swordsandshields99

[swordsandshields99]

s𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 & 𝔏𝔲𝔰𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔫

[swordsandshields99]

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN Star Wars Celebration Live! Japan 2025  | April 18, 2025

+ BONUS

[swordsandshields99]

Who the fuck allowed him to look like that?

[swordsandshields99]

I think one thing that a lot of people fundamentally get wrong about Solas is that his plans were never about bringing back the past, it was about securing the future.

He didn’t want to recreate Elvhenan. He said as much in DAI when he explicitly discouraged Dorian from glorifying Arlathan or putting it on a pedestal. Instead, he urged Dorian to ‘free the people of all races enslaved in Thedas’. Not just Elves, not just Spirits, all of them.

Solas’ story was never about a fixation on the past, at least not in the sense that people like to accuse him of. He did not view the past with some rose-colored nostalgia. It was not the empire he missed, but the world itself—Thedas as it was meant to be.

Imagine if you were suddenly flung into the future and found that Climate Change had finally rendered Earth to be the nightmare world we fear. The planet is sick and dying. Nature itself has been twisted, perverted, rendered dangerous and made into something that most people fear, and no one believes you when you try to tell them that nature is, well, natural. In fact, they call you insane, a heretic, someone to be shunned. They say your ideas are dangerous lies, even when you know them to be the truth.

And in this sick, dying world, where people suffer and live in fear, you see no future worth living in. You see that the damage is too much. The world won’t survive much longer unless something is done. Against all odds you’ve found the solution, a way to restore the Earth, revitalize the natural world, and make the planet healthy and stable for all time. It’ll come at a cost, people will suffer, but isn’t it worth it to stop the end of all things? Isn’t it worth it to ensure that life can still sustain itself in a century? A millennia? An eternity?

That’s what was on the line for Solas, that was what motivated him. DATV unfortunately dropped this ticking clock (despite alluding to it in both the podcast and Tevinter Nights) in favor of flattening a fascinating dilemma into something boring and digestible, which is just such an incredible waste.

[swordsandshields99]

huge shout out to this little kid for writing my favorite poem

[swordsandshields99]

[swordsandshields99]

Happy pridemonth

[swordsandshields99]

artist in denial of being depressed: omg this 2 month long art block has been crazy... sorry i haven't updated any of my fics in a long while! it's just been super difficult to daydream! so weird that i've lost a little bit of passion for my current comfort character and ocs... this couldn't possibly have any implications or alternative explanations

[swordsandshields99]

Yeah, the problem with the idea that the appeal of the Solas romance is that he's a god etc is that I romanced him on release of Inquisition before I knew anything about that. I romanced him because he talked to me about esoteric magic in a smooth Welsh accent and then decided to kiss my Lavellan like she was a feast and he was a starving man. Honestly the god stuff was fun, but it's not the thing I originally found appealing.

[swordsandshields99]

[swordsandshields99]

"I regret the pain that i have caused you..."

When rook in the regret prison, there are statues of the companion who had been sacrificed like neve/bellara and harding/davrin. What if, solas experienced the same when he's in the prison, but it's the statue of his vhenan.

[swordsandshields99]

ISNT IT? PERHAPS WE SHOULD ASK YOUR FRIEND, THE IRON BULL. TELL ME, WHERE IS HE?

[swordsandshields99]

Felassan's Role in Psychological Warfare

Some time ago, I wrote about Elgar’nan’s terrifying display of power - the act of erasing emotion from existence, burning it from the minds of every living being, and letting its spirits die out completely. 

This is the scale of the enemy Solas and Felassan were up against. When your enemy can unmake feeling, extinguish spiritual presence, and reshape the metaphysical architecture of your people, what choices remain? What kind of war do you wage against opponents like these? 

What Elgar’nan did was spiritual genocide - brute force on every level. From the war on the Titans, to the destruction of spirit communities, to the devastation he continues to unleash in Veilguard, Elgar’nan has ruled through annihilation. (I feel real sympathy for Mythal trying to placate this being.) And what’s more terrifying: he’s only one of the Evanuris.

This reframes Solas’s rebellion. It wasn’t just a fight against political oppression - it was a fight to also preserve the emotional and spiritual reality of the world. 

In that context, it’s no surprise the rebellion turned to psychological warfare. And this is where Felassan emerges not merely as a soldier or lieutenant, but as an architect - just as good at it as Solas. 

The Dread Wolf: A Weapon, Not a Hero 

The Felassan codices confirm their psychological campaign was deliberate and coordinated. The Dread Wolf myth was used as a weapon to frighten the Evanuris, inspire hope, and manipulate belief.

“Yes, we have to keep playing up the Dread Wolf. The people need someone they believe is strong enough to protect them… Don’t worry. I promise to mock you viciously if you ever start believing those stories yourself.”  - Felassan

This wasn’t about heroism - it was about mass mobilization under existential threat. These codices suggest Felassan played a far more integral and strategic role in the rebellion than often acknowledged. He wasn’t just Solas’ lieutenant; he was a partner in both ideology and execution. 

This was myth as infrastructure. Felassan understood that when your enemies are divine, survival requires more than tactics. You need narrative power - a symbol strong enough to counter fear. The Dread Wolf, once hurled at Solas with contempt, became that symbol. And Felassan and Solas wielded it with precision. 

It’s easy to see Felassan as a wry commentator or moral counterweight to Solas, espeically when taken in hindsight of his death. And yes, Felassan is those things - but the codices reveal he's just as much the strategist as Solas, someone who helped forge the emotional weaponry of the rebellion. He didn’t just believe in the cause - he helped shape how it would be remembered. 

This is especially clear in two parts of that codex: 

“Yes, we have to keep playing up the Dread Wolf.”  “Don’t worry…” 

It reads like a continuation of an ongoing conversation. The “Yes” implies Solas has raised a concern - maybe about the direction of the symbol, perhaps discomfort with what it’s making him become - who knows, but we have missed out on some initial conversation here because Felassan’s response is affirmation and reassurance. Yes, we have to do this Solas, it’s necessary for the rebellion. But don’t worry, I’ll pull you back if it starts to consume you. That casual “Don’t worry” does heavy emotional lifting. It acknowledges the toll already settling on Solas, and Felassan, aware of it, offers the only balm he can: I still see you. 

In this way, the codex isn’t just a strategic log - it’s a record of emotional triage. As the war escalates, the emotional and ethical toll begins to shift. Felassan becomes not just a planner but a witness to a conflict spiraling beyond anyone’s control. 

“The bad news is that Andruil and Ghilan’nain made a big show of putting down a protest… Andruil left a crater where the town stood, and Ghilan’nain is using the people taken prisoner as fodder for her experiments.” 

What follows next in that codex is the line that piqued my curiosity: 

“This isn’t your fault, but still, this is exactly what I was worried about.” 

That line marks a quiet, painful evolution in Felassan’s thinking. The emotional core is regret. 

He isn’t blaming Solas - he’s acknowledging that the symbol they created is now drawing divine wrath. Each act of rebellion is met with devastation so complete, even victory feels like loss. Yet “this isn’t your fault” stands out. He knows Solas is carrying the rebellion’s cost - perhaps already retreating inward, calcifying under the burden of the costs of war. 

But “this is exactly what I was worried about,” when read alongside the other codices, suggests something deeper: guilt. Felassan sees Solas changing. The man he once teased to not take the myth too seriously is now becoming it. The line between mask and self is blurring. And Felassan, who once promised to pull him back, may no longer be able to. Part of that guilt, perhaps, comes from the knowledge that he encouraged it - that he helped craft the myth, pushed Solas to wear it, and now must watch as it consumes his friend. 

In a war like this, no one remains untouched. The Evanuris long ago abandoned morality - experimenting on the living, erasing emotions, killing without hesitation. But the rebels, too, are marked by compromise: truths sacrificed, lies forged for survival. Felassan isn’t innocent. Neither is Solas. 

Felassan helped build the myth. Solas bore it. Now, both are shaped by it in turn. 

The tragedy is that when you wield psychological warfare, there's always the risk that the story you create to move others will begin to reshape you. That’s what Felassan feared. That’s what began to happen.

And when Mythal is murdered - well, we know what happens from there.

This is part of a larger series. The first being Solas and Psychological Warfare.

[swordsandshields99]

i am constantly thinking about this. blackwall taught solas diamondback, and that very night ONE OF THEM escalated it to one on one STRIP DIAMONDBACK? or blackwall offered his clothes as payment and solas accepted??? OR SOLAS SUGGESTED IT?? i need a play-by-play of what the fuck happened. nothing erotic obviously. unless

[swordsandshields99]

Folks, backup your Tumblrs, for real this time

[swordsandshields99]

And when he says "I- she, will have died for nothing ". He feels as if he died the day she did. Everything he had been, everything he had sacrificed for her, died with her, leaving nothing but blind duty to her in it's wake. A sole purpose, a current he was caught in.

Mythal & Solas - were they romantic?

Heres the thing - The devs made it ambigious on purpose in veilgaurd, for YOU the player to chose. It was left open purposefully for your own world building needs as they tend to do sometimes. So what I write below is based on what ive seen and my own world state, but if you hc something different thats totally fine and prob by design by the devs. If they wanted to clear up the relationship they wouldve, but they didnt on purpose. Lets start with what I personally think - Solas and Mythal loved each other - it was a mother son type of relationship or atleast a gaurdian and charge type relationship : No Solas and Mythal were physically intimate but never romantically linked or it was one-sided: No Solas and Mythal had a romantic relationship that was imbalanced and complicated: No Solas and Mythal were in a complicated toxic friendship: No...but close Solas and Mythal had a deeply complicated emotional connection - they loved each other, but it wasnt simple as a romantic, physical or as simple as just friendship: Yes Lets start by ripping off the bandaid - first things first - :

Its implied Solas has NEVER been IN love before. He had no clue what being in love would mean or intail because he never had been in love before, thats the only way that sentence can make sense. But what was Mythal then? Well take a look at Veilgaurd - the entire point ( one of them, it was also about regret and greif, letting go of the past to make a new future, etc, but we’re talking about the relationship aspect rn) of veilgaurd was to break the social norms of gender, sexuality, and what it means to love someone. Solas absolutely loved Mythal and yes Mythal loved Solas. Its why she let him kill her, its why whoever inherited Mythals fragment and memories could never stand to raise a hand or even THINK about standing against Solas - Morrigan who famously hated and spited Solas before Mythals memories , coudnt even stomach the thought of striking him down in Veilgaurd when Rook asks if she will stand against him.

(full gifset here x by Lucaanis) That being said - It was a deeply unablanced toxic relationship regardless, and one Mythal and even Solas acknowledged as being flawed. It was to the point that Mythal regretted it deeply as seen by what she says in Veilgaurd, and it can be partially interpreted in INQ with her lament of regrets (i think it was also about the elven peple and the titans) (Also - Tumblr is limiting the amount of imgs so for some of these scenes you will have to look up on your own) Solas in INQ mentions how Mythal was a being of Retribution and the way the dalish viewed her was implied to be overly flattering and soft - Justice was a kind view of her, and he almost sneered the comment out. In Veilgaurd the fragment of Mythal stuck in crossroads was VERY quick to be offended, quick to anger, and very quick to attack anyone who she felt overstepped with boundaries (which their were many and very easily tripped) so it gives a pretty good insight into how Mythal was before in ancient arlathan and towards her own people, AND Solas himself. (The fact that she was considered the 'kindest' of the evanuris really puts how the evanuris were with the elves into perspective, given her personality) - Putting this in real quick, Mythal despite having this very prickly personality DID still help and wanted to help her people when asked, she did genuinely care - but it was being WORHTY in HER EYES to be worth the effort of her helping you that made her such a complicated character to deal with. Mythal - like Solas is not a black and white character, she has plenty contradictions and is very complex. - So imagine Solas and her relationship. She calls him love and coarces him into having a body, she only heeds his advice and wisdom when it furthers her own plans and coldly brushes solas off and lets the other evanuris insult him when he doesnt follow her placidly like a dog.

Whether Solas was struck by Mythal (I dont think he was, i think it was all verbal considering how Mythal could never seem to bring herself to actually HURT him or stand against him) or not, she deffinetly tore him down to nothing and often if Solas earned the moniker of being Mythal's lapdog - one who always followed after her and had statues in her temple even after all those centuries. I think its similar to a narcissitic parenting relationship in the way - it had to be done in HER way by HER rules and she was all fondness and affection but the minute he stepped outside of it or had conflicting opinions she lashed out at him or degraded him for not filling the role she wanted him to. Bellara says that ancient elves had an entirely different way of viewing and expereincing relationships - that friendship to them nowadays would seem like romantic in the past because of how closely connected they were to each other. You have to remember these were initially spirits that spent ages uncounted with each other in the fade before taking bodies and learning what emotions and physical feelings were. (They only ever embodied the one emotion or feeling. “Wisdom, compassion, despair, etc they were always one dimensional ) It would never be as simple as "Romance, platonic, or sexual". or rather "Mother, Lover, or friend". Theirs even a codex excerpt that said ancient elves would someties spend YEARS having sex to give you an insight to how time and emotions were different for them. I think Solas and Mythal loved each other deeply. I think Solas loved Fellassan deeply. I think Solas loved Wisdom spirit deeply. Because ancient elves felt deeply in ways modern elves dont seem to which is part of the reason Solas didnt even consider modern elves REAL. That they would so neatly pack their emotions in tiny catogories defied what elves once were, beings of pure emotion that came from spirits of the fade.

Relationships were not simple things and were deeply complicated whether it was platonic OR romantic in ancient arlathan. Does that mean that Solas loving Mythal platonically make their bond any less powerful? No I think that was the point in showing the redemption ending. Lavellan was swaying Solas but in the end Mythal had to be the one to release Solas. It wasnt that Mythal meant more to him or Lavellan meant more to him than the other. Both types of love were equally as powerful to Solas, because ancient elves loved WHOLY and ENTIRELY. Different types of love didnt mean less powerful, it was never a contest between the two. They both held his heart in very diferent ways, just as WISDOM and Fellassan did.

(Your heart can break for more than just romance love, theirs familial and friendship heartbreak. You can feel kinship - to the point of someone being your soulmate for more than just romance, theirs platonic soulmates too, thats the entire point.) Mythal represented everything he WAS, everything he had been, and been created for. His duty to his people, all his sacrifices. It HAD to have been Mythal in the end to cut ties because she was the physical representation of ALL OF IT leading up to veilgaurd. all the mistakes he made the pain he and she both caused.

it was never choosing one lover over the other - it was never a question of which love was stronger.

So in short - Mythal and Solas relationship is not simple - it was complicated and toxic, and yes they loved each other deeply, but no i dont think that meant it was physical or romantic.

[swordsandshields99]

Solas and taking responsibility

One thing that always strikes me about Solas in DAI is that he didn't have to join the Inquisition. We know he had a number of agents at that time; he could have sent someone as a spy and instructed them from afar. But it was his mistake, and his responsibility to fix it. And he really commits: he spends weeks walking around the Hinterlands. He helps chase that druffalo back to the farm. He gets soaked and muddy in the Fallow Mire. He sleeps in an uncomfortable tent, and is good-humoured about Sera putting lizards in his bedroll.

We see this in his memories of the rebellion too: he's not commanding from a distance, he's right there on the ground with his people. He doesn't ask anyone to do anything he isn't willing to do himself. I always think of this when he's described as prideful, because yes, he is, but in many ways he's also surprisingly humble. Compare him to the other beings we've encountered of similar age and power – it's impossible to imagine Elgar'nan or Corypheus lowering themselves to sleep on the ground and hunt food for refugees. Even Mythal just watches history from a distance and intervenes briefly: Flemeth sends Morrigan with the HOF rather than joining up and walking across Ferelden herself.

For me, this is one of Solas' best qualities: he takes responsibility for his mistakes and does what has to be done to make things right, even if it's unglorious hard work. But part of his tragedy is that it's this very quality that goes wrong in the end: he takes more and more responsibility on himself and becomes so self-reliant that he loses the ability to trust and pushes everyone away. I know some people see this as pride as well, but for me it really seems to come from a combination of trauma from past betrayals and self-loathing. His task is 'a price that I alone will pay,' he says to the Inquisitor, and he means it. He exhausts himself doing everything himself because he thinks he deserves it, because asking someone else for help would make him too vulnerable.

But in the end it all comes full circle, because joining the Inquisition is the thing that saves him. He didn't have to do it; he joined to take responsibility for his mistake, to punish himself. And yet somehow, it was a time of unexpected, unbelievable happiness. He found the love of his life. He found a way out of the prison of his past, even if it took a few years to get there. He was trying to hurt himself and instead he stumbled upon the road home.