#Cole (clean and clear. uncluttered.)

[hoboblaidd]

No matter how much he loves them, if Cole is turned more human, there is a part of Solas that will never forgive the Inquisitor and Varric for it. He understands why they thought it was the right choice, and believes they thought it was what was best for Cole/in Cole's best interests, but he never forgives it.

[hoboblaidd]

General tags

ooc (the veil is strange here.)

shitposting (the veil is wobbly here.)

tbd (the veil is snarky here.)

verses (the veil is thin here.)

aesthetics (even in these wastes there exists beauty.)

drabbles (echoes of a dead empire.)

headcanons (some have wisdom for those willing to listen.)

lore (scattered fragments of memory where some spirit cared to watch.)

meme response (solas slightly approves.)

musings (this land is a collection of tragedies.)

nsfw (the veil is spicy here.)

promo (your friend wanted you to be happy.)

rules (a magical ward of sorts.)

Character tags  always being added to

Fen’harel (an ideologue and a fool.) - hate to give this one to anaris but that line sums him up perfectly

Ratdog (the ragged wolf.)

Evanuris

Mythal (the many wrongs we did we did together.) 

Elgar’nan (first of the firstborn.)

Ghilan’nain (you would not be the first to sacrifice your morals for love.)

Andruil (spare us the moment we become your sacrifice.)

Anaris (a selfish fool and a monster.)

Felassan (his back turned.)

Wisdom (ma ghilana mir din’an.)

Inquisition

Varric (that’s as close to beating the world as anyone gets.)

Solavellan (his love could burn against me like a bonfire.)

Inquisitor (the one who blazes like fire and mends the air.)

Cole (clean and clear. uncluttered.)

Josephine (a bastion of kindness and compassion.)

Veilguard

Rook (everyone is a pawn.)

Emmrich (the spirits speak well of you.)

RP-blog specific this isn't everyone, i'm adding these as i go since im mostly taking them from threads

avrorean (i’na syl emma mir bellanaris.)

aestuum (child of the tides.)

weptduty (malas amelin ne halam varethlin.)

keepsduty (mirthadra mytha.)

keepslore (dirtha garas setheneran.)

aestuum (child of the tides.)

extravagantliar (my decision. my sacrifice. and you don’t get to take that from me.)

martymarked (even now i look at you and i see my friend.)

weptfreedom - alanari (a death unavenged.)

weptfreedom - emithas (there is no war without casualties and no cause without its sacrifices.)

nobodyexpectsthe (shadows wearing vallaslin.)

[hoboblaidd]

Along the lines of my last ask; how does Solas' early experiences with emotions/aspects other than Wisdom affect his opinion of 'changing' or not 'changing' Cole? Does any, very small part of him relish the idea that Cole will have access to a wider variety of positive emotions/experiences? Or is this possibility entirely overshadowed by the fear of Cole's corruption?

NOT EVEN A TINY LITTLE BIT. THE EXACT OPPOSITE.

Yes, Solas got to experience more emotions when he took a body, but he also lost his self in the process. He didn't truly understand what it would mean to become part of the world that spirits exist to reflect. It’s not even just his fear of Cole getting corrupted, although that's part of it. The bigger issue is that he sees this as Cole losing the very essence of himself. And he's not just guessing - he knows this is what will happen, because it happened to him and reasonably every other spirit that became an elf.

I’m gonna paraphrase a reply to Casadh because again, I'm awful at writing in the abstract.

A spirit is a single emotion made manifest, and it embodies that singular emotion. That is its essence. Basically, that single emotion is its soul, its identity, and the very fabric of what it is, as much as blood and sinew is the fabric of ours.

Becoming "real" dilutes that. Cole’s compassion remained, but Solas saw that he was basically fractured. Yes, Cole can then grow as a human, but he'll never be "Compassion" again. He will never be who he was. That was stolen from him - even though Cole sort of made the choice, like Solas did, Cole can't possibly, fully understand what he's giving up until he gives it up. It's irrevocably gone.

Spirits aren’t meant to embody all emotions. They embody Their emotion, and together with other spirits, enrich the emotional lives of mortals. As Cole says, he gives the right words and “what I am, a little of me making the happiness stronger so the pain fades.” 

Spirits generally don’t want to change when they’re spirits. They want to fulfill their purpose. That’s why Solas is always reminding Cole of that when he gets confused - "Never forget your purpose. It is a noble one, even if this world does not understand."

Manfred and Emmrich are such a perfect example of how spirits are supposed to interact with the world. Curiosity always wants to come through to learn more, and Manfred was lucky or had enough "foresight" to be drawn to Emmrich, who understands spirits better than most people. In the decades they’ve known each other, Curiosity has been able to be himself while learning more of the world - aka, fulfilling his purpose. Even after he gets magic, Manfred is still Curiosity, wanting to learn more and still be protected from corruption or fracturing by someone who loves and understands what he needs to succeed. Emmrich is the reason Manfred's able to survive as himself while still learning and satisfying his purpose.

To wrap it up with Cole, because this makes me emo:

“You found out, but you didn’t change, didn’t make me change. You let me be this, be more. Thank you for helping me find this again. For believing in me. You don’t know what it means.”

But Solas does. In world states where Cole isn't changed, Solas is grateful Cole never has to learn what changing will cost him. Solas has to live with what he is now. He can't change that. But if he can, he'd rather no spirit ever have to go through that.

[hoboblaidd]

Be honest, do you really care about what is best for Cole or do you care that no one fought for what was best for you?

ask memes | the god of lies tells the truth

"Two things can be equally true at once."

And it is both. He alone in the world knows how terrible it is for a spirit to be thoroughly stripped of its nature and forced into a shape more convenient for someone else. Having had no one to advocate for himself, including himself, he won't let Cole be dragged into it without someone fighting for Cole to be allowed to stay who he is. To remind Cole that he has intrinsic worth as he is, instead of who he might be in the future.