#when did I say that I would save you? ( fen'harel )

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

Honestly I really want to be able to side with Solas in dreadwolf. I think it'd be super interesting to play as an elf in Tevinter and be able to just go "yeah actually I think Fen'Harel is right let's tear down that veil." I mean I assume the main conflict will be Solas trying to convince your character to join him, or your character being told they have to try and stop him, and there are not enough games that let you side with the presented "villain" character. I want to see what the world is like with no veil I'm so interested. Also so interested to see what full-on Fen'Harel Solas is like. Is he still as empathetic? Or is he more conniving and distanced from "mortals" like the old stories would have us believe?

[baphometsss]

The Inquisitor's need to hear from Rook about how Solas helped them rescue the Dalish Clan is really interesting if they're Dalish, and especially so if you play as romanced Lavellan.

By his own admission in Trespasser, Solas didn't see anyone around him as true people in the beginning of DAI. In fact, he kills Felassan for refusing to help him any longer and suggesting that the modern elves deserved a chance.

It's why the Inquisitor needs to hear it from Rook, that he actually did save their lives. 'He's always thinking about where it ends.' He wants to be remembered as more than what the Dalish currently remember him as. He wants his sacrifices to mean something to the modern elves, for them to recognise the evils of the Evanuris and see that they are not worth worshipping. It stung him badly to see that his legacy was just as the great adversary, because it suggests that the elves who remained after the fall of Elvhenan did not think much of him, even after all he did for them. That one codex from the Vir Dirthara in Trespasser shows that people knew what Fen'harel did and it was viewed almost like an act of terrorism.

The fact that the Inquisitor goes on to call out Solas's prideful nature reflects that. He can't bear to be seen as truly evil because then he's as bad as his enemies, then all he did was for nothing.

He calls the Dalish 'our people' to an elven Rook, and I don't think he's lying, there. He didn't really have any reason to save the Dalish Clan. He could've let them die. He even describes saving them as a privilege, almost like he's atoning for what he did to the elves by protecting their children. Of course, he knows a lot more people will die when the veil comes down, and it doesn't make it any easier , as he says in Trespasser.

It's interesting for the Inquisitor to bring this up though, because it shows that they've been wondering if their time together in the Inquisition had any effect on him at all, if their pursuit of him over the years has changed him in any way. They're looking for tangible signs that he doubts himself, and that he actually wants his mind to be changed.

A romanced Lavellan will say that he forbade them from following him because he didn't want them to see what he would become, but that they don't believe this is the true reason. They know him better than anyone, they got closer to the real him than most. They know he doesn't really want to do it. They know he can't accept the notion that all the terrible things he's done have been for nothing. They know he's acting from a place of grief and trauma. Saving the Dalish Clan was just the proof they had been looking for.

[felassan]

A spear would be an odd choice for a mage, and if this weapon he's holding is a staff it's awfully arrow-like. I'm interpreting it as an arrow, as The Slow Arrow.

"The god Fen'Harel was asked by a village to kill a great beast. He came to the beast at dawn, and saw its strength, and knew it would slay him if he fought it. So instead, he shot an arrow up into the sky. The villagers asked Fen'Harel how he would save them, and he said to them, 'When did I say that I would save you?' And he left, and the great beast came into the village that night and killed the warriors, and the women, and the elders. It came to the children and opened its great maw, but then the arrow that Fen'Harel had loosed fell from the sky into the great beast's mouth, and killed it. The children of the village wept for their parents and elders, but still they made an offering to Fen'Harel of thanks, for he had done what the villagers had asked. He had killed the beast, with his cunning, and a slow arrow that the beast never noticed." -- Felassan

[source]

[simpforsolas]

i wrote up this whole rant yesterday about how I didn't find the Solas arc satisfying in this game, and seeing the ama and interviews today, I think I understand why that is lol.

yes, Solas carried this game. Yes i loved every time he was on the screen. yes his arc made me cry. NO it was not satisfying. and i'm just gonna go ahead and copy paste my rant explaining my feelings the best i can.

(i wrote this yesterday before all the revelations)

Solas's writing wasn't successful to me not because I think he was written out of character, necessarily. I think that every individual instance of his character being written on-screen was fine, but to me, his character was missing the wider context that put the isolated actions we saw of him in the game into perspective

The entire point is that the Dread Wolf/Fen'Harel persona that we see is a mask he wears. And that's fine, I like it! But what makes a mask interesting is to see what it's masking, and Rook doesn't really get to see that unless you choose the reedem ending. I guess what I'm getting at is that I craved to see more Inquisition-style Solas, in particular Trespasser Solas who was so remorseful but stuck in his ways, who stuck to his path but said stuff like "I would treasure the chance to be wrong once again, my friend." All these different sides are real sides of Solas, but because the game didn't really show us all these sides then we're left with a lopsided picture and now I have to deal with all these fools misinterpreting him all over the internet

I can still interpret it my way well enough, but the thing is that's my interpretation and it's a valid interpretation of the source material itself, but other people's interpretations are also valid because the game didn't really get more into his motivations other than "it's all mythal." But if you go back to inquisition, you can see how passionate Solas is about his ideals! His banter with other party members and his approval and dialogue you get with him really suggests that he actually CARES about his goal at an idealistic level, it's not just about regret. I like the regret! I like the history with Mythal!! I just wish it was more of something in his backstory that shaped him to who he is today and is something he needed to work through in order to finally see things clearly, instead of being the one magical thing that had to happen for him to get his "redemption"

I'm also rather frustrated that the right answer was just going straight back to the status quo, when we KNOW the veil is falling apart and shattered and an unnatural wound inflicted on the world that turns spirits into demons, prevents the world from achieving the magical/technological wonders it once had, keeps elves from immortality, and creates this fear and class difference between mages/non-mages and people who understand the fade and those who don't. Like when I replayed Origins i was struck by how many plot points are basically "the veil is weak here which means that there are demons here and they killed hundreds of people!!!!!!" Things like that are still going to be a problem hello why was none of this addressed 😭😭😭 I wish we could've validated the problems Solas's plan resolved to fix instead of saying "you just need to move on man this is just you taking your issues out on the world" because it WASN'T THAT

'm also really frustrated that we don't see a SINGLE big plan of Solas's go right because I know my man, I BELIEVE in my man, I know that he was smart and clever and had wins!!! I don't mind him fucking up but when all we ever see of him are major fuck ups it annoys me because COME ON. He's the DREAD WOLF. He knows how to make plans and carry them out. He saved thousands of slaves during his time, he fought and won countless battles, he locked away the Evanuris! Sure things fell apart in the actual veil part but he was able to trick all of them and did succeed in locking them away. The only thing we actually see him accomplish in this game is escaping regret prison, which is instantly seen as less cool because Rook gets out after like five minutes, and taking down the archdemon which was pretty hot but that wasn't about trickery, that was him engaging in straight up physical fighting in his wolf form. Anyway it frustrates me because now people in the fandom can rightly laugh about him being stupid and having bad plans. Yet I can't help but go back to inquisition and listen to his advice, dialogue, etc, and he's always so thoughtful and wise! So i just find it hard to believe that this man is incapable of taking a win. even if he kept all the Ls in this game but they had included a few more wins i wouldn't even be mad but it was literally just a collection of Solas's Ls and it frustrates me because I think he's better than that

i'm just worked up about this because i've been seeing takes about solas from people who used to like him but this game made them hate him, and the fact that the source material from datv as an isolated game actually supports their perspective is driving me insane. cuz if you ask me a lot of solas's character and motivations between dai and datv are actually at odds with each other. even if the surface characterization is absolutely on point, there was just so much context and scope that we're missing in this game. i can't handle it

[anomalousdata]

One of the things I really love about the codex Mementos in Veilguard is that they answer a question that Solas must also have been asking himself as he woke up from his accidental magical siesta: why does modern elven mythology paint Fen'harel as an enemy? Why is he a liar and a trickster specifically? Someone has to be trusted before they can be considered a betrayer or treacherous. Why were the ugliest parts of the Evanuris forgotten while only the ugly parts of Fen'harel were remembered? Well...

My favorite touch is that the first permanent, purely physical objects that elves created were made in the aftermath of this terrifying alteration of reality itself as a form of comfort. For the elves living through the creation of the Veil, mortality and the physical world were inextricably tied to terror, pain, and the instant, widespread collapse of everything familiar. If a giant meteor came out of nowhere, slammed into Earth right now, and caused a mass extinction event that blotted out the sun for years, that would probably be on par what the elves of the time experienced.

But amid all that confusion and panic at the end of the world, there was one well-known fact: Fen'harel did this.

The Archivist from Inquisition's Tresspasser DLC records the last thoughts and words of the elves who ended up trapped in the pieces of the Shattered Library. Some highlights:

“How could the Dread Wolf cast a Veil between the world that wakes and the world that dreams?”

“The Evanuris will send people. They will save us!”

“When have you last heard from the gods? When the Veil came down, they went silent!”

“What is this Veil? What has Fen’Harel done?”

“If we get out of here, I will end Fen’Harel!”

“After he held back the sky to imprison the gods, the Dread Wolf disappeared.”

“You’re wasting your time. Fen’Harel’s Veil has turned our empire to ruins.”

Even Felassan, who was truly a ride-or-die for the Dread Wolf, was struggling with feeling abandoned in the aftermath:

All this to say that the first unimaginably terrifying years of mortality for the elves came with the knowledge that Fen'harel had completely destroyed the world they knew and then abandoned them to face it alone. The fact that the ritual went haywire and Solas never intended to go into a magical coma? That probably would not have been much of a consolation to the people dying of hunger and disease.

The story of the slow arrow that Felassan takes his name from is a much more accurate portrait of Solas than he wants to admit. He killed the great beast, after all. The children of the village could live without cowering under its shadow. And if it came at the price of all their elders, of everyone who came before them, even if that was a bargain they would have never willingly made? Well...

"'When did I say that I would save you?'"

[internalloops]

I sort of feel like I'm the only one who doesn't want Solas to lose his power/ "god" hood in his redemption ending (if he survives it ).

Solas the fade-loving apostate, before we discovered who he really was never interested me in my first playthrough of DA:I (which we now know was intended and done beautifully) I didn't dislike him, and my first inquisitor was on good terms with him, but he didn't draw me in like Dorian, The iron bull , and the other companions did. He kind of was just there and I didn't really use him cause of it so I missed all the hints about his identity. It was only when it was revealed that he was fen'harel did he become interesting to me. (the elven/dwarven lore is my bread and butter when it comes to dragon age) And that's when I started to get into his story and jumped on the solavellan train.

So for him to lose that part of himself (magic and all) is to take away the part of him that makes him interesting as a character for me. As I saw a post say, it only keeps half of himself not him as a whole. And while some would see that as a fair punishment for the damage he's done/tried to do, as I see it with everything he's been through and the sacrifices he had to make: in order to save the elven people from mad gods, he had to literally create the veil and destroy their empire so that the world didn't fall to the blight... and that is killing him on the inside, to strip him of his power and a core part of who he is, feels like a low blow and a low hanging fruit solution to how to deal with him.

And those who are of the mind that no one in the world should hold his type of power, I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. That's not really how the world works, in reality or in fantasy. there will always be people who have more than others (power, resources, influence.. etc), and there will always be people who will do anything to the point of destroying people's lives in order to keep what they have/get more of it. And in regards to this fantasy world, you need powerful people to combat them. Had solas never gained the power he now wields, theads would not exist. If the inquisitor never gained the power of HIS orb, they would never have been able to defeat corypheus. If rook never got the lyrim dager that solas needed to be a full magical strength to purify, rook would have no way to fight/kill the elven gods.

Solas being a god/extremely powerful mage is what let our heroes become heroes in the first place.

I want Solas to accept his past and lose his guilt over making the veil (go to therapy you stupid egg) I want him to realize that he is not beholden to the stories that paint him in a negative light and that he can use his power for good (like he intended it) instead of destruction. That when his plans are not born from guilt and desperation (and they work), they are world-saving. I want this freaking man to finally learn the decades-long lesson that he refuses to accept, that no one, no matter how powerful they are can save the world alone.

But that's just me....

[edda-grenade]

felassan in da:i, aka a menace

can't stop won't stop, part 1 is here (also the post that inspired it by @mumms-the-word) but currently they're just floating scenes so

–––––

“Out of curiosity,” Felassan says one evening by the fire in the Exalted Plains, “what Dalish legends do you know? Other than the ones I've shared, I mean.”

Saar makes a thoughtful noise, head tilting. On the other side of the fire, Solas goes stiff as a board. Felassan smiles pleasantly at him.

“Well, the big one,” Saar starts counting on her fingers, “the great betrayal, how all the gods got locked up. Then some about Ghilan'nain, about the monsters she made—although I'm not sure if Iolain was just messing with me on that, I mean, tree-tall spiders?—and how she killed them all, to become a god.” There is a bitterness swimming in the undercurrent of her voice that surprises Felassan.

“You wouldn't have done the same, to gain that power?” he asks.

“Sacrifice what's basically my children to, what, gain the power to make different children? She could already do that.”

“Godhood, whatever it may have meant in those days, would certainly have given her opportunities that were inconceivable before,” Solas cuts in. He's watching Saar now, intent. Felassan’s smile sharpens.

“There's always more than one way,” Saar says flippantly and flicks a bit of kindling at the fire. “Not that I wanted to, but when I was a kid I wondered how it would've been if I'd been born Dalish, or a human Marcher, or in the Qun, and the vallaslin I'd get would have been hers.” She shrugs. “Until Ashuon told me the story of her ascension.”

Wordlessly, Solas gets up, turning away from the fire. Felassan watches him pace, slowly, the tense line of his back.

“Ghilan'nain would've loved you, I think,” he murmurs. He leans his knee against Saar’s. “Not sure if that's a good thing, though.”

Saar chuckles drily. “The Maker loving Andraste sure didn't save her.” She extends another finger. “Oh, and the one about Fen'harel and Andruil! ‘The Dread Wolf and the Tree’? Ashuon told me that one too.”

“Ah, yes,” Felassan says, keeping his voice light. “The Dread Wolf’s famous cunning.”

And his slow arrow being too slow to save him, even if that part never made it into the stories. Solas stops pacing. He glances back at them, over the fire flickering between. This once, Felassan can't bring himself to smile.

“Sounded more like desperation to me,” Saar mutters quietly. She's watching the fire, how the flames dance. “I mean, he's trapped, and outnumbered, and his choices are getting murdered or gettting raped. I don't think anyone's cunning under those circumstances.”

“Yes,” Felassan says softly. “I imagine he would be.” His chest aches, where the knife pierced him clean through. But the pain feels so much like an old panic, running after Solas who had gotten himself in over his head against one or more of the Evanuris. Damn him.

I was fine, Solas had said back then, and on so many other occasions. The situation was under control. But he had not resisted Felassan’s embrace, or his steadying hands.

“Stars, this is depressing,” Saar groans. She rubs her left hand across her face, stands up, stretches. Her gaze drifts from Felassan to Solas and back. “Tell me something fun? Either of you, I know you’ve got more stories packed away.”

The fire crackles.

“I did encounter a spirit of amusement, once,” Solas offers at last. Felassan suspects no one else would notice it, but Solas’ voice… it wavers, just a little. Saar grins and hooks her arm over Solas’ shoulders, then drags him to sit down beside her, with Felassan on her other side.

“The epitome of fun, huh?”

“It considered puns the highest form of humor,” Solas says flatly, and Saar laughs.

It’s a good sound. Felassan’s not gonna pretend he doesn’t like hearing it. Or that he doesn’t enjoy the way Solas’ expression fractures and softens helplessly, gazing at Saar. Serves him right.

[ohmyarda]

Slow Arrow “The god Fen'Harel was asked by a village to kill a great beast. He came to the beast at dawn, and saw its strength, and knew it would slay him if he fought it. So instead, he shot an arrow up into the sky. The villagers asked Fen'Harel how he would save them, and he said to them, ‘When did I say that I would save you?’ And he left, and the great beast came into the village that night and killed the warriors, and the women, and the elders. It came to the children and opened its great maw, but then the arrow that Fen'Harel had loosed fell from the sky into the great beast’s mouth, and killed it. The children of the village wept for their parents and elders, but still they made an offering to Fen'Harel of thanks, for he had done what the villagers had asked. He had killed the beast, with his cunning, and a slow arrow that the beast never noticed.” The Masked Empire, pg. 73

[maabelasdaruth]

So I have been obsessed with THE GREATEST by Billie Eilish as a sollavellan song, my evidence:

Okay, my top contender are my favorite lines in the song, because of how they apply to Solas refusing to let you go with him to help tear down the veil:

"And you don't wanna know (Know)

What I would've done (Done), hmm

Anything at all

Worse than anyone"

We know now how his refusal of help was directly related to his trauma with Mythal but honestly, this rejection does save my Lavellan in a lot of ways, because there is a very real part of her who would have become a monster for him (still possible depending on Rook's actions) but Solas refuses to have the debate over the veil, refuses to let you close after you know he's Fen'Harel- but seeing Ghilan'nain and knowing she did all of that for love of Andruil, that's what fucks with Amelin. It feels like dark mirrors of what could have been, and what could still be if the veil fell as a Somniari in love with the God who broke the world (again)

Okay so these are the building points of my favorite lines in this song, and fully supports the mentality of the Inquisition focused on redeeming Solas-

"Doing what's right

Without a reward

And we don't have to fight

When it's not worth fighting for"

This resignation to doing what must be done to stop Solas comes from his refusal to let her help but also, his refusal of help is an admission of doubt and disgust at the methods he would be taking for the greater good, he didn't want to stain her hands too, and Lavellan did all of this without knowing if she'd be able to redeem him

Last quote in my argument even though the whole song works really well, this is specifically that post trespasser Sollavellan vibe

"I loved you

And I still do

Just wanted passion from you

Just wanted what I gave you

I waited

And waited (Oh)"

Closing Arguments,

"I shouldn't have to say it

You could have been the greatest."

Because with the right redemption arc they are the greatest romance in Thedas (imo, I love my other characters too but in world shattering behavior they're peak)

[hustlemeanokay]

Some rando thoughts about Solas in Veilguard. About how I think they did such a great job allowing him to be able to fit a lot of headcanons out there. Spoilery so it's below the cut.

So. If you've played through DA:Ve (I refuse to call it anything else in acronyms because I think that is the funniest one ever) - then you know that Solas began life as a Spirit of Wisdom. And if you're well versed on spirits in the DA canon - then you know that spirits will mirror the world around them / become what is expected of them depending on whoever is encountering them. They become what you expect. And I think, personally, they did such a good job of this when it comes to Solas in the game.

Yes, I know - they laid down such a rigid Inquisitor backstory for him and I do agree with the fact that they could have allowed players to be like "no, actually, my Inquisitor loathed Solas and Solas loathed them." but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. So, they wanted the Inquisitor to have at least been on friendly terms with Solas. (If you select they vowed to stop Solas, he says they were friendly once or something along those lines and if they say they vowed to save Solas, Solas will say he still considers them a dear friend or something like that - I can't remember the exact dialogue). And yes - it is a better story if the Inquisitor and him were in a relationship. It adds another layer of awe and tragedy. Because this dude is hella old and here he is, falling in love with a mortal that he now knowingly puts in mortal danger because he has to fix his mistakes. I mean, we can (and have) go into great lengths about it.

But! What I think they did so well is that Solas... for all his past deeds, for ill or good, will be whatever you want him to be in the end. If you want Solas to be this vulnerable spirit who is just out there doing his best, making choices he has no idea how to make, with no context, with no idea how to be mortal because the dude takes thousands x thousands of years long naps - he'll be that. If you want Solas to be Fen'harel - hell bent on burning the world - an advisory, an asshole who will straight up finally say that he is a god? He'll be that.

Up until this point, we've only known the gentle Solas. The apostate hobo who gawks at an Inquisitor who punches him like he couldn't fathom such violence though he himself has done untold atrocities in the past. But here? In the Veilguard? We can witness him straight up killing a friend (accidently but still) and blatantly manipulating another person. And I mean, I can't be the only one who was like "dude, shut up" during the only time you get to have him along side you fighting and he's going on and on and on about how good Rook is at being the one to fight this fight. (Insert Rook's "I will pay real gold if he'll shut up" about Elgar'nan.)

I mean, Solas is almost painfully transparent towards the end. But, even still - he can be saved. Granted, the relationship with the Inquisitor has to exist but still - that just makes a certain amount of sense. Because he'd need another something drastic there to really change his course. I've put it in countless fics of mine, often said by Varric. You don't save the world for the world, you save it for the people in it. And Solas will have had one meaningful relationship with one person still living. And that would be the Inquisitor. And friendship is fleeting - he's had friends. Many of them over the years. Some who he had never dreamed would have betrayed him (Mythal) and others he's betrayed (the list is endless). But he's only ever had one love. No matter if you think him and Mythal had a thing (they didn't, sorry Taash).

ANYWAY, that's not the point - the point is that all the interactions you can have with Solas, you can mold him into whatever it is you've HC'd him as, really. He can be a little smart-assy, a little sassy, a little funny, a little humble, a little joyful, a little bit of a hero (he's not a really good one though, poor guy), a little bit of a protector, a little bit of a total asshole, a little bit of a bad guy, etc, etc. And I think they did that so well. They did it without it feeling forced or fake (except those praises he did for Rook there at the end but I think that was more about us knowing that he was tricking Rook in real time).

So, yeah - I'm just glad they didn't lock it down into Solas is this and nothing more type narrative.

[lasandra]

How My favorite 2 Lavellan Inquisitors Feel About Solas: Pt 2 Assana

Under the cut like Pt 1 because, also long. Pt 1

Assana Lavellan: For context, though Assana is the First of her clan, just like Eowynn, they couldn't be more different. Where Eowynn was a dutiful leader, Assana never wanted to lead. Assana had many doubts about what she was taught by the keeper and the elders of her clan. She had always been a curious youth particularly when it came to the past. She was curious of Fen'Harel in particular. How could she not be? He was not trapped in the Beyond or the Abyss like the others. That meant there was a chance (albeit small) that she could one day encounter him. She wanted to be prepared for that. Assana's curiosity of the man Solas began the instant he started telling her about the mark on her hand, so you know, basically immediately. Who was this man who knew so much about the mark on her hand? And just HOW did he know so much? He was fascinating to her. He was no Dalish, and yet he didn't act like your typical run of the mill city elf either. This of course led to her pestering him with all her questions. She was surprised when he seemed to enjoy her pestering. Most had always gotten annoyed with her "ceaseless questioning." His answers were delightfully unexpected. Conversation with him was the first time she'd heard so many of her own opinions coming from the mouth of someone other than her. It was as though she had found a kindred spirit. He even introduced new ideas she had never considered before that all sounded rather amazing. His flirtation caught her off-guard, because yes, he really seemed to flirt with her first. She was surprised but both receptive and reciprocal. Any time she went out, she brought him with, always seeking his advice, always listening to the conversations he'd have with the others. She realized not everything was as it seemed with that man but kept it to herself. After the destruction of Haven, when Solas told her of the Orb, that was the moment she felt like he trusted her and her affection for him grew. She had not accepted the idea that he might feel the same affection for her until... "And right then, I felt the whole world change." "You change... everything..." Kissing him felt like a no-brainer until she was actually doing it. Quickly doubt flooded her mind and she pulled back. Maybe it had been a mistake. Maybe he didn't really see her like that. Maybe... Or maybe he did. Maybe things were even more complicated than even she had begun to suspect.

The further along into their relationship they went, the more certain she was of her suspicions. She theorized that he had been hurt in a previous relationship. He had a hard time trusting, spoke often of betrayal. She was saddened by this, wondering just how badly he'd been hurt. She was determined to do everything in her power to help him not feel that way around her. In the Crestwood scene, she allowed him to remove her vallaslin. When he suddenly broke off the relationship, she was somewhat flabbergasted. She was quick to believe it had something to do with whatever he was hiding, as well as his past experience. "I'm not giving up on you, Solas." "Whatever you need, we can find together." She isn't mad at him or even painfully hurt on her own behalf. More so, she is sad FOR him. It's obvious to her that he loves her and she knows enough about him to believe that it scares him. She tries talking to him about it but he's evasive, of course. She is willing to give him time though, if that will help him. It's not until after the battle with Corypheus that Assana is really and truly hurt by Solas. She really thought that after the battle, they would be able to talk, and she could show him that he didn't need to be afraid with her. How could he just… leave like that. Without even so much as saying goodbye? She thought she meant more to him than that. During Trespasser, she was too worried about saving him from the Qunari to worry about reading anything on her way. So unlike Eowynn she got to hear the truth from Solas directly. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. She had been romantically involved with the member of her pantheon that she had been obsessed with since she was a small girl and she hadn't been able to put 2 and 2 together?? She doesn't dwell on the fact though. When he told her of his plan, she understood. She wanted the same world as him, after all. She begged him to take her with him. That she could not stand the idea of him being alone. Learning his fear of dying alone had left a lasting impression on her. Long story short, the girl is desperate and determined to save him, to be by his side.

[mythalsknickers]

Happy Friday! How about "kiss my hand. make me feel holy." from the religious imagery prompts for Solas x Lavellan?

Title: A Moonrise like Daylight Pairing: Solas x Fen'aslan "Evuniala" Lavellan Rating: M Word Count: 1,146 Warning: I am gonna Say Veilguard to be safe. @dadrunkwriting for safety reason veilguard I had fun writing this, and ho boy is this going to make me cry on my replay of inquisition thank you for the prompt.

Hope, a rare and fleeting emotion in the waking world and one he dared not have. As the snow drowned Haven, the dragon and his miscalculation flew away, he followed behind the pilgrims of the chantry. The original plan had the Herald not woken, starting to take shape. In the night he would make for Tarasyl'an Te'las and activate the wards and find a way to recover his orb.

Through the veil he felt something, the pulse of the anchor. Looking over his shoulder a small breath as he sought the aid of the spirits. Did she yet live somehow? It was another campsite before he heard the answer. Injured but Alive, his magic reached into the long tired wards of the area and the song of wolves filled the night. A simple request to guide her to them.

By the time they had settled into a valley for the night, he took to the edge of the encampment with a small torch. He needed to be away from the throngs of frightened and mourning masses, he needed to be able to listen for the aid he had called and for the Herald. It was hours before the last wolf howled and she collapsed in sight of the Commander.

As he followed the Commander to a tent he could hear the whispers. She was Andraste reborn, she had died and come back to them. His eyes looked to the nearly frozen elf wearing the Eyes of Fen'harel, how cruelly fitting. The masses whispered a likeness of Andraste, but he saw something far more ancient, Mythal in her youth lacking wisdom but she made up for it in kindness and fairness at first. Raised up by the people she too had saved from cruelty unchecked. Exhaling slowly he pushed the the memories and regrets of millenia ago back into the darkness. His magic enveloped the herald slowly easing what he could, the anchor while still his was now very much apart of her. He only left her side, when all that could be done was for the young keeper to rest.

It was the singing that pulled him from the fade, a scene that was familiar in to many ways. He watched as the Revered Mother lead the faithful, and Fen'aslan stood rigidly, her eyes darting around the crowd, and her armored hands clenching into fists. She was uneasy like a caged wolf. There may yet be hope that this would not fair as poorly as the last time the faithful raised and elf to worship.

"A Word." It was all he said as he walked behind her, he caught the relieved look as she broke away from the group to follow him. The road had grown more perilous now, perhaps with his wisdom if she listened he could keep her from the fate of women and elves alike in this religion. His hand waved and the veilfire answered with brief roar casting the memory of warmth. "The humans have not raised one of our people so high for ages beyond counting. Her faith is hard-won, lethallin, worthy of pride…save one detail." He paused as she drew near watching her as she held her hands to the fire and watched him. "The threat Corypheus wields? The orb he carried? It is ours." The shock he expected, as he prepared for her questions while continuing with the words he had already prepared.

"Even if we defeat Corypheus, they will find away to blame us eventually." The pessimism he had not expected but it came with a lifetime of suspicion at the hands of the humans. Yet he could gift her with one thing that would offer her some safety among the humans. Tarasyl'an Te'las, the trip there with the pilgrims would be arduous but it would give them the room to grow that they desperately needed. As she crested the hill, and felt the wards of his own fortress welcome him. Her opaline eyes lite up in a wonder....like that of Evuniala.

It was after the coronation, when she had become Inquisitor that he brought her to the fade. She had changed his whole world, a knot of regrets that Felassan had tried to reach over the millennia starting to unravel all because she listened and asked questions rather then give orders. Where Mythal had flourished under the burden of command and the duty of a ruler. Fen'aslan struggled, spending hours speaking to the advisors, and those who had formed her inner circle. Instead of Benevolence's radiance and Vengeance's fire he saw the gentle warmth of Hope and the chill of Despair.

A kiss to her hand, filled with a devotion he had not given in ages past to make her holy amongst the first of their people and to him alone. The spirits would whisper how the one who hunts alone had set her above her own people and made her equal to him. But she had done that all on her own, and it was only fitting now that he offer her the comfort of his devotion as Hope should have had it long ago as the rarest of the people.

His eyes met her opaline eyes and for a moment he swore he saw her Evuniala, the Hope so long ago lost. There was a hunger between them as she closed the distance first to steal a kiss. Not a goddess but perhaps something much more sacred and holy. He chased her when she pulled away shy of her own passion. His lips captured hers and his arms pulled her up onto his thigh. He could feel the desperation lighting between them, the spirits of passion taking notice as he worshipped her. Lips bruised and parting with sweet whimpers as he found her neck. His hand rested on her back, as she found her feet, cheeks and the tips of her ears flushed. The music of the elvhen court played in the distance of the fade. "We shouldn’t. It isn’t right. Not even here" he offered watching her eyes widen as she looked around. A dreamer she was but perhaps she had never realized her potential until tonight.

"What do you mean even here?" there was a pause and before he could ask her where she though they were. "This is not real?" His lips formed into a smirk, she was quick and cleaver. Not like a fox though but like a wolf....

"That’s a matter of debate… probably best discussed after you wake up." Vhenan...it had almost slipped out in the cast spell. He let out a breath. No it seemed she was not like Mythal, who she was like stirred a deep seated protectiveness in him. She had his devotion and that he did not regret but it made things harder. He would find a new way to correct his mistakes.

[baphometsss]

a few of my fav cute solas lines/gdl deliveries

"Come with me vhenan~"

I added the tilde because GDL delivered that line with what I feel is the perfect expression of the tilde

From the Crestwood scene:

L: "You're my...."

S: "...And that is the question, isn't it?"

So soft. So tender. So gentle and kind. Someone beat me to death with a hammer

Literally every single line of his in the Fade where he's getting excited about being there physically like a kid in a candyshop. Yes even when he gets offended that you assume he would go to that area of the Fade. It's honestly the cutest and most adorable he is to me he's so nerdy and passionate and homesick djeodje83jjdji

"I know vhenan, and we are running out of time..."

He's so heartbroken and endeared and in love and the way he talks to Lavellan in this scene is so much more wrecked than he is with a non romanced inquisitor

"Your interest is not my concern"

"Do not concern yourself with her vhenan. She is... apart from herself"

Prickly protective melodramatic Solas my beloved ♥️ Also this amuses me because he actually dignified it with an answer and it makes me wonder how he'd respond if the others asked him about it too. As far as I can remember he only has banter with Sera, Cole and Cass about it and he responds fairly differently each time . Was he getting teased about it by Dorian? Or getting shovel talk from Vivienne? Did Bull give him unsolicited sex tips? I need to know

Also if you have Bull, Sera and Solas in your party and you leave Bull for Sera, Bull says something like: 'no hard feelings, glad I loosened the lid for ya' and Sera laughs. If you laugh too Solas says 'I am decidedly uncomfortable' and it's honestly so adorable like okay grandpa let's get you to bed

He also seems to be a bit miffed by the concept of bondage which... when you consider his history freeing slaves kinda makes sense?? Idk maybe it's just me but the way he says 'as long as it tied you down first, one assumes' in the bull romance banter it seems like he's being a little judgey.

Also 'one assumes' I am kissing the screen every time he says that

Honourable mention for his stammering and trying to cover for accidentally revealing that he's been at court. Like yeah nice save Fen'harel how many millennia have you been doing this?? For shame

Overall 10/10 would recommend apostate hobo boyfriend

[felassan]

Red lyrium idol detail from the Dreadwolf dice set.

The angular, geometric style of the wolf head makes it all pointy and triangular. Less furry wolf, more the suggestion of scales or of a reptilian-type aspect (especially with the way the head is half bisected down the middle). The ears look less like ears and more like horns, especially with the dividing line separating them from the head itself. this reminds me of the half dragon/half wolf or dragon-wolf design on these dev t-shirts -

and the creature as described in Tevinter Nights -

But here, unfinished, was the outline of a beast that stood over both dragon and sword. This was not the battle, or the victory. This was after. And the beast was not a dragon. The outline alone might have allowed that assumption, but now, filling with black and red, it was something other. The creature was reptilian, but also canine. The snout was blunted and toothy, but edges came to a point in houndlike ears. As the mass of plaster filled the shape, it began to rise, revealing scales and tail, and paws with talons. It looked like two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass, then viewed together, their forms confused. A wolf that had absorbed a dragon, and now stood crooked over all.

in relation to this Skyhold rotunda mural -

The Dread Wolf is depicted with red eyes this time. Sometimes he's shown with red eyes (below), other times with blue.

Some other by-now very familiar imagery and motifs also return, like the figure with the staff from the Dread Wolf Rises Teaser trailer (Solas), the arrow/arrowhead-shape & outward rayed lines depicting the moment of Impact when he Did The Thing, those triangles that crop up when something Veily/Fadey/magicky is happening in a mural, the general gold and black color scheme (Golden City/Black City), and the alternating gold and black 'dotted line'-pattern that probably represents the Veil as a barrier between the Fade and the mundane world:

(👀 Shoutout to the 'arrow' shape, that depiction of the Dread Wolf always reminds me of the story of the Slow Arrow, that Felassan told Briala -)

"The god Fen'Harel was asked by a village to kill a great beast. He came to the beast at dawn, and saw its strength, and knew it would slay him if he fought it. So instead, he shot an arrow up into the sky. The villagers asked Fen'Harel how he would save them, and he said to them, 'When did I say that I would save you?' And he left, and the great beast came into the village that night and killed the warriors, and the women, and the elders. It came to the children and opened its great maw, but then the arrow that Fen'Harel had loosed fell from the sky into the great beast's mouth, and killed it. The children of the village wept for their parents and elders, but still they made an offering to Fen'Harel of thanks, for he had done what the villagers had asked. He had killed the beast, with his cunning, and a slow arrow that the beast never noticed."

[hoboblaidd]

the slow arrow

'when did I say that I would save you?'

The god Fen'Harel was asked by a village to kill a great beast. He came to the beast at dawn, and saw its strength, and knew it would slay him if he fought it. So instead, he shot an arrow up into the sky. The villagers asked Fen'Harel how he would save them, and he said to them, 'when did I say that I would save you?' And he left, and the great beast came into the village that night and killed the warriors, and the women, and the elders. It came to the children and opened its great maw, but then the arrow that Fen'Harel had loosed fell from the sky into the great beast's mouth, and killed it. The children of the village wept for their parents and elders, but still they made an offering to Fen'Harel of thanks, for he had done what the villagers had asked. He had killed the beast, with his cunning, and a slow arrow that the beast never noticed.

—Felassan, to Briala

[broodwolf221]

i already talked about his personality and behavior, now i want to dig into my theories about solas' distant past

note: these are just theories. some of these have already been discussed and/or are parts of fanon, so im not claiming that everything here is Incredibly Unique, but this is my particular view of all of it. sry this is so long i honestly tried my best but im very autistic and detail oriented.

i think that solas is one of the forgotten ones. the forgotten ones and the creators warred against each other and solas - fen'harel - was alone said to travel between the two groups.

i think it's bc solas was the spirit of wisdom. i think all the forgotten ones were spirits - more, i think they were the first spirits. not necessarily more/stronger/better than the spirits that followed, but the first.

and i think that they were the first sentient beings to exist.

when you're in the fade after adamant, solas comments that fear is one of the earliest emotions - save perhaps desire. and in the wiki, it says that the forgotten ones brought all strife to the dalish and the world, while the creators brought all good

now, we know that the creators were just powerful mages, the evanuris. how could mages have brought all good into the world? i mean, they already had a society, the good was there, they didn't will it into being. so, the creators did not bring all good into the world.

and we know that spirits can be corrupted into demons - too, we know from solas that they don't have to be, that it's dependent on interpretation.

i think that the forgotten ones, and by extension all spirits, are both a spirit and a demon. so, using solas as an example, he is both wisdom and pride. not at once, but as needed, as relevant.

and if we accept that, then it stands to reason that the forgotten ones, these primodial spirits, brought all good and all bad into the world. that's also why i view them as the first sentient beings. they made emotions. identified them, if nothing else.

going back to solas' description of spirits being changed by how they're viewed... i think that was true when the forgotten ones and the 'creators' were living at the same time. but i don't think it was a fixed transformation at that time. a spirit of X viewed as a demon of X might become that demon, but it wouldn't be anything like permanent.

it's not even permanent in the current game canon, as we saw with wisdom/pride/wisdom - but it took both undoing its bindings and having solas view it as a spirit to transform it back. and solas knew its nature.

but i think we're back to the nature of the fade here. the fade being part of the waking world made things more fluid, more changeable. nothing was as fixed or permanent as it is in the split world. which is also, imo, why the fade is now SO changeable, so malleable. the permanence went into the waking world, the mutability went into the fade, the veil a strict division between the two

if desire was the first emotion, and fear second, i think that pride - and thus, wisdom - would be the last. wisdom comes at the end, right? it's not a physiological need, it doesn't keep you safe, it doesn't inform you about the world directly. wisdom is about interpreting information, not just obtaining it - that's more curiosity. so i think that solas was the youngest of the forgotten ones.

and i think he - or it, really - watched the world. i think solas studied all, learned all, interpreted all, and did nothing for a long, long time, that being its fundamental nature. and then i think the 'creators' attacked the forgotten ones, perhaps wanting to bind them, or perhaps the forgotten ones tried to stop the evanuris from binding other spirits, im not sure. but the point is: there was war, or at least conflict, between the two groups

wisdom sees this. wisdom feels it knows what to do. so wisdom approaches the creators and tries to end the war before its begun. maybe it's as vaguely described in canon, that it promised both sides a means of ending the conflict; perhaps wisdom's choice was deceit. alternatively, perhaps it was acting as a peacekeeper, trying to make everybody understand one another, understand that war was unnecessary

whatever its purpose, it interacted with the evanuris and learned about the elvhen people and their culture. it obviously grew to respect mythal. solas calls her the best of them, says that she protected her people. i also think she was unique in that she cared about spirits, or at least grew to.

but i also think that what solas said is true, that mythal did protect the elvhen. she cared about more than herself and her power. but my theories about mythal and her nature are a different post, so that's all i'll say about her here.

now. it's important to note that i think solas - wisdom - alone of all the forgotten ones has never transformed. there was no need to. why become pride in complacency and peace? why shift from wisdom when there was still so much to learn?

but when the evanuris slew mythal, i think solas was born. its first transformation to pride - full of contempt and enmity, certain it knew exactly what to do going into this (end the war) and equally certain it knew what to do now (punish the evanuris)

so, pride used all its knowledge to draw the veil. pride, in its fury, split the world in half. pride sealed the evanuris away. and somehow, perhaps because it was the one to draw the veil or perhaps for no more reason than its physical position, it alone went to the waking world.

where it took the elvhen word for pride as its name. it was solas, now. he was solas, now. he took that name as a punishment and an admittance, at least to himself, of his crime. not sealing the evanuris away, but splitting the world in so doing, destroying so much of the life he'd watched grow.

the evanuris were sealed, and what happened to the forgotten ones was unknown, supposedly sealed away in "the abyss"

but i think that through one of several potential explanations, the forgotten ones are the old gods. either they seep through the fade into a possible host, or the abyss crosses the boundary between the waking world and the fade, or they fell into the depths of the waking world with solas.

regardless, i think they are the old gods, and i think the demon part of them is what makes the archdemons and, by extension, the blight. i also think this is why solas is so disturbed by the grey warden's desperate plan to hunt down and slay all the old gods - those are the forgotten ones. the ones that are left, anyway, assuming when the grey wardens slay an archdemon they really slay it and don't just like... transfer it back to the abyss, which i suppose is possible

and in a roundabout way, the mythos of the chantry is vindicated. 'heaven' - or, a peaceful existence - was disrupted by mages - the evanuris - who sought power. those mages indirectly created the blight, because they brought war to the primordial spirits.

and the forgotten ones, spoken of in dalish lore as the harbingers of all terror and disease and bad, are in fact the bringers of all, the closest to a true god that any of these would-be gods come to, but still not gods themselves. just powerful. and just first.