Sulah X Solas Comm For @elspethdekarios

So my biggest problem with Solas x Mythal isn’t that I’m “jealous” of their relationship or anything like that. In fact, I really like the concept of her being a toxic and abusive relationship he has to let go of to be able to move forward and find true happiness with the inquisitor.

My problem is that it cheapens Solas’s motivations and seems to make his only reasoning for tearing down the veil be loyalty to Mythal. It also, to me, downplays the significance of the inquisitor’s influence on him. This was disappointing because in Inquisition, we were introduced to Solas as this very wise, idealistic, and thoughtful person who cared deeply for his causes. Justice for Mythal was one of his motivations, but I never interpreted it as his main motivation. I thought his main motivation was always to make a better world and fix his mistakes.

I truly believe that he’s not wrong about some things. The veil IS a wound inflicted on this world. It was made by him; it’s not the world’s natural state. It’s falling apart and broken. It creates a class divide between mages and non-mages, and by separating spirits from the physical realm, it makes them more susceptible to corruption into demons and makes people scared of them. There are tons of instances through DAO - DAI where weak spots in the veil lead to mass demon possessions and death. It made a world where elves die instead of live forever, and where they either live in slums or as shadows of their former glory in the woods. But DATV didn’t address ANY of this. It painted Solas to be this lovesick pup whose motivation was purely emotion-based, and it didn’t help that this game didn’t go into Thedas’s socio-political climate so a new player wouldn’t understand that the world of Thedas is seriously messed up, and that Solas’s plan would resolve a lot of the issues in need of fixing.

The problem is, and always has been, the cost. Solas restoring the natural order of the world would cost thousands of lives, and destroy the current world and all the good it has to offer. In order to abandon this plan, Solas needed to not only be released from Mythal’s service, but to let go of the world of the past. He needed to acknowledge that the world he loved is gone, that a new world that he also loves has taken its place, and that it deserves a chance to live. It’s sort of implied that he goes through this shift in belief in Trespasser, but it’s not enough at the time, and that’s okay.

Anyway, with all this in mind, this is how I’m choosing to interpret Solas’s entire redemption arc. Solas did have his reasons to tear down the veil that he passionately believed in, but through his interactions with the inquisitor and rook, the only reason that truly remained was that he didn't want to fail Mythal. They changed his perspective on the world, and showed him that it’s a world worth preserving, even if it’s different. He didn’t want to do what he had to do, and by the end of DAI and/or Veilguard, the only thing keeping him tied to his course was duty to Mythal. So she has to free him to allow him to move on.

However. If Mythal had released him from his service at the beginning of inquisition, because Solas hadn’t gained any affection for the new world, it wouldn’t have mattered. He would’ve been like "cool i'm doing this anyway because I want to.” Changing his course required two things: having his heart changed by the inquisitor, and Mythal allowing him to move on. Unfortunately I feel like the game is a little sloppy with this and makes it feel like freedom from Mythal is all that matters, but my dear friends, she is not. It was a team effort all around, and Solas’s redemption would not have been possible without our beloved inquisitor. 💜

sosal? (извините)

alternate Trespasser concepts where Solas uses blood magic to explode the Qunari and protect the Inquisitor………..

……….. hot

felassan things that kept me awake last night:

the 4,000 year time span between the veil and the masked empire during which felassan could only ever have spoken to solas in dreams when at all.

the years solas spent in the lighthouse with all those fucking notes from felassan around. "don't cause too much trouble before i get there."

the only time anyone says felassan's name out loud in the video games is when solas says it in an ancient arlathan memory

solas not painting felassan a mural in the lighthouse and only referring to him as "my agent," once, but still regretting what happened with him so much that it's one of the three big revenants powered by his regret, after the titans and mythal???? sir your repression

the ambiguity of "the betrayal of felassan" as the name of that revenant. whose betrayal of whom.

the heart of corruption/revenant dragon residing in the same place felassan used to go to get away from everything.

felassan calling it "our rebellion."

felassan being aware that he would die if he reported back to solas, seeing a plausible way he could run instead, and reporting back anyway.

the tone he takes during his death scene being so friendly and nonchalant, "what's the harm really" and "i suspect you'll hate this," like he's still trying to talk to solas like they are friends and equals even while he is aware solas is about to kill him.

felassan isn't even his real/original name and in one of his veilguard notes he refers to being felassan at all as being "solas's friend felassan" like that identity is inextricably tied to his friendship with solas, he cannot be felassan without also being solas's friend.

"and you are the slow arrow?" / "i hope so."

in conclusion,

BioWare posted this dreadpuppy sticker in their Discord and I had to rush to draw the dreadpuppy

They didn't let Solas interact with Kieran in dai bc he'd smell the June on him and have a melt down thinking about their own parallels and also Kieran would doxx him on fantasy roblox by accident

something something Felassan telling Solas they have to keep up the Dread Wolf act to give people a reason to believe someone is strong enough to fight for them and something something the Inquisition advisors telling Inky they need to believe they were sent by Andraste to give people hope. the Solavellan parallels continue to slay

in my dreams, we are always together and there are no odds stacked against us. there are no wars, no fights, and tragedy doesn’t stand between us. there is only you, knuckles in my cheeks. there is only me, palms on your neck. just us and we are at peace and that is all that needs to be said. - in my dreams, we’re together by wt

[solavellan commission by @yelenhol]

Friends Are Never Truly Gone

the 'vallaslin are sacred to all elves ✋️😔 not just the Dalish' tattoo dialogue is so weird but if I write an essay explaining why I fear I'll combust and die