Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
β Live Streamingβ Interactive Chatβ Private Showsβ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch β’ No registration required β’ HD streaming
I have received a tag from lovely @dirthera15 to answer some solavellan questions, and can't thank you enough for it π. There is one in particular that I would like to answer separately from the rest, because it gives me the chance to talk about something that I've been thinking of for a very long time. (so I can answer more immediately than I can the others) ((I will answer the others too, in a separate post)).
πWhat is the most ordinary thing Lavellan does that absolutely wrecks Solas? What about the other way around?
The short answer is:
Whenever Lavellan is enjoying something very trivial, like the taste of her food, touching grass on a sunny day, or petting a fluffy animal, it sends Solas down a spiral of how meaningful their short time together truly is. And for the other way around: whenever Solas gets fired up (in a positive way) and nerds out for minutes without end about something, becoming very lively and expressive as he goes on, it makes Solstice wish she could stop time and see him happy forever.
The long answer:
There is one thing that all organic life forms experience that ancient elvhes never did, and that is: the inevitability of death. We learn from Veilguard that the elvhen race just manifested into existence and for the longest time they didn't have to worry about degenerating or extinguishing, unlike all other life forms. And when they did meet with the impermanence of the organics, they panicked and sealed themselves off (and blamed humans for carrying diseases). Basically, the original elvhes never wanted to experience life for what it truly is, temporary and fleeting, they only wanted to indulge in hedonism (which Solas condones), and without natural order putting a stop to it, it lead to excess and corruption.
Now, millennia later, Lavellan may have elvhen blood running through her veins, but she is just as organic and mortal as the rest of the world, and modern day Thedas elves have had enough time to adjust their lifestyles and mentalities to the inevitability of death (in fact, the Dalish built their entire culture around the sorrow of losing immortality and trying to preserve the past). So, for Solstice, life is a series of chores and duties, and it's up to her to find the moments of bliss. And when she does find something that brings her joy, she savors it with an excitement that can only be described as "being drunk on life".
So, we have an ordinary day in the inquisition: sleeping in tents, exploring new territory, sealing rifts, saving people, taking major decisions that affect the entire world, climbing, crawling, digging, falling, failing... and.. between all these, Lavellan will find a moment to relax. All in the party are sweaty, muddy, bloody, hurt and tired and they need to rest, breathe, drink some water and grab a bite. And Lavellan will take just a little bit longer than everyone else to prepare her favorite meal, calmly and meticulously, following every step that's as instinctive to her as is breathing because she has done it a million time before, all to make sure that the result is just as she expects it. And then she will take the first bite and her taste buds activate and her brain lights up like fireworks, and she relaxes her shoulders and leans back and exhales and voices out something like "what is the meaning of life?!" with an "if not this?" left unsaid, lingering in the air for everyone else to decipher. Because yes, life is work and you need to do a lot of little things to survive and everyone does them instinctively, like eating, so why not, at the very least, find pleasure in it.
Everyone else in the party will either ignore it or silently agree and not think twice about it, but when Solas overhears her say this, it absolutely wrecks him for reasons he doesn't even understand. Because Solas never wanted a physical body to begin with. The meaning of existence is completely different to him. He may have indulged in the same carnal pleasures at some point, but he spent the last millennia at war (with all the horrors that it brings), or sleeping, in the fade, so... not experiencing the same gratification of those with a corporeal form. A concept that he never even considered as a missing element. And once again he finds himself pulled back into reality (hop there goes gravity), against his will, with more duties to enact, followed around by a loneliness that only the last member of a species can truly feel, but this time around, he meets her. And as he puts it, she changes everything. Because she ends up teaching him how to truly feel alive. And it triggers in him a rollercoaster of emotions.
Through her attitude, Lavellan shows that mortality, even if tragic in itself, is not inherently a bad thing; it is not unnatural, and not something to seal yourself away from, like the ancients elvhes did. Mortality is, in fact, what assigns major significance to the fleeting moments of joy they can find in the sea of suffering. For the first time, having a material body allows Solas to take in these pleasures with her, not in the way of hedonistic excess the ancients did, but with measured meaning. It hits him like a pile of bricks that he will lose her at some point, whether to his duties or to time, because, what everyone else in the world understands by default compared to him (and I don't think he ever actually addresses this or learns how to cope with it) is that the true tragedy of loving someone enough to spend your lives together, is that eventually you have to watch each other wither and die. As he is immortal, he knows that if he chose to stay with her "as Solas, as [he] wanted", he would have to watch her die.
And the rollercoaster goes full circle; just as she wants to taste as much of life as possible before her time runs out, so does he want to experience as much of her as possible in the short time they are allowed together.
βΏβΏβΏβΏβΏβΏ
Now, for the other way around, one thing that Solas regularly and ordinarily does is simply talk.
Solstice would address him questions, ask for his opinions, for his stories, for his memories, and every so often she would touch a subject that he is particularly fond of. And when that happens, Solas would get livelier as he talks; he would not only answer the question, but would go on about the subject, volunteering information, smiling, doing large gestures with his hands, raising his voice a little unaware of his own excitement, chuckling when he pauses for breath, and it's all of this that makes her fall in love with him, before she even realizes.
Once she does realize that she's in love, and how much she appreciates his passion for things, she starts looking for those subjects on purpose.
It is particularly wrecking during a key moment in their canonic story: the very long and awkward time between their fade kiss and him confessing his feelings. Because he asked for time. Now keeping in mind everything I mentioned above, Solstice knows that her time is limited, and she gives it anyway.
Weeks go by, when they have to continue working and living together as if nothing happened. They have to continue trekking, exploring southern Thedas, closing rifts, nosediving into danger to save civilians, fighting demons and outlaws and cultists, then share tents and meals together, all while she has to keep her distance. She gives him the time he asked for. She doesn't want to pressure him. She can't pour out her heart and feelings for him, she can't kiss him, nor touch him, she can't even stand too close to him, out of respect, to give him space. The one thing she can do is seek out his happiness. And she is under the impression that allowing him to talk about certain subjects makes him happy. So she keeps asking and she keeps listening and she keeps watching his face change from frown to smile, all while she keeps her distance one bonfire away and die a little bit inside that she can't hold his hand while he's gesticulating.
Continuing to answer the questions from the tag from @dirthera15:
π οΈ What modern Thedas invention does your Solas begrudgingly admit is useful?
[someone please correct me if this wrong] I was unable to find an in-lore explanation for fast travel in Thedas. I get the impression that it is only intended as a game mechanic and that it implies that characters get from point A to point B the old-fashioned slow travel way. But I headcanon that fast travel is an actual concept in Thedas, and it is an invention of the modern age, which Solas secretly admires.
So we know that, besides the Vi'Revas, the Eluvians worked as pairs, or would connect to the Crossroads. So ancient elvhes wouldn't simply teleport from Point A to Point B when they needed to reach a more distant place in the empire, but it would look more like A -> D -> Z -> T -> F -> and then, eventually, B. Much like us, in the real world, would take a train that stops at multiple stations before we reach our destination.
But modern Thedas fast travel would work in the form of the poles or pillars that we see in the games, with runes and spells and specific coordinates. So a thedosian could easily reach any point in the world, if they have the correct combination for the specific pillar. This to me explains why in DAI you need to send forward scouts to unlock an area and only then you can teleport to the new place. The scouts can set up the fast travel point and then the Inquisitor's party can magic themselves there. Solas would definitely appreciate the usefulness of this invention, but would also probably hate that he wasn't the one to think of it centuries ago.
π Who talks more while travelling?
This very much depends on whether they are with the entire party, or just the two of them.
Lavellan would definitely engage in party banter more often than Solas. There would be a lot of jokes bouncing between her and Varric, Bull, Sera and Dorian, lots of filth and roasting too as they get very familiar with each other. She'd do mental gymnastics trying to decipher whatever Cole is on about at any given time (and I headcanon that sometimes he just speaks in anagrams, but doesn't give any clues about it, so she's basically failing miserably at solving them). And she would engage in long debates about religions, morality and ethics with Cassandra, Blackwall and Vivienne. So, apart from the canonic banter between Solas and the other members of the inner circle, I think he would mostly assume a silent posture, probably biting his tongue trying not to correct their assumptions about the history of the world, as to not give away his identity.
But the silent facade drops when it's just the two of them, because he knows Solstice actually listens and is interested in his experience and opinions. He would share what he could about ruins they encounter, all masked in the way of having explored some already in his dreams; he would impart knowledge about various forms of magic that are entirely new to her and all too familiar to him. They would even gossip about the others or chat about trivial things, develop inside jokes or laugh when one of them gets their foot stuck in something in a hilarious way. I think when it's just the two of them, Solas can be closest to his real self, he can share unfiltered opinions and he definitely has more to say than she does.
π΅What habit did they pick up from each other?
Swearing! Solstice would throw a lot of "piss off" and "go fuck yourself" in the face of enemies, and even at inanimate objects when she is too tired to untie her sleeping bag, for instance, or when she stumbles her pinkie in some rock; basically any thing or concept that is mildly inconvenient gets told off. So, involuntarily, Solas picks it up.
The first time Solas tells a branch to piss off, it takes him by surprise, because why would he curse an object?! That's how accustomed he got to her behavior. But it happened when it was just the two of them and it made Solstice laugh so hard, he decided to stick with it. The second time, he directly quotes her: "as our inquisitor would say, piss off!" After that, he decides to teach her some ancient elvhen curses in return. Cultural exchange, basically.
(About a decade later, Solas tells the idiot Rook to piss off as well, and was even more surprised when Rook replied with one of the ancient elvhen curses that they learned from Lavellan.)
So, throughout Trespasser we see Solas from the past trying to convince his followers that he is not actually a god and the evanuris are actually (if you'll excuse the term) mortals. In order to make him seem like a legitimate threat to the evanuris, he has to be equal to them and he chooses to bring them down instead of raising himself up. Now obviously that tactic fails and Fen'Harel becomes remembered as a god.
But my question is who do you think started that belief? Because it really does benefit both the evanauris and Solas's followers.
Since there apparently were more evanuris than just eight, and Solas successfully killed some of them, it really doesn't make the survivors look very godly if one of their number got taken out by some average Joe with a grudge. So they deify him, hope to kill him, and nobody else will be able to take his place because they're clearly not a god. It's sort of a last ditch attempt to control the narrative once they realize they can no longer just brush him off.
But Solas's followers also definitely benefit from that narrative because it's so difficult to take beings worshiped as gods and humanize them (if you'll forgive that term). That can give them hope that their struggling isn't pointless, that they aren't raging helplessly against these cruel gods, because they have a god on their side as well.
This is something that plays out during Inquisition as well. While technically none of their followers are calling the Inquisitor a god, people definitely believe Inky is more than just a simple person and you can't convince me that in another century or so a break-off group starts worshiping them (probably started by that cult in the Hinterlands). And on the other hand, Corypheus repeatedly talks about Inky like they're also trying to become a god, like he is. And it doesn't matter how much the Inquisitor may try to protest, everyone is trying to elevate them to be more than human (elf/dwarf/qunari).
I can't get enough of this train of thought. How the narrative changes and gets twisted over time. How myths and legends form. How (mortals) become gods. I don't think it gets talked about enough how that would feel for the Inquisitor. A character who is not an exceptionally powerful immortal elf, who has no or little experience being a leader. For me, I think it would be terrifying and sickening. But you can also play into the character getting off on the attention and power, or even believing the narrative. I can believe Solas genuinely did not want that reputation. He just wanted to do the work, and show others they can do it too. And if he felt that way... how much more would the Inquisitor struggle with it? God, the parallel of their experiences being leaders who are deified. It is such good storytelling.
for every incel white man star wars dudebro there is a teenage lesbian with a slightly deeper and more obscure knowledge of star wars who will one day defeat him in battle
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
β Live Streamingβ Interactive Chatβ Private Showsβ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch β’ No registration required β’ HD streaming
This one is about the contrast of beauty and pain, nerevars inner conflict of having to prioritize his goals of becoming king over his adoration of voryn, about nerevars past and why he does not want to be in love, his fear and trauma, about voryns dedication to nerevar and attempts to comfort him even when he does not understand him, the tenderness between them. The strip on the left is hard to understand if you dont know my headcanons, but it is supposed to be nerevars past "lover"
I also just really wanted to draw nerevar in pearls, i usually portray him as quite a traditionally masculine character so i wanted to make something different this time. This artwork may look a bit different because i decided to use yet another different brush on this and the process was quite messy, i never did the lineart stage. I kind of dont like how messy the anatomy for nerevar is, atleast it always looks wrong to me, but whatever
Yes i did say last time im gonna work on Sil and yes i did infact get distracted
Rules: color all that applies to your OC and their vibes! Whichever section you get the most in is your OCβs archetype, although you can also add in whichever section you get second in to create a subclass of sorts! (Ex: the heroic maiden, the sagely monster, the outcast hero, etc!) Feel free to name it as you see fit, discuss your results, and add some vibe inspiration if youβd like!
Thank you for the tag, @dirthera15! π This allowed me to get to know my characters a little bit better. I will be answering for both my Rook and my Lavellan because they work as a pair in my head.
The Hero - 8; 4
Impulsive action, bravery in the face of fear, unwavering self-sacrifice, resilience, fighting for those who cannot, action before contemplation, revenge over absolution, my strength serves the virtuous, an oaken shield, the thrill of battle, glowing smile and freckled cheeks, glory and remembrance, arrogance, red blooded anger, a journey begins with one step, excitement over safety, rising after every fall, shooting from the hip, a knight in shining armor, a sapling which thrives despite the fierce wind, I will succeed or die trying.
The Juve - 5
Blooming flowers, gentle sighs upon a loverβs chest, freshly gathered wildflowers, assumptions assumptions assumptions, twice bitten, bright eyes which so lovingly cut through you, isolation in a sea of admirers, long hair pulled back with a ribbon, soundless footsteps in the grass, naivety shifting towards corruption, my image is not my own and the distinction it lends is not mine either, the gold that stays, sneers and smiles, white cotton dresses in the rain, negations of culpability, a bird in a jeweled cage, a smile as a sword, flushed cheeks amid longing glances, a feast you must not partake in.
The Guardian - 5; 1
Solid rock withstanding ocean waves, sentinel, a vibrant sun through rain clouds, protecting the threshold of glory, boastful smiles and gentle laughs, reluctantly passing the torch, leading through example, past splendor: never again felt but often remembered, the darkest memory is what could have been, the shine of glory never fades, goodness is worth protecting at any cost, sacrifice begets greatness, stories to legends to myth, delivering the final blow, practice makes perfect, the tallest and oldest tree in the forest
The Creator - 1; 4
Giving until threadbare, abundance and growth, I made the stars for you, gifts upon meeting, feasting but never satiated, an artistβs eyes lend tender brushstrokes, I will mold you how I see fit, freshly sprouted herbs, idealism and perfectionism, big bright smiles, making for the sake of making, self immolation, never forgive and never forget, a bountiful garden, birds which scatter seeds, these hands heal and hurt in equal measure, ask and you shall receive, necessity is the mother of invention.
The Monster - 3; 2
You must not gaze upon me, bizarre and unexpected, hidden for your own good, driven on by an unstoppable force, rage and fear, earthquakes, carcass under the hot sun, the weathered oak withstands, overworked muscles, fierceness of spirit, the blight that poisons, my inhibitions died with my innocence, screaming into the wind, otherness, a fall from great heights, I donβt even understand myself, power reveals all, the void stared back, existence is a perverse experience, blood runs hot, primal and feral joy.
The Outcast - 8; 4
Always running, life is a series of fleeting joys, I wouldnβt recognize myself, a rushing river obscured by mist, a whispered name, mercurial and capricious, your shadow your sole companion, last bloom of the season, individuality above acceptance, a pallid complexion, isolation and silence, wanting looks, one cannot be lost when they belong nowhere, here and there, hiding between shadows, nonconformity lends insight and perspective, my heart is mine alone, running against the wind, to be irreplaceable one must be different, a gaze which stirs indescribable feelings.
The Sage - 1; 6
Tall green grass, parchment and ink, listen closely for I rarely repeat myself, freshly lit candles, an idol placed on a faraway shelf, knowledge is power, sparkling grey hair, owls, strength of spirit, to receive you must first give, a lonely mountain overlooking the valley, appraising glances, unnoticed subtlety, seldom found and often forgotten, aquiline noses, scrawled notes haphazardly stored away, knowing glances, piles upon piles of books, I am as profound as I am clever, curiosity killed the cat; satisfaction brought it back, furrowed brows.
Results:
Solstice Lavellan: The Juve Sage
An oxymoronic concept that of a young sage, as wisdom often comes with the experience of living. But this result really fits my headcanon for her, not in the way that she's all-knowing, but in the way that she is most curious and ambitious when it comes to learning. She is young during the events of DAI (she's infinitely younger when compared to Solas' age); she's in her early 20s and has lived with the clan for her entire life before the events of the Breach took her away from it. So in more than one way she is inexperienced, which only fuels her desire to learn as much as possible, about everything: history AND modern day culture, elven, human and dwarven alike, arts AND technology, various religions, magic practices for both splendor and combat... there really isn't a limit to her inquisitiveness.
This plays a lot into what draws her to Solas. Besides the fact that he is the real sage here, often eager to impart his knowledge, complementing her eagerness in hearing it, but she also approaches the learning process free of prejudice. She wants to hear it, first and foremost, and is slow to form opinions and judgements on matters. She is genuinely attentive when others choose to open up to her and even thanks them for their trust.
Her way of approaching things slowly and cautiously is, in turn, what draws Solas to her. It's what leads to his famous line in Inquisition, when he confesses "you have shown subtlety in your actions, a wisdom that goes against everything that I expected". He finds kinship in her spirit but also sees in her something he is lacking (during the events of DAI, that is), as far too often we hear him being snarky when others don't share his views of the world, and is unimpressed by the cultures of other races, even of other elves. Solstice's genuine curiosity and patience for other people's perspective is what helps Solas grow as a person during his time with her.
Eclipse "Rook": The Outcast Hero
Contrasting to Solstice (as I inevitably made them out to be opposite sides of the same coin), Rook's desire to learn is aimed inward. By the time the events of Veilguard take place, Rook has spent most of his life always moving around, never finding a sense of belonging, an external action that simply mirrors his inner journey, of trying to bring out the person he is meant to be but never quite reaching it. He is an outcast of clan Lavellan and of the Veil Jumpers and this insecurity, mixed with his everchanging nature, is the strongest force driving his actions. There's a lot in this scenario that plays into my headcanon of why he is attracted to Lace Harding. For starters, the fact that she feels familiar, she is a connection to his past life and estranged sibling by having been part of The Inquisition. But it's also Harding's storyline in Veilguard, how she gains the powers that reshape her into this new person, how she's looking to reconnect to the history of her people, just like he is. There's a bit of an outcast in both of them.
Now, when it comes to the canonic storylines, Lavellan is by far the bigger hero compared to Rook, but the descriptions in this tag game fit him best. He rarely shows consideration in his actions because events force him to think fast and act fast, and deal with the consequences as they unravel. He never wanted to replace Varric's leadership, and the fact that he is forced to face eldritch beings during the events of Veilguard because "nobody else is stepping up" just adds to the trauma of the reluctant hero type.
So, throughout Trespasser we see Solas from the past trying to convince his followers that he is not actually a god and the evanuris are actually (if you'll excuse the term) mortals. In order to make him seem like a legitimate threat to the evanuris, he has to be equal to them and he chooses to bring them down instead of raising himself up. Now obviously that tactic fails and Fen'Harel becomes remembered as a god.
But my question is who do you think started that belief? Because it really does benefit both the evanauris and Solas's followers.
Since there apparently were more evanuris than just eight, and Solas successfully killed some of them, it really doesn't make the survivors look very godly if one of their number got taken out by some average Joe with a grudge. So they deify him, hope to kill him, and nobody else will be able to take his place because they're clearly not a god. It's sort of a last ditch attempt to control the narrative once they realize they can no longer just brush him off.
But Solas's followers also definitely benefit from that narrative because it's so difficult to take beings worshiped as gods and humanize them (if you'll forgive that term). That can give them hope that their struggling isn't pointless, that they aren't raging helplessly against these cruel gods, because they have a god on their side as well.
This is something that plays out during Inquisition as well. While technically none of their followers are calling the Inquisitor a god, people definitely believe Inky is more than just a simple person and you can't convince me that in another century or so a break-off group starts worshiping them (probably started by that cult in the Hinterlands). And on the other hand, Corypheus repeatedly talks about Inky like they're also trying to become a god, like he is. And it doesn't matter how much the Inquisitor may try to protest, everyone is trying to elevate them to be more than human (elf/dwarf/qunari).
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
β Live Streamingβ Interactive Chatβ Private Showsβ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch β’ No registration required β’ HD streaming
Continuing to answer the questions from the tag from @dirthera15:
π οΈ What modern Thedas invention does your Solas begrudgingly admit is useful?
[someone please correct me if this wrong] I was unable to find an in-lore explanation for fast travel in Thedas. I get the impression that it is only intended as a game mechanic and that it implies that characters get from point A to point B the old-fashioned slow travel way. But I headcanon that fast travel is an actual concept in Thedas, and it is an invention of the modern age, which Solas secretly admires.
So we know that, besides the Vi'Revas, the Eluvians worked as pairs, or would connect to the Crossroads. So ancient elvhes wouldn't simply teleport from Point A to Point B when they needed to reach a more distant place in the empire, but it would look more like A -> D -> Z -> T -> F -> and then, eventually, B. Much like us, in the real world, would take a train that stops at multiple stations before we reach our destination.
But modern Thedas fast travel would work in the form of the poles or pillars that we see in the games, with runes and spells and specific coordinates. So a thedosian could easily reach any point in the world, if they have the correct combination for the specific pillar. This to me explains why in DAI you need to send forward scouts to unlock an area and only then you can teleport to the new place. The scouts can set up the fast travel point and then the Inquisitor's party can magic themselves there. Solas would definitely appreciate the usefulness of this invention, but would also probably hate that he wasn't the one to think of it centuries ago.
π Who talks more while travelling?
This very much depends on whether they are with the entire party, or just the two of them.
Lavellan would definitely engage in party banter more often than Solas. There would be a lot of jokes bouncing between her and Varric, Bull, Sera and Dorian, lots of filth and roasting too as they get very familiar with each other. She'd do mental gymnastics trying to decipher whatever Cole is on about at any given time (and I headcanon that sometimes he just speaks in anagrams, but doesn't give any clues about it, so she's basically failing miserably at solving them). And she would engage in long debates about religions, morality and ethics with Cassandra, Blackwall and Vivienne. So, apart from the canonic banter between Solas and the other members of the inner circle, I think he would mostly assume a silent posture, probably biting his tongue trying not to correct their assumptions about the history of the world, as to not give away his identity.
But the silent facade drops when it's just the two of them, because he knows Solstice actually listens and is interested in his experience and opinions. He would share what he could about ruins they encounter, all masked in the way of having explored some already in his dreams; he would impart knowledge about various forms of magic that are entirely new to her and all too familiar to him. They would even gossip about the others or chat about trivial things, develop inside jokes or laugh when one of them gets their foot stuck in something in a hilarious way. I think when it's just the two of them, Solas can be closest to his real self, he can share unfiltered opinions and he definitely has more to say than she does.
π΅What habit did they pick up from each other?
Swearing! Solstice would throw a lot of "piss off" and "go fuck yourself" in the face of enemies, and even at inanimate objects when she is too tired to untie her sleeping bag, for instance, or when she stumbles her pinkie in some rock; basically any thing or concept that is mildly inconvenient gets told off. So, involuntarily, Solas picks it up.
The first time Solas tells a branch to piss off, it takes him by surprise, because why would he curse an object?! That's how accustomed he got to her behavior. But it happened when it was just the two of them and it made Solstice laugh so hard, he decided to stick with it. The second time, he directly quotes her: "as our inquisitor would say, piss off!" After that, he decides to teach her some ancient elvhen curses in return. Cultural exchange, basically.
(About a decade later, Solas tells the idiot Rook to piss off as well, and was even more surprised when Rook replied with one of the ancient elvhen curses that they learned from Lavellan.)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
β Live Streamingβ Interactive Chatβ Private Showsβ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch β’ No registration required β’ HD streaming
I have received a tag from lovely @dirthera15 to answer some solavellan questions, and can't thank you enough for it π. There is one in particular that I would like to answer separately from the rest, because it gives me the chance to talk about something that I've been thinking of for a very long time. (so I can answer more immediately than I can the others) ((I will answer the others too, in a separate post)).
πWhat is the most ordinary thing Lavellan does that absolutely wrecks Solas? What about the other way around?
The short answer is:
Whenever Lavellan is enjoying something very trivial, like the taste of her food, touching grass on a sunny day, or petting a fluffy animal, it sends Solas down a spiral of how meaningful their short time together truly is. And for the other way around: whenever Solas gets fired up (in a positive way) and nerds out for minutes without end about something, becoming very lively and expressive as he goes on, it makes Solstice wish she could stop time and see him happy forever.
The long answer:
There is one thing that all organic life forms experience that ancient elvhes never did, and that is: the inevitability of death. We learn from Veilguard that the elvhen race just manifested into existence and for the longest time they didn't have to worry about degenerating or extinguishing, unlike all other life forms. And when they did meet with the impermanence of the organics, they panicked and sealed themselves off (and blamed humans for carrying diseases). Basically, the original elvhes never wanted to experience life for what it truly is, temporary and fleeting, they only wanted to indulge in hedonism (which Solas condones), and without natural order putting a stop to it, it lead to excess and corruption.
Now, millennia later, Lavellan may have elvhen blood running through her veins, but she is just as organic and mortal as the rest of the world, and modern day Thedas elves have had enough time to adjust their lifestyles and mentalities to the inevitability of death (in fact, the Dalish built their entire culture around the sorrow of losing immortality and trying to preserve the past). So, for Solstice, life is a series of chores and duties, and it's up to her to find the moments of bliss. And when she does find something that brings her joy, she savors it with an excitement that can only be described as "being drunk on life".
So, we have an ordinary day in the inquisition: sleeping in tents, exploring new territory, sealing rifts, saving people, taking major decisions that affect the entire world, climbing, crawling, digging, falling, failing... and.. between all these, Lavellan will find a moment to relax. All in the party are sweaty, muddy, bloody, hurt and tired and they need to rest, breathe, drink some water and grab a bite. And Lavellan will take just a little bit longer than everyone else to prepare her favorite meal, calmly and meticulously, following every step that's as instinctive to her as is breathing because she has done it a million time before, all to make sure that the result is just as she expects it. And then she will take the first bite and her taste buds activate and her brain lights up like fireworks, and she relaxes her shoulders and leans back and exhales and voices out something like "what is the meaning of life?!" with an "if not this?" left unsaid, lingering in the air for everyone else to decipher. Because yes, life is work and you need to do a lot of little things to survive and everyone does them instinctively, like eating, so why not, at the very least, find pleasure in it.
Everyone else in the party will either ignore it or silently agree and not think twice about it, but when Solas overhears her say this, it absolutely wrecks him for reasons he doesn't even understand. Because Solas never wanted a physical body to begin with. The meaning of existence is completely different to him. He may have indulged in the same carnal pleasures at some point, but he spent the last millennia at war (with all the horrors that it brings), or sleeping, in the fade, so... not experiencing the same gratification of those with a corporeal form. A concept that he never even considered as a missing element. And once again he finds himself pulled back into reality (hop there goes gravity), against his will, with more duties to enact, followed around by a loneliness that only the last member of a species can truly feel, but this time around, he meets her. And as he puts it, she changes everything. Because she ends up teaching him how to truly feel alive. And it triggers in him a rollercoaster of emotions.
Through her attitude, Lavellan shows that mortality, even if tragic in itself, is not inherently a bad thing; it is not unnatural, and not something to seal yourself away from, like the ancients elvhes did. Mortality is, in fact, what assigns major significance to the fleeting moments of joy they can find in the sea of suffering. For the first time, having a material body allows Solas to take in these pleasures with her, not in the way of hedonistic excess the ancients did, but with measured meaning. It hits him like a pile of bricks that he will lose her at some point, whether to his duties or to time, because, what everyone else in the world understands by default compared to him (and I don't think he ever actually addresses this or learns how to cope with it) is that the true tragedy of loving someone enough to spend your lives together, is that eventually you have to watch each other wither and die. As he is immortal, he knows that if he chose to stay with her "as Solas, as [he] wanted", he would have to watch her die.
And the rollercoaster goes full circle; just as she wants to taste as much of life as possible before her time runs out, so does he want to experience as much of her as possible in the short time they are allowed together.
βΏβΏβΏβΏβΏβΏ
Now, for the other way around, one thing that Solas regularly and ordinarily does is simply talk.
Solstice would address him questions, ask for his opinions, for his stories, for his memories, and every so often she would touch a subject that he is particularly fond of. And when that happens, Solas would get livelier as he talks; he would not only answer the question, but would go on about the subject, volunteering information, smiling, doing large gestures with his hands, raising his voice a little unaware of his own excitement, chuckling when he pauses for breath, and it's all of this that makes her fall in love with him, before she even realizes.
Once she does realize that she's in love, and how much she appreciates his passion for things, she starts looking for those subjects on purpose.
It is particularly wrecking during a key moment in their canonic story: the very long and awkward time between their fade kiss and him confessing his feelings. Because he asked for time. Now keeping in mind everything I mentioned above, Solstice knows that her time is limited, and she gives it anyway.
Weeks go by, when they have to continue working and living together as if nothing happened. They have to continue trekking, exploring southern Thedas, closing rifts, nosediving into danger to save civilians, fighting demons and outlaws and cultists, then share tents and meals together, all while she has to keep her distance. She gives him the time he asked for. She doesn't want to pressure him. She can't pour out her heart and feelings for him, she can't kiss him, nor touch him, she can't even stand too close to him, out of respect, to give him space. The one thing she can do is seek out his happiness. And she is under the impression that allowing him to talk about certain subjects makes him happy. So she keeps asking and she keeps listening and she keeps watching his face change from frown to smile, all while she keeps her distance one bonfire away and die a little bit inside that she can't hold his hand while he's gesticulating.