#sollan

[notkirstinetheartist]

Remember that Valentine's Day piece from way back? I've revisited it recently to clean it up & add more detailing in places. I hope you guys enjoy the new version!

Mellan’s Story, ‘Dueteragony’

Note: this Lavellan is not the Inquisitor.

[little-lightning-lavellan]

NEW CHAPTER! KISSING???

Between getting Covid and this chapter ending up twice as long as originally intended (I had very important things I needed to make sure were communicated, okay?), this took a hot minute to get out. But, I hope it was worth the wait, because after 128197 words... it happens. 👀 Here be a snippet right before it all goes down:

“You know that I’ve got a good memory, ma fen, you know that. I don’t forget things easily,” She was back to nicknames, it would seem. “Well, do you know what Garrett Hawke told me when he first arrived?”

Had she scooted closer? No, that was just the way the shadows cast across them from over the wall. Surely, there was no other explanation.

“Tell me.”

“He told me,” A snort. A snort! Mellan covered her nose with one hand and squeezed Solas’ with the other, eyes closed and face cast to the ground. “He told me, that my symptoms - oh, you won’t believe a word of this - that they mean, that I’m smitten with you!”

Solas’ eyes felt wobbly.

Ah, well--that was a new sensation. He wasn’t altogether sure he’d felt that before; not in a context like this, at any rate.

Give him the credit of maintaining his composure, the world within him shook with greater violence than a Titan fighting against the bonds of--

Is this how adolescents felt? Real, true, young people? Was it always so stifling hot?

“Oh, and Solas? Solas, the best part. You’ll find this funny,” Did she even realize he wasn’t laughing? Of course not, ragged hand covered giggling mouth and she hadn’t looked up to him once since she’d started. Was he to stop her? Let her continue? Did this manner of ‘announcement’ count towards that finish line he had promised he would meet her at one day? Was this the correct path?

Ironically, she was a balter from his own path, but an enrapturing one that left him dumbstruck with each new revelation of hers. Like an impatient reader he wanted to skip ahead just a few of her pages. Have her spoil the story and tell him what lay ahead.

“He said that,”

‘What comes next?’

“That you were a ‘lucky guy;’ that we were more than dear friends.” Another giggle and their shared fate was sealed. “As if, oh, my goodness, as if you were smitten with me as well!”

Mellan shook her head for a final time, before, at last, she raised it up to meet Solas’ eyes.

“But, that would be silly, wouldn’t it?”

She hadn’t actually thought much on what she expected to see when she opened her eyes. Perhaps a smile, a shared laugh, but not a stare. Not a look from her friend that held something deep and lurking just beneath the surface of murky waters.

Not something that made her wonder if the petname she’d given him of ‘fen’ was a bit too apt, and that if she moved too quickly, some emotion would snap; and oh, dear, Mellan was nowhere near ready for whatever that emotion might be.

“W-Wouldn’t it?” Had she actually spoke aloud, or simply thought the words? Mellan supposed she might have mouthed them, let them fan across her teeth. It took a real gulp of purest bravery for her to truly speak heartily again. “S-So, um, academically. Academically… my symptoms.”

‘Spirits, even my nose feels like it's on fire; I probably look like a tomato to him. Why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut? Why couldn’t I just learn the blasted dance and be done with it all?!’

“Thought? Your thoughts?”

Peculiar, even by their standards, Solas held a single chuckle in his chest. Barely hiding his lip, he rested fingers upon it to shield the smallest smile as he turned to think.

“My thoughts,” he began, a twinge of well-measured mirth to his tone. “Are that Ser Hawke is far more attentive than I gave him credit for.” And that he could now confirm that he had been a right prick to the man, but that was neither here nor there at this point. 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mellan take a gulp for air, most likely absorbing the information he had technically-not-confirmed - and, therefore, was still following his own personal set of rules - but, also not at all denied. The blessing was that he knew she was smart, and that she knew precisely what he was getting at, all with his plausible deniability still perfectly intact.

He still was just as much of a prick, wasn’t he?

“A--hm,” She nodded, readjusting herself yet again, back straightening. Solas could see how her shoulders rolled back beneath her braids like branches beneath leafy willows, how her chest rose and fell across the skin exposed above her ill-fitting tunic. “I see. So, then, I suppose you are suggesting that Garrett’s observation was, ah, correct?”

“No, I am declaring it.” To him it was not a subject for debate.

Read the rest here on Ao3!

I hope you guys are excited and enjoy because holy moly I’ve been fucking amped for this jerhbuerbgueibguearburbygber I really hope it was worth the wait and this chapter is enjoyable D’x Love y’all!!

Tags below:

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[shiomu]

I had been regenerated, made whole once more, but I was not the man I was before. I was myself the river that I could not step in twice. The waters of yesterday were gone.

- Christopher Ruocchio, Ashes of Man

[desourceless]

lansol sollan — original character

[nudesnoises]

Parvan Sollan

[polkadotmotmot]

Sollan Park - K- Chandelier 2, 2024 - Natural mineral pigments on silk

[literallymechanical]

Just finished Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio, book 1 of the Sun Eater series. Written as the autobiography of Hadrian "Half-Mortal" "Sun Eater" Marlowe, translated in-universe from Galactic Standard, an Anglo-Hindi patois.

Old-school space opera in a Dune-like distant future, but with a storytelling sensibility that owes more to Patrick Rothfuss than anybody else. Reads like epic fantasy rather than science fiction, which I think is fun.

The Sollan Empire venerates Mother Earth, slain in nuclear fire twenty thousand years ago, as the messianic god of their state religion. Ruocchio leans into the implications of that premise with a lot of fun linguistics stuff:

lol. Lmao.

The narration is florid and purple and delightful. Hadrian was an ass in his youth in the way that only the vat-born scion of a noble house can be, and his future self writes with wincing honesty while apologizing to the reader for the bad choices he keeps making.

I appreciate how the book opens by basically turning directly to the reader and saying "this is a Dune, we're doing a Dune. Here are three rapid-fire direct references to Dune. Got it? Okay, now we can move on." Highly recommend if you like door-stopper epic fantasy.

[theseventhoffrostfall]

Finished the sixth sun eater book. Had its highlights, had its stumbles and contrivances. Still engaging but at this point I'm glad the next book is the last; it's on the edge of dragging things out as-is.

One thing I found strange was a return to focus on the Sollan Imperium's vicious backroom politicking and fanatical religious institutions, which is fine in a vacuum but at this point in the story the alien Prophet-King who's gathered the whole of the hermaphrodite cyborg space ork/elf/thing race into a vast horde to crush all mankind in a cannibalistic orgy of planet-pillaging and human sacrifice has stiff competition for the title of Our Biggest Problem Right Now. Makes the wacky space Anglicans bitching about "you didn't praise the Imperial Cult we made up enough" seem like an odd thing to focus on.

[drunken-drengr]

@little-lightning-lavellan my first thought upon seeing the licking post

[notkirstinetheartist]

hey, we saw you from across the tavern, and we really hate your vibe. please stay 50 feet away from us.

I FORGOT I HAD THIS PHOTO AHAHA the lad requested we update and reshoot these cosplays this summer, so expect more Solavellan nonsense soon!

[little-lightning-lavellan]

WELL ITS ABOUT TIME FOR A NEW CHAPTER

Copied this over from my Ao3, but I am SO SORRY its taken me so long to put out a new chapter. After attending a friend's wedding, I immediately went into surgery, and recovery has been difficult ever since.I still am not fully recovered, but my beta-reader surprised me and let me know that this chapter was finished, and I'm so happy that I get to share this one with you all!

I hope you enjoy it, and again, I'm so sorry for keeping you all waiting. <3

Chapter 26: A Fool’s Errand

Felandaris did little to dull the scent that somehow still pulsed through Mellan’s nostrils as headily as fresh bread seeping in across the threshold via the not-so distant kitchens.

The scent was plaster.

Plaster, with a hint of paint beneath fingertips. Fingertips that crushed ferns beneath them in one hand, and in the other cupped her face. The sour scent of magic, acquired and electric. A familiar sweater’s warmth in its well-loved care, washed in a home-brewed soap but holding a natural aroma that lingered with its age.

‘Mellan,’

Her toes curled to the floor and the elf let out a little ‘yip!’ of pain as she hit a splinter where the wood cracked to betray her. ‘Wake up,’ it seemed to say, unknowingly echoing the very words of the one she was fantasizing over.

Fantasizing! Her!

Of all people; she hardly even thought herself capable of it. It wasn’t as if anyone else would think she could.

Turning herself on a coin to plop her rear upon the wood, Mellan shimmied her knees to block out her chin from the candlelight. She’d been practically salacious; what would her Keeper say if she saw her like that?! Wasn’t that how the ladies - she didn’t even really like being called a lady! - in Varric’s books acted… she certainly felt like she was blushing like the Seeker was when she read them - it wasn’t as if Mellan didn’t spy that wee chestnut.

Worrying at the loose ties of her tunic, she snuggled her forehead deeper to bump her legs. Then again, did she care much anymore? Now, that was a truly scary thought; a thought she really ought not to be having. First she was struggling to care for this nasty Inquisition business, but now what her Keeper may think of her actions?

Well, what about Aislin?

Oh, Aislin would hate this. Hate, hate, hatehatehate--

‘You know, I don’t recall asking anyone’s sister’s opinions…’ On the topic of dreams one failed to forget, eyes she hadn’t realized she’d squeezed shut sprung open to the sound of an echoing chant in the recesses of her memory. 

‘What are yours?’

Slow arrow.

Mellan lifted head and hand, tracing the shape of the bracelet in the air with her pointer finger. Silver and light, near mockingly so, much like the glinting of his lavender eyes.

Lavenders. For loyalty. Devotion.

“I liked it,” she admitted to the man in her mind’s eye, whispering on the wind, so sure that only the cobwebs would hear her. “I don’t want to forget it. I--”

‘I’m afraid,’ she thought, before another remembrance returned:

‘You feel safe, don’t you?’

“More than I know I should.” Something was amiss, something remained unspoken and more than her own cowardice was to blame. Everything returns to the dirt after it is born, and eventually in it is forgotten, until it is one with the Fade, and lingers.

That should not scare Solas, but something in it did, and he seemed determined to shield her eyes from it like it should blind her if he not.

‘What of this lingers that you do not wish I know, ma fen?’

‘You’ve yet to guess, Mellan.’

Braids fell hard and unforgiving, like chunks of snow off of shaken trees, as she leapt down and shook her head all in one fell swoop. She would, she would; she was nothing if not a diligent researcher. Better yet, she was one that was, perhaps, developing something that her precious books had that, until recently, she’d so greatly lacked:

A spine.

Read the rest Here on Ao3!

Again, I’m so sorry that its taken me so long to publish this, please be patient with me as I continue to heal up. <3 I love you all so much, thank you all for being so supportive of me, it means so much. 

Tagging the usual suspects to see the goodies:

@pikapeppa​ @because-im-hap-hap​ @emerald-amidst-gold​ @oxygenforthewicked​ @rosella-writes​ @varric-tethras-editor​ @kantrips​ @the-dreadful-canine​ @smashingpigeons​ @blueheaded​ @drunken-drengr​ @reonerra @dungeons-and-dragon-age​ @layalu​ @dreadfutures​ @darethshirl​  @fiadhaisteach @bogunicorn​ @ashalle-art​ @shift-shaping​ @noire-pandora​ @palepinkycat​ @debgall​ @malewifezevran​ @1000generations​ @drag-on-age​ @siennamain​ @dalish-spectre​ @raflesia65​ @thevikingwoman​ @kumaronoa​ @midorimaddie​ @sassyseeker​ @musetta3 @rivainisomniari​ @in-arlathan​ @melisusthewee​ @jellydishes​ @effelants​ @potatowitch​

[notkirstinetheartist]

So, I had not seen this piece until yesterday, when I was able to have my birthday party and my partner was able to “give” me the piece they commissioned for me, and... oh, my god.

Solas licking Mellan’s wound that won’t heal, trying to show how sorry he is for what he’s caused (unfortunately? its not just the Mark--I really went and made a greek tragedy of a character), but Mellan has already forgiven him. He is her trusted confidant, eventually her lover, but above all else her friend, and I feel like her expression perfectly captures that. She loves him regardless of his transgressions, past and present, and this piece demonstrates that fact so perfectly.

I started crying when I saw this. I stared at it for so long and then held onto them so tight. Thank you, @mooreaux; this is absolutely incredible! You two left me floored, and I feel incredibly blessed. Thank you for helping make my golden birthday so special. 💛

A commission for kristinetheartist for their bday last month! 

[muiri-noir]

One more day one more OC

[desourceless]

[little-lightning-lavellan]

I’M SCREAMING - I’M SHRIEKING - I NEED THEM TO SMOOTCH

GOD ALMIGHTY this came so GOOD!!! If anyone would like to see the scene this is based on, you can check it out here in the fic Dueteragony!

Almost kiss

commission for @little-lightning-lavellan

working on this was very fun thank you)

[drunken-drengr]

sketches of the best couples to ever grace the dragon age fandom for valentines 💕💕 + feat @little-lightning-lavellan's Mellan/Solas and @dungeons-and-dragon-age's Liam/Fenris and Kala/Alistair

the bottom two are my Karrie/Sera and Morrigan/Ragnar