#her pursuits anyway and imo no one with a stable sense of self/boundaries allows that. and UNSTABLE versions of those things

[treviso-nights]

this is probably an unpopular (edited: condensed & abridged) opinion, but i just don't believe solas had the best time of his life during dai.

this is for a variety of reasons, but namely: he never actually put his burdens down? especially if your inquisitor was not an elf or solas-mancer!! which is. a lot of inquisitors!! idk i don't believe someone as radicalized and/or as Righteously Holy in his agenda would not spend the majority of that year in endless emotional turmoil.

by his own admission, he woke up shortly before the game's events, only to (superficially, bc how do you witness that in totality in such a short amount of time) witness the repercussions of his actions on full, gory display

he then fails to unlock his orb because he's still weak, leading to corypheus's absolute baffoonery, so now he has to clean that up too, and by aiding a human-led political movement nonetheless.

he then has to spend that subsequent year being in forced (self-inflicted) proximity to these humans (which also include templars), along with dwarves and qunari, who he either holds an active contempt or condescension for—

—in addition to sera, dorian, vivienne, and iron bull, who constantly clash against him, and in some instances, intentionally (and for me, understandably) antagonize him—

nevermind if the inquisitor diverges from what solas believes to be the "right" path — allying with the mages, banishing the grey wardens, not drinking from the well of sorrows, etc. etc. etc. and so on and so forth.

this pervasive idea that solas essentially got to put down the burden of being fen'harel for a little while and (maybe) fall in love, as if that wouldn't cause him unimaginable distress considering how he views the world/all of its occupants/its political and religious systems, was everything he could've wanted at the time?

idk. i think a good chunk of that year must have literally felt like a waking nightmare. i think the inquisition was a somewhat influential experience for him, as we see with the inquisition-themed mural he's painted at the lighthouse, but i don't by any means think it was a vacation, nor any sort of an empowering re-discovery of self, when we know he was 100% chomping at the fucking bit because of his overpowering desperation to Right His Wrongs.