#drthamen

one of my favorite things about solas (as a character) is just how obviously lonely and isolated he is and i mean he flat out tells you after his personal quest that he’s used to having no one he could turn to in grief. and this obviously extends back to before he erected the veil, when he was leading the elven slaves in revolt and they started making him out to be a god as well. a pedestal is a lonely place. (this compounded with how he counsels sera to use the jennies -- "You have already divided your group's membership. That is wise. No one cell can betray all your secrets.“ -- indicating that he ran his own rebellion with everyone working on a need-to-know basis and him being the only one who knew everything, meaning he really couldn’t confide in anyone in the rebellion -- lest they betray all his secrets -- and we know from the library in trespasser that he was something of a... pariah among the normie ancient elves) 

anyway. when solas says that spirits are his only friends he probably really means it; the only beings who could be sympathetic to him and also did not make him out to be more than he was. 

but i do wonder if solas’ ability as a dreamer affects how he can relate to spirits -- by which i mean, like, if he can shape the fade and if spirits reflect what you expect of them, his relationships with them would be quite one-sided. the fade and its residents could be a comfortable cocoon for him, a place where he could find comfort and support when he needed it, but the intimate reciprocal nature of a relationship between two imperfect corporeal beings... i’m just not convinced spirits could replicate that. 

which is why i think a friendship of any sort with the inquisitor is so important. they like him as a normal person. they value what he has to say and care about his comfort and safety. he can’t tell them everything, can’t lay all his troubles out for them, of course. but they are neither the rebel elves who see him and think “god” nor the citizens of arlathan who see him and think “traitor”. a befriended inquisitor is something different. 

this is all true of a romanced inquisitor, and then some. he is so lonely. part of me wants to set that as a defining character trait of his. his conflict is between his duty and his desire -- to bring back the people who isolated him because he must, or to abandon that duty and be satisfied with a world that is to him imperfect but that is home to people who value him as an individual. 

he knows he can’t. he knows himself. if your inquisitor has high enough approval to romance him, they’re probably some variation of kind or clever or curious. they’re in some way admirable and moreover they like him, too, as a person, and he knows logically that it’s a bad idea. he says it like a speech act, like “we shouldn’t” will give him the strength to stop himself. 

alistair: miriam basically thinks the first time she met him he was an immature shem, a chantry handsome boy that had never faced what truly is living in a miserable condition. however, once he told her ab arl eamon she got even angrier lmao bc alistar had idolized eamon so much that she couldn’t stand it (she literally told alistair that arl eamon took advantage of him and that eamon is an asshole sdgfjdgfsghsj obv alistair is deeply hurted and they stop talking for a week or smth like that, in that time miriam was a narcissistic brat so she didn’t  care ab it [or pretended she didn’t care]), she thought he was too naïve, but at the end she appreciated him and valued his morals, tho she thinks he’s too innocent and unspoiled :///

morrigan: miriam ADORES morrigan, she’s her bff (with zevran and barkspwan [and leliana ofc]) when they first met they shared most of their world views (unless the chantry and mages, which miriam is quite indifferent ab and obv it makes morrigan a bit confused and angry sdfhsdf), they both thought love was meaningless and power was the one who had meaning, that survivability was the most important thing in the world bUT… their journey in the fifth blight changed them, and obv they don’t think this anymore. they share pride and logical thinking, which is enough for both of them to adore each other, morrigan is like a sister to her and so is she to morrigan.

leliana: OK OK OK OK how thE FUCK do i start with this?? ok, first: miriam had a HUGEEEEE crush on leliana the first time she saw her lmao like… “bitch why am i sweating am why i find her so attractive why wHY FFUCK I CAN’T TALK” gsfghfk bc before the events of origins miriam didn’t know she was a lesbian, she only knew she didn’t want to marry a man (or anyone by that time), tho she had multiple crushes on other women but she never identified them as such. ok let’s get on with it: leliana is the light of her life, the spring to her cold winter, the light in her shadows… at first miriam was content with watching leliana talk but the more she did it the more she wanted to kiss her, touch her and this brought her a lot of confusion sdfgjdsf until one night she was brave enough to kiss her sdfjdgsdjgsdhgfsdfdhfsdjfdshfsdgj ok maybe this cheesy as SHIT but m8 i just like this dgfsdhf

zevran: other of miriam’s BFF, at first when they met both also shared a lot of views, since the very beginning they were best friends tbqh and she had a lot of sympathy for zevran bc he is also an elf who has faced a lot of injustice. he has helped him a lot and he has helped her a lot too!! BFF RIGHTS!! DGSJSFDS

sten: ok, at first miriam liked to make fun of sten by replying to serious matters with jokes bc she is Like That and she found funny how serious sten actually was, bUT actually she discovers sten has a really amazing trolling sense of humour so they both connected more and finally they became best friends once she finds his sword :’)) besides they shared their hate for finding a fckn urn in the middle of nowhere for a nobleman bUT  y’kno… she is a grey warden and she had to do it to defeat the blight smh poor girl sdgfjsdfsgf

wynne: miriam doesn’t like her aT ALL, and even less when she sticks her nose in her relationship with leliana. no more words needed sdgfjsd

oghren: miriam doesn’t recruit oghren (mostly bc i don’t like him as a character bc he’s…… ughhh fgshjgf) 

barkspawn (the mabari sdgfjsd): actually his name was made up by alistair but miriam liked it so much that she accepted it as the mabari’s new name lmao. he’s The Best Friend, her loyal companion, the friend who would never betray her. her first days at camp she was so wary of everyone that the only companion she could trust was barkspawn, like… they were inseparable. and they’re still are, both having adventures together since day 1 :’)))