Dead Dove Graveyard

Full Solas character sheet. I have been absolutely enjoying myself with this new, simplified design. I was worried Solas wouldn't translate, but I guess it all worked out 😅

I can't help but think- oh darkspawn aren't scary to you anymore, eh? You *never* went down like a chump in the Hinterlands.. not you 🙄 I remember, Solas. I remember everything.

Several weeks ago, I was recommended by @bitchesofostwick​ as someone who could possibly provide tips for writing an in-character Solas.  I was and am still very flattered by this recommendation, even though I think there are plenty out there better than I to seek such tips from. However, I am in a meta kind of mood today (and I’m on semester break), so I thought I might sit down and type some of these out.

Note: I don’t claim to be any sort of authority on the matter at all.  These are just a collection of thoughts I have when I write him in case anyone is struggling. 

Whenever I go to write Solas, there are several qualities that I try to capture: intelligence, passion/excitability, perceptiveness/curiosity, emotionality, and confidence.  Solas also has a particular way in which he uses words that is important to consider, and all of his different “attributes” can be influenced in their presentation by his relationship with the person to whom he is speaking.  

I’m going to try to address each thing separately below:

Solas & Adahla Lavellan: new growth.

I commissioned this piece from the unbelievably talented Hotwe, who is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, deliberate artists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I cannot express how grateful I am for the kindness shown towards my imaginary dolls at every step of this process. Thank you! <3

This is a paired piece to this one, also by Hotwe, which I commissioned immediately after finishing Inquisition for the first time. Once I finished Veilguard and filled out how the story ends for these two, I knew I desperately wanted the other half of this diptych.

Close-ups and lengthy notes on the incorporated symbolism are below the cut.

slavery is bad, and therefore, the majority of the population knows this, and is against it! and slavers are extremely obviously and exaggeratedly evil, and will be using their slaves as human furniture, so you know that it's just needless cruelty for the sake of it. and this is all in the context of the Redeemable Democratically Reformable Empire, where the average people at the bread markets (we are not going to question who bakes the bread or harvests the wheat or grinds the flour) are nice. so therefore slavery is not actually intrinsically tied to the economy, it's just this evil act that people do purely bc they are villains.

however. if you blood magic bind solas and use him as a sort of forcible battery to hold up the veil.... that's fine, bc it is actually for the greater good to support the continued existence of the bread markets. even though this should actually be considered as enslavement or forced captivity. which is even sadder if you consider that he was the most anti-slavery character in the games up to that point.

"I like the stories where the villain was the man beside you the whole time." - Varric.

.

So for me, Solas is Wisdom but also Pride depending on context used but through propaganda from the Evanuris, even years into the future all the way to modern Thedas the meaning of Wisdom attached to it was lost.

This is where I came to that conclusion, every translation has Solas as meaning Pride but as we know Solas is/was a spirit of Wisdom.

So when Lich Emmrich calls Solas 'Dread Wolf', Solas replies with 'I prefer Wisdom'" also when he tells the inquisitor "I was Solas first." He's saying 'Solas is Wisdom'.

by Fade_touched_Lurker

Solas and Lavellan speak of the elven language, spoken, veilfire runes, and the written language.

And that was interesting too, how he said that. In the trade tongue, of course, but it was important, to him, the rhythm of the words, in Trade, not just elven. He often spoke with a lilt that she could feel; she felt herself sometimes answering him in the same way. It felt right, natural, to speak that way with him in words that were also a song.

Words: 9402, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Other

Characters: Lavellan (Dragon Age), Solas (Dragon Age)

Relationships: Female Lavellan/Solas (Dragon Age)