criticising. There's plenty of stuff I have a kneejerk reaction to that I choose to ignore and subsequently don't devote any emotional energy to. If I'm actually impassioned about something and genuinely annoyed by it then it better actually be grounded in substance. If it weren't something truly objectionable then I'd be happy.

[7-oh-ta1]

Thinking abt my Inquitor (Lavellan) & his friendship with Sera is really is what led me to realize why ppl who hate her are usually ppl who love Solas -- and yeah obviously I'm aware that they're opposites but specifically I think people just like what Solas is symbolic of. It's not even that he as a person is fascinating to them its just that they really like the elven lore and that's his whole shtick. Which actually sucks bec Solas as a person, not as a symbol, is interesting. And it also led me to realize that characters like Solas and occasionally Blackwall (who I LOVE btw don't misinterpret) are forgiven for their deceit with little to no repercussions whereas characters like Sera and Vivenne who are completely upfront about who they are and what they want are trashed or at least were for many years until people got bored of them. I'm not exactly sure what I'm trying to say I just feel like there's a correlation. Like maybe they don't like what Vivenne is or Sera is symbolic of so immediately don't try to get to know them any further which is fine they don't have to like everyone, but makes me wonder how many ppl play these games that are crucially character based and just write off any character that doesn't lie to them for intrigue

[tempestclerics]

hhhhh feeling normal about the death i gave him

[knife-eared-jan]

"her face"

Who hurt him? Come on, we KNOW who.

I keep seeing posts about Solas' "arrogance" when it comes to tearing down the Veil - that he thinks he's the only one who knows what's best for Thedas, and no one else could possibly understand because it's all "past their comprehension."

But that's not it at all. If you have low approval with Solas, you can confront him about not doing enough to help the Dalish, and he admits that he probably could have done more but that he's tired of fighting and losing. The Inquisitor has a choice of how to respond, but if you suggest he seek the support of his friends, he will tell you he's learned not to do that.

You can get a similar conversation with Solas when he asks what you plan to do with the power of the Well of Sorrows. You can literally respond "I'm not arrogant enough to think it's my decision alone" and tell him you intend to rely on the collective judgement of your friends because you trust them. And he'll respond, "I know that mistake well enough to carve the angles of her face from memory."

It's not arrogance that keeps Solas from talking to his friends. This is a learned behavior where he's trusted the people he cared about and who he thought cared about him, and ended up stabbed in the back over and over again.

Solas isn't afraid of admitting himself wrong. He will do so with a high approval Inquisitor. He'll admit fault or allow his views to be challenged during party banter. He's not afraid of or demeaning of other view points - so long as his are also respected.

He even tells a high approval Inquisitor "it would be too easy to tell you too much." He WANTS to tell them. He wants to share his plans. But he's been burned too often. And if you romanced him - he's likely been burned by past lovers too. He just can't take the risk that you'll betray him - as experience has taught him will likely happen.

Solas knows he's been wrong before. He knows he could be wrong again. He'd likely love to have another person or two or more who he could brainstorm his plan with to iron out the holes he can't see. But he can't do that because he doesn't know for sure that you won't stab him in the back.

His refusal to talk to someone isn't arrogance. It's avoidant behavior learned from trauma - possibly PTSD - the man walks Cole through a freaking panic attack, for Christ's sakes. He knows what that's like.

I just want to hug him and tell him the people he trusted were assholes and the fault was theirs and not his.

[sky-fire-forever]

It's baffling to me how differently Solas and Anders are treated by the narrative and the writers

Both commit acts of incredible devastation that kill people in the hopes of bringing forth a better world.

But Solas is often depicted as sympathetic, as caring about people despite what he's trying to do and the writers seem to want us to empathize with him

And yet Anders is demonized at every turn and is talked about like he just Went Crazy. Even the way Varric talks about them is very different

[felassan]

What's all this about Solas speaking in iambic pentameter? English isn't my first language so I never noticed anything odd about the way he talks, but your blog is the first time I've seen it mentioned by anyone

hello! ◕‿◕ Solas sometimes speaks in a specific pattern or rhythm. It sometimes gets described as or compared by people to iambic pentameter. (which is a type of rhythm common in traditional English poetry. Shakespeare used it in his sonnets and plays.) Though, I'm not sure that it's actually literally that or always that. The main point is that at those times, he's speaking particularly poetically, with a specific poetic rhythm in his speech. (Like where the stress on syllables is and the 'beats' in his speech.) Occasionally, the Inquisitor's dialogue line[s] in response to him are the same.

When Trick Weekes wrote Solas in DA:I, they wrote some of his key scenes to KD Lang's cover of the song Hallelujah on a loop. They talked about some of their process and the reasons for the use of this technique in terms of Solas' characterization in this DA:I-era blog post:

Trick Weekes: "When Solas talks about things that he saw in the Fade, things that speak to a distant past, I needed him to sound ever so slightly otherworldly and wistful – someone remembering a dream with a sense of both sadness and inevitability. If you follow [that link] and look at some of Solas’s lines, you may notice a familiar rhythm come out. It would have been forcing it to give lines the same rhyme scheme, but giving the words the meter captured some of that wistfulness and made Solas sound ever so slightly otherworldly. (In the rare cases the player got into the same rhythm, there was always an approval bump from Solas. For that brief period, it was like the player was thinking like he did.) I used this a few times over the game, and I love what it did to his voice. Also, Cori (who edited Solas) is exceedingly kind for putting up with my request that changes to those lines keep this surreptitious rhythm."

[source]

An example of when it happens in DA:I is:

"I've journeyed deep into the Fade // in ancient ruins and battlefields // to see the dreams of lost civilizations. I've watched as hosts of spirits clash // to reenact the bloody past // in ancient wars both famous and forgotten. Every great war // has its heroes. // I'm just curious // what kind you'll be."

Compare this with the song's lyrics:

"I heard there was a secret chord // That David played, and it pleased the Lord // You don't really care for music, do ya? Well it goes like this: The fourth, the fifth // The minor fall, the major lift // The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah // Hallelujah // Hallelujah // Hallelujah"

An example from Trespasser is:

"I lay in dark and dreaming sleep [I heard there was a secret chord] while countless wars and ages passed [That David played, and it pleased the Lord] I woke still weak a year before I joined you. [You don't really care for music, do ya?]" etc.

Recent mentions of this are:

Q. Will Solas still occasionally or dramatically speak in iambic pentameter? A. “Massive kudos to Patrick, who always writes Solas so well. Again, Solas is a returning character. It’s the same Solas you know and love (or hate depending on who you are). The same writer. So I think the answer is yeah, it’s Solas.” – John Epler

[source: BioWare dev Discord Q&A on June 14th]

User: "you really went off with solas. but the iambic pentameter makes writing fanfic dialogue for him so treacherous..." Trick Weekes: "It doesn't always have to be in the cadence! Just when he's deeply feeling The Old Days! He's written in standard prose 99% of the time!"

[source]

I think he does it a bit in the gameplay reveal video [Veil ripping scene with Varric] too. hope this helps :>

[msg refs this post]

[For the developer Q&A from June 14th on Discord: Notes are here, re-watch link is here]

[mythalism]

peace and love to you all but honestly i am baffled where people are getting the idea that solas only loves lavellan bc she reminds him of mythal. is this coming from the rumor that trick said something along these lines years ago?? which i have never actually seen proof of??? and even if trick said that who cares? maybe she did remind him at first but she is clearly a completely different person? you can literally see with your own two eyeballs the drastic difference in the way he looks at and talks to mythal vs. lavellan in that final scene. when mythal shows up he looks like a fucking kicked puppy. he literaly crumples over and can barely meet her gaze. with lavellan he looks her right in the eye and stands tall. their dynamics are clearly opposites, not the same. he stood his ground on who he was and set boundaries with lavellan in a way he was never capable of with mythal. he literally kills flemythal LMFAO. mythal forced him to be fen'harel while lavellan allows him to be solas. like we have to know his toxic relationship to mythal to understand the way he behaved towards lavellan. im really struggling to see how people feel this cheapens the relationship rather than adds some insane and fascinating depth. if anything, solas loves lavellan in spite of mythal and what she did to him

[mrs-gauche]

Sooo... Looks like some new artwork for the vinyl set has been revealed! 👀👀👀

“Deluxe package features brand new, all-original artwork by DRAGON AGE concept director Ramil Sunga and lead UX artist Danny Richardson, created exclusively for this release.”

*takes deep breath*

ALRIGHT, sooo.....

The GOLDEN CITY turning BLACK???

Look at the HORNS!!! Looks familiar!!

AND noticed the BACKGROUND!!

The SUN!! The same imagery we’ve been seeing since 2020!!

Notice the TWO CIRCLES in front of the SUN??

Then look at the back of the cover art again!!

An ECLIPSE!! The MOON in front of the SUN!!

“And so the sun rose again in the sky, and shone his golden light upon the earth. Elgar'nan and Mythal, with the help of the earth and the sun, brought back to life all the wondrous things that the sun had destroyed, and they grew and thrived. And that night, when the sun had gone to sleep, Mythal gathered the glowing earth around his bed, and formed it into a sphere to be placed in the sky, a pale reflection of the sun's true glory.”

“On the first night after the sun was released Mythal created the moon.”

Notice the TREE BRANCHES!!

Visions of Mythal’s conquering over the Titans in Trespasser:

“In this place we prepare to hunt the pillars of the earth. Their workers scurry, witless, soulless. This death will be a mercy. We will make the earth blossom with their passing.”

“For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire.”

“For one moment, there is a vivid image of two overlapping spheres; unknown flowers bloom inside their centers. Then it fades.”

“Two shadowed spheres among stars”

“An Eclipse as Fen’Harel stirred”

ALSO, THIS

???????????????

....BioWare, what are you doing, how is a flippin vinyl artwork depicting all of these (potential) HUGE lore revelations?? lmaoo

[aerynwrites]

Mixed Signals

Solas x reader/inquisitor

A/N: the Poll has spoken! y'all chose option 2 (I love that btw) so you shall receive. Some backstory - for whatever reason and despite having all the approval requirements and everything, my game bugged and I did NOT get the solas balcony romance scene and I'm MAD!!! idk what the scene was even supposed to be other than a kiss but yeah. here's this lol. this is also my first ever DAI pic so I apologize if things seem OOC. Hope you all enjoy!

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: Hurt/comfort, very slight angst, fluff, kisses, petting? lost of kissing.

 “I’ve disturbed you enough for the evening.”

Solas’ parting words ring in your head endlessly since he left your chambers yesterday. They had stunned you, making your brows furrow as his demeanor seemed to change. You were sure, so sure he was going to take a step forward in your relationship. Even though you’d both agreed to take the risk, the tension had never waned, as if one wrong move would destroy the fragile relationship you’ve built. 

When he left…you thought it had finally shattered. That not acting on the energy crackling in the air, Solas was - effectively - giving you a final verdict. 

That was until today, when you went to visit him, after hours spent in the war room. Cassandra wanted you to speak with him about his knowledge on the elven artifacts you’ve been finding throughout the region. 

You walked in, finding him sitting in his chair, thumbing through a worn leather book. 

“Solas -”

“Yes, vhenan?” 

You nearly choke on air, hiding it behind a small cough. The term of endearment was not one used lightly, especially not by Solas. Your heart was thrumming in your chest, eyes wide as Solas finally looked up from the withered pages at your silence. 

He raises a brow at you, closing the book on his thumb to keep his place. “Did you need to speak with me?” he asks, again. 

Your mind runs at breakneck speed, yet you’re still unable to comprehend his words, still stuck on his initial greeting. 

Vhenan…

Solas stands then, setting his book down before taking a few steps to stand before you, settling a gentle hand on your arm. 

“Vhenan…are you alright?” he asks, voice soft, concern glittering in his gaze.

Finally your eyes connect with his own, and it feels as if the breath is stolen from you once more. That memory from the fade playing over and over in your mind. But you quickly shake it off, breaking his gaze and looking at the wall over his shoulder. 

“Yes, I…” you trail off, voice small, unsure. “I seem to have forgotten what I came for. Forgive me.” 

You turn without another word, hurrying from his presence with a greater haste than when you arrived, leaving a baffled Solas in your wake. 

That had been hours ago, the sun having long set, yet sleep evades you as you lay in your too large bed in your too large chambers. You are more confused now than when he left you on your balcony just a day ago. He had a chance, a chance to speak with you about…well about whatever this was. You had expected as much when he asked to speak to you alone, in your chambers no less. Yet…he didn’t take it. And now, he’s calling you endearments you’d always dreamed of hearing from his lips, whispered against your skin…

With a frustrated huff you sit up in bed, tossing the covers aside. You are going to find answers, you have to talk to him. 

Quickly lighting a candle, you reach for the robe hanging on the post of your bed, pulling it over your shoulders before reaching for the candle once more. You make your way across the room, the chill of the stone floor sinking into the soles of your feet as you pad towards the door. 

Pulling the door open, you have to stop the shout that bubbles up in your chest as you’re met with the very person you were searching for. Solas stands on the threshold of your chambers, hand raised to knock, and the tips of his ears just the slightest tinge of red at having been caught. 

“Solas-” “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

You both speak at the same time before falling silent, waiting for the other to speak. 

“I was just-” “I need to speak with you”

By now your own cheeks are burning, as silence envelops you once more. 

“Well, this isn’t going to work.” you finally say, heart fluttering at the smile your words elicit from the elf in front of you.

“Conversation will not get far that way, no,” Solas concedes. 

You step aside, gesturing him in, a command he silently obeys. 

Neither of you speak for a moment, and you take the opportunity to light a few more candles around the room, noticing only briefly that Solas seems…nervous. 

“Vhenan-”

“Why do you call me that?” you interrupt, setting the last candle down on your bedside table. 

This question seems to perplex the man, his brows furrowing as confusion settles on his features. 

“Vhenan,” you repeat the term, “Why do you call me that?”

“Do you not like the term? I just assumed it was appropriate-”

“Why?” you interrupt again, all your confusion and inner turmoil and insecurities coming to the surface now that you're alone with him. “I didn’t think…I know you were hesitant about this relationship. I know you think it’s a risk. But you…you left, Solas.”

You can tell he wants to speak, but he stays silent, encouraging you to continue in his own peculiar way. 

“On the balcony,” you clarify. “I thought…you asked to speak with me and I thought-” you cut yourself off, clenching the fabric of your robe in your hands as you struggle to verbalize your thoughts without sounding like an idiot. 

“I thought there was more to  say, there was more you were going to say. About us. But then…you said that you respected me deeply but then you just left! As if you are some burden I wanted gone, or as if you aren’t worthy of my time, but I- I want this Solas. With you. I want you, and I thought you wanted me, and if you don’t that is fine. But you can’t keep sending these clashing signals-”

You don’t  even notice him approach, not until his lips meet your own, cool hands cradling your face as he pulls you deeper into the kiss. A kiss you eagerly return, hands dropping your robe to instead fist into the fabric of his tunic, pulling him impossibly closer, wishing you could pull him into your very being. 

You stumble blindly as Solas urges you backwards, your knees hitting the edge of the bed, Solas following you down to the feather mattress, catching his weight on his forearms. 

He never breaks the kiss, his lips molding against yours as fire runs through your veins, burning brighter than the summer sun. His hands, calloused from years of wielding his staff, slide beneath your robe and ruck up your night shirt in search of the soft skin beneath. 

You both only separate for desperate gasps of air before Solas is devouring you once more, teeth nipping at your lip before you feel his tongue slide along the seam of your lips. You clutch him tighter as he sighs into you at your willing acceptance, exploring your mouth with his own before he finally breaks away from you, nuzzling against your jaw as he presses feather light kisses there and down your neck. 

“I want you,” he breathes, hands clutching at your waist. “I crave you. And it terrifies me.” he admits. 

You take a moment to gather your thoughts, the thoughts that were scattered leagues apart from one another by his kisses, by his hands roaming over your skin. 

“You…you can be afraid and still do it,” you tell him. 

Solas chuckles then, an almost inaudible sound against your collar bone. 

“What do you think I’m doing?”

You smile, sliding your hands up to cup his jaw, urging him up to look at you, heart stuttering a the look in his eyes. 

“I thought…”

He shakes his head, turning to place a kiss on your palm. 

“I have not stopped thinking about our kiss in the fade,” he admits. “I’m sorry if my actions betrayed otherwise.” 

 “Will you stay?” you ask.

Solas smiles down at you before capturing you in another breathtaking kiss. 

“Nothing would please me more.”

Solas lifts himself from you, helping you beneath the covers before moving to extinguish the lights around the room. When the last one is blown out, you only know he joins you when the bed dips at your side, the covers lifting as he slides in beside you. 

Warm hands seek you out once more, lips fumbling in the dark until you kiss one last time, this one seeming to promise more than words ever could. 

Neither of you speak again. Not until you both settle, Solas’ body pressing into you from behind as his arms snake around your waist, legs tangling with your own. Not until you’re already in the dregs of slumber and you hear him call to you one last time.

“vhen’an’ara.”