#yeah his connection to the inquisitor

[sunflowerhazel]

I've seen a couple of people both here and on twitter be upset that it looks like a solavellan world state is the default, based on a female lavellan with no vallaslin being the default Inquisitor. It really looks like solavellan and how much energy is being put into their story is pretty contentious amongst the fandom right now so I just wanted to remind everyone that even though a female lavellan might be the default for the Inquisitor, you can always change that!

Remember when BG3 first came out and people were super excited to create their characters as well as the dream guardian, even though none of us knew who the dream guardian would be yet? You know how when you boot up a new game the "default" race/class is an elven barbarian? You know how you almost always change that immediately????

The same way that we all changed the default origins character and the default dream guardian design to fit whatever we wanted, new Dragon Age fans that have never played the game before will most likely change the Inquisitor's design based on whatever they want. Also "elf" comes first alphabetically when your options are "elf, dwarf, human, qunari"

But all that being said, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that a solavellan Inquisitor is the default. If that's not what you want, totally fine! Go wild! Make your Inquisitor a hot qunari woman who's married to Sera! Make it so your Inquisitor hates the egg man's guts!!! However, for new fans who might just be picking up Dragon Age for the first time and don't want to go through the trouble of making an Inq. (and therefore choose the default option,) making it so your character's advisor is in love with one of the main antagonists of the game can be a really interesting story. That's all.

And once again "elf" comes first alphabetically anyways so like of course the "default" would be an elf I just think it's really not that deep

[abyssal-ilk]

posting that sketch yesterday made me remember just how much i love my taashath so i did another doodle <3

[chernychnyi]

i usually like my dragon age love interests to contrast my characters somehow and yet the desire to romance emmrich as a fellow academic... would it be weird if he peer reviewed my papers before. would it be unprofessional

[aerynwrites]

Mixed Signals

Solas x reader/inquisitor

A/N: the Poll has spoken! y'all chose option 2 (I love that btw) so you shall receive. Some backstory - for whatever reason and despite having all the approval requirements and everything, my game bugged and I did NOT get the solas balcony romance scene and I'm MAD!!! idk what the scene was even supposed to be other than a kiss but yeah. here's this lol. this is also my first ever DAI pic so I apologize if things seem OOC. Hope you all enjoy!

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: Hurt/comfort, very slight angst, fluff, kisses, petting? lost of kissing.

 “I’ve disturbed you enough for the evening.”

Solas’ parting words ring in your head endlessly since he left your chambers yesterday. They had stunned you, making your brows furrow as his demeanor seemed to change. You were sure, so sure he was going to take a step forward in your relationship. Even though you’d both agreed to take the risk, the tension had never waned, as if one wrong move would destroy the fragile relationship you’ve built. 

When he left…you thought it had finally shattered. That not acting on the energy crackling in the air, Solas was - effectively - giving you a final verdict. 

That was until today, when you went to visit him, after hours spent in the war room. Cassandra wanted you to speak with him about his knowledge on the elven artifacts you’ve been finding throughout the region. 

You walked in, finding him sitting in his chair, thumbing through a worn leather book. 

“Solas -”

“Yes, vhenan?” 

You nearly choke on air, hiding it behind a small cough. The term of endearment was not one used lightly, especially not by Solas. Your heart was thrumming in your chest, eyes wide as Solas finally looked up from the withered pages at your silence. 

He raises a brow at you, closing the book on his thumb to keep his place. “Did you need to speak with me?” he asks, again. 

Your mind runs at breakneck speed, yet you’re still unable to comprehend his words, still stuck on his initial greeting. 

Vhenan…

Solas stands then, setting his book down before taking a few steps to stand before you, settling a gentle hand on your arm. 

“Vhenan…are you alright?” he asks, voice soft, concern glittering in his gaze.

Finally your eyes connect with his own, and it feels as if the breath is stolen from you once more. That memory from the fade playing over and over in your mind. But you quickly shake it off, breaking his gaze and looking at the wall over his shoulder. 

“Yes, I…” you trail off, voice small, unsure. “I seem to have forgotten what I came for. Forgive me.” 

You turn without another word, hurrying from his presence with a greater haste than when you arrived, leaving a baffled Solas in your wake. 

That had been hours ago, the sun having long set, yet sleep evades you as you lay in your too large bed in your too large chambers. You are more confused now than when he left you on your balcony just a day ago. He had a chance, a chance to speak with you about…well about whatever this was. You had expected as much when he asked to speak to you alone, in your chambers no less. Yet…he didn’t take it. And now, he’s calling you endearments you’d always dreamed of hearing from his lips, whispered against your skin…

With a frustrated huff you sit up in bed, tossing the covers aside. You are going to find answers, you have to talk to him. 

Quickly lighting a candle, you reach for the robe hanging on the post of your bed, pulling it over your shoulders before reaching for the candle once more. You make your way across the room, the chill of the stone floor sinking into the soles of your feet as you pad towards the door. 

Pulling the door open, you have to stop the shout that bubbles up in your chest as you’re met with the very person you were searching for. Solas stands on the threshold of your chambers, hand raised to knock, and the tips of his ears just the slightest tinge of red at having been caught. 

“Solas-” “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

You both speak at the same time before falling silent, waiting for the other to speak. 

“I was just-” “I need to speak with you”

By now your own cheeks are burning, as silence envelops you once more. 

“Well, this isn’t going to work.” you finally say, heart fluttering at the smile your words elicit from the elf in front of you.

“Conversation will not get far that way, no,” Solas concedes. 

You step aside, gesturing him in, a command he silently obeys. 

Neither of you speak for a moment, and you take the opportunity to light a few more candles around the room, noticing only briefly that Solas seems…nervous. 

“Vhenan-”

“Why do you call me that?” you interrupt, setting the last candle down on your bedside table. 

This question seems to perplex the man, his brows furrowing as confusion settles on his features. 

“Vhenan,” you repeat the term, “Why do you call me that?”

“Do you not like the term? I just assumed it was appropriate-”

“Why?” you interrupt again, all your confusion and inner turmoil and insecurities coming to the surface now that you're alone with him. “I didn’t think…I know you were hesitant about this relationship. I know you think it’s a risk. But you…you left, Solas.”

You can tell he wants to speak, but he stays silent, encouraging you to continue in his own peculiar way. 

“On the balcony,” you clarify. “I thought…you asked to speak with me and I thought-” you cut yourself off, clenching the fabric of your robe in your hands as you struggle to verbalize your thoughts without sounding like an idiot. 

“I thought there was more to  say, there was more you were going to say. About us. But then…you said that you respected me deeply but then you just left! As if you are some burden I wanted gone, or as if you aren’t worthy of my time, but I- I want this Solas. With you. I want you, and I thought you wanted me, and if you don’t that is fine. But you can’t keep sending these clashing signals-”

You don’t  even notice him approach, not until his lips meet your own, cool hands cradling your face as he pulls you deeper into the kiss. A kiss you eagerly return, hands dropping your robe to instead fist into the fabric of his tunic, pulling him impossibly closer, wishing you could pull him into your very being. 

You stumble blindly as Solas urges you backwards, your knees hitting the edge of the bed, Solas following you down to the feather mattress, catching his weight on his forearms. 

He never breaks the kiss, his lips molding against yours as fire runs through your veins, burning brighter than the summer sun. His hands, calloused from years of wielding his staff, slide beneath your robe and ruck up your night shirt in search of the soft skin beneath. 

You both only separate for desperate gasps of air before Solas is devouring you once more, teeth nipping at your lip before you feel his tongue slide along the seam of your lips. You clutch him tighter as he sighs into you at your willing acceptance, exploring your mouth with his own before he finally breaks away from you, nuzzling against your jaw as he presses feather light kisses there and down your neck. 

“I want you,” he breathes, hands clutching at your waist. “I crave you. And it terrifies me.” he admits. 

You take a moment to gather your thoughts, the thoughts that were scattered leagues apart from one another by his kisses, by his hands roaming over your skin. 

“You…you can be afraid and still do it,” you tell him. 

Solas chuckles then, an almost inaudible sound against your collar bone. 

“What do you think I’m doing?”

You smile, sliding your hands up to cup his jaw, urging him up to look at you, heart stuttering a the look in his eyes. 

“I thought…”

He shakes his head, turning to place a kiss on your palm. 

“I have not stopped thinking about our kiss in the fade,” he admits. “I’m sorry if my actions betrayed otherwise.” 

 “Will you stay?” you ask.

Solas smiles down at you before capturing you in another breathtaking kiss. 

“Nothing would please me more.”

Solas lifts himself from you, helping you beneath the covers before moving to extinguish the lights around the room. When the last one is blown out, you only know he joins you when the bed dips at your side, the covers lifting as he slides in beside you. 

Warm hands seek you out once more, lips fumbling in the dark until you kiss one last time, this one seeming to promise more than words ever could. 

Neither of you speak again. Not until you both settle, Solas’ body pressing into you from behind as his arms snake around your waist, legs tangling with your own. Not until you’re already in the dregs of slumber and you hear him call to you one last time.

“vhen’an’ara.”

[invinciblerodent]

While I'm on the topic of being hopelessly in my feelings about these characters, I just finished the last part of the Gloom Howler quest, and I'm thinking about Davrin and names at the moment.

I really, really love how, once we learn the truth about her, Davrin seems to make a point of always referring to Isseya by her name (mostly on its own, but sometimes in conjunction with calling her "The Gloom Howler" when necessary), and even correcting others who would refer to her only by the latter name. (Which, honestly, both Solas and the Inquisitor could also talk at length about a title that all but replaces your name- it definitely feels significant that Davrin would pointedly reject the thought of doing that to someone, but I digress.)

And that reminded me of how I previously made an idle, kind of shitposty little post about how nice I found that during his recruitment mission, Davrin calls out the specific names of each griffon if you interact with their cages, and he attempts to comfort them like that- by reminding them who they are, that he's there, and promising that he'll be back for them.

In retrospect, I think that's so interesting, how his core story seems to boil in part down to... well, in part to the burden of duty, the questioning of tradition and authority (he questions both Dalish- and Warden traditions from very early on, one by joining the Wardens and the other by joining Rook) and, yes, living past what one thought to be their purpose, but also... to these moments, that invite some contrasting of his elven-, and his Grey Warden identities.

Isseya being an elven Warden is a very direct parallel, and a very clear image- it, I think, is meant to show what happens when authority goes unquestioned, and one side (the Warden) triumphs over the other (the person). His uncle then acts as a counterpoint and a thread of connection to the past- he shows what happens when tradition goes unquestioned, and while peaceful, how that existence is not one Davrin wishes for himself.

This all comes to a head in the final choice concerning the griffons... which, I can't say what a "correct" choice is, but I find it really cool how one option embraces a more rigid tradition and acts as a vow for reforms within them, honoring them, while the other embraces a different tradition, one born of fluidity, choice, and change- a more personal freedom.

Purpose and nature, respect for the past and hope for the future, all strain against each other sometimes (in multiple companions' stories, I feel), and it's often a name that represents the complicated harmony between two halves.

Be that Assan, noble descendant of a hero Warden's griffon wearing an Elvish name, Isseya, the monster and mage brought to peace, the idea of "turlum", harmony and understanding forged between vastly different minds, or just... Davrin, the Dalish Grey Warden, who is not more one than the other.

Maybe that's why calling people (and animals, and feelings) by their proper names seems so casually important to him. Because if you give something complex, messy, and muddled up a name, it's easier to just live it.

(.......... and yeah, that makes it a bit ironic how so far he's been calling Rook, "Rook", but, yknow, technological limitations. I've a feeling I've at least one important scene to go still, but honestly, the name "Rook" does also kind of represent a similarly complex matrix of ideas condensed into a person. It could be that "Rook" feels more accurate than any "friend", or "love", or "boss", or even "vhenan", for what they are to him, or it could be that he's still looking for the right name, but either way, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.)

[ir-abelas-vhenan]

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.

[lavendarr00]

ADAIA "ROOK" THORNE | GREY WARDEN | SLAYER

Adaia (ah-die-ya) is my Grey Warden and my youngest Rook at 21 years old. She's special to me because she's actually the secret child of my HOF and Alistair. (I had to do it haha) My Tabris HOF and Alistair fell in love during DAO and spilt when he became king but they maintained their secret love affair resulting in Adaia. She has a serious/stoic personality, romances Davrin, and is closest with Harding & Lucanis.

Ramblings about Adaia under the fold (some end game datv spoilers) 😊

Tabris went to be with Leliana in the chantry while she was pregnant and gave birth there. Tabris couldn't return with Alistair's child and her duty to the Wardens and Ferelden lead to her leaving Adaia with the Chantry for adoption. She named Adaia after her mother. The only other people that know about Adaia's parentage are Alistair, Zevran & Morrigan (though I feel like Solas somehow finds out). Alistair has never met Adaia but got to see her once with the help of Leliana while visiting Orlais (Tabris gave him permission). Adaia does not know who her parents really are. Leliana naturally keeps tabs on her and in the rare opportunity she gets in contact with Tabris she shares what Adaia's been up to and what she's like. Morrigan does not reveal her parentage when they meet in Veilguard but a knowing smile would flit across her face when interacting with and observing her.

Details about her origin aside, Adaia's personality is more serious/stoic like her mother but her dad is Alistair so... yeah she has her moments 😆 Her upbringing was more or less uneventful but that pushed her to seek a higher purpose in life as a teen which eventually lead her to joining the Wardens. In truth, the decision to join the order was impulsive and she often regrets joining but at the end of day is dedicated to fighting the blight and saving lives. She struggles with feeling like she needs to be useful to be of value and can have a temper. She takes life too seriously which makes rolling with the punches hard for her. She gives surprisingly good advice and shows a lot of grace to those she cares about but will never give herself that same grace. Not very self aware in that area.

In Veilgaurd, she romances Davrin & her bestie is Lucanis so just like her mother she falls in love wither her fellow Warden and is best friends with an Antivan Crow 😆 She's also close with Harding since they are both from the South and are "salt of the earth" type folks. She, Harding, and Varric quickly became like a little family while hunting Solas. Adaia takes Varric's death especially hard. He really was a mentor to her and got a lot of comfort and reassurance from him. His "it will all work out" like mentality was something she needed especially after being basically kicked out of the Wardens. She's mature of course, but still young and learned a lot from Varric. To his surprise, Varric came to really appreciate and cherish the role he took in Adaia's life even though it was brief.

Post Veilguard, Adaia & Davrin work with the remaining Wardens to research what of the blight is left and how recent events have effected it (and go visit the griffons of course). We learn from the Inquisitor that the south has basically been wiped off the map from the double blight but of course we don't have specifics. No clue what Bioware has in store for Rook post Veilguard so I'm going to write my own thing until then haha

My HC: Alistair is alive, got married, and has a child (young - no older than 10) so Adaia is free of the potential responsibility of the crown. My HOF was not idle during the double blight. She survives but gets serious injuries meaning she can no longer fight. Before the double blight she was researching the calling so she decides to take that back up again and travels to the Anderfels where the remaining wardens are based. She and Adaia meet. Adaia has no idea of her connection to her but Tabris knows right away. She keeps that to herself as she and Adaia get to know each other. Both are heroes that have ended blights so they had a lot to talk about. Tabris helped Adaia out a lot actually with processing lingering regrets and grief from events in Veilguard (Harding's death especially). And Tabris got to spend time with her daughter for the first time since Adaia was only months old. It was very healing for both of them. After some time Tabris gets the courage to tell Adaia who she is. She doesn't expect Adaia to believe her and if anything expects anger from her. Adaia doesn't take it well but not entirely bad either. Mostly shocked and speechless and needed some space to think about it. But within the week Adaia & Tabris are connected to the hip. Davrin thinks Adaia's parentage is hilarious. Of course Rook would be the daughter of the legendary Hero of Fereldan & King Alistair! It explains so much 😆

And that's Adaia! 🤍

[cosmiccrushes]

The Potential of a Painting

Solavellan || 2.1k words

on ao3 here!

summary: Lavellan visits the Lighthouse for the first time and finds, upon its walls, something she did not expect.

notes: I'm just obsessed with the idea of the frescoes in the Lighthouse being Solas' venerations to Lavellan. And her having to process that. I cannot stop thinking about it

***

The Inquisitor's boot connects with smooth, flat stone as she steps through the eluvian. 

“Home, sweet, home,” Rook says as they step through the mirror behind her. 

“Is it sweet?” Inquisitor Lenore Lavellan asks, tilting her head thoughtfully at Rook. The idea of Solas having a place, comfortable and safe, to return to after leaving his bloody trail through Thedas stirs her emotions into a muddled brew. Not quite rage, not quite relief. Bitter on her tongue. Telling in the warmth it spreads down her throat, through her stomach. 

Rook shrugs their shoulders. “Eh, it grows on you. Strange to be in a place that keeps expanding and changing as more of us arrive.” 

Strange indeed, Lavellan thinks. That Solas would choose to live in a place capable of transformation when he himself has refused to evolve. She’s heard all about this Fade-touched place from her various reports and letters from Varric. The Lighthouse- where rooms appear to accommodate Rook’s growing team. A place that seems to be made for community, to provide for its occupants. Yes, strange that Solas, who’s chosen to walk his lonely path, would take his rest here. Then again, did the Dread Wolf ever rest? The last decade spent always a step too far behind him would suggest otherwise. Her own restless nights would demand it. 

“So, a tour first? Or,” Rook pauses, “Would you like to see Varric? He's resting in the infirmary.”

Lavellan smiles at Rook’s kindness. It's been many moons since she's seen her dear friend, yet, “Thank you, Rook. But a tour first, I think.” 

Rook nods, sweeping their arm forward. “Right this way.” 

She climbs the steps from the eluvian’s chamber into a wide, circular space. Her gaze is immediately drawn upwards. Her lips part in awe at the beautiful, mysterious contraption spinning in the center of the room. 

Rook is watching her, something of pride in the curve of their mouth. “Yeah, it's breathtaking.” 

“Mmm,” Lavellan hums, rotating in a slow circle, as her gaze hunts hungrily across the low tables and chairs, prowling for signs that Solas was ever here. 

Rook’s voice breaks through her focus. “This is the main entrance hall. We take a lot of our meetings gathered here. The fireplace has a nice ambience for discussing the downfall of ancient elven gods.” Rook shrugs their shoulders playfully. “Since we're already downstairs, let's see the music room first.” 

“Music room?” Lavellan asks sharply, a memory glinting like the edge of a knife before it plunges through her. 

***

“Yes, vhenan, I've been known to dabble in piano.” 

Lavellan stares at him doubtfully. “You? Play piano?” 

Solas gives the tiniest shake of his head and his lips pull at the edges, like he's fighting back a smile. “I've dabbled over the years, yes. Is that hard for you to believe?” 

She leans an elbow atop her balcony, resting her chin in her hand. “It's hard to imagine you dabbling in anything. You seem more of an, ah…” She taps a finger against her bottom lip as she searches for the right word. “A deliberate pursuer of things.” She looks back at Solas. His eyes are fixed on her lips. 

“Ah, yes. I suppose I can be rather decisive in my drives.” His gaze finally lifts to her eyes. “Most of the time.” 

A warmth spreads through her at his words, and she thinks, not for the first time, that perhaps Solas had rather meant to dabble with her. Had stumbled into something far more definitive than he intended.

“Maybe it’s just surprising that you would have a more idle hobby.” 

“I paint, do I not? It is not so far reaching that I might enjoy leisure time with other arts.” 

Lavellan laughs, wide and open-mouthed. “Solas!” She gasps between mirthful breaths. “You don’t dabble in painting. You create-” She shakes her head, picturing the beautiful murals adorning the walls of his room. “Masterpieces,” she says softly. 

Solas stares at her like she’s the sun. Warm and bright, but difficult to look at for too long. He’s always watching her like this. With a reverence and longing that makes her ache. He’s just as likely to reach for her in those moments as he is to turn away, as though afraid she might scorch his skin. 

“Perhaps I can hear you play, when this is all over,” she gestures vaguely at where the sky is torn open, bleeding Fade and demons. 

Solas’ answering smile is brittle and breaking. Like bark peeling off a tree, revealing the growth of something new and harder underneath. Many of Solas’ smiles were like this. It maddened her not to know what they meant. 

“Maybe, vhenan,” he replies, his fingertips reaching to brush gently against her temple, trailing the shape of her vallaslin. It did not feel like the potential of a promise though. More the doleful caress of a decision already made. 

***

“Yep, a music room, complete with a piano!” Rook is saying, striding across the room to reveal a round door in the wall. Lavellan follows them down a long hall, drawing a deep steadying breath through her nose- that she immediately exhales sharply in a quiet gasp as she steps fully into the music room. 

Paint is splashed across every wall. Perilously parallel to the frescoes Solas created in Skyhold. As if sensing the lurking danger, her heartbeat increases its pace. She half expects Solas to look up from one of the armchairs, a book open on his lap, old elven endearments on his lips.  

Rook is saying something, but Lavellan cannot hear over the rushing in her ears. For across the walls, is the story of the Inquisition. Just as Solas once painted it in a tower room that smelled of earth and spice. If she could force her lungs to draw breath, would she be able to smell his scent lingering here? 

“Inquisitor? Inquisitor?” Rook's concern is etched across their brows when Lavellan looks at them. “Are you okay?” 

Lavellan nods slowly. “Yes, sorry. I'm just… taking it all in.” 

“Right,” Rook says with the undercurrent of knowing there's something more to it but being tactful enough not to ask. Lavellan's fondness of Rook grows by the moment. 

Rook leads them from the music room, re-entering the central chamber. “I'll show you the upstairs rooms next. It's amazing- everyone has their own chambers, curated specifically to meet their needs. Somehow, the Lighthouse knows what we'll require.” 

Lavellan's footsteps are heavy on the stairs, her mind tumbling through time. She watches her feet lift from step to step in a detached sort of way. She feels weighed down by the past. A past she didn't expect to encounter here. A past someone did not warn her was gaping open here, hemorrhaging from the walls. 

Color at the corner of her vision catches her attention. She turns her head, footsteps faltering as she crests the landing to the second floor. 

Now she's not just weighed down, she is falling. Plummeting to the bottom of a well where she floats, weightless, at the edge of drowning. One mouthful of broken heart away from going under. 

She spins to look out at the other walls on the second floor landing. Every single one of them is a brutal punch to the gut, a glorious blade to the bone. Like a gift wrapped in rose thorns, beautiful and promising but horribly confounding. 

Solas has painted frescoes here too. But these she has never seen. Suspects they were not made to be seen. Solas filled his empty lighthouse with the ghosts of a person still amongst the living. She swallows hard, forces tears not to fall. Would they be from grief or gratitude? She does not know. 

Every painting depicts wolves, an homage to Fen'Harel, one might think. But amongst the wolves, too prominent to be mistaken as anything but a focal point, is her. Bathed in golds and reds, fiery like the rising sun. Hair flowing long around her, like she used to wear it in moments of refuge at Skyhold. A Dalish charm dangling from her neck in the painting closest to her. Her own vallaslin depicted on the charm’s surface. As if Solas plucked it from her brow all those years ago and enshrined it here.   

Rook’s tour is forgotten. Lavellan makes her own way from painting to painting nestled between doorways, gaping at her likeness. Why? Why has Solas painted her here? All these years he has refused to stand before her- or so she thought. How many times has he stood before her portraits? Are they here for his pleasure or his penance? 

She traces a finger down her face in one of the murals. Her hair is flowing around her in this one too. Her hands clasped around the hilt of a sword at her chest, its blade pointed to the ground. A large wolf, his head tilted back in a howl, sits at her feet. She lays her palm against the wolf and a single, strangled sob chokes out of her. 

“Uh, Inquisitor?” She remembers Rook is with her. They are looking back and forth between her and the mural. “Is that you?” Rook asks, bewilderment permeating their question. 

“Yes,” Lavellan states plainly. 

“Oh,” Rook’s head bobs up and down. The upward slant of their eyebrows indicative of how baffling they find this development. “Varric never said-” 

“I’d like to see Varric now.” Lavellan cuts them off, offering a gentle smile to soften her bluntness. 

“Of course, sure, yes.” Rook’s head is still nodding. “Over here.” 

Lavellan exchanges pleasant greetings with Varric, waiting until Rook shuts the door behind them as they exit. Then she turns to Varric and demands, “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Ah, I take it you saw our very own little museum to the Inquisition.” Merriment dances in Varric’s eyes. 

“Varric,” Lavellan says, exasperated with his response. “There are paintings of me everywhere. Maker’s breath, why didn’t you tell me they were here?” 

Varric sighs. “I thought it was best for you to see it for yourself, Lenny.” 

She softens at the nickname. “I suppose I might not have believed you if you’d written to me about it.” 

“I do love a good joke,” Varric smiles dimly. “Although, I’m not sure that would have been a very amusing lie.” 

Lavellan sits on the edge of his bed, taking care not to disturb his injuries. “Then why are you so amused?” 

“Because, Lenny, don’t you see? He can be saved.” Varric says it with a conviction that presses on her heart painfully. 

“Varric, I don’t think-” 

He interrupts her with a raised palm, before she can begin the same argument they've had for the last decade. It's not that she doesn't want to save Solas from himself- that had been her own steadfast conviction ten years ago. But with every body he dropped behind him, every instance he avoided a confrontation with her, Lavellan felt him slip further away. He didn't want to be saved. The Dread Wolf had chosen, and his choice had not been her. She had to choose too. If she could not save him, she would stop him. 

“I trust my gut on this one. I’m right. Chuckles can be pulled back from the ledge, whether he knows it or not.”

“He stabbed you!” Levallen exclaims. 

Varric sighs again. “And I’ll be pissed at him about that when I see him next. But first, you need to knock some sense into him.” 

“Me?” She huffs an incredulous laugh. “Varric, he didn’t listen to me eight years ago. What makes you think he’ll listen now?” 

“Those are veritable venerations to you out there,” Varric implores, pointing at the door, the faintest tinge of vexation in his tone. “That’s not the work of a man who’s given up on what he really wants.” 

“Or perhaps it’s the graveyard where he’s laid to rest the wants he refuses to have,” she says darkly. “Besides, he is trapped in the Fade now. It hardly matters.” 

Varric studies her intently. “Doesn’t it? Do you really think he'll stay quietly locked up there forever?” Varric pauses. “Is that where you really want to leave him?”

“Damn you.” 

“All the way to the Deep Roads if you like, but I’ll still be right.” 

She smiles at her oldest friend. “You really think I can reach him this time?” 

“I think,” Varric says slowly. “He’s spent his last lonely decade painting your portrait to fill the emptiness around him.” Varric softens, voice dropping to a low murmur. “Those paintings aren't a cemetery, Lenny. They're his salvation.” 

Lavellan sinks. Slips beneath the cold, calm surface of her hope. Chokes on a lungful of potential. Varric takes her hand gently in his and squeezes as she weeps for a painting and what it might promise.

[crossdressingdeath]

DAI does that with a lot of things. Morrigan gets to claim to be a Elven expert, even though you know that is far from the truth if you've played Origins where she didn't know shit. Cullen gets final say in his dialogue options despite you knowing that he's lying. Grey Wardens gets shit on and the Inquisitor can wildly overstep.

DAI has this weird mix of a) expecting you to have read all the books/comics so that they don't have to explain anything and b) assuming that you haven't played the previous games so they can try to rewrite what happened.

Yeah, the required reading for DAI was ridiculous. WEaWH is always the big one because most of the others you can get by without it (even Cole's backstory isn't necessary to appreciate and understand the character, and enough of it comes up in-game to get by), but knowing what Celene and Gaspard did is kind of fucking important, Bioware. And then even when Celene purging the alienage comes up it's used as a mark against Briala for being in a relationship with her at the time even though if I'm understanding the excerpts I've seen of TME Briala breaks it off as a direct result of the purge and (as Dorian rightly points out) that'd be more Celene's scandal than Briala's anyway. Like, they try to make Celene purging the alienage into Briala's crime because she was sleeping with the empress at the time and that's just... ugh. But it's like, I would argue that it would be fair and honestly best practice to assume that people playing the third game in a series have played the first two games? DA has an overarching narrative even if the connections aren't particularly close, if someone wants to start partway through they can but the writing should expect people to be familiar with the games' stories. Maybe have some codex entries summarizing the previous games or a little intro cutscene, but... I don't know, I'm worried about the fact that apparently DAV doesn't need you to have played the first three games when literally all the setup for it is in DAI. Expecting people to have played all the games in a narrative-driven RPG series and not to have jumped in partway through is fair! Expecting people to have read five supplementary novels and two coffee table lore books to understand the plot is ridiculous. At least Tevinter Nights and The Missing so far seem to only be relevant to DAV in that they show some glimpses of what's been going on between games and give us a point of reference for some of the new characters...

The thing that gets me with DAI is that the game really wants you to side with the Templars whether it makes sense or not. Like... let's take the choice between mages and Templars as an example. The game wants you to side with the Templars. It really does, it tries its best to dissuade the player from siding with the mages if you go that route (Cullen's little "Oh... it's so dangerous... we shouldn't do it..." routine is notable when compared to Leliana and Josie, both of whom favour the mages, being very professional about you picking the Templars), it does its utmost to claim that the rebellion was unwarranted when it absolutely was not, the rebels are constantly framed as weak or mean or evil or stupid while the Templars were just misled (by... a guy who told them he'd let them murder all the mages and left out the "in service to Corypheus" bit, they still joined his little walkout to murder people, but the game doesn't get into that), it even lets you switch quests well past what should've been the point of no return if you're on the mage route (WHY CAN YOU SWITCH AFTER LEARNING THERE'S A FUCKING MAGISTER IN FERELDEN TRYING TO ENSLAVE A BUNCH OF MAGES, BIOWARE, WHY THE FUCK IS THAT AN OPTION) whereas with the Templars you can't even learn what your advisors' plan for getting you in alive is until you're locked in. And I'm not going to lie, CotJ is legitimately the better quest. I did it once to see and god damn it is quality, I don't dislike IHW but... yeah CotJ is definitely stronger.

But then you actually look at the story and... why the fuck would you side with the Templars? They left the Chantry because the Divine told them not to murder people. That's explicit, people tell you that repeatedly. They're making excuses for it, but there's always an acknowledgement that... yep, that's why the Templars left, they wanted to kill people and were mad about being told no. Leliana (the most familiar face among the advisors and given Cassandra's previous appearance was threatening Varric and Cullen's was playing yes man to Meredith for nine years and only changing sides once she became a threat to him/because not doing so would mean fighting Hawke Leliana's the one people are most likely to want to side with) is pro-mage and dismisses Cullen's claims that the Templars could help close the Breach as speculation. Which... it is. This situation is completely unprecedented, no one knows what's going to happen. But given mages are incredibly powerful and Templars are repeatedly portrayed as mostly useless in any sort of real danger that doesn't involve children or indoctrinated Circle mages (it is not a coincidence that the only people locked in the tower in Broken Circle who survive with their minds and bodies intact without the demons actively choosing to let them live for funsies are mages; the only Templar who's alive and unpossessed is Cullen, and the demons very obviously could've killed him at any time and just chose not to because they were having fun toying with him) I'm gonna say the mages are a safer bet. Also because... they invited Quiz. That could be a trap, but you know what's definitely a trap? Walking into a fortress full of heavily-armed mage killers who openly want you dead. Meeting with the Templars is really, really stupid (especially if you're a mage) and you don't even learn the plan for getting you inside unharmed until you actually select the quest. Also that plan is basically just "if there are witnesses with societal power the Templars can't murder you unprovoked" because reminder: the Templars are the absolute worst. Why would you ever want these people around. And then if you meet with the mages first like "Well I'll figure it out once I've heard what they have to say, I don't have to commit if I do things this way so I might as well" you learn that there's a Tevinter magister serving an evil Tevinter cult just chilling in Redcliffe and why the fuck would you go to the Templars at that point this needs to be dealt with. The game wants you to side with the Templars but it gives you no reason to do so, I really wonder sometimes if the writers weren't talking to each other at all.

[notenoughdragons]

so i caved yesterday after *gestures* all of that on the other side of the pond, and bought veilguard (meant to wait till the first bugfix patch is out), and i have thoughts

(spoilers for the first few quests)

fucking adore the character creator. overwhelming as heck but God a+

addendum: why tf aren't there different lip/mouth shapes. we have like 30 eyelash options. i'm p sure da:i had diff mouth shapes

THERE'S NO QUICK SAVE/LOAD OPTION???? why on god's green earth

the photo mode is NEAT (tip, get yourself reshade plus the "mod" that allows hiding the UI, so you can do screenshot nonsense in cutscenes too)

it took me like 15 min to get rid of the quest marker bc that shit is hidden in Two diff menus but oh my god so worth it

on that note, i'm Really enjoying the area/level/dungeon design, and traversing it Without an annoying big blue star thing blinking at you is really good

the environments are just. unhinged in the best way. THE CROSSROADS? D'META VILLAGE?? THE OSSUARY???? perfect no notes

have i mentioned the hair? the hair is really good. i'm a lttle obsessed with the style i gave my rook, i didn't think i'd like it this much

okay let's talk plot bc. uh.

see, on the one hand? so far (recruited bellara and got the dagger and fucked around in the crossroads and am currently getting murdered by murdering calivan so lucanis will murder for Me) it… works for me? like it really feels like getting thrown into the DEEP deep end, but it's a kind of. idk. sensible progression?

and oh my god ghilan'nain. i kinda hate how normal she comes across in the memory dungeon lab? (which. AMAZING QUEST) but also i love that SHE'S UNHINGED, that solas clearly held sympathies for her, the way i YELLED when you hear her voice when that dragon shows up in the blighted village??? amazing

(NO fucking idea how this would play for someone who's not familiar with the series, good lord the amount of exposition crammed randomly into codex cards???)

that being said. how the fuck does this connect from trespasser/tevinter nights. solas what Happened to you. like this is (part of) why i'm Not using saar as the inq in this run, bc even pretending they Weren't madly in love, it doesn't work. i don't think it works for Any inquisitor who befriended/romanced him (unless maybe one who decided to go full scorched earth and hunt him down at all costs)

in meta terms i know why this is happening but How is varric our insight point into solas and the connection to him. even if you're not playing them, this Should be the inq. solas doesn't lose a single fucking word about anyone But the inquisitor in trespasser. it's just this really tragic dissonance y'know

also the way this game is frontloaded is so fucking funny (i am also choosing to find it funny). IMMEDIATELY unleash the evanuris. IMMEDIATELY get solas trapped somewhere so he can't use his not-god powers to help you. FIRST "normal" quest is a horror movie walkthrough of The Most Blighted Village You Can Imagine, like okay! solas spends all of da:i being fucking coy about the blight and now it's like 'the evanuris are blighted. yeah they used the blight for power that's why i trapped them. they got out and immediately start spitting blight everywhere For Power. the REST of the blight is trapped in the evanuris prison. yeah the black city IS the evanuris prison. also blight is alive too. uh what else'

sidenote. did. did no one think it was A Little Weird to frame it like 'solas is trapped in the fade' - 'but not like us! we're also trapped in the fade but in a completely different way!'

i do love the fade conversations, it's got dishonored vibes

(and cut-away scenes to the Villains Having Ominous Convos! i liked that in da:o)

also i have hints turned on and the. the little pop-ups. "solas remembers your verbal jab" THANKS GAME

ACTUALLY SPEAKING OF THOSE VILLAIN CONVERSATIONS. we're just gonna drop into a fucking codex that the lyrium dagger IS the red lyrium idol??? SOLAS CAN CLEANSE THE BLIGHT AND WE'RE NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT IT????

basically. the connective tissue to da:i etc is uhhhh. insane. bonkers, even. but also when i ignore that, it's legit fun??

also good lord i'm glad i didn't try to come up with a super specific character/backstory for this, the faction backstories are Real specific, and rook is written with a v definitive Slant (not a bad one! but there IS a slant)

[abyssal-ilk]

blight, i've been replaying dai and just got to the scene where vivienne tells a mage inquisitor "mages need the company of our fellows. those without magic can never truly understand us" and i am so unwell over it

YEAH. YEAH. gnawing on the many dynamics a mage inquisitor can have with vivienne, but that line especially gets to me. it's that line and when vivienne talks about what happens when young mages first come into their power ("a girl setting the barn on fire/a boy tearing his mother apart with lightning."). i would of loved to have known what her first experience with magic was and how much comfort she actually finds alongside other mages. despite all of the connections she seemingly has in the circle and the courts, vivienne has always read as someone being extremely,, idk. lonesome to me. she has allies. not friends.

which is why i love having mage inquisitors that are able to connect with vivienne at least on the idea that mages need each other. especially in a time where mages are being blamed for anything and everything and everyone is at each other's throats

[gwynbleiddyn]

they talk for hours.

Morrigan watches patiently, out of sight and mostly out of mind, a tremulous understanding strung between her and the Warden-Inquisitor Severan - now a shared tale that has endured ages, a Blight, and a son. Kerros briefly wonders whether Kieran would appreciate the irony of all this, but then he thinks he'd prefer sitting in the tree with him in Skyhold again instead of here, at the end of the world.

"tell me about them," Rion asks of the Veilguard. Kerros doesn't know where to begin. it feels like they're starting at the end. how much time has passed since he left home? has Cullen remembered to prune the rosebushes and tend to the lemon trees? does grandfather still call around every day, insisting on coffee and a conversation whether or not his father wishes to oblige? Kerros can see it clearly in his mind's eye, the way the garden is left untended as Cullen tends to Rion instead, too weak to leave his bed some days. he can see Amrun pacing in the terracotta kitchen, herbs drying on a rack, coffee brewing in a pot and poured in a cup that will be left untouched - truth be told, Rion doesn't taste much anymore.

Kerros blinks, and he sees his father, sat across from him. sick. tired. armoured, resolute, unyielding. he does not know how to stop fighting.

"you'd like them," Kerros answers. he tells Rion about Taash and Harding, his closest confidants - Rion's eyes lighten at the mention of the Inquisition's scout - and he skirts carefully around Emmrich's fondness of spirits, unwilling to test the weary mind of an ex-Templar. he explains Bellara's tenacity, her cleverness, how he wishes he'd met more Dalish like her in his time. he talks of Davrin's seemingly innate heroism, and how Assan keeps him humble. "and Neve," Kerros says, "she shares your sense of humour, but she's got more braincells to work with., soo...."

Rion chuckles, a faint and raspy sound.

"and there's Lucanis..." he leaves the rest unspoken, but Rion's gaze softens. he knows. and perhaps it is pointless to dwell on something his father will not live to see.

but he can pretend, for a moment, "...when this is done, we're going to Treviso. Cafe Pietra. best coffee this side of Rialto Bay, I promise. Lucanis is a man of his word."

it's easy to get lost in the details of his new life, but with each admission comes a little notch of pain, a fresh mark on his heart, slowly cutting away the fine threads that hold him to Skyhold, to the Inquisition, and to Rion.

he may be a shadow of himself in the here and now, but Kerros holds onto a vision of Rion so tightly that time can only bend around his fingers to touch it. it leaves fingerprinted indents, glimpses in the light, of a man whose shoulders could carry him around Skyhold without a care, even when the world was knocking at his door.

it is a small, fleeting moment, but he thinks he finally has an answer for Bellara's hero. why does he do it? because this story isn't fair, and he will fight it until he can't. no matter which way the tides turn, even if they win, Kerros will lose, and it will hurt more than everything that came before.

"i miss it," Rion admits. "the friendship, that connection. even in the Templars, the Wardens, it was those bonds that kept you going on your worst day, and trust me, the worst day will always come. your friends will keep you when the world won't."

Kerros swallows back the incessant grief, and smiles.

"yeah. i know they will."

[broodwolf221]

triple checks it's the right blog this time...

so I'm having a p shitty week and I'm gonna cope by talking abt my meta for solas, mostly in terms of his personality and behavior. I have a LOT of meta abt his past and nature and future but that's... another post, lmao

some of his key and/or most interesting characteristics:

kind

selfish

reserved

arrogant

empathetic

detached

now, let's dig into these

kind: he clearly and consistently wants people to be happy or to alleviate their suffering. he's glad the inquisition helps refugees, he's glad (dialogue, not approval iirc) when you take the time to find the apostate supply caches in the hinterlands, he makes a point of connecting with every single companion, even ones who regularly degrade him. and in trespasser, he goes to extreme lengths to keep southern thedas from falling to the qun, because he wants the people - those he knows and those he doesn't - to be happy and at relative peace.

this is one of the most remarkable things he does imo, bc if he'd just let the situation develop, he'd have an absolutely clear path to achieving his goals. yes, he'd need to get the anchor another way, but that's hardly impossible. what matters is that by stopping the war, he gives the inquisition/inquisitor clearance to pursue him without distraction, while also arguably giving the qunari the ability to focus on strengthening the veil, bc i cant imagine the viddasala and her people were the only ones of all qunari to have/know of that goal

selfish: if romancing lavellan, he understands one aspect of his selfishness, because it's a relationship he should have shut down HARD. but his feelings are real... and he selfishly gives in to them, even knowing he'll break their heart. he does try to pull away, he does eventually break up with lavellan, but by then the damage is done. even the offer to remove their vallaslin is selfish in its way - he's trying to give them a piece of the truth, but instead delivers a cruelty and leaves them whether they accept or deny his offer.

but he's selfish in another important way, too: he's convinced of his own perspective. he thinks bc he literally knows more (which, yeah, tbf he does), that his pov holds more weight. he's willing to change the world bc of his guilt about it ofc, but also bc he's - selfishly, self-centered - convinced that he's RIGHT to do so. he's not traditionally selfish - in many ways he's selfless, overwhelmingly willing to sacrifice all his own chances at happiness and peace in order to restore the world - but his selfishness (which ties in with his arrogance) is shown in his self-conviction.

he makes excuses, but honestly? he could have told the inquisitor who and what he was. he could have done that! he could ask for help reconnecting the fade with the waking world. dreadwolf could be about the inquisition gathering together myriad experts and looking for ways to do it that aren't destructive. but he's so assured that his path is the right one, the only one.

and it's... a complicated selfishness, too, because part of it is that he feels like he deserves to be punished. he thinks he needs to walk this path alone not bc the inquisitor is incapable, but because 1) He Knows What's Right, and 2) He Deserves To Suffer (to alleviate his guilt about his "sins" - which is selfish in a complicated and roundabout way)

reserved: the superficial aspect of this is obvious: he's lying about his identity. but he's also reserved as part of his core character - according to him, he used to be reckless, quick to fight. I think his reserve is something he grew into, a willingness to play the long game, an understanding that information given can never be taken away. it leads to other things - a hesitance to trust, for example - but it's just a part of him now. I think even if he found someone to be 100% open with, he'd STILL be reserved by nature

arrogant: my man is an arrogant ass, no denying it. ofc he knows so much more about history than those around him, but he's also so willing to fight about it, to condescend, to trivialize. when he realizes he has a genuinely receptive audience his tone changes, so I think a lot of this stems from defensiveness and a deep familiarity with needing to justify his every expressed opinion, but... he's still an ass. his conversation with a dalish inquisitor at haven? yikes.

he's also regularly convinced that his interpretations are the correct ones. like wrt my recent post about the mages after Faded For Her, I have to assume that he thinks the inquisitor sparing them demonstrates disdain for the inherent value of spirits and their sentience, even if the real reason is a lot more complicated. he jumps to conclusions and states them like facts and it takes a lot for him to begin to deconstruct them

empathetic: this ties in with his kindness ofc, but its worth a unique mention. he is incredibly empathetic. he cares about what happens to people, to spirits, even to your enemies in a way - he talks with bull about how he doesn't like to relish his victories in combat because the people he kills could have been something else, someone else. he cares about wolves (I WONDER WHY... but also like, him being fen'harel doesn't mean he HAS to care about wolves, but he does, bc he cares about animals, too), he cares about the farmers being attacked by wolves, he cares about the refugees, he's understanding towards speaker anais and the cult that grew up around the rifts... he not only cares, he understands where people are coming from, regardless of who they are or how they behave

detached: this one lessens somewhat over the course of the game, but he's deeply, fundamentally detached to the world he woke up in and the people who inhabit it. its a little ironic when u look at his kindness and empathy, but it doesn't negate his detachment. i tend to think of him as seeing everything through a fog, feeling like he's not really there at least as much as he feels like everyone else is not really there.

not joking or exaggerating, he must have such terrible trouble with disassociation/derealization. ive seen people bring up excellent points wrt this that i dont feel a need to rehash, but suffice to say: while he still cares, everything he experiences is at a remove. this stems from shock, trauma, guilt, fear, and profound culture shock.

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

Ok I’ll give Veilguard this. In Inquisition you grow to love Solas (if you actually like him, haters need not apply here). In Trespasser you can feel the weight of his hinted past and sorrow and feel that uncomfortable mixture of betrayal and sympathy but also more betrayal and doubt. You look at him as a friend or a lover, and in high approval he very much behaves as a thoughtful man with a touch of wry irony to him. But always gentle. That’s the framework Solas loving/liking Inquisitors see him in.

But in Veilguard… hoooo boy, I hate him (in a good way). Like I love him? But the game showcases him at his most snide, his slyest, his most calculating, his most haughty. We can argue whether it’s a facade that he’s channeling to help him push through to finish his goals or if his Pride is in fact twisting him, or if this truly is all of his flaws front-loaded for Rook and the player to see.

It *does* fulfill the warning that Solas gave Lavellan in Trespasser that he didn’t want her to see what he’d become. I came into the game a die hard pining Solasmancer and yeah, I wasn’t.. frightened or put off, but I was admittedly unnerved. In fact it fulfilled a specific fear I have of people, it being “I don’t know who is secretly evil”, so watching Solas sneer and talk down to Rook in their first two conversations from a place of power and self-importance made my stomach turn in an evocative way. It was effective for me, and they managed to keep the facade up by not making Solas one-note in his evil. He was regretful, nostalgic, and gave kudos to the people of the Inquisition. I was happy to know he didn’t see them only as pawns in the end. He did grow to care for them. But in his mind, that phase of his life, that “mission”, is over.

Like thank GOD they didn’t completely butcher this character. Lotta stuff surrounding him was fucked but Solas himself remained at least somewhat coherent and functioned adequately as a versatile ‘anti-villain that thinks he’s an anti-hero but also a villain and it’s complicated, okay, but he does have some villainous mannerisms that make you go ‘uh..hold on a sec, you seem to be enjoying that a bit..’ villain.

To see my man be that wicked to Rook is like.. wow, this is how he treats people he has no feelings for who stand in his way. The Solas we got in Inquisition was de-powered, and maybe you built an antagonistic relationship with him, but he got to *know* you. With Rook you are conversing with a Max Disapproval Solas from the jump. It is greatly derived from the fact that you foiled his ritual—you, some guy. He treats you like some random off the street who infuriatingly messed with his plan, because you are. You have no direct connection to him. You might as well not even exist to him. That it wasn’t eveb a former member of the Inquisition who managed to pull a fast one on him. If it were a member of the Inquisition he would have deemed them worthy. But you? You’re unworthy of having accomplished trapping him.

Like Who are you to stop him? Who actually in the fuck are you? You’re a whelp, you’re vapor, a waste of perfectly good yearbook space.

It’s giving Sovereign v. Shepard vibes, naturally. And I’ll admiiiiiiiit it was at least modestly interesting to see this dynamic play out with a humanoid rather than a giant eldritch space monster.

But anyway, yeah. Solas was kind of misused, as was everything in Veilguard, but there are some decent truffles to dig up in this mud.

[morganzephyr]

For the Rook ask: 10.

10. Does Rook know their history? Do they know of the HoF, Hawke, the Inquisitor?

Yeah Corrynn knows about each of them!

The story of Branda Aeducan is whispered in Surfacer circles, a princess exiled from Orzammar, using her diplomacy and wit to bring Ferelden together and knight a king and queen. And that she even managed to court and wed the Divine. Though Corrynn didn’t hear as much from that side as they were more surrounded with groans of frustration at her name, managing to convince a Crow to her side and his survival resulting in his own house being torn apart.

Sparrow Hawke is the one Corrynn is most familiar with, with Varric spinning many a tale about their adventures, learning about everyone from their crew. Carver, Anders, Merrill, Fenris, everyone. Including Gamlen, Bethany, Leandra, Bodahn, everyone Sparrow deemed important to keep close to their heart. Learning their struggles, their personality, everything Varric enshrined about them. And meeting their captain/girlfriend helped make them real without ever seeing them in person.

Venar Cadash is probably the one they have read the most about, as his influence within Carta crime circles and impact on Ferelden-Orlais politics and climate sent shockwaves through the Crows’ information networks. When they were sent to the south for the occasional job, they would hear whispers of his exploits, of strings he pulled, allegiances forged, and new guard dogs at his beck and call. But when asking about him to Varric, as opposed to the deep connection to Sparrow, his stories about Venar were more precise, surgical even. Straight to the point with less flavour, which Venar would have appreciated. Hawke was a person, Cadash wanted to remain an icon. So when they meet him, they start trying to strip away the story from the facade and reputation he built up over all the years. See how much of a person he really is.

[theheraldsrest]

“Companions React to Inquisitor hiding their newest injuries”

Hahahaha. So many feels. Also, don't worry if some stuff might move. Ficing things.

-Lord Lex

Cullen

-It would take this man forever to notice. Not out of negligence but he tries to mind his own business. The first time he sees it, possibly a time when you drop the enchantment, he’s startled and asks how it’s happened before apologizing for intruding on the matter. If you tell him the truth, he’ll be outraged and ask if you’d like him to do something about it.

Josephine

-Pays a little more attention than Cullen but still tries to respect your privacy. She knows something’s up, whether it be flinching or turning your face in an unusual fashion. When her concern grows, she tries to bring it up as delicately as possible. If you show her, she’s horrified and tells you how sorry she is and how she’ll do anything in her power to reprimand the person.

Leliana

-More or less one of the first to notice but won’t bring it up. It’s your business, she will not intrude on it. Now if you do bring it up and/or show her, she will be livid. The thought of you getting hurt because of some noble snob and she had not been told goes against her job. You can bet she will find a way to make that noble’s life a living hell and that he begs for death. Yeah, she’s a little ticked.

Vivienne

-Do not, whatever you do, tell her it’s new. If she gets even a whiff that you have an untreated injury that you’re hiding with magic, she’s going to give you a lecture. If it’s new? Oh she’s going to be on a man hunt. Will demand to know who hurt you so that she can repay the favor. The Ice Queen will not hesitate, bitch.

Varric

-He knows. He just does. He knows how to hide secrets well but he can also tell when others are hiding something. But he’ll respect your choice…unless it’s something that is harming you/has harmed you. Then he’s gonna oh-so-subtley and very gently tell Cassandra to check on you. What? He’s not a touchy-feely person but he’ll make sure his friends are good, healthy, and not badly injured.

Cole

-Cole knows it’s there and may or may not know the reason behind it. But he knows it hurts, so you’ll usually find things that make you happy suddenly pop up almost out of thin air. Will even leave solvents or herbs that can help with injuries becuase you flinch from it. Doesn’t mean to but he will point it out if some pain starts to settle in or someone sees you flinch.

Solas

-Oh? Illusionary magic? Whatever for? Solas can recognize it a mile away and yet won’t bother you about it unless it starts to become worrisome. Will pull you away from others and try to ask you if it’s something he can assist with. If you do allow him to help, he’ll either help try to heal it or help you to better hide it. It’s your choice after all.

Cassandra

-Remember the last post that said she’d be livid? Yeah, this is worse. Worse for the person who caused it, not you. She’ll respect your space but will try to make sure it’s not cuasing you any pain. Josephine does tell you that someone who seems to have a connection to the Pentaghasts had been seen threatening the nobleman. Cassandra will not confirm nor deny anything.

The Iron Bull

-Once more, believes people should show their scars with pride. But will respect you wanting to keep it hidden. Of course, he can tell when a scar is recent. And there’s a reason he’s known (or was known) as one of the best damn spies. He’ll find the noble and do whatever he thinks will fit for what the noble did. The punishment should match the crime, after all.

Dorian

-He knows due to his years of study with the different types of magic. Plus, traces of magic just so happened to suddenly appear around your face after that stiff night at that party? He can connect the dots. His first question is would you like some help with trying to heal it. His next question is how do you want like your noble served? Burned, fried, or frozen?

Sera

-People think Sera is stupid or oblivious. On the contrary, she’s observant when she wants to be. And she can see something is up with your face. Unlike the others, though, she’ll question and get into your business. If you tell her what happened, she’ll nod say ok and walk away. Which is very worrying. Until you find out someone had filled up said noble’s house with bees. It’s a big house.

Blackwall

-Forgive him, he tries to mind his business. Also doesn’t notice things immediately. If you let it slip, he’ll feel stupid that he hadn’t noticed and ask if you need to talk about it or if you need anything to soothe the pain. Another person who, if you tell him what had happened, will be outraged and promise you that the noble will get their comuppance. Don’t worry about him talking to Sera later about how many bees she needs, it’s a different matter. Definitely.