#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

[rosieofcorona]

your post about their respective agents knowing/not knowing about them is soo incredibly funny to me, i cant stop picturing inquisition agents absolutely flabbergasted that she ran away with him while his agents have had the wedding menu finalized for the last 8 years

lmaoooooo this made me cackle but yes EXACTLY

i also love picturing new agents (freshly recruited from the inquisition) overhearing this revelation for the first time and thinking they’re being hazed fr.

[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.

[vaguely-concerned]

I was going to have rye maaaybe start to buy into solas' whole johnny silverhand deal a little bit more in the post-weisshaupt talk -- to Progress the Arc tm/set up the beginning softening in that relationship and heighten the effect when it eventually goes. quite another way entirely -- but the sheer spectacular cruelty in hindsight of 'at least you still have varric to talk to' is such that considering where I'm intending to end up with this narratively, the stoic 'not here to make friends you fucker gimme your intel' option is simply irresistible. gotta have that echo rattling around rye's head forever when he decides that you know what? I have had enough of being nice, actually. I do want to go ape shit. someone hold my coat for me please I have some work to do and I don't want to stain it. guess for now the ol' watcher training & instincts are still kicking in enough for them to treat solas like a tricky spirit you should treat with respect and good intentions, but also shouldn't be out there offering little fingers to unless you have a whole arm lying around to spare haha

[vigilskept]

really interesting hearing people interpreting solas' statement to rook that it was "good to help [his] people for once" after rescuing the dalish prisoners as being genuine. i wonder if it's a worldstate thing that informs how people read it? because for my playthrough that read as a very calculated way to gain trust from rook

veilguard doesn't have a tarot card that explicitly asks you whether the inquisitor and solas' relationship was a high or low approval one. instead, for an inquisitor who didn't romance him, it seems to map the choices of saving/stopping solas onto high/low approval respectively

if, like me, you imported an inquisitor that chose to stop solas and your rook asks him later in that conversation: "what about the inquisitor? do [they] not count as a friend?" solas will deny that they were friends at all, and tell you that the inquisitor was useful, for a time. it's so callous and dismissive!!!

... and it's very in line with how he speaks to a low approval inquisitor trespasser. if the inquisitor is angry with solas about him using them, he'll dismissively tell them they should be grateful they got a castle and a position out of it! if the inquisitor confronts him about not even seeing the rest of them as people, solas essentially says "yes but thats not your fault, it was my creation of the veil that prevented you from being people"

i think there's definitely a version of solas here that could have grown to see the elves of the present as his people, especially if he was in a relationship with lavellan. solas who was close with an inquisitor of any race will confirm he does see those alive now as people, even if they aren't his people

in both cases, that requires an inquisitor showing compassion to the spirit of wisdom, treating her with the same care that they would have for any other person. this is the only way for solas to be able to see anyone as capable of full personhood other than spirits

if the inquisitor did the opposite... solas does not change his mind on this. he might have a certain level of compassion for them, but he doesn't see any of them as people, let alone his people

[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.

[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