lilllithdraagon

[lilllithdraagon]

"He’s not a monster or a hero. Or maybe he’s both...

He was trying to change the world.

He knew it couldn’t happen peacefully."

— Hawke to the Inquisitor

[lilllithdraagon]

the crows send their regards

[lilllithdraagon]

“I sat beside you while you slept, studying the Anchor.” “I’m glad someone was watching over me.”

[lilllithdraagon]

something about solas being a painter just...destroys me.

he paints everywhere. his study in skyhold. his hideout in minrathous. so many of the walls in the lighthouse. he paints the past, the present. his hopes and his dreams and the truth he cannot bear to share with anyone.

he paints two great black wolves beneath the sword-eye of the inquisition. he cannot tell them what he is, not yet. but he cannot keep it inside, either.

he paints the pain of regret after regret in the lighthouse's library. his creation, his destruction. every sin and folly and failure. he did not expect anyone to see, was painting for no one but himself, but he could not hold it within himself any longer.

solas longs to be seen, and yet he thinks he can never be.

so he paints.

[lilllithdraagon]

Fuck yeah

Drew this ages ago and decided to quick ink it for giggles. Thank Lilly for the inspiration.

[lilllithdraagon]

Ambition, 2024

[lilllithdraagon]

making this on my phone with very little sleep or consideration, but i think the point stands

[lilllithdraagon]

I realized that I could easily do the same to DAI's script, and I did that, but then I immediately created my magnum opus:

A Text File of Everything Solas Says In Inquisition and Veilguard, The Ultimate Fanfic Resource For Writing Solas' Voice*

and I fell on the floor because it made me happy.

*edited to correct a minor mishap

[lilllithdraagon]

the ultimate salvation of felassan

[lilllithdraagon]

look at these two being happy <3

[lilllithdraagon]

Herbalist

[lilllithdraagon]

This game is so incredibly beautiful.

[lilllithdraagon]

Epler's attitude about Solas is actually kind of concerning if you're a lead for a game like Dragon Age. And to be honest, makes me wonder if it didn't contribute to some of the lacking components in this installment.

Solas as a character has nuance and layers that you have to engage with get the most out of Inquisition's narrative. This should have been true of Veilgaurd as well. If you piss him off and see his worst side, okay sure. He's an asshole. But this is a team lead for the series. Im assuming he's seen the best Solas runs as well. He's spoken with the author. He can have the depth of his character smacking him in the face and his response is still a childlike "but what if I punched God and won?" Power fantasy. (That one scene with Vlaakith comes to mind here for me iykyk.)

So thinking of what this means for the game as a whole, if he can't even appreciate the nuance of one of the titular characters- how are they going to handle elements like the politics, religion, racism with any level of competency? Or did it just not suit the cool action packed Marvel-esque narrative they wanted to see?

The interview and AMA were really difficult to read for me because they kept leaning hard on the fact that Dragon Age reinvents itself. And to me, that is becoming a massive cop out. Stylistically, yes it does. Protagonist wise? Also true. Game play? Of course. The core of the series has never changed, though. The lore. The structure of the setting. DA2 and Origins for all they have massive differences in protagonists and gameplay- have so many overlapping NPC'S and concepts. DAI never added new perspectives on lore without disclaiming it was new and giving you the opportunity to roleplay that your character abided by DAO conventions.

To just slap "dragon age always does new stuff and also the Blight" as the answer to every valid critique is such a paper thin defense that it kind of feels insulting they even went there.

[lilllithdraagon]

the revelations about solas and mythal’s relationship in veilguard explain so much about solas’s behavior toward lavellan

mythal wanted him to become corporal, to inhabit a physical body. and he clearly tells her

i do not want this

but she pushed him, and out of love, devotion, or fear of losing her, he conceded. he took the first step on a path that would pervert his very nature

and he is so terrified of repeating this history with lavellan that he denies her agency. across weeks, months, years, she tells him

i want this

i want this

i want this

but he doesn’t believe her. he tells himself that if she knew the truth, she would feel differently, that he has to protect her from that ignorance

and then, at the end of veilguard, all of his truth, all of what and who he is, is laid bare. and she very clearly tells him

i want this

he has no more excuses. she knows everything. she knows him, and she wants him. to deny her would be to force her to take the first step on a path she did not choose

what is the pride in wisdom? believing that you know what is best

in that moment, solas relinquishes that pride. he lets lavellan decide her path for herself. and she chooses to walk with him, not in front, not behind, but at his side

[lilllithdraagon]

Hey everyone. There's another app on the Google playstore. Pretty sure it's not official and it's making money from in-app ads.

I think the AO3's latest post about apps is here:

[lilllithdraagon]

The way Solas greets the two most important women in his life is something else I’ve not seen people speak about too much.

Lavellan, he breathes the name for her that his heart knows best. Because she is his heart. He reveres her beyond mere religion. Beyond everything. And he can’t look at her but he must because it’s her, it’s truly her. The tension between them, wanting to go to her…

And then there’s Mythal.

He doesn’t breathe her name in reverence. It’s in dread that he almost groans her name. It’s not a pleasing thing. It’s fear. He cowers before her, literally bowing over the knife and trying to give it to her for a second. That’s not how you greet someone who’s been kind to you. He’s cringing before her like a beaten dog. He loves her but he expects pain. He expects to be hurt. He expects her to do it. Because it’s happened before.

[lilllithdraagon]

UPDATE 11/27/2024:

The full alphabet was found and has been made into a font.

Some notes:

Elvish uses a symbol for spaces between words. They do not use punctuation. K and Q are the same Elvish letter.

The elvish writing in DA4 is a 1:1 mask of English and can be decoded! The pic below is out of date, as the whole alphabet was found. In addition, Tevene, Anderfels, Antivan, and Nevarran alphabets can be linked to each other!

English, Elvhen, Tevene, Anderfels, Antivan, and Nevarran alphabets!!!