#felassan you deserved better

[baphometsss]

The Inquisitor's need to hear from Rook about how Solas helped them rescue the Dalish Clan is really interesting if they're Dalish, and especially so if you play as romanced Lavellan.

By his own admission in Trespasser, Solas didn't see anyone around him as true people in the beginning of DAI. In fact, he kills Felassan for refusing to help him any longer and suggesting that the modern elves deserved a chance.

It's why the Inquisitor needs to hear it from Rook, that he actually did save their lives. 'He's always thinking about where it ends.' He wants to be remembered as more than what the Dalish currently remember him as. He wants his sacrifices to mean something to the modern elves, for them to recognise the evils of the Evanuris and see that they are not worth worshipping. It stung him badly to see that his legacy was just as the great adversary, because it suggests that the elves who remained after the fall of Elvhenan did not think much of him, even after all he did for them. That one codex from the Vir Dirthara in Trespasser shows that people knew what Fen'harel did and it was viewed almost like an act of terrorism.

The fact that the Inquisitor goes on to call out Solas's prideful nature reflects that. He can't bear to be seen as truly evil because then he's as bad as his enemies, then all he did was for nothing.

He calls the Dalish 'our people' to an elven Rook, and I don't think he's lying, there. He didn't really have any reason to save the Dalish Clan. He could've let them die. He even describes saving them as a privilege, almost like he's atoning for what he did to the elves by protecting their children. Of course, he knows a lot more people will die when the veil comes down, and it doesn't make it any easier , as he says in Trespasser.

It's interesting for the Inquisitor to bring this up though, because it shows that they've been wondering if their time together in the Inquisition had any effect on him at all, if their pursuit of him over the years has changed him in any way. They're looking for tangible signs that he doubts himself, and that he actually wants his mind to be changed.

A romanced Lavellan will say that he forbade them from following him because he didn't want them to see what he would become, but that they don't believe this is the true reason. They know him better than anyone, they got closer to the real him than most. They know he doesn't really want to do it. They know he can't accept the notion that all the terrible things he's done have been for nothing. They know he's acting from a place of grief and trauma. Saving the Dalish Clan was just the proof they had been looking for.

[gimme-the-gun-ill-shoot]

As a Solavellan player, I absolutely did love the final scene between Solas and Lavellan in the perfect ending, her throwing back everything he said 8 years ago at the end of Trespasser, him faltering as Mythal, Morrigan, Us as Rook, and Lavellan confront him and hold him to task, that the loss of life from bringing down the veil and potentially unleashing the blight and basically giving no one person on Thedas (least of all the Qunari and Dwarves, especially the Dwarves at this point) a choice in whether it should at the cost of so much. Every bit of the Solavellan is meant to mirror Solas and Mythal's relationship, it mirrors but doesn't fully capture it's essence. Mythal say's "I pulled you from the Fade that you loved...and it broke you"

Mythal used him, and then tells him to stand down, and when he asks her to stand beside him again in rebellion of the Evanuris of which she is a part of now, she sees his point but chooses not to stand with him, this is the essence of their relationship, she is his superior, his lapdog as referred to by Elgarnan, never her equal. Lavellan contrasts this by centering him, and meeting him where he is, their relationship in inquisition mirrors the role of advisor, of Wisdom he once operated under for Mythal, but Lavellan asks him as a person, as an equal, as a fellow comrade, tell me, stand with me, what would you do. When she gains power (Becomes the Herald and Inquisitor) you as Lavellan can push back and tell him he's wrong, but also that you won't just toss him aside that he matters, what he thinks matters. Of course, I didn't make this post just to talk about Solavellan and harp about how its perfect and great (it is great, but there's a lot the game leaves wanting in the data that never made it to the final cut because EA and the Multiplayer Curse.) I actually wanted to focus more on if your Inqy WASN'T a Lavellan, because the scene holds just as much weight, especially in Veilguard. If you're after the Perfect ending, you have to watch every one of Solas' memories, and in those memories, and scattered around in notes in the Crossroads and Lighthouse, you find notes from Felassan. I find that relationship just as interesting, because in both the case of Mythal and Felassan, Fen'Harel betrays them. Solas kills them both. If Solavellan is the mirror of Mythal and Solas, than an Inqy that considered him a friend would be Felassan. (Except Felassan would be calling the shots but I digress) Given how much weight would be behind a friendly Elven Inquisitor who thought Solas a friend, only for him to literally say thanks bro goodbye, like Solas cannot outrun his choices. Every choice, every act leads back to him having to relive his mistakes and choose to own them and then rectify them. Anyway, non Solas romancers were done dirty (looking at you Josephine lovers and Dorian romancers), ya'll deserved better.

[dragonagebrainrotblog]

yknow i feel like felassan got done so dirty AGAIN by solas (and the devs tbh) by not even being part of one of his major regrets. i’m sorry you killed one of your oldest and TRUEST friends and allies and he is in all of your major memories but…nothing??? if you don’t read the books you wouldn’t even know what happened to him??? the closest we get is fighting “felassan’s betrayal” but my man deserved better

After what he did to varric and how he weaponized it against rook i guess i shouldn’t be surprised but damn, solas

[dreadfutures]

❛ keep your wits about you. if you need anything, ask me. ❜ (felassan - rebel/lighthouse era?)

For @dadrunkwriting

In my Elvhenan AU, Dirthamen regretted the invention of mind-control vallaslin and collaborated with Fen'Harel's rebellion from inside the Evanuris' ranks - until he was one day betrayed. Here's some aftermath.

-:-:-

The Lighthouse cloaked them in shadow, responding eagerly to their need for privacy. Anyone might pass by their clandestine alcove none the wiser.

“I don’t like this, Solas,” Felassan said under his breath. It did not matter that he trusted the Lighthouse to silence his voice outside their hiding spot—the bitter words were once he did not wish to speak, so he kept them a whisper. “How did they get Dirthamen? No one keeps a secret better than the Secret Keeper. It could not have been his own carelessness.”

Solas’s blue eyes were trained on the walkway on the other side of the illusion, but he dipped his chin in acknowledgment of Felassan’s concern. “Someone betrayed him,” he said plainly. “Betrayed us. And unless Geldauran and his ilk left listening spells here after their departure… it must have been one of our people.”

Felassan clenched his fists. “Please tell me you have sniffed out the traitor already. We’ve suffered so many losses recently, and this one… What the Evanuris will do to make an example of their own… I worry about morale.”

“I know,” Solas replied with a sigh. He met his gaze, and Felassan knew immediately that Solas had not yet found a lead. Perhaps in response to his visible dismay, Solas reached for his shoulder. “It is a dark time, my friend. I will not deny it. I know of little that will raise our people’s spirits but victory—and we will not have that unless we can root out this traitor.”

Felassan covered Solas’s hand with his own. “So what do we do?”

A small smile tilted the corner of Solas’s mouth, and Felassan immediately knew he would not like whatever he was about to say.

“Let the traitor fear my Slow Arrow,” he said. “Observe. Take note. Everyone and anyone might be an enemy—how they respond to our trials and our successes will give you some insight, and their movements about the Lighthouse and the Crossroads. Perhaps we may be able to provoke them into the light. But I must rely on you to do so, Felassan. Without Dirthamen’s inside knowledge, our only hope of progress lies out in the field. I must dedicate my attention to finding Ghilan’nain’s other labs.”

Felassan wished that Solas’s touch was more of a comfort as it once had been, that the faith in his gaze would buoy him rather than weigh him down. Felassan’s grip on Solas’s wrist was tight, but all he could feel through his glove was the cold metal of his gauntlet, and the weariness and worry in Solas’s eyes were no comfort at all.

As if sensing that his uncertainty was contagious, Solas bowed his head. For a moment, they stood there at arm’s length—touching, but separated by a distance that felt far greater than Solas’s reach. Felassan longed to close that distance. It would do them both some good, and they had forgone comfort for so long in this war, they must deserve a moment alone. A moment of trust, faith, comfort in each other.

But at the same time, Felassan could not bring himself to move closer. They could be together when the war was over. When the world was safe, it would be safe for them, too.

And until then, they had work to do.

Felassan swallowed hard. “Alright. I will work on things here. Just… make sure you take care of yourself out there, Solas.”

Solas squeezed his shoulder once more, then slipped out of his grasp. “Keep your wits about you, lethallin. If you need anything, ask me.”

“And if you need me, just say the word,” Felassan replied.

Solas said nothing and did not meet his eye again before disappearing through the illusion and down the stairs toward the eluvian.

[bioticgoddess]

Because I'm at work and bored (it's a slow day) you are now all subject to some semi-rambling Head-canons for my Dragon Age OCs and some of their companions, things I consider canon from my playthroughs.

Origins:

Female, Elf Mage named Maeve. She romanced Zevran and survived the fight with the Archdemon. Alistair fathered Morrigan's son despite having allied with/marrying Queen Anora, his former Sister-In-Law.

We all know he's trying but Anora is the reason Ferelden isn't in tatters let's be honest. She paid attention to everything the late Queen Rowan did and that woman is the whole reason Ferelden survived Maric...read Stolen Throne it'll all make sense.

At the time of Veilguard the pair of Elves are still west of the Anderfels and Maeve has told the First Warden to fuck off several times, as has King Alistair (who says as a Warden he would only answer to Commander Maeve). Zevran has offered to kill him, like a good Crow and a man very tired of seeing his partner bothered by "this awful old man".

Dragon Age 2:

Astrith Hawke is a human mage who romanced Fenris. She killed Anders after he blew up the Chantry because she recognized that that only made things worse IMMEDIATELY and was incensed that her friend manipulated her into helping him construct and place the bomb. Her brother Carver is with the Wardens and following Kirkwall, the pair of them and Fenris go on the run/are being hidden by their friends. Isabella hosts them for a while in Rivain as does House Arainai in Antiva (thanks for dealing with the Zevran incident regardless of the fact that she sent him off with supplies back to Warden Maeve). They even run into the Chargers at one point - Bull is on a separate mission so Hawke doesn't meet him until the Inquisition.

Astrith comes out of the fade in Inquisition (either survives because of course she would or because of leaving a Warden behind, I have done both), meets up first with a very distressed Fenris. Hubby is happy she's safe and back and alive but pissed as hell she went and got left in Fade because "Are you mad Woman!!!" "Yes and you love me." "There is no flaw in your argument." "I love you too Fenris." (I have been working on a fic for this for a while...might finish it when I'm on my upcoming vacation).

During Veilguard the pair and Carver are no where near Weisshaupt, the latter having told the First Warden to fuck off and gone to help Warden Maeve on her expedition following a letter from her by way of the Hawke's cousin the Mage Amell who had been at the Ferelden Circle with her (and survived albeit barely). Carver convinced his sister and brother-in-law to go with him so they are all off West.

(Note: If you haven't played Origins, the Human Mage is an Amell and the cousin of the Hawkes through their mother. That character origin is referenced, regardless if you played an Amell Warden, in DA2.)

Inquisition:

Female, Elven Mage named Elentari Lavellan who romanced Solas. She's also an ancient elf who participated in Fen'Harel's rebellion but due to the violent manner that shocked her into Uthenera she woke with none of her memories of having 1. Known Solas and Felassan (I have a short in progress), 2. Been a spirit let alone an ancient elf, 3. That she helped with the rebellion. The Lavellan Keeper has suspicions they keep to themselves but suggests her name is Elentari. The Keeper uses magic to help sell the lie by marking her with the Mythal Velaslin (I know I spelled it wrong). Solas recognizes her but decides she deserves better than the weight of their past...they fall in love again and well...we know what happens there.

Right before Veilguard's End Game missions her memories return the rest of the way and among the things she leaves behind before going North is a letter to be given to Harding should she not return. It's an apology for her role in hurting the Titans by taking physical form and details on what those she met were like as well as an apology for not being there to tell her this in person. She also nominates the Mage Brigit Trevelyan (Cullen's wife and my human mage inquisitor) along with her former Advisors and Charter to run the Inquisition as a council. (Cassandra is the Divine in my canon). Trevelyan and Cullen are also the babysitters for Morrigan's son at this point since he's being kept as far away from Ghila'nain and Elgar'nan as possible despite his age (20 ish I think based on the timely).

Obviously she's gonna have the "good" Solas Ending because Lavellan deserves it regardless if Solas does or not.

Veilguard:

Human Mage and House de Riva Crow, Alecto.

Yes in the game we aren't supposed to know Illario and Lucanis pregame because they need to explain things to the player but given how close Rook is to Teia and Viago there is no way on HELL they didn't know the surviving Dellamorte Scions personally. It might not have been a close relationship but they definitely knew one another. So my HC includes that Alecto knew the pair, got on better with Lucanis than Illario and she may have had a schoolgirl level crush but nothing came of it prior to Veilguard. Viago considers Alecto to be his right hand within the house and she is the closest thing he has to a sister, which is part of why he threatens to find her in the Fade if she dies. She's also Teia's best friend and the trio trained together despite being from separate houses some of that was due to Alecto having caught that the pair kept making eyes at each other so she was playing wing woman.

She has to apologize to Neve because yes, she lies about not knowing Lucanis. It's a reaction and a protective behaviour as a result of the coup they nearly wiped out Caterina's family.

There are 2 Reasons she doesn't pick a fight with Solas at the end: 1. Alecto and the squad (Lucanis and Emmrich) are exhausted and mostly tapped out. 2. She thinks the Inquisitor and Mythal/Morrigan deserves the chance to talk him down. Worst case, the breather will help if they have to fight. She does NOT expect Lavellan to go off with him but thinks that's what the elf wanted all along.

Post Veilguard...Alecto and Lucanis return to the Crows and House Dellamorte. They and the rest of the Team maintain a presence in the Lighthouse and the Crossroads, helping to clean it up from lingering Blight and closing Access as best their can to the Venatori remnants (who Lucanis makes the responsibility of his House).

The Blight in Thedas:

Those infected with it during Veilguard who didn't become Wardens and didn't die are cured as a result Elgar'nan's death. So people like Neve, the Magisters, and the Viper are Blight Free. The Wardens are still subject to the Blight but are now less likely to go mad through the Calling as a result of Solas's ongoing efforts (with Lavellan's help) to calm the core of the blight in the Fade. I think the pair of them (or even just Solas) eventually succeed but it takes a while.

I hope you enjoyed my shenanigans. Needed to get it on paper. So yeah feel free to borrow bits of them if you like. Gotta write/finish a couple short fics for these Mages so expect those. Yes my Inquisitor is named for Elbereth of Lord of the Rings.

K Bai!

[fadewalking]

"Be honest Felassan, is our people's history really the path of freedom ? " For Felassan from Merrill (@morsxmihixlucrum)

Send "Be Honest..." Followed by your question and my muse will answer truthfully // Accepting! @morsxmihixlucrum

"Depends. Where do you believe your freedom was stolen from? Will dusting off a few old pots and tomes end prejudice, slavery, or poverty? Will it stop a human from calling you knife-ear, or give you a voice in their politics? No.

But that does not have to strip your work of its value. Our culture’s worth is inherent and should not be measured by what it offers you, da’len. If knowing that feels hollow, then consider this: Our people's history is as much a chronicle of terror as it is of splendor. Your responsibility, should you continue to pursue it, is to sift through the rubble and decide what deserves reverence and what is better served as a warning of what not to repeat. Without that insight, any freedoms won for the Elves will crumble as moorings built on sand."

[thessalian]

Thess vs the Betrayer of Felassan

I ... don't think I was supposed to do that yet.

Look, one of my things when I play basically any game that involves a fast travel system is to go a little out of my way when I'm travelling to a quest point in basically any area, so I can pick up useful fast travel points for later. The end result is generally not only making later area traversal easier, but ending up overlevelled right to hell for basically everything. Which is about what I need most of the time, especially these days. Anyway, end result was that I tripped over Desmal in Treviso at, like, level ten or something (which is hilarious when you consider that the walkthrough I read later when trying to figure out what the fuck I just did said something about waiting until level twenty, but that's the beauty of Storyteller mode) and ended up being able to unlock the Gate of Deep Sorrows. So I decided to make a detour in the Crossroads and get that off my quest list. That seemed like a good idea.

However, taking on what I later discovered was a level 30 boss at level 14 was ... probably ill-advised. In my defense, I had no idea what I was chasing down and what level we were looking at. Then again, I probably should have had an idea that I was out of my depth when the "trash mobs" were conning level 24. But by that point, I thought, "I'm on Storyteller mode; how bad could this be?"

Here's how bad that could be:

Massive health bar

Armour that needed to be chipped away first

Shield so head-on attacks were generally useless

Strong against ice and I brought Neve

Ranged attacks

Unblockable attacks

UNBLOCKABLE RANGED ATTACKS

Adds - again, with ranged attacks

All of these literally follow Rook around the arena

AoE damage in places

The arena is not large and it's easy to dodge right into a corner and get pummelled

REGENERATING HEALTH. TWICE

And, best of all, his health regen involved an arena-wide unblockable knock-down attack. TWICE

AND THIS WAS ON STORYTELLER MODE

I haven't had a fight like that since I stopped playing MMOs. I started that fight with one health potion, and I was pretty sure I was going to die. However, apparently that whole thing about dealing with fights like this in MMOs have taught me a few things - or at the very least the bloody-minded stubbornness to be, "NO. WE ARE NOT WIPING OR RUNNING. HOLD MY BEER".

(Or, well, coffee mug.)

On the bright side, this did teach me a few things. I learn best by doing, and - in video games, at least - better still out of sheer desperation. So I figured out a fair few things I probably should have sooner. Like ... Harding's healing mechanic. Swapping weapons and why it's a good idea. Charged attacks. How to dodge in a specific direction instead of just hitting space and hoping to get lucky. How to make your companions drop a combo on a motherfucker. How to swap weapons for best advantage in terms of what an enemy's weak to. And even how to do that "Press E To Commit Mortal Kombat-Style FATALITY" thing (granted, that was one of the adds, but still). And in the end, with zero health potions, everything on cool-down, and about two-thirds health, I beat the motherfucker.

You have no idea how much my arms hurt. Everything from the shoulders down. And across my upper back. So much tension and button-mashing and AAAAAAAAA. Yeah. See, this is why I thought I was going to have problems playing this game. But at least fights like that are only once in awhile, and I can see them coming now. And who knows? Maybe the things I learned in the process of that will make other fights easier.

For now, though, quick trip to the corner shop because I think I deserve cola. And possibly chocolate. Hopefully the ibuprofen will have kicked in by the time I get back, but I'm going to wander a bit more around Minrathous either way. Either the ibuprofen will have kicked in and I'll feel better, or it won't have had much effect and I'll hyperfocus past it by running around Minrathous with Neve.

It occurs to me that Varric must have met Neve and gone, "You literally stepped out of one of my novels, didn't you?"

[redredribbon]

finished act 1 of DATV (or I what I think is being referred to as act 1? I got through the Big Warden Quest) and I have feelings.

spoilers ahoy up to that point

this is a big ole thought dump I don't actually expect anyone to read but if you do, hats off lol

first: I think some of my previous critiques do still stand, but they improve the longer you play. I did feel a better sense of local culture as the world options expanded, and it was nice to hear an update from the inquisitor on the south. I still would have liked more of that in the beginning as we were establishing the world and the situation. I still think people are a little too nonchalant about the eluvian travel or you living in the Fade when the reaction to being bodily in the Fade last time was "we're going to destroy the world oh no." But it's one of the very few things that takes me out of the immersion.

Otherwise, very very much enjoying it! Getting into the meatier quests and lore is so rewarding and exciting.

One thing they do incredibly well I think is continue to pull you to previous locations in a natural way. They come up with very in-universe reasons for you to return to Arlathan or Dock Town even as the focus and bulk of quests shift to newer places. I like that those places don't fully unlock in act 1, too.

The companions are absolutely the highlight of the game. I adored all the previous games, but I really have to say, it's nice to return to a more underdog, equal-status group that truly does feel like found family. You of course get that in every game, but it really shines here, especially when you don't have the same differences in social status from DAI. Being able to find the companions chatting together in different places of the lighthouse, or talking about cooking rotations or their lives and habits outside just truly makes them feel like whole people. Again, not that they didn't in other games! It's just even better.

I love everyone so far. Even the companions I'm not super jiving with, I still really enjoy what they add and how they bring out different sides of the others. My faves so far are Taash, Lucanis, and Neve. Still planning to romance Harding but I am coming for all of them on next playthroughs.

Okay but can we talk about Solas memory book club. Like, I just love hearing them all speculate and bounce ideas off each other, and how their different backgrounds lead them to make different suggestions. I also think the animation has super leveled up in cut scenes?? Like I'm noticing little details like Lucanis flexing his fingers around his coffee cup in the background or Neve shifting in her seat to see someone better, things like that? They feel so natural and I love that.

BUT THE MEMORIES THOUGH. I could've guessed there'd be a romantic implication with Solas and Mythal, there were hints in DAI, and my roommate majorly called them originally being spirits so props to them! But VERY interested to learn they created the blight by killing the titans. Did NOT see that one coming, I thought it would have some origin outside the world. And this is probably just me but I love a good messy complicated angsty romance, and Mythal/Solas essentially being like "sweetie pumpkin will you please commit atrocities for me" "sure okay, I will now regret this for like 4 millennia and also trap part of you in the sand castle I made for you when I was sure you'd side with me" I am feasting, popcorn.gif, this is delicious

Can I just say? Poor Felassan. He deserved so much better. Also, because I'm me, I'm definitely reading Taylor_Swift_You_Belong_With_Me.mp3 vibes into all his notes about Solas ehehehe

I'm in general extremely loving that ancient elven life was basically Keeping Up with the Evanuris and they were messy, petty, dramatic, power-hungry bitches. I'm still riding the high of finding out the sweet innocent halla mom that we thought Ghilan'nain was is complete falsehood and actually she is the goddess of monsters. I'm also loving that Solas's pride manifests as him believing he's the only one that can fix and save the world, to the point he will STILL commit atrocities if it means achieving that purpose.

In other news, I have been obsessed with the Deep Roads since Origins, it's my favorite thing to explore, and to get to go to KAL-SHAROK???? I was freaking out, taking so many pictures, that easily should've taken like 20 minutes tops and I was doing that quest for like an hour because I had to look at every nook and cranny and take pictures. VALTA!!!! VALTA WTF HAPPENED TO YOU!!! Oh I am just so intrigued, so many questions.

I also just genuinely loved the Weisshaupt quest. Again, not to dunk on DAI because I do genuinely love it, but they really leveled up in quest structure here. I dread doing Adamant in DAI because it's just so long and tedious. Weisshaupt felt so dynamic, so raw and in-your-face, and it genuinely felt like your team was part of it even when they weren't with you in more immediate ways. It truly felt like you all went through it together.

I had kinda called the old gods being the Evanuris dragons, or at least having some connection, and having that confirmed was so cool, and seeing it in action was even more intriguing. I tried to guess which was which before launching the quest, but I was almost immediately wrong when Razikale showed up for Ghilan'nain when I figured that would be either Dirthamen or Falon'Din. Soooo excited to dig into that more.

Overall, it is drawing me in so much as I go along and I'm loving it more and more.

[sabine79]

Felassan, baby, you deserve so much better than that smug little fucker gave you.

Solas and Felassan | The Wolf's Call

[lesenbyan]

fuck now I wanna replay Inquisition but can I even do that without descending into Masked Empire spurred Briala defending rage tho

[baphometsss]

On Solas's romantic history

Okay. I know what the consensus is. That he’s way too smooth in Inquisition to be inexperienced but... (and I’m fully prepared to get shat on for this lmao don’t kill me)

When he kisses Lavellan, that doesn’t read to me like he’s super suave and seductive. It reads more like—endeared by them trying to run away after kissing him, then being so surprised by how good the kiss felt, that he grabs Lavellan, kisses them again, pulls back with a surprised look on his face, and then goes in for more. It’s touch-starved, desperate, hungry. It’s not really all that smooth because he’s literally bending them over backwards lmao like Solas can you chill maybe

He is very smooth when flirting with Lavellan, but he's also an absolute gobshite who's spent thousands of years sassing the hell out of wannabe gods so that's not a surprise. He's witty af and enjoys some back and forth.

Solas is a very lonely man. He keeps everyone at arm’s length because he’s seen what getting close to people can do to him. His biggest fear is dying alone, and he almost gives into that because it’s what he believes he deserves for all he’s done. His life has been so stressful for so long that he's almost totally unable to consider anything else but his battles. He even says explicitly that he's tired.

That doesn’t make me think of someone who was out there in Ancient Elvhenan sleeping around all those years. No doubt he considered it, but he likely didn't pursue much with anyone physical; he enjoyed spending as much time as possible in the Fade. (The banter with Blackwall doesn't count to me personally since Solas himself thinks the whole idea is preposterous, which speaks for itself really.) Especially after being a slave/servant to Mythal seems to have voided him of his agency for some time. Then he led a rebellion and fought for thousands of years against brutal tyrants. Any one of the people he was close to could’ve been trying to kill him. Lavellan, however, has no reason to do so, so he can flirt with them freely. In all that time, it seems as though the only people he allowed to get close to the real him were Felassan and Mythal. I don’t think he slept with either, because the relationship was familial. Felassan was also loyal to Mythal, but didn’t burn his vallaslin off. (Is this a right hand/left hand of the Divine parallel again? Two brothers and their mother? Idk, I need to think about that one). For creatures with bodies made from the blood of Titans, they don’t have blood families. They would’ve had to forge their own, which is what Solas did with Mythal and Felassan.

And then there’s his ‘it has been a long time’. Most have taken this to mean that it’s been a long time since he’s been intimate with someone, but given what we know now and that he spent thousands of years in the Fade while his body was in uthenera… I wonder if he’s actually saying-- ‘it has been a long time since I lived in a body’-- ie. ‘it has been a long time since I felt physical drives, a long time since I have felt so physically real’. To me, this makes a lot more sense than the ‘he’s thousands of years old he can’t possibly be a virgin/inexperienced’ take bc like... My friends. It probably didn’t feel like thousands of years to him bc he’s essentially always existed. Time is different for spirits. It’s not like he’s gonna go: ‘well I’m nearly 4000y/o, better lose my v-card’. Time is no object when you are a timeless being. Then, given the path his life took, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for him to be that experienced given how hard it is for him to trust.

I also personally headcanon him as heavily demisexual/demiromantic too. His true nature is so non-physical that the idea of him being very promiscuous or something just doesn’t fit his character. He needs a mental connection, to feel something, before sharing much of himself, or allowing himself the vulnerability intimacy brings, something he clearly feels with Lavellan based on how shaken up by it he is.

And it’s also canon that Solas has never been in love before meeting Lavellan. So. If he went however many millennia without falling in love, it’s also possible he went without intimacy for a long time too.

To be clear I’m not trying to say that this is the correct conclusion. My opinion has just changed a little since Veilguard (I used to think he was being smooth etc bc he's old af/v experienced, but with confirmation of former spirit Solas it’s changed my perspective somewhat)

Also:

‘Things have always been easier for me in the Fade’

‘I am not often thrown by things that happen in dreams’ my man is shooketh guys SHOOKETH

[kariniarts]

@inqy-hanalghilan had mentioned my quizzie resembled Felassan so I decided to do a quick portrait of him. Now I have so many feels about this elf ;____;

[illusivesoul]

Finshed re-reading the Masked Empire last night, and god, I love this novel.

Its definetely among my top three Bioware novels. The plot and the characters are so good.

And I can say that all the characters are amazingly written, and I love the way Weekes wrote the political intrigue. Everyone has blood on their hands and has done bad things, but that's what makes them. There almost never wholesome and happy options in the politics and the business of ruling.

Everyone is a product of their time and their society. And in the end, Gaspard, who is seen as the worst option both in the novel and inquisition, ends up being the most "moral and upright" of the bunch. He's power hungry and a war monger, but his chevalier honor code guides him, and he's at least upfront about what he is going to do.

Celene, despite all the fucked up things she does, is acting as a ruler would, pragmatic and cold hearted. Otherwise, she would never have become empress of Orlais. Which is why I can't bring myself to dislike her. And in the end, she's trying to improve things. Is it enough and good ? No, but its likely as good as its going to get.

Briala, well, what can I say ? I see her as a victim in all of this. Everything she loved and looked up ended up crumbling down and stabbing her in the back. And then she gets the means to truly help her people. A revolutionary idealist.

Are her plans well intentioned and good ?Yes.

Will her plans work on her own ? Probably not, which is why she must end up back with Celene or puppeting Gaspard. But in the end, it's all in the inquisitor's hands.

Felassan and Ser Michel are the true chads of this book. They deserved better

#justiceforfelassan lol

Overall, great book and definetely reccomend you check it out if you like the novels.

[flechetta]

dragon age :D

buckle up!! i have been needing to talk about dragon age for MONTHS

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Zevran. I didnt really care about him at first but i really grew to like him over time. He’s got depth. He’s got charm. He’s got style. He’s got traumaa (dramaa?). A+ wanna see more of him! hope he has a small cameo in the next game. I just wanna see him doing well in life☺️

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

vaea. love her! love her character (headcanon her as ace) just wanna give her a hug! She’s had to deal with so much and she deserves a break! Im a sucker for “heart of gold” characters. and she’s very much that. so capable. so cool. just want her to be happy 🥺 (maybe dating francesca?? pls?)

The comics have very much focused on her so im sure that she’ll be in the next game.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Briala. She barely go any time in the game. They really assumed that you have read the book. Once I actually read the book i saw she actually was a very deep character. Never making her get back with celene fr. Fuck celene 😡

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

felassan. Best character hands down. I spoiled the story to myself by accident when looking up official art. still not over it haha

really wanna see him in some other stories if bioware ever made another anthology book 🥰 too bad i probably never will 😭

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Sigh. Michel De Chevin 🥲 sad little mad who tried so hard. Didnt care AT ALL about him when i played the game. He was just some dude who gave a quest like any other lol. Then I read masked empire. and HOT DAMN. he’s so pathetic. i want to help him.

small shout out to nathaniel howe for this. he’s not unpopular but he is pathetic. i say this respectfully.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

100% solas. narratively, he’s an awesome character and such a dramatic romance option. He’s also so fucken annoying. I say this respectfully. I want to throw a wrench in his plans and fix everything better than he ever could.

Tbf to him, he’s already gone through a lot of torment. i soecifically wanna torment him like sera pranks people. i wanna be the most inconvenient little shit that COULD be ignored but wont be.

i want to make him sigh and lose sleep over such minor annoyances caused by me lmao!

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

oghren 🙄😠. i just. really hate oghren. sure it was on purpose but i dont have to like it. go to superhell you pervy dwarf. I helped him through his shit in da awakening but i honestly mentally completely checked out for it.

Also celene🤬. again, her character makes sense, was well-written, and i understand her motivations. and thats exactly why i dont like her. superhell for you too celene!

[dreadfutures]

I posted 7,268 times in 2021

899 posts created (12%)

6369 posts reblogged (88%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 7.1 posts.

I added 4,379 tags in 2021

#solas - 742 posts

#off topic - 555 posts

#mood - 554 posts

#dread wolf - 491 posts

#lavellan - 405 posts

#npc - 362 posts

#meta - 352 posts

#solavellan - 348 posts

#ixchel lavellan - 300 posts

#elvhenan - 270 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#understanding why people come to religion and why they cling to it and why we come up with religions and faith is important to understanding

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Lilian Hawke says, “Mage Rights.”

Attack on @layalu​ / @dungeons-and-dragon-age for ArtFight 2021!

245 notes • Posted 2021-07-03 04:34:41 GMT

#4

I'm not a big artist at all (I'm hardly an artistontumblr in particular) but I do REBLOG a lot of art, and I just want to say bc I've gotten a massive influx of new followers...

Don't tag beautiful art with character-critical stuff. More than one person in my notes is doing this.

If a beautiful piece makes you feel regret because "I wish I liked this character but they're a pig"... Don't put it in the tags. The artist sees tags, sees someone criticizing this character who they clearly might like, considering they put effort and talent and care into a piece of art about them.

Your tags are telling the artist "wow, it's a shame that YOU, this gorgeous artist, like this TRASH CHARACTER." It is not the solely-character-critical tag you think it is.

Even if it was, even if the artist agreed with you about the flaws of a character, it still sucks as an artist to think that that's the emotion that garners a response about their art... a response that's not based on their art at all.

Fandom could all be just a little bit nicer if you make a separate post about character critical opinions and tag that appropriately. Fandom would retain more artists if they weren't made to feel shitty for their passions, and underappreciated for their work. It contributes to their mass exodus to twitter, or the closing of their commissions, or worse, leaving the internet all together.

Fandom would be a better place if we were a little bit more thoughtful about how our engagement with material is tied to engagement with the fans who like and create based on that material.

258 notes • Posted 2021-08-17 14:03:12 GMT

#3

Look I’m just thinking about how desperate this pose is, how much of a last stand Ameridan went to face:

That dragon is about to eat him. He is weary after a long battle, he’s sunk to his knees and he is holding on for dear life as he spins this spell into existence, holds this dragon at bay mere feet from his head, on this lonely altar in the center of this Tevinter Temple. In this place where his people were likely sacrificed.

266 notes • Posted 2021-04-05 02:24:51 GMT

#2

Aight here’s my Felassan redesign. Mischievous as always, but comfy. Comfy because he deserves it. Sarape suggested by @rosella-writes​ <3

287 notes • Posted 2021-10-29 04:08:01 GMT

#1

Solas reached up and unhooked one blossom from her hair. Then, he took a step back; she turned to follow him and watched warily as he turned the blossom over in his hands.

“What if I name you Champion?” he asked the blossom.

“Fine,” she said. “On the condition that I named myself first.”

His smile grew softer around the edges. “As I have learned,” he agreed. “You chose yourself. You gave yourself a name, decided its meaning. You hold your own promise.” He closed the distance between them and lifted the blossom above her head, cupped in two hands. “And thus I would name you Panelan’vierlan,” he said, “and Rogasha’ghi’lan, and Champion of the People. As you have named yourself: for all you shall serve, and for all shall you lead.”

My favorite moment from Dead Pasts and Dread Futures (Ch 49: Ardent Blossom), captured by @hanatsuki89​!

463 notes • Posted 2021-07-05 21:23:44 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

Just don't judge me for how ONLINE I am

[aarongoldenwrites]

Alright. Get ready for a trip. I'm gonna go point by point through this because I'm obsessed with these games, I dig the real world connotations, and the new trailer just dropped and I haven't played any DA since the flood. So...

We need to start with a discussion of Solas in general. He's Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf. He fought against institutionalized and systemic slavery, freed his people, and fought alone against corrupt being powerful enough to be considered gods (and they are the old gods of the Tevinter Imperium, I believe, but that's a whole other thing). He created the veil and imprisoned the gods, possibly in Black City, and doing so nearly killed him and sent him into a thousand year coma. He didn't understand the consequences of his actions, but he trusted people enough not to mess it up further.

And then he woke up.

Let us start with the Qun. The Qun is fascism. Individual Qunari are fascinating individuals, especially when they are removed from the Qun as a whole – Sten and the Iron Bull being our prime examples. But everything we know about them paints them as fanatics that torture mages and lobotomize anyone that doesn't accept their philosophy. Their entire culture is systemic slavery, which is the very thing Solas opposed. Of course he hates them.

There's two instances that can change his mind: one is a possible Qunari Inquisitor, but your Inquisitor is Vashoth (edit 2020/09/03: as noted by @felassan -- thanks!), someone who was never part of the Qun. He's not been awake long enough to see it, and it shocks him out of binary thinking. He's apologizing badly, because he's personally a social disaster who doesn't know how to people (and we'll get to that). The second is if you choose to save the Chargers; Solas turns around on the Bull instantly, shows genuine concern towards him, and helps him deal with Fade-related PTSD.

In fact, all he ever wants to do is teach. If he comes out and says he's Fen'Harel people are going to assume he's a crackpot, but I think Solas, as a persona, is actually who he is. He jokes with the Bull and Blackwall about his Fade knowledge, and offers them both knowledge on how to kill fade spirits more efficiently. All three of them respect one another as soldiers. He compares knowledge of magic and history with Dorian, Cassandra seeks his opinion on organization and faith, Josephine appreciates his insight, Leliana asks his advice, and Varric and he chatter and shoot the shit.

He constantly tries to teach or learn. The only two people he has issues with are Sera and Vivienne, and even there he tries to offer advice and wisdom as best he's able. Sera can't stand him because she hates elves, and Viv is a victim of the Circle and can't imagine a world without an entrenched power structure, regardless of how many people it hurts.

And I suppose that's a thing a lot of people have trouble with when it comes to Solas: he tells you straight out at the end of Trespasser that he's going to tear down the Veil and destroy the world as we know it. And that's terrible. That's destroying a world state and trying to return thing to how they were, kind of like how the Inquisitor and Dorian reset time in Redcliffe. I mean, that world was a hellscape where everything you ever cared about was dead or corrupted, and fixing it was the right call. It's not at all like how the world Solas wakes up to is a hellscape where everything he ever cared about was dead or corrupted. Fixing it is the right call?

And we could argue that the future that we averted was a monstrous place, but how does Solas see his own world? His people worship the slavers he defeated and die with a terrible frequency. Elves die and face fates that are about as terrible as that faced by mages; he's fucked coming and going. And we know he went to the Dalish and tried to talk to them and they attacked him. Why wouldn't they? He knows about what's happening outside of the Plato's cave that the Dalish are dying in.

His actions are going to kill thousands. His actions are going to save millions. The Dalish are dying in droves and the city elves are going to follow. Giving them a fighting chance at survival means reminding them who they are.

He also tells us that waking up was like “swimming in tranquil”. I think creating the Veil crippled the elves in some way, and he's not trying to give them magic so much as he's trying to heal them of a disease he inadvertently created. And while I know it's hard to take him at his word, it shouldn't be: he lies by omission once (about being Fen'harel, as we've covered the reasons why already), and lies directly twice.

After Orlais, he talks about how much he missed intrigue and court. If you ask him about this, he stumbles and you get disapproval – the only time you get disapproval for asking him a question. He lets his guard down around you and still doesn't know what to do.

The last time is in Crestwood and only happens if you romance him. He's about to tell you who he is and he chickens out and tells you about the slave marks on your face instead. Because – and this is the important thing – he cares. He's viciously selfless; he doesn't believe he deserves happiness and he can't imagine a world where he can save his people and be happy.

Make no mistake: the elves are threatened with extinction with the world as it is. The city elves in Origins are blamed when they react to some of their number being raped and killed by human nobles. The Dalish in Origins can be wiped out by the werewolves. The Dalish in Awakening are wiped out regardless of what you do. The Dalish in DA2 can be wiped out in Act 3. The city elves in Kirkwall are hunted for sport, see their children kidnapped and raped before being murdered, are locked away and left to burn whenever there's any problem at all. Three different Dalish clans can be wiped out in Inquisition, and it's so easy for Lavellen to lose her clan.

The status quo is killing the elves. It is wiping them out. This is an existential threat that no one is doing anything about, except Solas.

He's also lonely.

He says he was derided by his enemies also when he offered to share his knowledge of the Fade. We took this to mean the Dalish before Trespasser, but given who he is, we can speculate that he's talking about the old elven gods. But if his enemies derided them, that means his allies did, too. His old allies still saw him as a madman and a fool, probably because he was one man standing against an empire. He clearly couldn't trust anyone in the old days, and even tells Sera he had to sacrifice some of those closest to him for fear of betrayal.

Consider that the Inquisition was the first time he had friends. No one knows him as anything other than the elven apostate hobo with bad fashion sense and a weird relationship with spirits, but, as mentioned, he has mostly good relationships with everyone. People rely on him. They like him. Lavellan potentially loves him, and he loves her.

You change his mind on the Qunari race (but not their culture). You show him that he was wrong and he accepts that with good grace and moves on; he keeps coming to the Inquisitor afterwards because he respects you and he does not want to do what he sees as the only way to avoid genocide. I don't think he ever stops feeling bad about any of the things he's gotten wrong; he wears his mistakes like a chain and tries to do better, never stops trying to do better, but his perspective and capability are so much greater than anything the Warden, the Champion, or even the Inquisitor currently understands.

And I wouldn't be surprised if we get a chance to fold him back into the party at some point. I think the actual villain of the series lies with the monsters the Evanuris fought against and were corrupted by.

I think the actual villains are the Forgotten Ones, and I think they are the Blight, and I think they are what lies in the corruption we know as Red Lyrium.