Art Blog

Sera: Ugh, Creepy, stop! It’s been three days now! What is it this time? Sad bandits? A tree that misses its squirrel? 

Cole: It’s a song. The wind sings of what was lost, if you listen. 

Sera: See? This! Who listens to wind? It’s wind! It’s not saying anything! It’s just... whoosh! 

Cole: It speaks to who can hear, but it’s harder to hear when your heart is full of louder things. Too much noise, too much now, and it... 

Sera: Right, that's it. I’m pulling this horse over and we’re having a talk. With arrows. 

Cole: But... we’re already talking. And arrows don't talk. They sing. Softly, like whistles through the air, until they land.

Sera: Ugh, you’re impossible! How does anyone deal with you? 

Lavellan: Enough! We’re the ones dealing with both of you! Sera, quiet. Can you please go one hour without snapping at him? 

Solas: Indeed. Heeding the Inquisitor’s request would be most desirable.

Sera: It's him! And his creepy wind-talking! 

Lavellan: Sera, I'm going to stop these horses, tie you to a tree and let Solas give you a lecture. About anything he wants. 

Sera: You wouldn’t. 

Solas: I could start with a detailed discourse on the elemental theories behind wind patterns in the Fade. 

Lavellan: Or your thoughts on the historical inaccuracies in common Orlesian depictions of ancient elves. 

Solas: In addition to a full week’s study of elvhen grammar. 

Cole: I could help with that! The words feel soft, like roots in the earth, spreading and holding, even when no one sees. They hum when you say them right. We could talk about that. And practice the sounds! I like the sounds. 

Sera: Nooo! Not Creepy teaching me elfy-words!  

Lavellan: Solas has some wonderful theories about ancient elven architecture. 

Solas: The etchings alone could fill days of discussion. Though I would begin with the foundations - metaphorically and literally. 

Cole: The stones remember being shaped. They’d like to tell her. 

Lavellan: Or Solas, what about explaining the finer details of your restoration theories? 

Solas: Excellent suggestion! Beginning with the architectural significance of fenestration patterns. 

Sera: What even is fenestration? 

Cole: Windows. The way light moves through them, dances – windows into the soul. It’s beautiful when it shines. 

Sera: That’s it. I’m leaving. I’ll ride ahead. I’ll ride back. I’ll ride into a pack of wyvern. Just stop! 

Lavellan: If you’re planning to ditch us, Sera, I can always add in a reading list to keep you busy on your way. All of Solas’ favourite texts. 

Solas: A worthy punishment. I could start with an annotated copy of The Elven Pantheon for her convenience. 

Sera: Stop it, you! 

Lavellan: Well then, be quiet and leave Cole alone. Or the next stop is a mandatory lecture circle. 

Sera: Fine, I'll shut it. 

Solas: Well done, vhenan. You claimed Sera’s surrender with words alone. I was moments away from drawing my staff. 

Lavellan: As much as I appreciate your staff, Solas, I find a deft tongue far more... disarming when the moment calls for it. 

Solas: As you should. A well-honed tongue can often prove far more effective at rendering one speechless than any staff.

Sera: Gross! Just tie me up and lecture me already. I’ll take diagrams and elfy-words over listening to you two fenestrating each other. 

Cole: Tongues and staffs, both strong, filling in soft spaces – fighting but...not?  It feels like fire wanting to catch. Why does it make the air heavy? 

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7. Is your OC humorous?

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4. Is your OC emotionally open with the people around them?

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6. Does your OC idolize their past?

Thank you!

Is your OC humorous?

That's actually a tough one. I don't consider her wildly humorous. I think she's more snide/sarcastic, especially when stressed.

Is your OC emotionally open with the people around them?

Sharanni is absolutely terrible at hiding her emotions. So in a way she is emotionally open, just not really by choice.

But if we're talking about why she's happy or angry, then not so much. She did not talk about the events at Redcliffe, she did not tell people what happened to her vallaslin, and she certainly never told anyone that Solas dumped her. She just stomps on those negative emotions and hopes they go away.

6. Does your OC idolize their past?

A little bit, definitely. She had a pretty happy childhood, except for when her parents died. But she was accepted by her clan and she knew how she fit in. And after the Conclave, she got thrust into a world where she no longer knew how she fit. She tried to go back to her clan after the Inquisition dissolved, but she had changed too much over the years, and her lack of vallaslin and connection with the Chantry made her clan distrust her a bit, and she definitely felt that.

now put some clothes on him will ya?

Thank you so much for tagging me @unovafarm 💖 It is always a pleasure to read the latest developments between Nienna and Geraldus on Wednesdays! 🥰

As for me, I was making satisfactory progress with my current art project... but then I felt the burning gaze of my muse staring at me judgmentally from one corner of my mind. I didn't have to ask, I knew what she wanted to tell me. It went something like this :

Muse : After everything he's been through, don't you think the man deserves to be pictured clothed?

Me : ... Yeah, probably...

Muse : Sparkles... give the beautiful man a shirt. You know it's the right thing to do.

Me : Ugh fFinNEeee! I will give the beautiful man a shirt...

Muse : Thank you.

I mean, she was right about it though... it will take a bit longer this way, but I feel better now about how he's represented in this piece. 💙

Ok since I'm always late to post for WIP Wednesday I never tag anyone, but I'm starting to think it's boring because I want to see what you lovely people are up to! So I'm throwing a few tags to be used whenever you feel like showing me something you're working on 🤩

Elora Lore is my favorite pastime. 😌

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4. How important is the concept of strength to your OC?

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5. Is it easy for your OC to step out of their comfort zone?

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5. Does your OC have a strict morning routine? If so, what is it?

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2. Does your OC believe in the concept of luck?

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2. What brings comfort to your OC (person, place, object, etc.)?

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1. What is one of your OC’s biggest dreams and do they believe that dream will come true?

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4. How good is your OC with children?

Thank you friend 💚💚💚☺️

You know I love talking about the gremlin 🤗

♥️ 4. How important is the concept of strength to your OC?

So physical strength doesn't really matter to her so much but strength of character? Of will? Of mind? In her mind it is the very basis by which someone carries themselves. She values that mental and emotional strength quite a bit, actually requiring it to even become a friend to someone because, in her mind, if you don't know or have the ability to defend yourself or your ideals, you are inherently a risk.

🧡5. Is it easy for your OC to step out of their comfort zone?

Elora is just such a sweetheart and she tends to get along with most everyone but there are some exceptions. Generally speaking, she's finally stepping into a role or place she isn't comfortable with and adapts just fine, but there are instances like (in canon) the ball at Halamashiral with all the nobles and the poor elven servants that she just hates desperately. She understands the concept of The Game but she detests being fake over anything. Be authentic or be nothing.

💛 5. Does your OC have a strict morning routine? If so, what is it?

She does! Every morning begins with stretching- whether alone or with Solas (though he stretches her in an entire other way 😉) followed by an absolute ton of water. Then she eats some sort of fruit for breakfast alongside something containing caffeine (tea or coffee). Always in this order as well, actually. Surprising given her chaotic nature, I know.

💚2. Does your OC believe in the concept of luck?

Yes! Elora absolutely believes in luck! She think she herself had rotten luck for a long time but always knew if she just waited patiently and was a good person, her luck would change. It did, though not always in a way she expected, but she has a good, happy life now with her vhenan and her dear friends so she prays everyday that luck stays on her side.

🩵 2. What brings comfort to your OC (person, place, object, etc.)?

Elora is a subversive person and finds comfort in many things mundane to grand. Solas, obviously, brings her comfort, but also being around flowers or in an open field. She also finds she's most comfortable shopping for new clothes and make up and enjoys her hair being taken care of it, whether it be braids, twists, or even a sew-in. She likes things that make her feel like a princess, overall; something that entreats her with gentleness and an act of love.

💜 1. What is one of your OC’s biggest dreams and do they believe that dream will come true?

Now...Underfoot Elora wants to have this big successful flower shop and she wants to bring lots of joy to her customers and wealth to her employees who also her friends. Flowers mean so much to her and have always been a comfort and she wants that for others as well. She does absolutely believe with enough hardwork that dream can come true.

Canon Elora just wants to be with Solas. She has no goals, plans, or dreams beyond that. I know it may sound a bit childish but Elora is childish. She's found her comfort, care, and love with another. After the hellish years of the Inquisition and their absence from one another before she joined him in Trespasser, she finds her only dreams are for their future and her friends happiness.

🩷4. How good is your OC with children?

Elora is AMAZING with children! She's kind and patient as a caregiver needs to be but also childish herself so she's quite fun and liable to get into a bit of mischief. She doesn't sweat the small stuff or mind messes and she's happy to play with a little one for hours on end. Elora is fascinated by the sweet innocence and strong curiosity of children and loves to help them learn and understand and try new things and she learns from them in turn.

Colorful OC Asks

a big collection of questions based on color language! all questions under the cut 💕

❤️ RED ❤️

1. What is the easiest way to make your OC angry? 2. What aspects of a person—appearance, personality or otherwise—are attractive to your OC? 3. Does your OC enjoy sex? 4. How important is the concept of strength to your OC? 5. Is your OC vengeful? 6. Are people afraid of your OC? If so, is that fear warranted? 7. What would others consider the most attractive part of your OC?

Thank you for tagging me, @crimsonphantasmagoria ! I really enjoyed answering this one, and the result felt surprisingly fitting 🥹

Gently tagging: @celesenova @exia-1 @kcwriter-blog @rhoxxia @vhen-harel 💚

No pressure at all, and please ignore this if you’ve already done it!

💁‍♀️ Quiz

Considering how she became a hunter, this result really got to me.

And so did the words “refreshing, and clean.”

At first glance, their story is full of secrets, duty, guilt, regret, and pain. But I still think the love they hold for each other is refreshing and clean.

These are the slides after DAI, before Trespasser. The Inquisitor was seen as "a leader of a changing world order" with the "power to shake kingdoms".

And the message is clear - anyone who becomes capable of changing the existing order is treated as a threat by the institutions that benefit from that order.

Whether you disband the Inquisition or place it under the Divine, the independent power disappears - an independent force capable of reshaping the landscape can't be allowed to remain independent.

Whether it was intentional or not, the parallels with Solas continue strongly even in this.

Solas stood against the established order of his age. He challenged the Evanuris and inspired rebellion. History remembers him through propaganda and he becomes a monster, a liar, the Dread Wolf.

The Inquisitor experiences a version of that same process. Once their influence grows large enough to threaten the status quo, they too become someone whose power must be limited and whose legacy is rewritten by those in authority. In Callback (but starting in Trespasser), the established powers don't see the Inquisitor as a hero anymore. They see someone with too much influence. Skyhold is taken away and the Inquisitor is spoken about as though they're a dangerous, charismatic figure whose power must be contained.

Which makes me think of Rook, and specifically how I view Rook.

While I would have loved the Inquisitor to play a much bigger role in VG, looking at it this way makes their absence make more sense to me. By this point, the Inquisitor has been deliberately diminished by the existing powers. They can't set foot in Minrathous without the Venatori trying to assassinate them, and the Grey Wardens don't trust them. The Inquisitor isn't free to move through the world as they once did because they have become too influential and too dangerous to the established order (like Solas). They are indeed too powerful because once again it is the Inquisitor who naturally assumes leadership in the defence of the south with people rallying around them.

What's interesting is that this pattern even extends to Dorian. His desire to reform Tevinter grows out of his time with the Inquisitor and with Solas. Inspired by what he experienced there, he returns home and co-founds the Lucerni to push for meaningful political change.

And what happens? Once more, the movement of change becomes a threat to the established order. Maevaris is framed for treason, the Lucerni is dissolved, and the work continues underground as the Shadow Dragons. It's just another reminder of the Inquisition's influence and how dangerous it was. It inspired people across Thedas to challenge the systems they had always accepted. Just as Solas' rebellion was dangerous and inspired in others the same. And this makes sense why both Solas and the Inquisitor have become figures that many people want removed from the board.

So now Rook. Unlike Solas and the Inquisitor, Rook isn't an agent of change like they were. Rook doesn't challenge the existing order or try to build a new one. Instead, Rook's role is to bring people together. They convince factions with very different interests to work toward a common goal because, with Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain threatening the entire world, there really isn't another choice.

I could argue that Rook succeeds because they aren't carrying centuries or years of history and political baggage (yes, they challenge their own faction, I'm not talking about that, they are a relative unknown compared to the Inquisitor). The factions can rally behind Rook because they aren't a threat of a changing world order in the way Solas and the Inquisitor have become. They're simply someone everyone can work with against a common enemy.

And it's interesting to me that Rook can respond to Solas and the Inquisitor in very similar ways, seeing them primarily through the roles they have played in the world rather than simply as people. Solas is blamed for creating the current crisis, while Rook can accuse the Inquisitor of having to clean up their mess. In different ways, Rook places the burden of the world's current state on both of their shoulders.

Even the help Rook asks of them reflects the same parallel. Rook asks the Inquisitor to use their influence to gather armies and information, yet the Inquisitor can't. Solas faces a different limitation. Trapped within the prison of regret, all he can really offer is his knowledge and guidance. Both are reduced to supporting roles, not because they have nothing left to give, but because circumstances have left them unable to lead the way they once did.

If the Inquisitor had tried to lead the same charge as Rook, I imagine many would have viewed them with suspicion. They're a political or religious figure whose motives are constantly open to interpretation (like Solas). I'm sure many would assume they had their own agenda, especially an Inquisitor Lavellan who romanced Solas. In a world already filled with rumours and propaganda surrounding both of them, it isn't difficult to imagine those stories being weaponized to undermine the Inquisitor's leadership.

And yet, despite it all, Solas and the Inquisitor are still doing what they've always done, just in the background. The Inquisitor leads the defence of the South, while Solas spends those few weeks fighting alongside the Shadow Dragons. Neither has stopped acting according to what seems to be their nature. Whatever their larger goals or whatever the world chooses to believe about them, both continue trying to prevent unnecessary suffering and protect others wherever they can.