#solrookvellan

and then daw and solas are just like

okay :) yay :)

they're shockingly normal??? 😂 at least outwardly. really, they just bury all the shit and wait for the inevitable dramatic failure of the relationship but dammit they are riding this rollercoaster while they can...!

except it's not a rollercoaster it's just. coasting. disturbingly chill. confrontations are rare

her father - solas - was around when she was a baby, too young to remember him, then left as she started growing up. but he stayed connected to her, appearing as a wolf in her dreams, but she didn't know that was her father

and nessa never talks about who her father was. how he was, yes; what kind of man he was. but not his name. not that he is the dread wolf

eventually, after the events of veilguard, nessa is reunited with solas (he is working with the titans, but when he's exhausted from his efforts he returns for a time to the lighthouse, where he lives with nessa, revas, and daw, and kieran, and morrithal is there frequently [they have a complex and spanning dynamic lmao]) and solas and morrigan train revas in her magic. morrigan had become her default teacher, although solas - in wolf form, in her dreams - did what he could to guide her as well, introducing her to helpful spirits and teaching her much of the fade

so she's living in the lighthouse and she's around 11. has grown up with nessa and morrigan feeling like her parents, and with kieran like an older brother. there are other ppl she knows - blackwall, leliana, she met dorian a few times, when he could be pulled away from tevinter, and she ends up meeting some of the veilguard as well - but those are the major figures in her life. and at the lighthouse, solas and daw aldwir join in as major figures, and she begins to see nessa, morrigan, daw, and solas all as parents

none of which is strange to her btw. she's had little interaction with other children and little context for "typical" family structures

anyway, she doesn't really get what all is happening. she doesn't understand all the things that happened during inq, or trespasser, or veilguard, or the time between. but she also doesn't know what all is happening around her right now. she quickly learns her father's name is solas, and that he's sometimes called the dread wolf or fen'harel, but those titles don't mean anything to her - nessa is her only source for dalish legends, and she never could bring herself to share the stories of the dread wolf

kieran knows, but he's overly protective of revas, trying to insulate her from the world (flemythal was too controlling of morrigan, so then morrigan is a little too free with kieran, so kieran is a little too protective of revas, and on the cycles go)

and idk how exactly she learns. but when she does, it's the first time she becomes really angry at her mother. and, at the same time, she's finally getting to know her father and has been becoming closer with him. so she has this time where she treats nessa very coldly and only acts enthusiastic to see solas, which pains all of them

solas tries to encourage mother and daughter back together, but revas is still so angry, and nessa understands that anger and doesn't want to push. the whole thing becomes very strained

i think as the information settles in, revas will be able to slowly let go of her anger. it will remain, and her trust in her mother will be impacted by it, but it won't be as overwhelming forever as it is at the beginning. but i do think it driving her in solas' direction is something that sticks

frankly, i see her eventually, as a young woman, joining him in his efforts with the titans

this is my most beautiful daw (they/them)

and this is veilguard-era nessa

okay i have got to just start talking about daw like yall know them bc that's my biggest hang-up

i start to write some little post about them and then suddenly i'm laying out their entire backstory and it's a massive post and i'm like... i've already laid this out and who's going to read this

so!

daw

i love daw so much

daw is my solrook rook, 100%. and i love thinking about the complex, messy relationship they will have with solas - and with nessa, my solavellan inky! (in which polyamory saves the world.... 💖)

nessa/daw is so genuine but also tinged with a lot of mutual trauma, frankly. they find so much recognizable in each other and probably never would've come together in any real way if not for that, so their relationship is, arguably, tenuous- but they're good for and to each other, too

but daw/solas is so... where solas is so incredibly gentle with nessa, he's more playful with daw. also kinkier! and i feel like a big part of their dynamic, especially early-ish on, after they've gone past the "what the fuck is happening, actually," stage of things into the "wow this is real" stage of things, is kinky "hate" sex

except that under the thin veneer of kink is very real anger and hurt

neither of them realize they're doing this btw! they both approach it like it's just good fun. a continuation of the dynamic they've established. and when daw bites out "dread wolf" with their nails digging into him and when solas pins them and rasps out "rook" with too-bright eyes it's just good fun, right? certainly there's no remnant anger that makes daw dig in a little harder than they should and solas pin a little longer than he ought to, right?

it's a mess. but all other times they are... almost overly gentle, in a way. like it feels so delicate to both of them, unreal

so yes. daw aldwir. nonbinary elf in their mid 30's

after everything, it's hard. but they're close with the inquisitor, nessa lavellan, and they're trying to give solas a chance - because they think it's the right thing to do, but also for nessa, for nessa and solas' daughter revas, and, of course, for varric, who never stopped believing in solas

they have a tumultuous romance, one that nessa encouraged. messy polycule, but nessa wanted solas to stop, regardless of who stopped him. as it was, nessa and solas remained together, as did daw and solas, and eventually daw and nessa end up together too

daw and solas are very honest with each other. sometimes it's very awkward and uncomfortable. but there are also some things they haven't discussed, including varric. it's too much

got tagged by @greypetrel, thank you! uwu

i have so many wips lmao,,,

but today i will share some art! i've been slowly poking at this solrookvellan piece for A While. nessa lavellan, daw aldwir, and solas ofc all hanging out in the fade post-davg

i've done the most work on nessa, obviously, so she gets a closeup <3 currently at the stage of fighting solas' facial structure and i've redone his face like ~4 times and more to come

then daw is just hanging out in the loosest sketch possible lmao

tagging:

nessa and solas have a child together, revas; because of this, nessa can't up and join him in the fade. rook is close with him and they end up with both nessa and solas (and bellara!) (poly chaos for everyone!)

now, my rook stays in the lighthouse. not all the time, but that's become their home. they've been with two clans - a dalish clan they were born into and are still close with, but left evenutally to pursue their own iteration of faith; and the red vallaslin clan which worships the forgotten ones, which they are less close with but felt like the right answer for a while

then they heard about the veil jumpers and felt like maybe they'd get answers that way, so joined them. while i haven't fleshed them out much, i know that they have meaningful connections to people in all these different groups, connections that they maintain. but all this jumping around has left them without a real singular sense of home. the route their clan took and the aravels are familiar to them, a warm childhood memory, but they don't feel like home; the more settled and secured base of the red vallaslin clan is familiar, but not homey or welcoming; the veil jumper camps are comforting, but not homey, either

but the lighthouse... unintentionally, surprisingly, that began to feel like home for them

so rook stays, and uses the eluvian system to travel quickly and easily wherever they're needed. or just where they want to be. they can visit their dalish clan, they can keep in touch with a few of the red vallaslin clan members, and ofc they can keep close with the veil jumpers

but the lighthouse is in the fade. as is solas. solas, who daw - my rook - has a complex relationship with, yes, but is also close to. solas means a great deal to them. so that's another small factor for wanting to stay here

and eventually, nessa visits. and nessa sees where her vhenan spent so much of his life. she sees where he studied the anchor he took from her. she sees where he was with his people and where he was isolated. she sees the murals

it takes time. a long time, probably a few years, but eventually she asks daw if she can come stay for a while. of course she brings revas along. and revas loves it. she's in the fade! she's a young mage living in the fade and playing with wisps. so "a while" ends up being longer and longer, until eventually daw, nessa, and revas are living in the lighthouse full-time

but none of them are stuck in the fade! nessa visits her friends from the inquisition. morrigan and kieran come to visit them in the lighthouse, usually staying for a while each time - the lighthouse always has room for them, after all

and bc solas is also in the fade, he can visit them. can't always be pulled from his work to do so, and for a while he just doesn't because he doesn't feel like it's right, but eventually, hesitantly, he returns. and he is welcomed. by everyone

he kinda expects nessa will welcome him. he's not sure how much revas will remember him. he's like 90% sure the caretaker will be fine with him. but rook... he can't imagine coming back to rook after everything

but daw has had all this time to work through their feelings. and there are still many sharp edges, many pains that will never go away, but they've made mistakes, too. so when he comes for the first time, they welcome him. so he stays for a few days. revas does remember him, although her memories are a little fuzzy, but he gets to reestablish his relationship with his daughter - and he always looks so happy around her, so at ease, his pain dropping away for a moment

he still has his duties. he will always have his duties, old and new; these define him, these are how he defines himself. the salve to regret is in making new choices, taking new actions, that he can take pride in. so he can never stay long. but time is different in the fade. travel is brief, when one knows how to navigate it. so he pops in regularly, sometimes only able to spare a few hours, but usually a few days. he's making progress. and sometimes when he's at the lighthouse he confers with everyone else, invites their ideas, their theories, their answers to his questions. he learns to trust

nessa cannot go with him. someone always needs to be there for revas. but every once in a while, daw will travel with him, will help him with something. they are not a mage, and sometimes he needs a mage, but both daw and nessa have mages they can ask to help. but when he just needs a helping hand, daw offers without reserve

and he doesn't understand. he doesn't. but he accepts it. because it is freely offered. and because he knows he cannot do this alone