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[amoaliquis]

always an angel/ never a god

(thank you to babes @plisuu and @queenaeducan for the WIP wednesday tags!! 💖)

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Thinking about Lavellan losing a bet to Varric, who then dares her to get a nude portrait done. (He doesn't want it for himself, he just thinks it would be funny if there was erotic art of the herald of andraste somewhere out there.)

She knows exactly one (1) person who paints, so she asks Solas to paint her. But she doesn't explain the details, or at least she doesn't do it *well*.

The resident apostate hobo is already slightly nervous about this (he may have a crush). And then she comes in, goes "Right, let's get this over with then" and immediately takes her shirt off.

I think he'd be the very face of professionalism. Wouldn't even flinch. "Of course. Sit."

She does. After shedding the rest of her clothes.

His ears are still pink several hours later at dinner.

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this render is actually everything to me, ughhh he looks so lovely.

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Similarities - Hancock and Solas Edition.

Those who are acquainted with me are aware of my fondness for Hancock. He is, without a doubt, my favorite. My numero uno.

Solas is neck and neck. Thus you KNOW this post is full of all kinds of appreciation. Or lust. I dunno. What's the damned difference?

Now, what could these two men possibly have in common besides being bald? [I KNOW that was your first thought! Don't lie.] /affectionate snort.

1. Both men are/were Rebel Leaders.

Fen'Harel, also known as The Dread Wolf and formerly Solas, was a leader who guided the Elvhen people in opposition to the Evanuris' oppressive rule and the perceived protection that masked their enslavement. Solas adopted the moniker "Dread Wolf" to instill fear in his adversaries, which later became a source of inspiration for his followers.

John Hancock, previously known as John McDonough, was deeply affected by the murder of a fellow drifter in Goodneighbor, an event he was unable to prevent due to the armed henchmen of Vic. The resulting guilt consumed him, leaving him feeling utterly despondent. Following a particularly intense experience with chems, he awoke in the Old State House, finding himself next to the attire of the historical John Hancock. This experience triggered a profound change within him, leading him to break the display case, take the clothes, and begin organizing and training a clandestine revolutionary militia. Ultimately, they successfully ousted the tyrannical Vic and his followers, culminating in Vic's execution from the Old State House balcony.

2. Both men went through major transformations of their being.

Solas, initially a spirit of Wisdom, transformed to inhabit a physical form derived from Titan's blood, also known as Lyrium. Initially content in his spiritual existence, Solas was resistant to the prospect of entering the human realm. Ultimately he was persuaded to do so by an outside force. Upon assuming a corporeal form, he adopted the name Solas, an Elvish term signifying "Pride".

Hancock, a human, underwent a transformative process via an experimental drug, resulting in his becoming a ghoul. This decision, potentially driven by self-imposed penance for his role in the expulsion of ghouls from Diamond City, proved to be a painful experience. However, this transformation facilitated his integration within the community he aimed to safeguard, ultimately proving beneficial.

3. Both men have very strong stances against tyranny.

Hancock : "The world's always gonna have tyrants, but if I get my way, there'll be a lot less."

Solas : "Death to all tyrants!"

4. Both men have long life spans or can be seen as "immortal".

Hancock is a ghoul and became one around the age of fourty when he took an experimental chem. As a ghoul, his lifespan is greatly extended due to radiation exposure, making him essentially immortal. He will not die of old age or disease, however he can still be killed by violence or accidents, and prolonged exposure to high levels of radiation can cause him to become feral, losing his cognitive abilities.

Solas is an ancient elf with "effective" immortality. Like Hancock, he does not age, but can be killed or harmed.

5. Both men were thrust into leadership roles neither wanted as a byproduct of taking a stand against something they found morally reprehensible.

Solas became Fen'Harel or The Dread Wolf, leader of the Rebellion.

Hancock became the undisputed Mayor of Goodneighbor, leader and figurehead for an entire settlement. "Of the people, FOR the people."[Here the two men vastly differ in their leadership ideals and approaches, but that is a post for another day.]

6. Both men are proponents of freedom be it from oppression or freedom of personal choice.

Solas illustrates this point on more than one occasion in Inquisition and Trespasser. His interactions with Iron Bull on the Qun and Dorian in regards to Tevinter slaves paint his stance beautifully.

* Solas: <to Iron Bull when discussing Iron Bull being Ben-Hassrath> "No. Even the lowliest peasant may find freedom in the safety of her thoughts. You take even that."

* Solas: "Surely, even you see, Iron Bull, that freedom is preferable to mindless obedience to the Qun."

* Solas: "It doesn't matter if they are happy, it matters that they may choose!"

* Solas: "I take no joy in what I must do. Until that day comes, I would see those recovering from the Breach free of the Qun. Because I am not a monster."

Hancock is the mayor of a settlement founded on personal freedoms, devoid of bigotry and social class.

* Hancock : "Everyone should get to live life on their own terms. That's what Goodneighbor's all about. Served us well so far."

* Hancock : "Plenty of folks wanna make life hard for people just tryin' to survive. I'm not willing to stand for that kinda shit."

7. Both men plead their cases to people/beings in positions of power only for their wisdom and empathy to fall on deaf ears.

Solas appealed to all of the Evanuris at some point, some more than once, both in person and through letters. Nothing moved them from their course; his advisement was ignored and mocked.

Hancock Tried to appeal to his elder brother on behalf of the ghoul population in Diamond City. Guy McDonough, having run his mayoral campaign on an anti-ghoul platform, showed no signs of remorse over the violence his stance incited and in fact gloated to Hancock when he pleaded for the ghouls' safety after Guy's inauguration speech.

8. Both men adopted personas that were far removed from their core personalities.

John McDonough became John Hancock. As a human, John McDonough was good-looking and the younger brother of a bully who became mayor of Diamond City. That version of himself Hancock saw as "weak." He had failed to help the ghouls, had failed to stop Vic's henchmen as they murdered a fellow drifter right in front of him. He was helpless, unworthy, and insecure with low self-esteem and insurmountable guilt. He had to be buried. Thus John Hancock, the secret rebellion leader, was born. While McDonough was timid, Hancock was courageous and stood up for freedom from oppression. He championed equality and would fight and kill to do what had to be done in order to protect the people. Hancock is fearless, cocky, charming, and a bit of a playboy, but always "of the people, for the people"—everything McDonough was not.

Solas became Fen'Harel/The Dread Wolf. Solas's persona was not one he adopted willingly nor chose for himself, unlike Hancock. This mask was thrust upon him in good faith simply in hopes that it would provoke fear in those they were rebelling against while also offering hope and inspiration to those they fought for. Solas himself simply "wanted to give wisdom not orders." Fen'Harel, by contrast, led, ordered, made calculated decisions, and worked well within the confines of half-truths in order to further the goal of freedom from oppression.

Both men are more than their personas. Solas still houses Solas, the quiet man who loves to debate and share wisdom while learning himself. Hancock still houses John McDonough, the man who cares deeply, is insecure, unsure at times and empathetic.

9. Both men are clever and adept at manipulation. [Neither are above using it.]

When you first meet Hancock the man stabs a guy who is trying to extort money out of you right in front of your face, only to turn around and manipulate you into handling some business for him a bit later.

Solas is at least subtle about his manipulation in Inquisiton. Always with half-truths. Never outright lies.

Calling Hancock out on this manipulation gets you a charming chuckle, a self-deprecating joke of commiseration about fools in costumes, and an honest apology. This is followed by a moment of self-reflection, worried he's becoming a tyrant himself. Noting that it's time for him to go on a walkabout, you can offer for him to join you. He doesn't hesitate. His philosophy while you travel: "Someone needs helpin', we help 'em. Someone needs hurtin', we hurt 'em. It's not hard." He either becomes a steadfast friend and ally or a loyal, desperately in-love partner.

Calling Solas out in Trespasser, depending on how you have treated him, can elicit a heartfelt apology before he either "saves your life" or "prolongs it" by magically amputating the hand that is slowly killing you. He tells you that he would treasure another opportunity to be proven wrong or if you romanced him reaffirms his feelings for you. In the following years he leaves clues for the Inquisitor to help stop him, and in the end the Inquisitor either becomes a friend he respects or his "true love".

DEPENDING ON THE STORY...

10. Neither man feels truly worthy of the one who loves them.

Solas can flatout state that Lavellan deserves better after the break-up if she questions him, and while this is a direct acknowledgement, Solas's feelings of unworthiness tend to showcase themselves more often through implication and subtlety of action.

Hancock on the other hand is more direct, as is in line with his character.

Hancock : "You don't want to wake up to this mug every morning. Never wish that on anyone I cared for."

And when reassured you do in fact love him and enter into a relationship, upon waking up in bed he can say,

"You sure you want to be stuck with this ugly mug?"

11. Both men can fall in love with the person they initially manipulated.

Their love interest proves themselves to be the rare person who fully accepts all of the aspects of who they are and takes the time to see beyond the larger-than-life personas they tend to hide behind. Never taking advantage of or using them, simply loving them.

Would these two get along? Fuck no.

Let's be real, Solas would find Hancock's brash nature grating and offensive. Hancock would see Solas as a pretentious cunt who is unnecessarily verbose and condescending.

They would give one another headaches.

[To further explore the hilarity that would ensue, I am currently writing an AU where all of the guys meet (Solas, Hancock, Charon, and Garrus) along with their partners. It's fun.]

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Louder.

It actually really frustrates me when Mythal says 'the many wrongs we did, we did together,' because while this is technically true in a silly tautological way, it also feels extremely dishonest and manipulative.

After all, a great many of the wrongs Mythal did had nothing to do with Solas. Keeping slaves. Elevating herself to a god. Supporting Elgar'nan in his crimes. Not to mention all the wrongs she did to Solas himself.

Putting it this way feels like a deliberate choice on her part to create the impression of a moral equivalence between them when in fact no such equivalence exists. Even in this moment she's still manipulating him, and it doesn't feel great that the success of her manipulation is celebrated as a good outcome.

(This is of course also part of Veilguard's general approach to treating all its villains as morally the same, which has the unfortunate effect that they end up taking the position that the person who led the slave rebellion is no better than the slavers)

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sorry, the Fifth Talon is currently occupied uwu

(an edit of two super super indulgent ViaRook pieces to make them a little less nsfw but they are still in fact nsfw lmao)

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the face of a man who is certainly not about to rail his protégé within an inch of their life against the back of a statue of his god

Oh my GOODNESS, y’all!! Sathynae is back at it again and gave me more absolutely gorgeous fanart, this time of Viago and my Rook, Belladonna, in one of my favorite scenes from my fic Recordare, their encounter on top of the Chantry. I’m so absolutely blown away by their beautiful work, and I am so, so incredibly grateful.

you can check out the original upload and more of their incredible work on their DeviantArt - and if you’d like to see more of Vi and Belladonna, please consider giving my fic a try!

psst- the scene depicted here is in Chapter 9 💜

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Considering in and on whom they delve, I think he would as well.

I bet you my ass he'd be filing those bad boys religiously

(I'm supposed to be doing something productive mind you)

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Yes. I can see Emm being particular about his hair and only Rook bringing out the desire for it to be mussed in every possible circumstance.

Emmrich has, for the last thirty years or so, mostly not allowed people to touch his hair. If his face is not between your legs don't even fucking think about it. Do you have any idea how distracting it is for him KNOWING it's disheveled. Horrible.

So when Rook coaxes his head into their lap, and then begins reaching with their meddlesome hands, Emmrich says immediately, "Oh no, darling, don't—"

Which is exactly the amount of time it takes for Rook to figure out the precise pressure Emmrich likes on his scalp, and start running their fingers through his hair in a way that releases approximately one entire stressful Veilguard's-worth of events from his body in ten seconds flat. He cannot help but dizzily admire that it has the same efficiency, and general effect, as a proud fishwife de-boning a prize catch.

"Hm?" Rook says, distracted.

"...don't stop," Emmrich says weakly.

Rook is, in so many things, casual, competent, and bold. Few lovers had ever attempted to pull Emmrich's hair, by simple virtue of the its length, and his height.

Rook, of course, does not let this stop them.

The first time Rook winds a confident hand into Emmrich's hair, it is in flagrante delicto. They grab a firm fistful, and guide his head down to better be able to kiss him.

Emmrich whimpers into their mouth, and nearly spills then and there.

"Too hard?" Rook asks, releasing their grip.

Their strong hand cradles the back of his head, one finger stroking gently over the tense muscles of Emmrich's neck.

"No," Emmrich says, completely breathless.

Rook smirks, a glint of mischief entering their eye.

Emmrich's hair does not go unmolested a single day that month. By the end of it, he's ready to beg on hands and knees for that to never change.

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Fen'Harel, The Rebel God

(PS you can buy this as a keychain HERE)

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He just does that, right?

This is a wonderfully sweet, intimate mood you depicted. Love the lighting!

he seduced me the second he came on screen.

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/smirk

Shakarian beach episode when?

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I'm just tossing this into the void:

I love the way Garrus says "Shepard"... I think it's the inflection Keener places on the "ard" part of Shepard.

Don't worry, I do this shit to Solas too. I have a post sitting in my drafts of words GDL says as Solas that hit just right. [A post I am adding to as I replay Inquisition I might add.]

You WILL be subjected to it. Heh.

For now, enjoy Garrus in ME1 simply saying "Shepard".

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It has been two decades but I just found out that the female elf's race card is mirroring to Solas Romance card.

Both drawings are drawn in the same body scale and when move female elf card to left or right side of Solas's card, their details are fit like a glove.

For left side

Their hands touch each other faces at eye level.

Golden leaves fully cover the female elf's right ear.

The glowing tree on her hand has line art shaped like Solas's left ear.

Solas's left hand placed on the female elf's left knee that resting on his leg.

For right side

Their height difference is similar to them in-game.

Solas's fingers stay at the same position of lower branches of the glowing tree.

Solas's left hand placed on the female elf's hip.

They look like walking side by side naturally.

From all the choices, They choose to draw Solas romance card reflecting the elf card as if he doesn't have a choice but to fall for an unknown elf from the world he going to sacrifice.

My life has never been bitterer since I shipped them ;)

Artworks belong to Bioware

Edited work

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something something 'what could a woman do to put you in this state?'

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So, my friend wanted to borrow a game from me that they had never played. I thought, with all the AI stuff going around, Detroit: Become Human would be a good one.

When I tell you we fell out laughing at this scene, trust me, we did. I enjoyed it so much that I had to make a clip and GIF set.

I love Connor... and his dynamic with Hank. Sumo too of course.

Without Caption:

With Caption:

From now on, if I need to wake yo ass up, this is what you get.

[Wahpah!] Wake the hell up!

Fuckin' adorable I tell you!