#ithena lavellan

Sorry out of context is so not for me so here's a few notes from top to bottom:

-First Line comes from The Whole World is Watching by Within Temptation. It's a song about being risen as a leader, a hero, by the whole world, despite it leaving you with wounds, and you have to consider the way the world sees you over your own pain. But you've earned it too. Ithena is more than aware of the burden on her, and while she was always leaning toward leadership as an apprentice to the Keeper, and can recognize her actions have earned her this place... The pain is hard to reconcile.

-First three are physical/personality inspiration. Ithena has bright red hair that always reminds me of Ariel, and bright green eyes that evokes the Breach, and reminds me of Aerith. The Cherry is because of how everything about her is so cherry red, like "a colorful fruit is tempting you to eat it". By those inspirations the major elements about Ithena are her innate curiosity and passion about the world around her, like Ariel, so much so she wants to see even more of it, and her wise dominer that still keeps her cheeky without going overboard because she wants to remain serious, like Aerith. even more so the parallelism to Aerith to me is precious because they're both character with immense burden on their shoulders, people who have been stripped away from their nature and from their people for this new statusquo set on hurting them -- yet she remains kind, enduring. Like the nature that will eventually survive it all.

-Next line comes from Various Storms&Saints - Florence + The Machine. This one is harder to explain to me but something really speaks of Ithena to me when i listen to this song. Something about the struggle to find oneself when the world is collapsing around you at the same time yknow?

-The next three aesthetics are depictions of three of her burdens. First is a red tree to evoke her Vallaslin and her devotion to Mythal, that led her to drink from the Well of Sorrows and bond herself to her. The middle one is her magic and her connection to the Breach, this later especially that brought her close to death. The picture used comes from ff7 and represents the Lifestream, which also feels appropriate as it's a magical source, an inbetween where soul goes before their reincarnation, that is being misunderstood and exploited. It can also be toxic, as well as it is what saves the world in the end. It's old magic. It's feared yet people with this affinity are wanted to be used. In short, there's some irony about the specific type of magic that makes it perfect. The Third one represents basically "heavy is the head that bears the crown". Ithena was always ready for leadership of her little Dalish clan, or as ready as one could be, but the burden of Inquisitor is a heavy one she was not prepared for. She remembers all the losses, she torments herself when she has to make tough decisions, but she makes them. There is no glory in leadership. Only acknowledging people put their lives in your hands and you will never be able to fully prevent failure. The crown is heavy and bloody. You can never go back.

-Next Song is The Missing Road by Radical Face. A song also about trying to find oneself so far from home, trying to find "missing roads" to the place you are missing and dreaming of. This one feels about her condition as a Dalish yearning for home, an Elf called by the Fade, a forgotten home, and her relationship with Solas who still haunts her dreams.

-From then on it should be shorter lol. The next line shows Athena, both because the names are similar and represent wisdom (which was accidental btw but i'm rolling with it), and also because Ithena is a Knight Enchanter. She gets her hands dirty. Next shows a white wolf. Because. And next are books because she's always seeking knowledge.

-Next song is The Projectionist by Sleeping at Last. It's a song about falling in love with stories as an escapism, but also as a way to further your understanding of life... but still with the pain of the past, the family situation, and the desire to make more sense of these stories, in truth that are heavier than fictions. To me this is a perfect song to approach her relationship to the stories she grew up with and the way she had to reexamine them as an adult. Also Ithena doesn't have the best relationship with her mother and sister, though she gets along with the rest of her clan pretty well and is very close to her Keeper. Because i'm allowed some self projection. As a treat.

-Ok next 3 pictures are very simple: Cole's spirit Tarot Card because they are very similar and her strongest point has always been her compassion. Next is an edited version of the Keeper Tarot Card in the multiplayer to represent Ithena, representing her role as a Keeper, a mage, and also her removal of the Vallaslin. Next still shows though that she drank from the Well of Sorrows.

-Next Song is Still Here by Digital Daggers. This is the part of the moodboard that is about her relationship with Solas. This song is about being haunted in dreams by someone who has left, like they are still here.Self explainatory. this specific line though is about why Ithena can't give up on him no matter what.

-Next is Relationship moodboard: the important element here is The Closeness and playfulness from the Balcony scene, the fact they're both touch starved enough to be extremely affectionate physically in the relationship, constantly hugging if she has her word to say about it... and the distance that came from the break up, the huge divide between the two of them.

-The Last Song is Amber by Koathe. A lovely song that encompass a lot of the themes discussed here, and the line concludes the moodboard very well.