#so lavellan will work it out eventually

[britcision]

So my partner @ekwolfwood got me into Dragon Age Inquisition

I warned you I would become something terrible

SO HERE HAVE A FICLET FROM THE FOUR HERALDS AU IN WHICH TIME MAGIC FUCKERY HAS CAUSED THERE TO BE FOUR HERALDS OF ANDRASTE INSTEAD OF ONE

(It’s fine they unionized early the plot relevant parts are in progress)

Today’s bullshit featuring the talents of:

Corin Cadash - Carta blacksmith sent to the Conclave because the actual smuggler and spy got sick and literally no one else was available, as discrete and stealthy as a bag of loose bells (they/them Problem On Purpose )

Lluciano Lavellan - Dalish rogue and spy sent to the Conclave because in his heart he is a fucking golden retriever and outsiders are suckers for his big puppy eyes (he/him omnisexual disaster)

(Do you see the pattern? Good cuz the other two are Tavi Adaar and Séamus Trevelyan)

——————

Herbs

No one had specifically mentioned what species the healer in Redcliffe was, and Cadash hadn’t expected it to matter this far into the chaos.

The exhausted elf tucking herself back into a corner did not agree. Lavellan did most of the talking, since he was the nice one.

He’d had a bug in his ass since someone had mentioned needing a healer down at the crossroads, and someone else mentioned there was one here, in Redcliffe.

One healer for two settlements was a guaranteed shit show either way, but at least Redcliffe was still tucked in the woods. And apparently not treating one of their most valuable citizens well.

“Look, I don’t care,” the healer finally cut Lluciano off, raising a hand. “The people here barely tolerate me as it is, and that only because their human healer is dead. I’m not looking for a new place to be called a knife-ear.”

Lavellan’s earnest, hopeful smile crumpled almost at once, and Cadash was just glad they hadn’t brought Solas along for this trip. He always seemed to know just what to say to upset vulnerable elves.

They’d heard the derogatory words humans used for elves, dwarves, qunari for as long as they’d known humans. Hell, the Inquisition was the longest they’d gone in their life without hearing most of them.

Lavellan though… well, Lluciano Lavellan hadn’t had much to do with humans until he’d been sent to spy on the Conclave. The fact that even he clearly knew the word was… telling.

“Look,” Corin cut in, stepping forward neatly to dodge Cassandra reaching for their shoulder. Probably specifically to prevent this.

They might not be the most tactful member of the Inquisition, but sometimes straight talk helped.

“Times are shit and you’re a healer. No matter what blood you’ve got in you, it’s worth more than gold right now. You’re under personal protection of the Heralds and if anyone says one word to you at the crossroads, I’ll walk you to Haven myself and let them remember how well their bullshit treats their wounds.”

As far as they were concerned, anyone stupid enough to buy into any of this speciesist crap deserved whatever joys it brought them.

Cassandra subsided back, her lips pressed together in a tight line. The elven healer didn’t look convinced either, though something like a smile danced on her lips.

Lavellan stepped forward again, his hand coming up to hover between them, an offer for her to reach out.

“These are strange times,” he agreed with a slight nod to Corin, “but there is a lot all of us can do to help. I know I’ve been hearing it less than I thought I would. Perhaps this is how we change things?”

The healer hesitated for a moment longer, her gaze flicking from Lavellan to Cassandra, to Cadash and to the Iron Bull. Always back to Lluciano.

Finally she sighed and nodded, glancing around the small house.

“Alright. I suppose I’ll be safer with the Inquisition soldiers around than I am here anyway. But there are some things I’ll need first, for my patients here. I can’t just leave them,” she added, sounding almost bitter.

A damn good healer then. Cadash nodded as Lavellan happily stepped back, all adorable and flushed with success.

“Sure. What do you need?” They could probably find it while she packed, solve the whole thing, bring the healer to the crossroads themselves on their way back to Haven.

It’d give Corin a chance to impress their personal opinion on Corporal Vale. While dropping off some of the other supplies they’d grabbed. Carrot and stick and all.

“Just some herbs,” the healer explained, already turning to the shelf behind her to pick through what she could carry, “elfroot and spindleweed.”

And it meant she just so happened to be looking the other way when Lavellan lit up like a little sunbeam, practically bouncing on the spot in excitement.

And all four of his companions groaning loudly, though the noise grabbed her attention at once.

“I can help!” Lluciano told the now puzzled healer enthusiastically, already digging into his pack.

Varric sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall. Unlike Cadash, he didn’t always bother pushing through the taller people. He didn’t need to to be heard.

“Lavellan picked every elfroot in the Hinterlands on our way here,” he explained dryly while Lavellan pushed his pack into Iron Bull’s hands so he could root in to the shoulder.

How the damn herbs slipped from the top when he’d been grabbing them half an hour ago at most was beyond Cadash. But Lavellan did like when the Iron Bull flexed his muscles.

The healer looked like she was torn between laughing and shock, her mouth opening and closing until she finally settled into a startled laugh when Lluciano dropped double fistfuls of herbs into her arms.

“Is that all? Are there any other herbs you’ll need?” He asked hopefully, looking for all the world like an excited puppy.

The poor healer just stared at him for a moment, her mouth opening and closing.

By the door, Varric snickered.

“We’ve travelled from the Storm Coast to Val Royeaux, and the Herald’s picked every damn plant that even might be useful. Anything you need is in that bag,” he added with a nod to the Iron Bull.

“And the other one hauling every damn scrap of iron and serpentstone out of the rocks,” Iron Bull grumbled good naturedly, because he was a traitor.

Cadash huffed, settling their heavy and clinking pack more comfortably over their back brace.

“And here was me, about to measure you for some nice new gauntlets. I suppose I can put it all back,” they said archly.

Bull chuckled and shook his head, still holding Lavellan’s pack even as he bounced in place, waiting for the healer’s next request.

“Point taken, Cadash,” he said simply, and Cassandra huffed an exasperated laugh.

“Yes, well… that is one more thing we can promise you with the Inquisition,” she told the healer, her usual stiff formality cracking with the release of tension, “the Heralds will personally ensure that you want for nothing that could be foraged from the hills.”

Cadash narrowed their eyes as the healer fell back into shaky giggles.

“Was that sarcasm, Cassandra? Did you forage sarcasm in the Hinterland hills?” They asked mock suspiciously, grinning in triumph when Cassandra rolled her eyes at them.

“It was the only thing in abundance with you, Lavellan, and Varric that was not already snatched up,” she said simply.

The healer shook her head, tension slipping from her shoulders as she gave Lluciano a proper smile.

“Thank you… yes, there are a few other herbs I need, and then I can go. I suppose the Inquisition forces at the crossroads will have an easier time with the supplies I need.” She didn’t sound like she quite believed what was happening.

That was pretty much the normal reaction to a visit from the Heralds though, so she would find herself in good company at the crossroads.

Lluciano dived straight back into his pack, pulling out his various bundles and sorting them as the healer listed the different herbs she needed.

Nothing he didn’t already have in abundance either, as he happily dug through his bulging pack.

The Iron Bull just held it out for him, watching with a fond amusement that was just fucking adorable while Lavellan rooted around, chatting cheerfully about the different herbs and where he’d found each damned leaf.

So what if it was cute. Lluciano was always cute, it was like a fucking curse. Cute, weak ankles, prone to jumping or falling off things.

Catching Varric’s eye, Cadash nodded to the door and the two dwarves slipped outside. Cassandra followed, leaving the elves to their talk.

“It’s about time we headed back to the crossroads,” Corin mused, glancing up at the sky and frowning.

There was a lot that was wrong in Redcliffe, a lot that didn’t make sense and what did was absolutely not good.

Though they were pretty sure Vivienne was going to get a real kick out of what Fiona might have gotten herself into. And how many of the other mages were not on board.

A smile tugging at their lips, Corin stuffed their hands in their pockets. They could see it already; Vivienne’s smug smile, her plans to use the other mages’ discontent.

The complete unawareness that she could have probably actually done something useful for them before joining the Inquisition.

The fact that she could probably gain something by listening to them now. Learn something about the world beyond her circles.

Nope, Vivienne was going to thoroughly enjoy someone else’s plan failing, and Cadash would enjoy watching her try to weave it into all her own plans, blissfully unaware that the discontented mages wouldn’t follow her either.

Sure, a couple wanted to go back to circle life. But those outside, who saw more of the world, would be much less likely to fold themselves in under Vivienne’s plans.

Those now talking to all the other mages who had been pushed to breaking, who’d been living together, hearing their concerns.

They still wanted to reform the circles instead of burning the system down, sure, but that was all part of the system too. And when Vivienne failed to make any of the substantial changes, they’d decide it was because she was wrong.

Not that the system had been designed from the start with all of them in mind, and had channels to turn those who wanted to change the system from within into its strongest supporters.

It was a depressing ass pipeline, but Vivienne was a very intelligent woman. There was a chance she’d work it out before it was too late, if the Inquisition kept the circles empty long enough.

And if she hung around more templars, and mages whose towers were made of something less glamorous than her own.

And if that meant Vivienne travelling back to Redcliffe with them, if only to be smug at Fiona in person? It’d be good for her to spend some time with her feet in the mud.

She could join them all following Lavellan up and down every blasted hill and cranny, scooping up every weed in the fucking Hinterlands. Again.

———————

Because there is nothing I like more in DAI fanfic than Inquisitors who are explicitly and obviously still video game characters, with every stupid and nonsensical thing that entails 😁

Quite a few have been spun off from little side quests or pieces of party banter, and of course none of that would be half so easy without the fabulous work of @missnovelist at the Genitivi Chronicles!

It’s the full transcript, they’ve got most of the way through the main plot so check it out and I bullied them into making a Patreon so if you love this resource as much as I do

(You will the party banter is fucking killer and if your play through is anything like ours those MOTHERFUCKERS will NOT talk to each other no matter how little you fast travel

Vivienne is the villain of Varric’s new series)

Send them a few bucks for this massive labour of love! You get different dialogue options for each species of Inquisitor, for each background, and for half the decision trees so it’s one hell of an undertaking

EDIT: BEHOLD! The masterpost!

[ohsweetflips]

not to be meta abt my rook and how i went abt creating them but there is something abt starting them solely with the idea of "you will have no relation to my warden and inquisitor, who are family and had almost a real-life decade of my life dedicated to developing their world" that really gets me going. like. from the very beginning you are on the outskirts. in-game, you were needed as someone new, someone out of the loop, and so narratively, your history is inconsequential. in-game, your backstory is murky at best, and so narratively, you will be by yourself until you find the people you will later be defined by. there is no intricate red string of fate weaving you into decades of families and history; you are the one on the outside who must be brought in. you have no family and thus the family of heroes that came before you will be folklore. you must learn what was inherent to them - what made them. you are thrust into a world that has already been crafted before you, and your creator has leaned into you being no one before your existence.

anyways. feeling so normal abt rhodes aldwir rn.

[thebookworm0001]

OKAY BUT WAIT YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING WITH THAT.

Lavellan and Zev? I'm 100% here for it.

Oh my god the way that Ellana and Zev work is so damn good, and I do hope I actually finish some of their wips because the vibes are so chill.

Sorry I’m about to drop my plans about it under a cut/in the tags welcome to a short ramble

The short version of how it starts is that some of clan lavellan survives the attack on wycombe and, after they reunite, choose to become something of a menace to tevinter slavers. An eventual contact for their operations is one former Crow.

And turns out helping her protect people she cares about is a good way to win Ellana over. Isera, her younger sister, suggests that Zevran and her might be More Than Friends and, as younger sister often unfortunately are, she’s right.

It’s an uncomplicated and healthy relationship that really is just them being there for each other. And considering her last relationship was Solas (and the one before that left her effectively widowed) it’s refreshing. And Zevran is good at being flirty while also giving Ellana space to figure out what she wants (being demi, she takes a bit of time to grow attraction and it doesn’t always happen. though she does develop it for Zevran - and he is happy to indulge her).

Anyway it eventually becomes clear that, even as much as she cares for Zev, she ain’t over her ex and he bows out. He leaves Them on offer if she gets over him/realizes how dumb solas is (my words, not his - he’s much nicer than that) and makes arrangements for another well-connected contact to take over his work with the clan.

Anyway it’s very much a soft place for Ellana to land and silver fox Zevran is very pretty and if I weren’t so attached to Ellana and Solas I would absolutely have her fully move on with her retired assassin whom her younger sister thinks is nice and cool

[skullywullypully]

Imagine the city elf inquisitor or the Dalish elf Inquisitor doing an Odysseus on the people who killed their family/clan.

[loredrinker]

Lavellan Joining Solas in the Fade - the Least Risk for Thedas in the Long Run

Solas, as a former spirit, is a man who has to navigate emotions rather than embody them.  

Solas: A spirit does not work through emotions. It embodies them. Varric: But he isn't a spirit, is he? He made himself human, and humans change. 

His life seems to have been one of extremes. And spirits reflect so who he surrounds himself with matters - or lack thereof considering what isolation does to him.  

Like all humans/mortals, Solas’ has to deal with emotions but as a former spirit who embodies and reflects, then the presence of someone who understands him (sees him) is important.

Simply put, he needs help processing his emotions. (Don't we all though?) 

Logically, the best thing for Thedas in the long run is for Lavellan to be with Solas in the Fade. (Any high approval Inquisitor really - because they symbolize connection, friendship and some non-romanced Inquisitor players really cared for Solas.)

In the Atonement ending where Solas goes alone, he enters the Fade with a clear purpose and a healthier state of mind. This is good, yet Thedas is left to trust that his atonement will lead to lasting stability. Even with his resolve, Solas will still be alone in what he sees as a prison of regret. While he may have found some measure of peace upon entering, Thedas can only hope that years of isolation do not erode his convictions.

The Fade is fluid, shaped by thought, belief, and emotion. Left alone, Solas alone defines his reality – so what happens if, over time, his belief in himself wavers? If his purpose falters? 

I believe Lavellan’s presence benefits both Solas and Thedas - she is a safeguard.

By being there, Lavellan acts as an anchor. Her presence prevents him from slipping too far in either direction, giving him someone to share the burden of his emotions - and hers as well. How many times do we feel better when we talk out our feelings with those we love?

Solas created the regret prison – that's how he sees it. But Lavellan changes its nature by refusing to see it as a prison at all. It’s why she tells him it won’t be terrible if they’re together. She reframes his exile, turning it from a sentence into something else - a path walked alongside someone. 

She sees him as a man capable of change echoing what Varric says: "...and humans change."

If she refuses to see him purely as a monster, if she holds to the truth that he can remember his original purpose and find redemption through atonement - then the Fade prison will bend to that belief. Which means eventually, I believe they can find a way out of it. If spirits mirror what they encounter, then being in the Fade with Lavellan means Solas is continuously reflecting someone who loves him, who challenges him emotionally, who refuses to let him forget his humanity. Someone who sees him. 

Lavellan was forced into the role of Herald, then Inquisitor - eventually accepting her path. She made decisions that shaped Thedas, choosing what was best for the world over personal preference or wants.  So how lovely, that a personal choice rooted in love now finally aligns with her role as a leader, continuing to protect Thedas. 

[ephemeralinstance]

Making community after Veilguard

It's clear that in order to heal Solas needs a community. He needs people around him, he needs to learn to trust and open himself up and allow others in. No matter how wonderful Lavellan is she can't be enough on her own, so the idea of them just being alone together forever in the Fade doesn't really feel right. So in my headcanon I instead like to imagine that Solas and Lavellan eventually reach the Lighthouse and set up something like a university there, reachable by eluvian for those who want to learn. They'll teach elves to reclaim some of the beauty and wonder of ancient elven magic. They'll teach mages to work better with spirits, cooperating and helping one another rather than living in fear. They'll teach spirits to negotiate the physical world without becoming demons. Students will come from all over Thedas to study with them. They'll bring in guest lecturers too - seers from Rivain, necromancers from Nevarra, augurs from the Avvar. Their students will learn to appreciate all the different magical traditions from across Thedas, and Solas and Lavellan themselves will also delight in learning new theories and new ways of making magic. They'll have a real flourishing community around them, a collection of like minds all dedicated to learning. Solas will have friends and loved ones, people who are excited to learn from him and people from whom he's excited to learn in return. In time he'll let his walls down and begin to truly heal. And as a bonus he will get to live out what is clearly his true calling, i.e. to become a professor. The Lighthouse will become a hub of learning and compassion, and Professors Solas and Lavellan will live there forever, helping to guide generation after generation towards tolerance and understanding.

[ar-ghilas-vir-banal]

When I first played DAI, I found Solas callous and cold. He aggravated me with how bull headed he was about his plans and not listening. Still does in that regard. But what upset me so much was how he treated the Inquisitor.

Just. Broke her heart. For nothing. And he was so scant with his affection that you can tell she drank up whatever drops he spilled out for her. Like in Crestwood when he touches her cheek, the woman is so touch starved that she touches her face in shock.

But now I realize what was happening with that enraging man and I can’t hate him for it. It was never meant to be cruel. He adored her. So much that despite knowing he had to follow through, he knew the price of it would be what shreds of goodness he still had. Even in DAV, Rook can accuse him of being just like Elgar’nan and all Solas says is “I know.” He knows what he is.

And that kind of person would only take Lavellan’s love for him and use it to control and eventually destroy her. If she’d been there the night Varric was killed, he’d have killed her in the heat of the moment. If she’d confronted him before he’d been worn down again, beaten down to the ground physically, it wouldn’t have worked. And he’s still trying to go through with it right up until Mythal, with her final key for the chains wrapped around and within that man, finally does something.

Solas didn’t leave her because he grew tired of her or “couldn’t be distracted.” He left because he was terrified of her seeing what he’d become. If she was close enough to see that, she’d be close enough for it to hurt, and she would either come to hate him or she wouldn’t even get that chance. He loved her. He couldn’t just let that happen.

When she snarled “Var lath vir suledin” at him through her pain, his reply was “I wish it could.” It doesn’t mean “our love is too weak for this.” It means “I am becoming something that will destroy what we have and even though ending it is cutting my own heart out, I’d rather this pain than for us to become what the Evanuris did. Remember me as Solas. You will always be my Vhenan.”

I think that’s why Lavellan never stopped loving him. Because she knew he still loved her. Even if it was very confusing. But the beautiful unhinged Lavellan girl you are you’re own flavor of obsessed thing that Solas she sees him again, he reminds her of what he’s done like “I TOLD YOU, DON’T YOU REMEMBER WHAT I DID?!”

To which she snaps back without missing a beat: “I FORGIVE YOU!” and sounds so exasperated, like OF COURSE I DO!!

[cussundria-nerd-kneal]

Not-So-Happily-After Fade Prison?

This is a purely indulgent solavellan musings, I will be honest, and I'm laughing at myself that this is my first technical post, but I've just had this thought running around in my mind, and I need to barf it out. I am also aware that these thoughts are coming from a place of my Inquisitor Lavellan's personality that no one has privy to but me, lol.

But, my thought is... I really doubt that Solas and Inky are actually going to be happy and sunshine rainbows in the Fade right away? And I am not talking about them working through Solas' issues while in the Fade Regret Prison. I've seen a lot of criticism and confusion that Lavellan is still not over Solas, and never moved on from him after 10 years when they basically had barely anything at all, and I'm in that ball park too. But instead of being like "Oh yeah, she hella got over to him, I'm pissed that canon Inky didn't." I'm more... What if Lavellan TRIED to get over this person that she barely knew, but had such a deep and intrinsic bond with that her stubborn heart refused to budge? What if she did date, have lovers, tried for an actual serious relationship, all in the hopes of getting over Solas, but it never worked? She was still forever chasing after him, and eventually gave up hope and went about her days silently pining for him, but still hell bent on making sure her love did not destroy the only home she knew? She was still the Inquisitor that saved the world from the Breach, and while the Inquisition disbanded/is heavily restrained, the world has not forgotten her or her status? So she's still VERY politically active, and Thedas still has its eyes on her.

I have my Inquisitor Lavellan essentially be a very driven and headstrong woman who shares a LOT of similarities with Solas (completely by accident, mind you, the more I think about and develop Emmerie Lavellan, the more startled I am at how freaking similar she is to the Dread Wolf), so therefore, she's angry at him. At breaking her heart, at taking the Anchor from her instead of trying to help her control it, of not even trying to convince her to come with him, of being so narrow minded and refusing to listen to anyone but his own regretful thoughts. She wants to grab his shoulders and scream at him that she's real, they're all real, and ripping everything that this fragile world has scrounged together apart is wrong. She's so blistering mad that he keeps running away from her, but still leaving just enough clues to keep trailing after him. She goes between thinking its wistful hope and spiteful mockery on why he would do that at all.

That scene in Veilguard, where she talks to Rook kinda nailed it for my Lavellan. She's torn but still angry after ten years. She's the definition of turbulent when it comes to the topic of Solas. It also feels like the first time she can voice her thoughts without abject scorn (funnily enough, considering Rook has Solas sneering in their head still at that point)

With all this set up... I wouldn't say there would be no way she wouldn't jump at the chance of finally being with Solas, after so long. I think she would be so desperate to stop him that she would say anything to get him to stop. But then he turns away again from her to continue on his destructive path, shattering her heart a third damn time, and it's only Morrigan/Mythal that finally gets him to stop. But she still goes with him... and I wonder if it was one last sacrifice on her end. She loves a 'monster', but she loves her world more. (I'm going in and out of my OC's thoughts and general thoughts on canon worldstate Lavellan here, sorry) So, maybe she is willing to take on this task of making sure Solas stays alive for as long as she can, and help him quell the Blight, and make sure this isn't fluke on his part and he truly gives up on his quest. She makes one last sacrifice to save her world, and walks into the Fade... and things are NOT hunky dory because of this. If any of these motives are present, of course they're going to come to light and Solas is going to find out, one way or another. They're in the Regret Prison and they're both airing out all of their dirty laundry. Solas has a lot to air out, but oh boy-- does he get to find out his Vhenan also has a lot of regrets she's been bottling up!

It's messy. It's painful. Lavellan gets to see him, and she doesn't turn away, but by the Marker - is it hard to swallow all that he has done. And in turn, it's hard for Solas to swallow that the love of his life didn't really come with him because she loved him, but because she sees him as another obligation she has to fulfil to keep her world safe. I am so utterly captivated by this narrative. Where they're fighting, they're stuck with each other for who knows how long, they have no one else BUT each other - and they still love each other so much that a bonfire is cold in the wake of their fire. But it's so messy, and the Regret Prison makes it worse. But... I don't think think they end up hating one another.

I have the concept of a turbulent dynamic between two people who are still twin flames who relearn to fall in love with each other, and take accountability in their mistakes and learn to come together and accept the other completely. They go on adventures in the Fade. The Blight nearly kills them both. There's the unspoken weight that Solas' life alone is keeping the Veil intact now. But it's not a story that ends with them hating each other, despite how easy it would be.

I don't know. I like the idea of Happily Ever After in the Fade... But it just feel like that isn't what would happen between them, canon Inky or my personal OC Inquisitor? Like, it just doesn't feel the least bit realistic, no matter the narrative. I haven't seen anyone else post or talk about anything similar to this, so here's to me barfing out my indulgent thoughts into the void.

[teamdilf]

Rook finding out about Solavellan please?

This is a three chapter comedy fic centred around Rook discovering that Solas and Iris were an item and proceeding to snoop in an attempt to learn as much as possible, eventually finding the letter that Solas wrote to Iris!

Breaking into the Dread Wolf’s office took several weeks of work, including a threat to knock the door down (“that would be ill-advised,” the Caretaker said, calm as can be), before two wisps took pity on her and made themselves known, offering their help to get her in legitimately instead of “through criminal means”, as Emmrich described her “antics”.

What she expected she isn’t sure, but definitely more than a desk, a cot, a wolf statue and an ugly hat in a chest. Fuck, Solas is a loser. Staring at the metal helmet with the nose piece so sharp it threatens to puncture a hole in its wearer, she wonders how Solas ever convinced Lavellan to fuck him. Like, he would be uniquely unfuckable in this helmet.

She tosses the helmet into a pile near the door because maybe Davrin’ll want to try it on for a laugh. Or Taash can punt it off the edge of the floating island!

Dogs fetch, right? Maybe the key to defeating the Dread Wolf is to punt his shit off a floating island in the Fade.

[pikapeppa]

Felassan enjoyers!

Is anyone out there:

Thirsting for the handsome Slow Arrow with the world's highest cheekbones 🤚

Wishing they could have romanced him 🤚

Wishing he was still alive 🤚

Wishing for more lore about him 🤚

Might I offer you this nice egg fic in these trying times?

THE BASIC PREMISE:

It is canon that people who are killed in the Fade become Tranquil in the real world. What if Solas didn’t kill Felassan after all at the end of The Masked Empire? 

What if Felassan was made Tranquil instead, de-Tranquilized thanks to Cassandra Pentaghast, and sent to recover his emotions and his magic with a cranky ex-Inquisitor in post-Trespasser times?

If you want to read about Felassan and a very tired Lavellan sitting in a mansion talking and smoking and eventually fucking falling in love, then please feel free to have a peek!

WARNING: this was written in 2020 pre-Veilguard so a bunch of the theories don't match up with 2024 canon. So please don't look too closely at those parts HAHA.

[krems-chair]

I received a comment on one of my posts about how Solas and a romanced Lavellan aren't his most important or only relationship, and while I have been trying to work through the content we ARE given in the game (which is, unfortunately, mostly Solavellan focused and less expansive for Inquisitors who had a different relationship for him as far as I currently understand it) before moving on to other things I wish we'd gotten to see, I wanted to take a moment to emphasize that I do love and miss the connections forged in Inquisition. I look forward to seeing more posts delving into it once the initial torrent of emotions settles a bit.

I know that EVERYONE except Cole Greatly Disapproves at the end of Trespasser, but if Varric can overcome any grudge he had claim to against someone who (potentially) set in motion a series of events that killed his best friend, I like to think that even if we didn't get to see it in Veilguard, his other friends tried to help bring him home, too. Maybe in the form of helping out where they could, but at the very least through some meaningful little moments we could have gotten as codex entries (or can imagine for ourselves quite nicely).

My favorite is currently the possibility that in the skirmishes between agents of Fen'harel and the Inquisition (disbanded or not), little slips of paper get dropped/exchanged/found amidst the chaos.

Depending on your worldstate, Blackwall is potentially the king of "I made some REALLY bad mistakes, but exist as proof that with the right people around you, you can still do good." Solas admired him a great deal, and they had some of the best conversations in the game. I like to think he'd send letters both grand and impassioned as well as just short ones, maybe little updates on his life. "Helped an injured farmer repair his roof. Stayed for a fantastic meal. Never would have happened if I hadn't tried another way."

I know there was more to their relationship than chess, but I also would have loved if Bull and Solas exchanged a few more intellectual jabs through it. Solas wins, and wins, and wins, but I like to think that the closer we get to Varric finding him at the ritual, the more ground Bull eventually gains, until finally, panicked, Solas never sends an agent with his next move, and Bull knows he's faltering at the finish line.

And ofc I would have killed for absolutely any interstitial scene with a Cole who remained a spirit, arguably the character that understands Solas the most, talking to him in the Fade Prison. I think he really could have benefited from some compassion while he was busy manipulating Rook.

These are just my initial thoughts though. I know there's so much more that could be talked about (I'm still partial about a world in which Solas' worst nightmare in the form of Sera appears and for once they're on the same page because if he thought she annoyed him? Hoo boy is Elgarn'an even more susceptible).

Anyways. Yeah, I love Solavellan, but I love the entirety of his story and the relationships he formed, too.

[imakemywings]

The Regrets of Mythal

When Solas tilted his head to deepen the kiss, Lavellan delicately withdrew, as she had done repeatedly since they had entered the Fade. She had made no complaints, nor reprimands, nor in any other way indicated he was behaving inappropriately, yet in the past he had known her to have more tolerance for such things. Unable to suppress his concerns any further, Solas probed carefully.

            “You are distracted,” he observed, keeping his tone light. Lavellan was looking off into what constituted the horizon of their world. “What has ahold of your thoughts?”

            Lavellan hummed. “Nothing,” she said, matching his lightness, looking up at the sky as if there were something there of surpassing interest which he should also find compelling. Solas had grown accustomed to the tells of Lavellan’s lying, even if she had managed it more adeptly in this instance.

            Using a tack which was generally reliable for getting information from her, while keeping his voice gentle, he said: “I wish you would tell me what troubles you.”

            There was a lengthy pause, while Lavellan tugged at the sparse Fade grass around them, debating whether to make another effort at lying. Finally, she spoke.

            “Do you remember when I drank from the vir’abelasan?” Solas snorted in disapproval.

            “Yes, I would not forget.”

            “Well, that piece of Mythal…she is with me still. She does not make herself known often, but she is there. And she is…most …vocal when you and I are close.” They were close more often than not these days. There was no one else for company but the spirits.

            Solas cocked his head to the side, intrigued.

            “Perhaps it—the fragment—is responding to something,” he said. “A memory of Mythal’s, or some association she once had?”

            Lavellan hummed again, in the way she did before she drastically understated something. “No, I don’t think that’s it,” she said, still picking at the grass and not looking at him. Solas studied her profile a moment.

            “What do you think?” he asked, since she was the one with a bit of Mythal in her head.

            “Ah…” Again, he watched her consider lying. Again, she eventually fell out on the side of cautious honesty. “I believe she is…uncomfortable developing such an…incarnate knowledge of you.” 

            As usual, Lavellan phrased herself so obtusely that Solas had to consider her words a moment before grasping what she was putting so tidily.

            And when he realized, he could not stop himself from laughing.

            “Has the fragment spoken to you?” he asked.

            “No,” Lavellan said. “But the sentiment is present.”

            “And what is the sentiment?”

            “I imagine it is similar to how I might feel about suddenly sharing a mind with my sister-in-law,” said Lavellan, and Solas let out another burst of laughter, briefly consumed with the thought of Mythal’s expression at having to be party to Lavellan’s experience of his romantic advances, then sobered as he realized the problems this presented. “I am working on soothing her,” said Lavellan. “But she is still…fussy.” She exhaled loudly. “I must admit you were correct when you warned me that there would be consequences to drinking from the vir’abelasan of which I had not yet conceived.”

            “And I will confess I had not foreseen this particular consequence myself,” Solas replied.

            “Well,” Lavellan sighed with some chagrin, at last turning her attention back to him directly. “At least we have quite some time to sort it out.”

On AO3

[cosmiccrushes]

What If

Solas x Lavellan | 1.5k words

What if Solas had told her the truth when he meant to?

Solas exhales a deep breath, one he might have been holding since before he led her into this glade. Since before he made the decision to bring her here. Since he held her hand up towards the sky to wield a magic she should not even have. 

He relishes the way the moonlight dances across her freckles and vallaslin. In the beginning, seeing those markings on her had only brought him a detached sort of sorrow, having seen them adorn the faces of many Dalish over his long, endless centuries. If there existed a vallaslin for Fen’Harel, he wondered what he would feel if she had chosen it. Would she choose him now, when she knew the truth of her peoples’ Old Gods?

Over time, as he came to know her, those markings had tapped into a deep well of rage within him- and shame. Unbearable shame. He was the reason she wore those markings on her face with no idea of the heinous past they truly represented. He was the reason she bore an ancient magic upon her hand that would eventually kill her. He was the reason her sky was torn open and every day of her life was a fight to survive now. He was the reason and she deserved so much better. 

Thus, she was the reason he was standing in this glade about to make a choice. A choice that would forever change his trajectory. A choice he cannot decide if it is brave to make or incredibly selfish of him. 

But she changes everything. He tried to resist it but with her every curious question about the Fade she worked her way into his heart. With every act of compassion she showed towards spirits, she embedded herself deeper until he found that she had lodged herself next to that well of emotion he had not drank from in centuries. Suddenly he felt. He felt fear and anger, joy and hope, grief. He felt it all, with her, for her. Solas realized it like a bright, clear sunrise dawning on him after centuries of clouded night. He loved her. And if he loved her, the only way to show it was with the truth. 

That truth, well, it may be the last conversation he is ever privileged to have with her. But she deserves it and he needs it. He needs to know if he has been…wrong. If there is another way that his pride prevented him from seeing. The path he walks, the Din’anshiral. It is one he would protect her from at all costs. But perhaps…it is not one he needs to walk at all. What if… What if this feeling blossoming in his heart… What if this seed of possibility sprouting roots inside of him… What if it meant everything was allowed to change? What if he was allowed to water it, nurture it into a future he had never considered before her?

“I was trying to determine some way to show you what you mean to me,” Solas says to her. 

“That’s not necessary, Solas. You’re my…” She trails off, a question in her eyes. Her brows scrunch together and his fingers ache to reach out and smooth them down, to remove any weight of doubt from her mind about what she means to him. 

“That is the question, is it not? For now, the best gift I can offer is the truth…” Solas braces himself against the spike of fear. Would she still want to name what they are to one another after this? Would the only name to suffice be monster or enemy? 

“You are unique. In all Thedas, I never expected to find someone who could draw my attention from the Fade. You have become important to me - more important than I could have imagined.”

“As you are to me,” she responds, her eyes sparkling. 

“Then what I must tell you… The truth.” 

She watches him expectantly. Her fingers reaching out to lace with his own. Her touch sets off a sparking current of desire through him. He forces himself not to pull her closer and to look into her eyes as he says, “I am not who you think I am, vhenan.” Her lips part in confusion. “Or,” Solas continues gently. “I am not only who you think I am.” 

“Solas,” her fingertips brush his cheek. “What do you mean?”

Solas briefly clasps her fingers against his jaw before drawing her hand away. He swallows hard at the look of hurt that flutters across her face, but she did not know whom she touched. Not yet anyway. 

“I have spoken to you of the knowledge I have learned of through spirits in the Fade. And that is the true origin of some of my knowledge. The rest…” She nods slowly up at him, encouraging him to go on. “I was there, vhenan. Many millennia ago, when what your people call the Old Gods walked the land.” 

“Solas, I don’t…” she shakes her head, takes the smallest step away from him that threatens to shatter his resolve into panic. 

“Solas came first,” he says. “Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf, came after.” He watches her so closely, studying her reaction like she is the Fade he has spent centuries of his life devoted to understanding. 

“Fen’Harel,” she whispers the name, his name. Then she takes another step, this time towards him, and it is the most important step in Solas’ long life. “Tell me, Solas. Tell me everything.” 

And so he does. The words spill from him, painting a picture of his life across a canvas that she watches with the curiosity and compassion that he has come to love her by. She does not flinch away when the colors grow dark and the shapes become jagged. Does not reach out in grief to shred the portrait of a false god that undoes every single thing she has been taught. 

When he tells her the truth of the mark upon her hand, she squeezes his own with it, the mark pressed between them like an oath to own this mistake as one. When he finally lifts his brush, his words running dry, she steps into him. Her hand lifts to cup his face again. Tears glisten in her eyes, falling silently down her cheeks. 

“Ma vhenan, we will carry this together.”

There is a fire in her voice that warms the icy waters of numbing grief Solas has drowned in for so long. It is a gift, her words. A gift Solas cannot believe he is worthy of receiving. A magic he did not know if he dared to wield. But she changes everything. And she can, they can.  

He reaches out, wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. “Ar lath ma, vhenan,” he tells her. One last truth, as he weaves his hand into her hair, tilts her face up to his. 

“Ar lath ma, vhenan,” she responds, a glorious smile alighting her features.

Solas captures it in his mind, then with his own lips. A hunger breaking free of the reservoir he has kept it bottled within, eager to be quenched. She meets his passion, her arms winding around his neck. His hand roams down her back, pressing her tighter against him. She gasps his name, Solas, against his lips and he is undone. She exists and she sees him and she is choosing him. 

He pulls her to the forest floor with him. As her hands brace against his chest, her hips bracketing his own, his hands tangle in her hair as she hovers over him… As her lips crash down over his and Solas experiences a jubilation he is not sure he has ever known…

The Dread Wolf wakes up. No weight against his body. No warmth against his lips. The frigid well of his regrets, his shame, his grief, are his only company and absolutely no relief for the thirst her absence parches him with.

This dream comes to Solas often. Haunts him with the ghost of a choice he almost made, but did not. In another world, perhaps he would have known her love like that. She would know all of his names and he would give all of his heart. Despite the pain this dream afflicts him with, he cannot bear to will it away. He does not believe Fen’Harel deserves her love, because she does not deserve the hurt it would lead her to. Solas had a choice once to envision a different path. This dream reminds him of that. Though it tortures him, he believes this, Fen’Harel, does deserve. He had planned to tell her everything then, regardless of whether it was brave or selfish, because she deserved to know. He did not, so perhaps he deserves to suffer for it. 

Solas stares into the darkness of his room for a moment more. Letting the memory of her lips whisper a what if against his soul. What if he had chosen to trust her? What if he had let himself love her? What if he had let her love him? What if he was not so alone? What if he had done what she deserved from him? What if he was wrong?

He gets up. The time for what if’s long past. Solas had not done what she deserved and the Dread Wolf has work to do.

[widowling]

As self indulgent as it is, I kind of love the idea of Rook being Solas and Lavellan's time traveling baby.

Like, who knows how time works in the Fade. Maybe it's not so linear. I think part of the reason why Elves started to age after Solas erected the Veil is because it kick-started the process of linear time in Thedas. Before the Veil, the elves were eternal, the titans were eternal, and afterwards they were shattered and quickened to the passing of time.

But behind the Veil, in the Fade, past and present and future is all happening at once. So I don't think its so far-fetched from like a lore perspective to headcanon Rook as being born in the Fade, and then being placed outside of it at a particular time and place.

I'm thinking of Solas and Lavellan having a miracle baby in the Fade. Then after the baby is born, they look at them and recognise them. It's a tragedy. They know they have to give the baby up, because they already have, in a time paradox kind of way. For Solas, it is a part of his atonement. For Lavellan, it is another thing she must give up in order to save the world.

I think this works especially well for a mourn watcher Rook, who was discovered in the Necropolis as a baby. I imagine the spirits in the Necropolis watching out for baby Rook, slipping back to the Fade with regular updates for Solas and Lavellan. (Thinking about a Lavellan who knows Rook eventually romances Emmrich acknowledging that Emmrich is already there and Solas just screaming crying throwing up). It kind of works with a Shadow Dragon Rook too if you think of it as Lavellan sending her baby in the general direction of their Uncle Dorian. I don't know how it might fit with the other factions, cause those are the only two I have played so far.

I'm imagining Rook discovering the truth about their parentage and being all "I was so caught up in the euphoria of Inquisitor Lavellan being my mother that I forgot it meant that Solas is my father."

Or, maybe, you know, its not that literal. Maybe its more like how Kelsier sees Vin in Mistborn. Solas sees himself in Rook, that cocky, foolhardy youth he used to be. That recklessness, the passion, and rebellious nature. Maybe Solas kind of hates Rook for it, in the same way he hates himself. Then he sees Rook's kindness, their loyalty, their empathy, and he thinks 'that's not me. That's Lavellan' and suddenly he's looking into a mirror thats showing him a thing he could have had if he had made a different choice. He thinks, if he had stayed, if he and Lavellan had had a child, then he hopes they would have been just like Rook.

Anyway, I indulged and made Rook into a solavellan love child. His name is Revas, because of course it is. I think for a canon playthrough, he would probably be a mourn watcher mage, because both his parents are mages, but for now I wanted to play a different class and faction than my first playthrough.

He looks just like his mama, but he has his father's violet eyes.

[luzial]

My Thoughts on Veilguard (Spoilers for all)

OK. Now that I've actually had a night to sleep on it, here's my more detailed thoughts on Veilguard beneath the cut. Spoilers for everything, of course. Also this is long as hell so have fun, I guess.

I am genuinely feeling so overwhelmed with emotion at getting what was honestly a happier ending for Solavellan than I thought was possible within the established canon. So let me just start off by acknowledging that the last 10 minutes of Veilguard left me feeling a lot more charitable about it than the previous 80 hours I played did. If you want a glowing review, this ain't it.

Gonna try to organize this into a few categories.

Character Customization

This is embarrassing but I actually rage quit the game after spending about an hour in character creation and finding I could not get a Rook that looked anything like I wanted her to look. The problem for me really was the 3 head types that morphed together - I found that to be too limiting to get something that looked like a real human face to me. Eventually I settled on something and, fortunately, got used to it quickly.

Being able to make a vallaslin-removed, 10-years-older version of my Inquisitor was an absolute dream. I had a lot of reference pictures of my DA:I Lavellan, so this was simpler for me than starting fresh with Rook.

Backgrounds

I played as a human Crow mage. The Crow background story was hilarious to me because you're kind of a fuck-up. Viago addresses you as "Idiot" in his opening letter to you at the start of the game. (Viago can call me an idiot any time, for the record.) I was impressed by how much reactivity there was dependent on my background, though I understand that some others (especially Grey Warden) have even more options because they're so closely tied to the parts of the lore this story primarily focuses on. I'm excited to try some others if I can muster up the energy to play this game a second time (more on that to come).

Combat

Drastically more fun than another other DA game. Your mileage may vary if you like the turn-based stuff from the earlier games, but I do not. I played as a Spellblade, got some perfect unique and legendary gear to work with that, and had a blast. Melee mage with electric powers is my absolute preferred thing to be. I felt entirely overpowered by about 35 points into the talents and ended up turning up the difficulty a little because I was killing things pretty easily. But then, because the spec didn't really change much after I hit that sweet spot, I turned the difficulty back down because I was pretty bored with just hitting the same combos and blocks over and over again. So, fun, but still got old after 80 hours of it.

Companions

BioWare companions have a tendency to hit very hard or miss completely for me with not a lot in between. Unfortunately, I found Veilguard to have more misses than hits.

Harding. While I know a lot of people really love Harding, she wasn't ever someone I paid a ton of attention to in Inquisition so I didn't have strong feelings about her return. I was glad that her personal quests gave us some more insight into the Titans and the Kal-Sharok dwarves, both of which are mysteries I was very invested in. (More on my thoughts about how those things played out in the Lore/Story section below.)

Neve. I absolutely loved the idea of Neve. I thought her design was beautiful and unique - loved, loved, loved her hats. I loved the idea of this lady Sherlock Holmes but I was disappointed that her story didn't really feel much like a detective mystery to me. Neve also really got the worst of it in my save - she had the injury at the start, I saved Treviso, and Elgar'nan kidnapped her at the end. So, needless to say, our friendship was a little strained (or as strained as friendships are allowed to be in Veilguard, which is not very). However, Neve getting to say "THIS IS MY CITY" as she uses the Blight against Elgar'nan? Fucking chef's kiss 10/10 loved that shit. Good for her.

Lucanis. As a huge fan of the Crow stories we got in Tevinter Nights, of course I was looking forward to Lucanis. I adored Spite - what a fun idea for a demon archetype to explore. I found the idea of the experimentation with forcing the creation of specific demons and getting them to possess non-mages pretty interesting. I was so enraged that the story wouldn't allow Rook or Lucanis to point out how obvious Illario's betrayal was - I mean, come the fuck on, Zara is literally calling Illario "amatus" as she dies. You're killing me, BioWare. I romanced Lucanis, so more on him as a character and the romance in the Romance section below.

Bellara. I was really uncertain about Bellara at first. It was clear she was going to be "a lot." But she actually really grew on me over the course of the game, and is probably the companion whose friendship I appreciated the most. I loved her banters with Lucanis about cooking and her discussions with Davrin about the implications of the Evanuris being total dickheads. She was one of the few characters in the game who I ever saw attempt to grapple with this (what should have been) ENORMOUS reveal that the Elvhen gods were real and very different than history remembered them (more on that to come, too). And I'd be lying if I said that her utter revulsion at the idea that Solas and Mythal could have been lovers (something I did NOT want) didn't earn her a shitload of loyalty points from me.

Davrin. Davrin felt the most like what I would expect a Dragon Age companion to feel like. He slotted perfectly into the lore but also advanced important parts of it. He was a fantastic example of a heroic Grey Warden but also had ties to his Dalish roots. He and Assan were adorable and I loved their journey together. I really felt like he had the best head on his shoulders of anybody in Rook's team, while also having a personal mission that very directly influenced and pushed forward the overarching narrative of the story. This is what a good companion looks like.

Taash. Boy, did I have a difficult time with Taash. Listen. As a cis lady (though admittedly a bisexual one who has many complicated thoughts about gender), I don't feel that it is especially my place to critique Taash's personal story. So I'll just say that I was frustrated by how often they felt like an absolute child to me - in a way that truly left me wondering why the hell Rook recruited an immature teenager for her team. I found Taash's relationship with their mother to be equal parts frustrating and touching, and I think that's fine and probably good. I wish Taash had given their mother a chance to tell us more about people in the Qun who are non-binary. I was excited to hear that lore and sad that Taash cut her off. I am always glad to see stories like Taash's in very popular media because I think stories instill empathy in us and empathy goes a long way toward acceptance. I do wish, however, that Taash's story was spoken about in a more "Dragon Age-y" tone, versus using the exact words and concepts that we do in the real world. It took me out of Thedas at times to hear how they framed their experience.

Emmrich. A little torn. My god, I loved Manfred. I loved Emmrich most of the time too. I thought his personal quest was fun, hilarious, and creepy. Someone had way too much fun with all those horror zoom-ins during the cinematics, and I am here for it. I loved what we learned of the Mourn Watch and Nevarra - both things I was really excited to see in a game. I think my reluctance to fully embrace Emmrich is simply that much of the information he provides is so similar to the sort of information Solas gave us in Inquisition. And so many players hated Solas for that, whereas I expect Emmrich will be much better liked overall because he delivers his advice a lot more politely than Solas managed to. So I guess I do like Emmrich, but my Solavellan heart is telling me that's a little disloyal.

Overall, my biggest complaint isn't even with the individual companions or their stories but with the absolutely awful pacing that dictates how those stories play out. If I don't play this game a second time, it's because of Act 2. All the running back and forth to have what I have been derisively referring to as "picnics" with your companions really soured me on them in ways that I don't think is very fair to the actual characters. I wish I didn't have to go the map and teleport to get 2-3 minutes of dialogue with someone. I wish I could talk to them more at the Lighthouse. I do miss the conversation wheels where I could just ask for more info. Combined with the fact that, at times, it felt like this was all I was doing for the entirety of Act 2, they had just worn out their welcome for me and i was desperate to advance the main plot.

I also just did not need 2 separate pep talks from Varric effectively saying "get your team's shit together and it'll be better for your bigger goals." I know, Varric. I am playing a BioWare game. You are explaining a BioWare game to me in a BioWare game. I don't need that. I'm here to fix my companions' shit. I signed up for that. Again, that dialogue just took me out of Thedas, and especially when he said it a second time.

Romance

Absolute, fucking nothing-burger with nothing-sauce and no cheese. And I know that this is not just about who I picked - I have looked at plenty of the other romances and talked to my friends who romanced other people. This game just doesn't have it. Spice level is like a dash of stale black pepper. A few cute party banters when you decide to pair up with somebody, but that was really about it. This is gonna be all about the fics for those of you who really wanted more from these characters.

I think you would get this scene regardless of whether you'd begun to flirt with him, but I did really like the first private scene you have with Lucanis where you walk around the Treviso markets and he picks out food items for everybody in the party. It was a lot kinder and more thoughtful than I expected from an assassin character, so I guess that's probably why I went with him. I didn't feel strongly about romancing any of the companions and I ended up going with Lucanis because I knew I was going to save Treviso since I was a Crow and I figured it'd be a lot simpler to romance him in this save versus a second where I save Minrathous. How romantic, right?

To the extent the devs said this was the "most romantic" Dragon Age game so far ... surely they were only talking about Solavellan, right? 😭

Lore/Story

Whew. Strap in. Cause I am conflicted and I'm ready to throw all my problems at the wall / people on Tumblr who haven't stopped reading yet.

Let me start by saying a few things about what I think makes a satisfying resolution to a story. I do not think it is at all a bad thing if your audience is able to guess - mostly or partially - the direction a story is taking. I actually think that can be a very strong compliment to your writing and to the intelligence of the breadcrumbs that you've left along the way. I read everything. I read every word of every codex. I read every novel. I read every comic even though I hate reading comics. I like being rewarded by seeing the knowledge I've gained from that work reflected back at me in the game. That is Good Shit.

I was thrilled to watch headcanon after headcanon (mine and others) confirmed as lore in this game. It was deeply satisfying to go back and look at notes I had made while writing Ruins in 2016 and 2020 about which Elvhen gods corresponded to which Tevinter Old Gods and find that I had all but 2 of them correct. (I swapped Elgar'nan and Falon'Din and I'm not even going to count that against myself because how the hell was I supposed to guess that the Evanuris associated with the SUN was aligned with the Tevinter god of NIGHT, fuck off lol). Good breadcrumbs are so deeply satisfying in a story like this and I cannot be thankful enough that we got all these little hints along the way that were waiting for us to discover them and fit the puzzle pieces together.

The thing of it is, that there are places where I think those breadcrumbs were followed to their least interesting possible conclusions. And that makes me a bit sad because I think it's pretty clear that this game is meant to neatly tie a bow on this geographical part of the Dragon Age world, and it's therefore pretty unlikely that we are going to get much more information to fill in the important gaps in knowledge we still have about the Blight and the Titans in particular.

The more I played this game, the more confused I became about the origins of the Blight, and that was especially frustrating for me because I honestly thought I had it very clear in my head after playing The Descent DLC. The Blight was like an infection or an immune response within the Titans' bodies to the invasion of the Evanuris. It was a consequence of their actions but not something created intentionally. To the extent I knew that Ghilan'nain was messing around with the Blight, I thought it was a fascination she developed with what seemed to be a naturally-occurring phenomenon, and not something she had intentionally, actively created herself. I came out of Veilguard being completely unclear with which of those two things is true and I do not think it is possible or interesting for both to be true. It is entirely possible I have missed something (somehow, in my very slow playthrough where I read every codex as soon as it become available to me), but my lingering suspicion is that the writers of this game never entirely made up their mind about the Blight's origins either. And that's a sad note to leave on, like I said, because I don't know that we'll see much of it again.

As for the Titans, I did enjoy seeing more of that story - and especially from THEIR perspective, not just Solas' memories - through Harding. Their anger was so just and important and I'm glad we saw some of that. However. A couple of big misses for me on the Titans. First, given how alien and huge and intimidating the "inside" of the Titan was in The Descent I just do not like the idea of them having these physical, humanoid-shaped bodies like the one we see in the mountains. I wanted something more abstract than that because I wanted them to be something mythical and fundamentally unknowable. Also, the absolute nonsense of introducing this idea that "angry" lyrium is red lyrium - but don't worry, it's not blighted! It's a totally different thing! That missed me so hard. What an unnecessary complication of straightforward lore. If you want the lyrium to look different to reflect the Titan's anger make it a different color, make it spark, do literally anything except use an existing mutation that already means one very specific thing to your audience.

So the Blight and the Titans were the two places where the lore fell down a bit for me. But I also was simultaneously excited to see Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain and also so underwhelmed by how mundane and "modern" (modern by Thedas standards) they seemed to me at times. I adored Ghilan'nain's model in particular. She was just as creepy, uncanny, body-horror as I have always wanted her to be. Both were fantastically acted. Absolutely no complaints there.

But in the same way that I wanted the Titans to feel suitably alien and distant from us, the players - the Warden, Hawke, the Inquisitor, Rook; people who did not live 10,000 years ago and cannot conceive of this world once being drastically different from how it now is - I wanted the Evanuris to feel SO far above us, so removed. They are not truly gods but they are so godlike in the scope of their power that I wanted them to look at modern Thedas almost like we were ants. The scope of their concerns should be so enormous that we are practically nothing to them. I found it wild when they called me Rook - that they cared enough to know my name? I didn't hate the idea of them grasping power wherever they could - with the Venatori, with the Antaam. But it just made them feel so much smaller than I had imagined. The fact that they called their dragons "archdemons" was a weird nitpicky sticking point for me. Surely they had their own word? Why would they stoop to adopting a word and a concept that never had a reason to exist in their culture?

Speaking of words, and names. I hated, hated everybody using Solas' real name. In my mind, the only people who should have gotten to do that were people who knew him as Solas in the Inquisition. That everyone else adopted it, versus calling him the Dread Wolf or Fen'Harel, whatever, really confused me. It felt so weirdly intimate to have people - even people who weren't party members, just fucking randos that are helping you - calling him Solas. I recognize that this probably a "me" problem and it would be more confusing for new players to have the same character referred to by different names. But still, the part of my Inquisitor who still lives in my heart wanted to just slap anybody out here going around using his name like it was theirs to use.

The exponential increase of the use of magic in the North of Thedas was both something I anticipated and also still way beyond anything I expected. We knew attitudes about magic were drastically different in the North. Dorian's character in Inquisition was a great way to prime us for that shift. Fundamentally, though, I believe Dragon Age as a series has always been concerned about the risks and the consequences of magic use. Those risks are not less in the North. It's simply that they find the risks more acceptable and have different customs and safeguards in place to facilitate the kind of magic use they want.

But I saw NO risks for magic use in Veilguard. No sense that the huge quantities of energy being pulled from a VERY TATTERED AND DELICATE VEIL were worrying to anyone. If magic has become easier to use because of the events of Inquisition and the Veil's weakened state, maybe I could believe that. But somebody in the game needed to say it out loud. Otherwise, I'm just looking at a world where magic is a net positive so how stupid and cruel do you have to be to prevent its use? It makes the already dubious morals of the Chantry and Templars entirely reprehensible in retrospect because apparently if you just let people do any magic they want at any time, everything's peachy!

It was difficult to anchor myself to any particular idea of whether this amount of magic use was normal for my Rook, because Rook - regardless of background - is from the North. They're not an outsider. Thus, I'm counting on someone who is an outsider - maybe Harding? - to comment on it, to contextualize it, to make it make sense to me from the perspective of the South, which has always been the player's perspective until this game. I never got that and I wish I had because it would have been so much more interesting and nuanced.

Similarly, it was so challenging to be thrust in media res into a Thedas where everyone (save one obstinate First Warden) was entirely willing to accept that the Elvhen gods were real and were the cause of all the bad shit happening in the world. Listen, I get it. 10 years is a lot of time. Maybe huge, fundamental paradigm shifts have happened in Thedas. Maybe people are willing to believe unbelievable things. But to see very, very little recognition of that from the characters we encounter was jarring. As I said above, I was glad that Bellara and Davrin were able to contextualize some of this in their conversations and I assume an elf Rook maybe has more to say on it as well, but it just wasn't enough for me. This was a place where I feel like we were asked to fill in too many gaps in time and in knowledge and I ended up with the sense that the writing just "had" to begin at this point because it had so much other ground to cover.

And that was the biggest problem for me - not exactly with lore but with pacing. Veilguard decided to wrap up so many of the fundamental mysteries we have been dealing with for 4 games. That is a huge order and it takes a lot of time. As I said, I took 80 hours to play this game. I think that is plenty of time to tell a story as complex as this one needed to be without me coming out of it feeling like I still have questions that should have been answered. Because the game "wastes" so much time, especially in Act 2, especially with some aspects of the companion stories, there just isn't enough room left to do what it needs to do with the main narrative. I also honestly think it could have been split across 2 games - not that any of us want to wait another decade to have these stories resolved, but maybe I would have if I'd known they would have been resolved a little more completely. And, again, I wouldn't be so sad about this if it didn't seem so obvious that we are done with Thedas after this.

Finally, I was so devastated by the lack of Thedas politics in this game. There were so many wonderful opportunities for factions and countries to be pissed at each other, to be working against each other for drastically different goals. I think of this as another core aspect of what Dragon Age games are about. Inquisition obviously was the most political of the games in that sense, because you really were a political leader more than you were a hero. But all 3 of the previous games were worried about this stuff - worried about who's in power, who is subjugated, how can the world be changed not only by people with magical ability but also by those who have deep beliefs about what Thedas should be. Magical power and political power are both very real and both crucial in the prior 3 games. In Veilguard, magic is power, simple as that.

I think this is linked, at least partially, to the decision not to include too many prior decisions and possible world states into Veilguard. And, hey, I do get that. As a player who started with Inquisition I found the Tapestry very intimidating. Three games' worth of choices is a lot to ask of even returning players, let alone new ones. I can't fault them too heavily for this because god knows how many more years in development it would've taken to make all that work. But that doesn't make me mourn the losses any less.

And now, really finally, here's a list of questions that I really don't need anybody to try to answer for me but which I cannot get out of my head and are kinda breaking the plot for me:

Hey so like, how was Solas (weakened state Solas at the end of Inquisition) capable of "murdering" Mythal? Like what power did he have that could have overcome hers? Even if he did have that power how COULD he kill her if he was still bound to her at that point? (I have always read that cutscene as Flemeth at least partially consenting to give Solas her power - not because I'm trying to give him a charitable read but because I honest to god don't understand how it's possible if she's unwilling.)

I think I'm even more confused about the orb/focus from Inquisition now. Obviously if he'd gotten it Solas wouldn't have had to take Mythal's power. But like, why did he have it in the first place? Was it something only he had? What was its original purpose? Cause the dagger seems to have taken its place in terms of importance/power level and containing the Titans.

How the fuck did Solas cleanse the red lyrium idol/dagger?

What happened to those Sentinel elves like Abelas? Where the fuck did they go? Whose side are they on?

What about the elves disappearing into the forest?

Still the stuff about the Blight.

I'm sure there's a lot more but I'll leave it at that because we've got to get to ...

Solavellan

Guys. I was so afraid of this game for so long. I'm not sure what I really expected or what had me so worried. I've always told my friends that the best ending I can imagine for Solavellan is the Inquisitor and Solas "dying on the same sword." What I meant by that was that I fully accepted their ending would be tragic (I truly saw no alternative) but I would be content if at least they died together - at least he didn't die alone.

What we got was honestly so much better than I wanted? LOL. Especially with Trick Weekes' recent clarifications. (Specifically, regarding where they are going: "She's speaking both romantically and literally. It won't be terrible if they're in there together." I AM DYING I AM LOSING MY MIND I'M SOBBING AND I'M SO HAPPY.)

I was screaming at my monitor - as I'm sure many of you were as well - "GO WITH HIM" when Solas finally gave in and bound himself to the Veil. I sobbed immediately, I woke up this morning and watched the cutscene again and sobbed again. I feel really grateful that this one ship in this one piece of media got such a tailored and thoughtful ending for it - especially knowing how many other choices from previous games had to be stripped away to make room for other things.

So, yeah. Given however many thousands of words I just put into this about all the shit I don't like? Still feeling pretty charitable right now because my girl Lavellan got the happy ending she so richly deserved.

(Side, and final, note: Jesus who made his wolf form look like that? Why would you do our boy so dirty?)

[obsessedfangirl22]

Dragon Age/Pokemon Crossover!

My Dragon Age obsessed brain and my pokemon obsessed brain collided and I made this! It's all of my canon protags and their pokemon teams! Explanations of each team member below each picture!

Nelanna Surana, Arcane Warrior, 💖 Alistair

Arcanine: Is the mabari she saved in Ostagar. Why Arcanine? Because Nelanna's favorite spell is fire ball all 😂

Roserade: is a reference to Alistair's rose 🌹 sense she ends up with Alistair in the end.

✨Delphox: Nelanna met him as a Fennekin while still in the circle. She couldn't keep him so she cared for him in secret. When she became a warden she was reunited with Fennekin when revisiting the circle and took him with her.

Honchkrow: Is a reference to her close bond/friendship with Zevran. Also the fact she technically romanced Zevran as a friends with benefits type thing before she fell for Alistair.

Mega Audino: Is because Nelanna was the main healer on the team. Audino is one of the pokemon associated with healing.

Moira Hawke, Force Mage, 💖 Anders

Mabossiff: The family mabari. Her trusted oldest friend who's been on the run with her family for many many years.

Espeon: Was abandoned on the streets of Kirkwall and was untrusting of people. Moira would leave food out for her and eventually earned her trust taking her in. Anders is fond of Espeon because of its feline traits.

Moira doesn't take on any other pokemon because she always knew somehow someway she would be on the run again. Little did she know she was right. She takes Espeon and Mabossiff with her when she leaves Kirkwall refusing to abandon them.

Calathiel Lavellan, Archer Assassin, 💖 Blackwall

Decidueye: In reference to her archer class. He's a pokemon she's had sense childhood. They practiced their archery together. They were separated in the blast but shortly reunited when she returned to close the rift.

Sirfetch'd: is a reference to blackwall with the sword and shield. She kept him because she sees the resemblance a bit and Blackwall doesn't see it. Lol

Kartana: An ultra beast is a pokemon from another world that comes to the pokemon world through a worm hole so... She meets this Kartana at a rift she closes. Understanding how he feels being so out of place in this world thrown into a position he didn't ask for she takes him in. He's also a reference to her daggers kinda.

Leafeon: Another pokemon she's had sense childhood a long side Decidueye. While Decidueye helped her with her archery leafeon helped her hone her hunting skills.

Blood Moon Ursaluna: Is a reference to Storvacker from the jaws of hakkon dlc. After the events of saving her and befriending the Avaar she recruited her and added her to her team.

Arawyn Mercar, Spell Blade Mage, 💖 Emmrich

Duskull: She met him in the Grand Necropolis while visiting with Emmrich. He was so curious about her and Emmrich encouraged her to become friends with the Duskull. She never evolved him because she thinks he's so cute and the skull face makes her think of Emmrich and Manfred.

Dracovish: He's an odd dragon type just like she's the odd one out in the shadow dragons. He's also a revived fossil dragon pokemon. In a way a reference to both her and Emmrich.

Hydreigon: Another dragon type to go along with the shadow dragons and the color scheme works well with her being a shadow dragon in Tevinter.

Hydrapple: Another dragon type but this one is serpant like and Tevinter has a lot of serpant imagery in reference to it's dragon deities.

Seviper: Another reference to the serpent imagery in Tevinter. Also kinda a reference to the conversation about how serpants aren't dragons between Taash and Neve.

Alolan Marowak: He started off as a cubone and has been with Arawyn sense she was a child and orphaned. Even after being taken in by a family she kept her cubone. It becomes an alolan marowak while they're dealing with hauntings in the necropolis with Emmrich, seeing Arawyn's bond with the necromancer, and the setting they were in he evolved.