#iselyn lavellan

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[DA:V Ending Spoilers]

Okay so I've watched all the endings and I've noticed that during Solas' vow (in the "Persuade" good ending), it looks like Inky smiles slightly when Solas turns to look at her?

Maybe?

i.e. when he says "With every breath I take"

Close ups:

Well I like to think my Lavellan is happy he's no longer "dooming the world" and further destroying himself, even if I -the player- wouldn't mind seeing the Veil come down~

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Thinking about how out of all my canon DA protagonists, Rook is the only one to get a straightforward romance (with a hint of HEA).

Mahariel/Alistair: She dodged a bullet by never finding out that Anora would throw her under the bus without a second thought. So she crowned Anora, didn't encourage Alistair to become king because he never seemed interested, and took the "easy" way out by (reluctantly) agreeing to Morrigan's ritual. If she had submitted to Cauthrien, well, King Alistair definitely would've left her heartbroken.

There's also the whole "Creators, do I really have feelings for a shem human?" crisis, y'know feeling like a traitor to her people for daring to love a human. And later on feeling immense (survivor's) guilt for not performing the ultimate sacrifice and irrationally believing she robbed Alistair of a better, more stable future. Which is why Alistair's romanced dialogue in DAI had me giddy, swooning and relieved:

"Happier than I ever dreamed possible. She's more than I deserve... And I hope I make her days easier as well."

Oh and let's not forget the Calling. That kind of puts a damper on the future.

Hawke/no one/the fade: RIP my Hawke. She had a fling with Isabela but the game bugged and didn't properly register their breakup... She couldn't romance anyone else or experience the full Isabela romance. If I had known that bug would happen I would've committed to Isabela lol.

In the Keep, I had her in a relationship with Sebastian for funsies. Except she's a mage and I personally don't believe a Sebastian/mage Hawke romance would end happily. Not unless he gives up the throne to Starkhaven, which I doubt either of them would want. Even by 9:52 Dragon I'm not sure Starkhaven or the rest of Thedas would realistically accept a mage as their Princess (he'd probably give the same speech as Alistair heh). So off to the Fade she went during Here Lies the Abyss.

Lavellan/Solas: It's Solas. He makes things complicated just by existing lol. Y'know as a quiet, not-humble, tea-hating, fade-obsessed dreamer apostate scholar. Not a god but still an absurdly powerful immortal elven mage straight out of Dalish legend. Maker of the veil. Sunderer of the titans and the Elvhenan of old. Leader of the elven rebellion against the Evanuris, liberator of elven slaves. The guy who played a hand in creating both the breach AND the blight. Who is "kind and wise and sad" and terrible at loving someone and being loved in return.

"The course of true love never did run smooth" is THEM. Ten years, man.

Rook/Davrin: Felt straight up like a Disney or Pixar romance - lighthearted and cute. I appreciated how level headed, grounded and confident he seemed. How he had a sense of humour but knew when to be serious. How he didn't have any overwhelming angst or drama in his life (after ten years with Solas yk...a girl needs a break!). It felt like Davrin truly understood what was important during all those round table discussions, like he and my (humorous) Rook were on the same page, that they definitely had inside jokes of their own. In a way, it felt like Davrin became a "rock for Rook".

Also ASSAN. My absolute favourite, my adopted baby griffin! While I would've liked to learn more about Davrin (which clan is he from? Does he have any siblings or surviving family? What's the origin of his scar?), I was fairly pleased by this romance and all the cute family moments. Except for y'know that barely anyone in the game acknowledges it - it's only Emmrich, Davrin himself and Ghilan'nain of all characters lol.

(Neve absolutely does not count! Watch/read the banter again. Only Rook responds to Davrin's comment about their future; Neve doesn't even offer anything like "I'm happy for you two" FKSDLAFJ;LSAKD;LKF)

When it came to the scene where they discuss their future together(!), it felt only appropriate to allow at least one of my DA protags to have a happy ending. (At that time I had no idea about Solas/Lavellan.) I liked how the game followed up on the "settling down and raising our half-bird, half-cat kid" later in Act 3. Plus Davrin referencing an earlier cutscene, coming around and suggesting they "go flying one day"... That really warmed my heart <3

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Posting my Inky (DA:V vs DAI):

She actually looks quite different oops bc I didn't use any refs when recreating her, but that's okay.

For now I kinda prefer her DA:V appearance. Although a tiny part wishes I gave her the ✨french braid✨ (below, left) or one of the cute bobs (not pictured 🥲)

I thought about giving her an updo or a braided style, but she's too practical for that. Keeping in mind she likely has a prosthetic, she's not the type to wear a (complicated) hairdo that requires external assistance so...

(And yes, the canon version of Iselyn kept her vallaslin. Screw throwing away one's cultural identity and upbringing for some shmuck)

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[DA:V Ending Spoilers]

This image is so funny to me:

Here were have:

Morrigan, looking as Chasind-witchy as ever

my battle-ready Rook in her elfy elf armour, and

poor Inky showing up in the 2nd ugliest jammy jams we've ever seen

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My Rook looked like she was thinking, "Is this lady for real?" during the conversation with my romanced Lavellan lmao

The time I reloaded and my Rook got to express what she was really thinking lol:

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I like to think my Inky (mage fLavellan) visited Arlathan Forest at least once before things went to crap. Again.

She would've loved all the scenery, puzzles and the effervescent magic buzzing everywhere. And she definitely would've been interested in chatting with other Dalish people and any non-Dalish veil jumpers (more so than Rook has been anyway).

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My Inquisitor:

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I gave my Inquisitor 100% on the height slider. It's what she deserves 😌

I'm curious how tall Iselyn (my Inky) will look next to Solas. For the record, my Rook looks quite short - she's only "50% tall" iirc.

Really regret not saving my Inky's appearance sliders... I foolishly hoped the game would save them for importing purposes, but no dice (⁠ノ⁠T⁠＿⁠T⁠)⁠ノ⁠ ⁠＾⁠┻⁠━⁠┻