#solavellan default world state

[solasyoulittleshit]

Heck yeah, it's the Inquisitior!!!

amazing so glad we're back

cute cute

oh great! F Lavellan is the Default?!

I wonder whose Vallaslin she has......

WAIT

where... WHERE

SHE HAS NO VALLASLIN

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

[griffongrey]

Care. Commitment. Consummation.

Relationships: Mahalla Lavellan/Solas After Mahalla and Solas walk off into the Fade hand-in-hand and take a well-deserved rest, a wisp of Curiosity and Categorization shows up to investigate them.

Mahalla wakes slowly, feeling blissfully rested for the first time in over a decade. And for the first time in almost a decade, she wakes in her old, decadently plush bed from Skyhold, albeit recreated in the Fade. Even the aches and pains from the battle with Elgar’nan melt away when she’s lying in this bed.

As her eyes crack open and blink the blurriness of sleep away, the sight of Solas still sleeping at her side is the first thing to greet her, for the first time in over a decade. In his sleep, he's pulled their clasped hands close to his chest, where his heartbeat — steady and reassuring — thrums against the back of her hand.

It’s the most incredible thing she’s ever seen.

A soft tinkling noise, like the sound of wind chimes, plays in her ear, and she turns her head to find its source. There, floating above her, a little wisp flickers into view.

“Oh! Hello, da’len,” she whispers. “Where did you come from?”

The wisp bobs around the end of her residual left arm, poking at the space where her hand would be. Mahalla, always happy to indulge a spirit’s curiosity, summons her Spirit Arm for the wisp to inspect.

It hops away in surprise for a moment, then rushes back, dancing along her translucent fingertips and tracing the pattern of glowing green loops and whorls up her palm. Where the wisp’s tendrils brush against her magic, it brings with it a tingly sensation that draws a quiet giggle from Mahalla's throat.

The wisp twinkles a wordless question.

“That tickles,” Mahalla says, trying to stifle her giggles.

The wisp bobs around, making another tinkling noise that imitates her laughter.

“Shh! You’ll wake him.”

Mahalla tilts her head toward Solas, and in an instant, the wisp flits up her Spirit Arm and down her physical arm, poking around their joined hands inquisitively.

“Not too close. He needs the rest, now,” she whispers.

The wisp drifts away to hover over Solas’ sleeping face, illuminating every stark wound and ugly bruise he sustained last night in the battle. Its glow seems to almost caress his skin with the same gentle touch Mahalla used to clean those cuts last night, his eyes closed and relaxed like they are now. A tender feeling washes over her as the wisp reflects her own emotions back at her.

Care, it names the feeling. Like veilfire runes, the wisp’s communication is more an impression of a concept than a spoken word.

Mahalla nods. A smile tugs on her lips as she watches Solas’s chest rise and fall beneath the sheets, their joined hands rising and falling with it. Though she knows she should let him sleep, the urge to reach up and touch his cheek is almost overwhelming. An image coalesces in her mind’s eye of last night, after the battle, when she did just that. She can’t be sure if it’s her own remembrance or the wisp’s again.

“Tel banal ar ama. Vir shiral malasa, bellanaris,” she said, then.

Commitment, the wisp says, now.

“Bellanaris,” she echoes. Even as a whisper, her voice sounds breathless. Giddy.

Always. For eternity. The word ripples between them for a moment, then sinks onto the end of another phrase — one she’s never had cause to say out loud, but which she nevertheless hears in her own voice, filtered through the wisp’s impression: “Lama, ara las mir lath. Bellanaris.”

A wedding vow.

Mahalla blushes pink, but she doesn’t deny the sentiment.

She closes her eyes, and she’s back on the ledge of the Archon’s Palace, taking Solas’ hand in her own as the wisp memory continues. In the present, the wisp drifts back down to inspect their hands clasped over Solas’ heart. It settles there, taking care not to touch Solas, just like she asked. Mahalla smiles fondly.

The reflected memory dissolves into green.

Consummation.

Mahalla’s cheeks flush even hotter. “No, that’s not—!”

The wisp flickers with confusion and curls its tendrils around the tip of Mahalla’s finger. It repeats: Consummation.

“We didn’t… We haven’t done that yet.”

Unbidden, well-worn fantasies surface in her thoughts: hands gripped above her head, pressed into sheets. Hand, singular. Teeth and tongue and affirmations murmured against her collarbone. Her own name gasped into her ear. "Vhenan." The bed, the lake, the rotunda wall. And then—

Fingers kneading her ass. Bracing, holding steady. Lips between her legs. Tongue. Thighs quaking. Eyes upturned as she cries out. Reverence. Devotion. "Vhenan."

Mahalla’s eyes fly open. She realizes she's gasping and clutching at the sheets with her Spirit Hand.

That last image didn’t come from her own fantasies, which can only mean the wisp pulled it from Solas’ thoughts. Like a wisp-induced echo chamber of want.

Mahalla chokes down a moan and slowly loosens her vice-grip on Solas’ hand. He stirs, settling into his pillow, and Mahalla’s breath hitches… but he doesn’t wake. She tries very hard not to think about his body, half-naked beneath the sheets, or imagine what echo of her conversation with the wisp might be filtering into his sleep.

Ten years is a long time for desires to become pent up.

Now, the wisp’s flickering is tinged with anger, frustrated that she doesn’t seem to understand its meaning. It sends her the memory reflection of dissolving into green again.

Consummation.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me,” Mahalla gasps, her voice hoarse, her lungs still heaving.

Another impression of a memory surfaces in her mind: an unsigned letter gripped in trembling hands, tears blurring her vision and blotting words she’s read and reread so often she has them memorized, even now. Solas’ voice reflecting off the page, echoing in her thoughts. “You do not know how close I came… I could have simply stayed with you as Solas… as I wanted.”

“Vir shiral malasa...”

Realization hits her like a mana burst. This is a spirit. A being of pure emotion, with no grasp of physicality. There’s likely little difference, in the wisp’s understanding, between sex as a physical sensation and the feeling of wind in one’s hair or the smell of rain under a forest canopy.

The wisp means an emotional consummation. A fulfillment… of a promise made many years ago on the shore of a lake in Crestwood.

Consummation! The wisp spins in a pleased little circle, excited to have solved their communication issue.

“Oh…” Mahalla whispers, another soft smile blooming on her face. “You’re right.”

Beside her, Solas sighs in his sleep and stirs again. His eyes crack open, blurry and bewildered until they focus on Mahalla’s, inches away.

“Hi,” she says.

“Vhenan.” Solas sighs, breathless. He drinks in the sight of her like a man dying of thirst. “Hello.”

Above them, the wisp flits around in the air, rejoicing. Its happiness is infectious.

“And ‘hello’ to you too, da’len. Where did you come from?” Solas chuckles.

The soft rumble of his voice settles deep inside Mahalla’s ribcage and makes its home there. She turns her smile toward the wisp, and the wisp swivels a quarter turn as if it’s doing the same toward her. Its tinkling laughter rings through the Fade.

Contentment, it says.

This little wisp quickly ends up imprinting on Mahalla, and she's going to name it Cici. Because for some strange reason, every word it Categorizes starts with the letter "C". Cole is going to adore Cici.

Elven translations:

Da'len — "little one"

Tel banal ar ama. Vir shiral malasa, bellanaris. — A romanced Lavellan's words to Solas in the Veilguard redemption ending. "It won't be terrible if you're with me. We make this journey together, always."

Bellanaris — "always" / "for eternity"

Lama, ara las mir lath. Bellanaris. — Part of a Dalish wedding vow. "To you, I will give my love. For eternity."

Vhenan — "heart" / "my heart"

Vir shiral malasa. — "We make this journey together."

All translations were taken from DA Wiki and/or sussed out by me.

[hanalghilan]

god i wonder what the default world state for dav is gonna be

[mythalism]

You seem to be both a solavellan and mythal fan so maybe I won’t get shot for this question lol

Veilguard was my first game. I kept default settings, which meant solavellan world state.

I genuinely wonder: what makes people think Solas loves Lavellan? Or that if being with Mythal possible, he still would choose Lavellan?

He is so clearly not over Mythal. Last game is filled with references to their connection, she herself confirms that both still love each other. He is very protective of her while arguing with Elgarnan. Statues of them everywhere, him painting and playing songs about her, his very own room having statues of Mythal… In the end he discloses he does it all for her, refuses to stop after Lavellan’s appeals, and only does so after Mythal shows up.

In comparison, Solas describes what he had with Lavellan as “entanglement he selfishly grow close to” he both regrets and cherishes. Most of the romance is carried on Inquisitor’s shoulders, as she both explicitly tells what he means to her, reaches out to him and ultimately shares his burden of atonement.

I couldn’t understand why this ship was so popular, so I watched solavellan romance in DAI. And while it was beautifully done, having the context of Veilguard, I just keep seeing Mythal in every “we shouldn’t”/his face after balcony kiss/ultimately abandoning her in the end. It feels almost unfair and cruel for him to enter another relationship while his heart isn’t free. And to visit Lavellan’s dreams afterwards

What am I missing?

a lot of people would shoot you for this. but dont worry i am not one of them. be careful out there tho

i think the first thing i would say is that instead of watching a video, you would need to do play a full solavellan playthrough of the game if you do want to genuinely understand the relationship and why it is so beloved. im not sure which compilation you watched, but even one that includes all their conversations (rather than just the cutscenes, of which there are very few) cannot do the relationship justice. so much of understanding solas as a character and how he loves people, by extension, is wrapped up in how he reacts to the world at large, its people, its history, its institutions, and its metaphysics. assuming you're new to DA and wouldn't know this, solas's romance in inquisition is the shortest, most sparse romance in the game, and was added later in development. as a result, much of his essential characterization happens outside the bounds of romance content, but still adds deeper meaning, context, and depth to the relationship. even in terms of romance specific content, some of my favorite content occurs in banter that probably was not included in the video you watched. the solas romance is less a standalone love story, in the way many of the romances are, and more of a big juicy delicious cherry on top that helps you better understand the overall dragon age solas plot/cake you're eating.

theres a couple non-romance specific scenes that shed significant light on solas & mythal's dynamic from his perspective that i am not sure if you have seen and honestly i wouldnt recommend watching them because, again, i think you should just play inquisition and experience them in the proper context. but solas's companion personal quest is directly about his corruption at the hands of mythal, though we didn't know that until veilguard came out and contextualized it. and this quest pretty explicitly demonstrates how he feels about what she did to him: rage, beyond forgiveness, deserving of death. he also comments on her at the temple of mythal, and his comments are mostly neutral but verging on judgemental, and do illuminate that while he may have loved her, he certainly did not trust her. it is he who first clarifies that she was a goddess of vengeance, rather than justice. which i cant think about too long or else i'll get angry that they ret-conned it to benevolence -> retribution or whatever the fuck and erased the anders/justice/vengeance parallel... anyway

but i think more telling is his absolute refusal to drink from the well if asked, and most telling; how he fears for an inquisitor who drank.

he specifically calls mythal dangerous, arrogant, and fickle, absolutely refuses to submit to her will once again via the drinking of the well, and begs an inquisitor he loves not to do the same lest she suffer the same fate. he loves mythal, of course, but he also fears her. he is critical of her behavior and wary of her motivations. his love for her exists alongside his recognition of what she was.

another fairly vital bit of information is how according to trespasser (cole banter), solas used to wear mythal vallaslin until he burnt it off his own face when he developed his vallaslin removal spell. its how he got the little scar above his eyebrow. meaning, if vallaslin were slave markings, that solas was effectively enslaved to her. this is... pretty important context, obviously. but we never find out what it might have been like for him. veilguard.... didnt forget but rather deliberately ignored this because it wasnt willing to interrogate the issue of slavery which had been vital to solas as the leader of a slave rebellion. ugh. anyway.

this leads into my next point which is that veilguard really drastically changes solas's motivations to be far more mythal-centric than what was set up in inquisition/trespasser. we always knew something was up with them, and people always wondered if they might have been lovers, but veilguard goes in on this idea in a way that many people would actually call out-of-character compared to how he behaves in inquisition. veilguard itself though does present their relationship as rather complex though, in my opinion its one of the best parts of the game. the two moments that i chew on most frequently are the letter from felassan in mythal's weird little dragon pit that reveals how he made that island for her but locked it away when she was killed. and my ultimate fave is how she reveals that in the literal thousands of years she has been sitting there alone since her murder, many of which he was alive and fighting a rebellion partly in her name, and in the 12 years since he woke up from uthenera, he never went to visit her. not once. its giving jane eyre and i fucking love it. in this same conversation, she also says that when he killed flemeth, he wept. this, i think, is the crux of how he feels about her. he can barely look at her. he resents her. he will use her like he did anyone else. he loves her. he feels lost without her. he will never forgive her. he misses her. all of these things are true at once, and mythal seems to feel similarly; she loathes him. she understands him better than anyone. she resents him for betraying her and abandoning her. she calls him a pathetic little crybaby pussy ass bitch. she loves him.

i dont think anything you said in your message is necessarily wrong. i do think he loves mythal still. i think he always will. i think mythal is valid when she says that they have a bond that no one will ever understand. i agree he is protective over her. i also interpret their relationship as romantic though a lot of people do not. i just love drama. but i think you are misinterpreting his reluctance to be with lavellan as coming from his attachment to mythal as a person, rather than his attachment to his duty to what mythal represents - the world he ruined, everything he's ever done wrong. to say that solas would actually consciously choose mythal over lavellan if they were the final two contestants on the bachelorette is honestly, absurd. sorry. because actually he would choose neither, he would dramatically let the rose fall to the ground and run off to restore the elven people while chris hansen (felassan) dramatically runs after him. both women are secondary to him when it comes to the good of the entire world, and fixing what he broke. he has had plenty of moments to choose mythal and run away with her if he wanted. he has literally had her bertha-ing out in his crossroads attic for 10 years. he also literally does kill her via flemeth. which isnt to say that he wouldn't kill lavellan if forced to, i think he would. but the point here is that its not mythal vs. lavellan. its mythal vs. the world, and lavellan vs. the world. he should have chosen the world over mythal. he didnt. he created the blight instead. he destroyed everything. he cannot make the same mistake again, so he will choose the world every. single. time.

regardless, every time solas turns away from lavellan in the romance, he is not thinking "i wish you were her". he is thinking "if i do this to you, i have become her". prioritizing his own desires over the good of the world, stringing her along, using her as a tool to do his bidding (getting the orb back), are all things mythal did to him. he told her he would follow her anywhere. and when he begins to realize that lavellan would follow him anywhere (as she says in veilguard), he freaks out and has to end it. he knows he will have to continue to kill and cause destruction to bring his world back, so if he did allow her to join him in walking the dinan'shiral, or did anything other than break her heart and leave her, he would be corrupting her the way mythal corrupted him; a weapon to achieve his goal. but he refuses. in his mind, he already destroyed the world for love once; at mythal's behest. if he abandons the world for lavellan, he is destroying the world for love again, and making her an accomplice. so, every time he leaves her it is an act of love.

the way the inquisitor is the driving force of their romance is partly just... gameplay lol but its also consistent with the overarching theme of consent in a relationship that is fundamentally unethical and unequal. lavellan has to be the initiator or else solas becomes a predator. some would say he is anyway lol, but its clear much of the writing was designed to avoid this with the way he is constantly denying himself, backing away, trying not to give in. it might have been juicy, but for him to knowingly romantically and sexually pursue a young woman 10,000 years younger while lying to her about his identity and using her for his plans would make him an entirely different character. a character that would be a hit on romantasy booktok, but not solas. consent and ethics are so central to not only the relationship thematically, but to solas himself, and some of that is because of mythal and the inequality of their own past dynamic. solas is so passive in the romance not because he doesnt like this weird clingy bitch who wont leave him alone, but because he does not want to recreate the same dynamic that corrupted him into pride and uhhhh literally destroyed the world. i'll leave you with another essential quote that you may not have encountered yet:

Cole: It isn’t abuse if I ask! Solas: Not always true.

in trespasser, solas's duty to bring down the veil was more unambiguously to the elven people and the alleviation of his own crushing guilt, while mythal was collateral damage in his way and he used her like he would use anyone else (including lavellan loool) as a tool to achieve his goals. we see this when he kills flemeth and takes mythal's power. in veilguard they had to obscure this slightly to make him "less sympathetic", to use the devs own words. and they did this by shifting the crux of his motivations to mythal. i dont think his lap dog devotion is out of character, i adore it, but i hate that it came at the expense of his more complex and sympathetic motivations of saving the elven people and spirits from the damage of the veil. as a result, when looking at his behavior in the context of inquisition + trespasser + veilguard, i interpret it as mythal being symbolic of the destruction of the world at his hands. and not to toot my own horn but trick's interpretation that they shared on bluesky does support this, when they said that to solas, mythal represents the past and lavellan represents the future. ive written about his statement that it was all for mythal, and the tldr is that i think it is also supposed to be interpreted as symbolic and reflective of his psyche. but even if he did do it all for her, i dont think that necessarily negates his relationship with lavellan. he needs mythal to break the cognitive dissonance, alleviate his guilt, and release him, because she is the source of all of those things in the first place. lavellan could never break them because she is frankly irrelevant to those things. he is so caught up in his sunk-cost fallacy that he feels the only way is through. lavellan may not be able to break the hold the past has on him because she is separate from it, but she can offer him another path once it has been broken, a fork in the road he thought was straight; her, their future.

i think to say solas's heart is not free is a misunderstanding. he denies his heart's desire over and over, we see this clearly in the letter he sends to lavellan in veilguard that expresses how badly he wanted to put down his burden and stay with her. in his expressed reluctance to leave her in crestwood, how he refuses to lie and tell her it meant nothing. in "no matter what happens, i want you to know that what we had was real". his indulgent final kiss in trespasser. in "i will never forget you". its especially apt that you worded it this way and that vhenan means "my heart". if anything, his heart is the most free part of him. it is everything else that belongs to mythal: his body, created at her command. his path of destruction and ruin, which she set him on. his purpose, which she distorted from wisdom to pride. she, then, is the only one who can give it all back to him. and as soon as she does, he is free to prioritize his heart. and he quite literally does.

tldr; play inquisition <3

[jesskaht]

Solavellan is game canon and now you can never convince me otherwise. Veilguard’s DEFAULT world state for Inquisition is a romanced Lavellan with Solas. And I’m just now learning this.

[bunabi]

i don't think solrook is necessarily cheating, but every time i've seen it the op has a "haha my rook seduced lavellan's man away" bit attached which is just very awkward and feels unnecessary... this game has like no actual lore and not much character depth to discuss, so i guess people just made it into a very uncomfortable soap opera plot instead to have something to discourse about 😔

I think all Solas fans are just Serial Gloaters — myself included. Gloating about Solavellan being the default world state. Gloating about elves getting the most story content. Gloating about Solas surviving w/ the possibility of returning in the future (this one's meee). Solrook smugness, if it exists, is endemic of a larger issue I fear lol.

It does feel a little forced — the whole 'Solas sees himself in Rook' thing was wildly overstated in the marketing — but its fun. Rook feels a bit less one-dimensional in the Fade confrontations and their friction with Solas was more interesting (to me) than the cozy companion interactions.

I really do think even if DAV had a stronger story or more/balanced content Solrook would still be a little popular. then again I overestimated the fandom interest in Felassan x Solas so 🫠 ignore me

[postcardsfromheapside]

Sorry, I took a nap earlier so apparently it's Postcards Yap Time.

I cannot get behind this. Your choices define who you are, and that includes the relationships you build with other people, regardless of your symbolic status. Inquisitor is isolated? Skill issue.

But let's just go with the Solavellan angle, not only because it's what's in OP's tags but because Lavellan is my default world state (Cullavellan canon, I'm romancing Blackwall currently).

Right from the start, even though Cassandra is outraged with grief and playing good cop/bad cop with Leliana, she can still be sensitive to the fact that you're in an overwhelming situation. Once you're out on the trail up to the forward camp, she isn't actually harsh. She has no idea who and what you are, but she's fair. She does her best to explain the situation to you. She could have isolated the fuck out of you then, and didn't.

Upon waking up in Haven, you can feel conflicted with how you're greeted by the humans (and the other elves) but:

-Varric asks right out the gate "how you're doing, really" -Depending on your conversation path, Cullen makes it clear that he thinks "it is enough" (positive) that you want to help, whatever other people think about you religiously notwithstanding -Josie at least tries to reach out to you by greeting you in Elvhen, as well as making sure no one is harassing you, and letting you control your own rumor narrative. -Sera acknowledges you have powers, but the point is that you're supposed to fix the hole in the sky while helping take down big people doing bad things, she never talks to you like you're "above it all". -Iron Bull is talkative and easy going from the get-go.

At Skyhold:

-you've had a time-travel adventure with Dorian, after which you can have several conversations developing a close-knit friendship, including helping him with estranged family and their gay conversation blood magic BS. In a platonic route, this feels pretty "BFFs for life" afterwards. -have the referenced conversation with Varric, and then immediately tell him you don't want a disciple, you want a friend, whereby he'll invite you to play Wicked Grace. Helping him and Cassandra through his personal shit leads to the Guilty Pleasures quest (no herald nonsense there, just laughs over smut) and the big Wicked Grace game where you get to take a load off. -Iron Bull makes sure you don't see your troops as faceless peons, and wants you to have a good relationship with the Chargers, who are pretty much the most important people in his world. You can be a drinking buddy with him. He's not intimidated by you at all. -Cassandra slowly lets go of the "herald" thing and opens up as she learns more about the Seekers, and eventually admits she counts you as a close friend -If you help Vivienne, you get to see a deeply vulnerable side to her, which has nothing to do with your "symbolism", (which, by the way, she doesn't toe the line to, she wants you to cultivate it because she understands power. It's not meant to isolate, but to elevate for everyone's benefit). -You can immediately start a more intimate (friendly or platonic) and informal relationship with Josie just by lending an ear. -when romancing Cullen, while he references you being the Inquisitor and this making him hesitant to express interest (for propriety's sake) he never makes it out like you're something to be worshipped or put on a pedastal. You're a real person to him, you have value because he deeply cares about you AND because you can close the rifts AND eventually because he sees that you are adept at bringing people together.

Meanwhile, I sure did notice a difference in my playthroughs regarding Solas when he talks to you inbetween Haven and Skyhold: He approves if you chose the self-isolating position that of course the humans will blame the elves for the orb. And he doesn't say anything if you point out that everyone already trusts you.

You make these relationships what they are. That includes Solas. I'm not immune to his BS in DA:I and I've been enjoying replaying it, but WOOF. It's just insane to say that the Inquisitor is isolated, because not everyone has the same religious principles. Some go through religious or existential crises through the game. You're meant to be a help and friend to these people as much as a military leader, and to be honest you need them as much as they sometimes need you.

I think Cole, Leliana, and Blackwall are a little more complicated - Cole for his existential crisis, Leliana because of how she struggles with her faith and whether you can harden or soften her. And Blackwall wants so fucking badly to find something to believe in, it's almost impossible to remove his admiration of the Herald from his need for forgiveness found through the Inquisition (I don't say this negatively necessarily, because I don't think it has to be isolating, but I also don't think it's divorced from your position).

Still. It's something of a fucking take to say the Inquisitor is isolated when all these people very much care about them, and a lot of them don't even treat Quiz like they're particularly special except for their Dreadwolf Stigmata.

Interpersonal relationships. Lavellan can have them too.

[sunflowerhazel]

I've seen a couple of people both here and on twitter be upset that it looks like a solavellan world state is the default, based on a female lavellan with no vallaslin being the default Inquisitor. It really looks like solavellan and how much energy is being put into their story is pretty contentious amongst the fandom right now so I just wanted to remind everyone that even though a female lavellan might be the default for the Inquisitor, you can always change that!

Remember when BG3 first came out and people were super excited to create their characters as well as the dream guardian, even though none of us knew who the dream guardian would be yet? You know how when you boot up a new game the "default" race/class is an elven barbarian? You know how you almost always change that immediately????

The same way that we all changed the default origins character and the default dream guardian design to fit whatever we wanted, new Dragon Age fans that have never played the game before will most likely change the Inquisitor's design based on whatever they want. Also "elf" comes first alphabetically when your options are "elf, dwarf, human, qunari"

But all that being said, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that a solavellan Inquisitor is the default. If that's not what you want, totally fine! Go wild! Make your Inquisitor a hot qunari woman who's married to Sera! Make it so your Inquisitor hates the egg man's guts!!! However, for new fans who might just be picking up Dragon Age for the first time and don't want to go through the trouble of making an Inq. (and therefore choose the default option,) making it so your character's advisor is in love with one of the main antagonists of the game can be a really interesting story. That's all.

And once again "elf" comes first alphabetically anyways so like of course the "default" would be an elf I just think it's really not that deep

[skiitter]

hi skitter! i saw your last post wrt solavellan and wanted to share trick's answers from bsky.

i'm not trying to invalidate your feelings about the endgame, but imo it's very clear that solas had to have this closure from mythal or he wouldn't be able to move forward.

Hiiiii! Yeah I've seen em. Tbh I think the end game world states should have been one of two. Either the Mythal ending, or the Solavellan ending. If you have a Solavellan world state, then the conversation with Mythal shouldn't have gone down the way it did. It totally undercuts Lavellan's importance in Solas's growth as a character. In a world where he didn't love her, and they were never together, than Mythal remains the moral center and foundation of his character. She took a spirit of Wisdom and leveraged his loyalty to her against her own pride. Every action from then on, Solas does in her name, especially once the Evanuris kill her. And yes, I know they have a disagreement where she doesn't help him dismantle the Evanuris, but that's because Mythal is the centre of HIS personality, not the other way around.

But, in a world where Solavellan is the default, then Solas went through a much different character growth arc. Yes, he fundamentally ends up in the same place, but the whole point is that she taught him his value as just Solas the person, not this recurring regret. She showed him the possibility of a future. Solas, of course, saw himself and the echoes of his relationship with Mythal, and did not want to repeat the past so, in combination with this alternative future Lavellan represents, he pushes her away.

Lavellan literally says this, that she was the one person capable of getting through to him. Its a big part of why she is SO crucial to his story. Their entire romance is built upon this idea of seen and being seen and understanding someone even if you don't always agree with them and accepting that they are who they are. Mythal quite literally forced Solas to change on a fundamental, core level from Wisdom into Pride. And while Lavellan (rightfully) challenges his beliefs, she does so from a place of equality and respect. They respect one another. And that respect is fucking shat on in Veilguard tbh.

If you do not set a worldstate for Inquisition, than Solavellan IS the default. Therefore, it is expected that many players, esp new ones, will see this relationship play out. Therefore, it is not a leep imho to expect SOME representation of Lavellan's importance to him in the literal embodiment of his past and his regrets that is the Lighthouse, the Crossroads, and the entire Mythal statue/Wolf statue quest line,

She quite literally comes up in One Line of dialogue Rook can have with Solas, and that's it. Which, fine, he's been lying to Rook since the beginning, so why would he say anything to her. But to have this obvious and distinct absence of Lavellan in the place he lived, in these rooms where he stores his fucking belongings, is insulting. To compound upon that, Lavellan does 100% of the work in this game when it comes to them.

We get one (1) codex letter that he wrote her right before the ritual. That is the only time they interact At All outside of the end game. This total lack of interaction stems from the much larger problem that is the absence of the Inquisitor at all, Solavellan or not. I will die on the hill that it makes zero sense for the inquisitor not to be actively and specifically involved in finding and stopping Solas. Them just Vibin' in the south when the blight hits makes zero sense.

I'm ranting, I'm sorry. I'm just so upset about this. Lavellan comes to him at his lowest point and says, once more, "i am here, i see you, you are not alone. together, vhenan" etc. etc. and solas just says No. Now, look, I get how crucial Mythal is. I see the parallels, but in a world where he loves Lavellan, than it should be HER opinion that undoes him in the end. Because that's the point. "I would not have you see what I become" Because her opinion is based on the understanding and mutual respect that the share.

Mythal is no longer his keeper. he's no longer bound to the version of Solas she forced him to become. So while I think she serves a purpose in the Solavellan ending, it should be Lavellan that saves him. Because that's her whole point. The whole essence of it. I'm not saying I'm capable in any capacity of writing a better ending, I just know a better one should have existed.

I am not trying to come off as rude or ranting at you, I'm just ranting. I (and so so so sos so sosososo many others) waited a very long time for the pay off to this relationship and I'd rather have absolutely nothing at all than this weird version we got where Solas treats her like a passing fling that dilligently follows him into the fade without a second thought. As if she wouldn't once more challenge him to be the version of himself he actually is. He shows her no respect and she shows him all of it. The inequality of it all kills me.

iUHGLSUHSDHG sorry. This is so long. I will shut up now.

[bloomingdead]

Can is ask you a question? Is it true that Solavellan is the default world state in Dav? I saw people saying it's confirmed because female lavellan didn't have vallaslin in the cc but I also saw that even a male lavellan didn't have them either. Do you know if they made Solas bi now?

I’m curious to see where you saw the default M!Lavellan with no vallaslin, that’s a very interesting implication for between-games lore or potential (understandable) retcons. Because at first I thought perhaps somehow, F!Lavellan could have found a way (or someone) to remove her vallaslin if she never had solas remove it. I figured any of my F!Lavellan who didn’t romance Solas, or did and refused his removal spell, would have changed their mind after learning what we do in Trespasser.

So no, I’m not 100% certain that in the default world state, Solas is Lavellan’s romance. I think it would make sense for increased drama to hook the new players but it only seems so to me based on the assumption the only person in the world, or in reach of Lavellan, that can remove vallaslin is a romanced Solas. I’m also not 100% certain you can retroactively make Solas the romance for M!Lavellan, especially since I have no idea what you saw. Though I do hope they make that change since some players may like to hc that their Lavellan transitioned with all the new inclusivity options in the character creator. Plus Solas just gives equal opportunity lover vibes lmfaooo let him be bisexual BioWare!!!

[nekrotisch-a]

Cassandra's Game Decisions

Harding went with Cassandra during the Ritual D'Meta's Crossing's Mayor was left for dead Treviso was saved First Warden was talked down Solas is tricked with the fake lyrium dagger If world state is Solavellan, she gives Solas the chance to redeem himself and him and the Inquisitor are in the Fade

Companion decisions: These can change to match with another blogs canon

Neve: Runs the Threads Davrin/Assan: Griffons given to Arlathan Bellara: Keep the Archive Taash: Embracing Rivani culture Emmrich: Brings back Manfred Harding: Controlled her anger and make peace with the past Lucanis: Made a Contract to save Catarina, Illario is forgiven Act 3 Decisions: *these are the default following an Emmrich Romance, subject to change verse by verse

Neve is Blighted Harding made the ultimate sacrifice Lucanis - Taking out the Venatori Leader Taash - Juggernaut Bellara - Barriers Her party is Emmrich and Davrin

[lucifer-kane]

Solavellans hard coping (coming from an enjoyer here) saying the default inquisitor model in the cc is an elf/doesn’t have their tattoos so that’s the “canon” like pleaseeeeee shuuuut up. ​I truly think that if there’s a default world state it shouldn’t include a romanced main character

[angelsndragons]

maybe i'm too contrary or something sometimes because like an all elf world state just Does Not Appeal to me. having similar problems with all humans lbr. i think the reason my dwarf world state works is because in the end it is both very tight story about thedas' weirdest family while it covers a very broad theme of myth and myth-making. my canon world state is just a perfectly balanced blend of blunt, to the point, never give up, never surrender folks who just don't know when to quit and who find meaning in vulnerability and trust.

i dunno maybe the fandom has soured me on oops all elves or something. people show their whole asses on lavellan all the fucking time (still mad the devs defaulted to solavellan in da4, like i get that it's the drama llama option but some of y'all have been insufferable since). and it was bad enough before hand trying to find folks writing and discussing male lavellan and decentralizing solas from a lavellan narrative. nowadays? forget it.

anywho. working out a faith-based/themed world state in place of human/elf. maybe that'll stick one day. here's to you, irsa hawke, may you find a world worth living in and heroes to live alongside. maker knows you won't deserve it but you'll make something of it.

[light-wrath-paradise]

On one hand I do understand why Dragon Age fans are angry. On the other I literally cannot relate and I think Bioware should double down. No no hear me out. Hear me out listen to me.

Unfortunately they cannot pull the funniest move they could if they hadn't been idiots but they can pull a slightly less funny move.

They cannot pull a classical "this is your government assigned ex" situation because they themselves locked themselves out of that house.

But they CAN still pull a government assigned ex situation with extra steps that nobody would like and that'd make no sense but that would nonetheless be really fucking funny.

They shouldn't but they could and they should in a "it'd be funny" way just double down. Remove the option to customise your past Inquisitor. Make the Inquisitor a female elf with no Vallaslin and nothing you can do about it. Gaslight you about it. Make the default world state solavellan. Make that unchangeable. Refuse to elaborate. Leave.

Nobody would like that and it would have no upsides at all.

But it'd be really really funny.

[elequinoa-world]

tbh lack of choices in datv is a bit disapointing but it was to be expected. i'm just happy that 1. our inquisitor shows up and is customizable and 2. their love interest is one of those choices cause boy if they forced me to have a solavellan default state world i'd go fucking feral

my inky is happy living a domestic life with dadwall okay you solavellans can keep the angsty stuff okay okay (im so worried something's going to happen to them let her be happy ffs) i don't care about solas one bit, i've made my peace with him being such a central character in datv, but i really don't want to have to fake such a special relationship with him because i really have no attachment to him at all

i'm also hoping onto the tinyest bit of hope that hawke still shows up as a surprise motherfuckers we lied AGAIN and the cc screen pops up when we're about to meet them but it's really copium yeah

[miniar]

Veilguard, round five complete...

You know, the thing that irks me the most about the veilguard is that the default inquisitor is an elven woman still in love with the dread wolf, and that was the romance I skipped entirely in my many... MANY... MMAANNYY!... playthroughs of Inquisition.

I intended to romance Solas once... I fully intended to.. but I just couldn't bring myself to do so... ended up making a hard left turn and pursuing Cullen instead, because the eggman just never appealed to me.

I usually made friends with the bastard none the less, out of spite. I reject your disrespect!

Mayhaps it's because I'm a trans man and playing fem chars was even rarer for me back then than it is now. Maybe it's because I'm very queer and the queer romances were always far more interesting.

But my tendency to play every romance at least once never managed to extend to him.

So... I don't like solavellan being the default world state.

Anyway... I've only two more people left to romance in this game so I'm starting my sixth playthrough. I'm saving Lucanis for last. So far... I don't know which romance is my favourite. I know it's not Davrin,.. he's lovely, don't get me wrong, it's just... I'm an old goth and the casket is a fantastic piece of flare, and I used to flirt with Harding in EVERY inquisition playthrough even if I knew that I couldn't romance her, and Tash picked me up (was playing an elven trans twink)... so far they've all been good,... Honestly I can't choose. Anyway... time to go flirt with Neve.