#freaking solas.

[mourn-and-watch]

it's so funny how da2 is widely considered to be the disgrace of da games and was also made like in a year or something but it still managed to create one of the most popular characters in the franchise. varric literally became da's in-game official narrator. anders has a wikipedia page with a controversy part highlighted. everyone is talking about solas now and for a good reason but his importance to the lore & plot is literally off the charts and he's also a god. fenris made people go crazy like that while being just a guy from a side optional quest you can accidentally skip

[mysweetvhenan]

you're laughing? my ancient elf god ex boyfriend who i haven't seen in 10 years is showing up to my house in two weeks and you're fucking laughing?

[cursedhaglette]

solas and the inquisitor spend some time together...AKA WHAT BIOWARE WAS TOO SCARED TO GIVE US. THIS IS.......YEAH......... WEAR YOUR HEADPHONES

shout out to @night-orchids for sharing where all these files were in frosty editor (everything is pulled from game files) and @mythalism and @scaryanneee for helping source audio and brainstorm and scream because truly this was so much fun even if i'm probably going to be put on a list now

i'm off to take the throne of horny jail forever now merry chrysalis

[strawberry-halla]

something so amazing about solas is that he is very good at predicting his enemies and his allies moves. he’s always thinking 5 steps ahead, even varric says this. (long post incoming!)

but when it comes to lavellan, he could never predict her. when he first meets her, solas thinks she’s just another dalish elf that is unwilling to listen to his advice. nope turns out she can be willing and not only that but asks him about what he knows so she can better understand the fade/spirits/ancient elves.

and then the haven dream kiss! she’s the one who initiates and solas is once again thrown off guard because he never expected that. and then he just gives into it with so much passion and fade tongue.

in all new, faded for her, solas is once again surprised lavellan agrees with his plan to free his friend, the spirit of wisdom. because nobody in the entire inquisition (except cole) would be down for this?? like all the world knows about spirits is that they don’t ever come in contact with people unless very rarely. they’re an enigma, something to be feared even because they can become demons. but nah lavellan is like ‘yep sounds good let’s go save your friend!’

and solas after this tries to rationalize lavellan’s bizarre behavior as something the anchor changed about her. because he has always known how to read people. he can’t understand her. he thinks her ‘spirit’ has changed due to magic’s influence.

but no, lavellan surprises once again by pointing out that her choices are her own or that if the anchor did change her, wouldn’t she notice? like no wonder solas is so fucking down bad. lavellan subverts everything he thought about the modern people, not just exclusively elves. she’s constantly showing him new points of view and challenging his whole mission. and so the cracks start to form.

“you show a wisdom i haven’t seen since…*pause* my deepest journeys into the ancient memories of the fade.”

“your mind, your morals, your… *pause* spirit.”

“it would be kinder in the long run. but losing you would- *cuts himself off*”

and then if lavellan drinks from the well, this conversation and the previous quest itself (what pride had wrought) just cracks solas wide open (even if she didn’t drink). he’s visibly upset because he’s afraid the well will change lavellan and he knows first hand what it’s like to do everything for someone who made the wrong choices! so solas asks what she would do with the power of the well and he’s ONCE AGAIN thrown off guard by her answer. i really like the “help the world move forward” option because it almost aligns with solas’s plan but it doesn’t.

s: “you would risk everything you have in the hope the future is better? what if it isn’t? what if you wake up to find the future you shaped is worse than what it was?”

l: “i’ll take a breath, see where things went wrong, and then try again.”

s: “just like that?”

l: “if we don’t keep trying, we’ll never get it right.”

you’d think this would be an affirmation that solas’s plan is right, but it’s not. lavellan is wanting to fix things now and shape a better future with the well’s power. it’s eerily similar, but once again a path solas didn’t consider. she surprises once more. using the wisdom from the well to help, rather than command. sound familiar? this conversation just solidifies solas’s want. to be himself and to be solas, not fen’harel, with lavellan.

so he takes her to crestwood. somewhere intimate and quiet just for the two of them. a place where the veil is thinnest because it’s easy for spirits to cross and be comfortable. solas is going to tell lavellan the truth. he’s going to abandon his plan. but then solas gets in his own head. he fights with the possibility of her rejecting him because why wouldn’t she? he’s the very god in her culture that ruined everything. what if lavellan sees him for the monster history painted him? and then he realizes why he even wanted to tear down the veil. to avenge his oldest friend and right the wrongs he did to the elves. and it all comes crashing down in not even a second.

“then what i must tell you… *pause* …the truth.”

solas backpedals so fucking hard. the reality of everything just hits him. so he quickly redirects to the vallaslin topic because it’s familiar as he looks down at lavellan’s face and sees the markings of the very gods he locked away.

remove the vallaslin or not solas still loves her no matter what. and the sad option is still my favorite here because once again solas is slipping.

s: “you have a rare and marvelous spirit. in another world-“

l: “why not this one?”

and then at the end of veilguard, lavellan does one more thing solas doesn’t expect. after hurting her, betraying her, leaving her alone without any answers, killing one of her friends, and almost succeeding in his plan, she forgives him. lavellan abandons thedas and everything she knew to be with him. to the very end, she is subverting his tragic expectations.

“this journey is not yours alone. we make it together, always.”

[arlathen]

in my dream of dreams, lavellan would have interacted with elgar'nan or ghilan'nain. and they would have acknowledged that she was essentially solas' consort. and. theyre mean about it probably.

[pintura]

Sketches!

[emmg]

I need Dorian to show up in Veilguard for the sole purpose of shaming the egg. He'll take one look at Solas, flip him off for breaking his bff Lavellan's heart, and say something like "Ah, yes, the ultimate midlife crisis. Bravo! I'd spit on you, but frankly, I'm not here to help with your tragic skincare routine."

[inqvisitor]

you do wonder what all the wolf statues mean your first playthrough. you see them everywhere, especially in the exalted plains and the emerald graves. hell, your camps in the emerald graves sit directly under their watchful eyes. if you’re like me, you’re not well versed in the lore, you’re learning alongside your inquisitor. so what do these wolves stand for? who are they supposed to represent?

but that second playthrough? all i can think about is that motherfucker solas and his cheerful ass voice.

“shall we set up camp?”

where, solas? oh, here? this does seem nice and convenient. so cozy, huh? right under fen’harel’s nose?? are you smiling??? get back here asshole are you SMILING—

[feykrorovaan]

The thing about Solas is all of the signs were there. He was practically screaming who he was throughout the whole game. And no one in the Inquisition figured it out. There were so many times he almost slipped up and gave it away completely. There were so many times he almost broke and told the Inquisitor who he was if you romanced him or even if you were just his good friend. Ugh. It's GOOD WRITING OK?!? IT MAKES MY HEART ACHE.

[bookofmac]

there is an inherent hilarity to the concept of a Dwarven!Rook having a dream for the first time ever and Solas just being there. AGAIN

[hopeslastkiss]

'bad ending' solas and elf!rook - penance

web weaving insp. - pt.i - pt.ii

[alarts]

some frames of a solavellan animatic project I'm doing right now . i was made to draw solas soooooo sad

[fenharel]

probably an unpopular opinion but I wish the game would have given us some more mythal x elgar'nan lore ☹️

[solavelyan]

i have no interest in holding mythal or solas "accountable" for anything because they're fake, not running for mayor. listen to yourselves

like what does that even mean

[lavellaned]

the idea of a solas-romancing lavellan being a monster fucker is very funny to me if you think that him and ghilan’nain had something going on at one point bc he too would also be a monster fucker. soulmates in freakiness.

[wardencallings]

A Lavellan who rebounds from Solas post-Trespasser with Blackwall who's also rebounding from his crush on Josie