For those who saw my art in the oven earlier, I decided to toss some colour on it to see how it might go
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Oh wow, great job. The colors work really well to have those hints in the back but focus the eye in the front where all of the emotion is.
Urgh, I'm gonna do it guys.
I'm going to do What Pride Had Wrought and stop procrastinating!
And then cry because I have to watch that scene again.
I should totally choose the option where Lavellan says "Banal abelas, Banal vhenan!" Didn't feel angry the first time, but the 3rd time watching that scene I just get angry... Does anyone else? Maybe it's the stages of grief @_@
I've watched that entire sequence way too many times and my canon took the sad route. My mage will take the angry route where she shoves him and walks off. The one you're considering, that one is just heartbreakingly cruel to me.
Okay my Solavellan sex animations are PISSING ME OFF because anatomy no good WHY WHY D: I have like 3 started, but I HATE THEM ALLLLL~!
So I drew a softcore butt grab/stroke on Solas' sketchy couch:
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Well, this is delicious. You've done well, friend. I greatly approve of this. 
It's a cute picture. Very well done.
But I have a question. There is like 4 entrances to Solas' chamber thing. Wouldn't it make more sense to do dalliances in the Inuqisitors room since like, it's more private. Not to mention the several floors that people could just look down...
And the goddamn crows...THE CROWS...KAWWWW KAWWWW KAWWWWWWWW.
LOL, you actually have a point, but I'm afraid I may also be guilty of making my Lavellan and Solas do the deed in the rotunda as well. (I think some people here have seen the sketch I did of it during one of Liz's, Dee's, Carrie's and Rabbit's livestreams.)
I feel like when Solas is in da mood he just like doesn't give a ****, you know, he's just like fudge it all time to enjoy Lavellan ass. But mostly I just want Dorian to casually lean over the bannister above and be like
Headcanon accepted. 
Dorian's view before and after the butt grab:
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Dorian approves? 
For those who saw my art in the oven earlier, I decided to toss some colour on it to see how it might go
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Can't wait to see it finished. 
So I got Black Emporium intending to fix a few of the things that bugged me about my Lavellan. Forehead a little too big, vallaslin too light, etc.
I weirdly can't bring myself to really make any significant changes other than makeup. I've gotten so used to the way she looks that my brain can't handle it any other way. Sorry, Clariel. You stay pretty much the way you are, little imperfections and all 
For those who saw my art in the oven earlier, I decided to toss some colour on it to see how it might go
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This is absolutely lovely, wow. 
That's lovely ChuChu.
Some arts for today.
Lovely fanart of Message Sent by cl0udb3rry based on that cliffhanger scene on the latest chapter, "27". 
Solavellan Disney AU based on Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Everyone's favorite Dread Wolf.
Winking Solas.
Some sketches by osatokun (with bonus Abelas... and donuts).
And a lovely finished artwork of the Felassan tarot card by paperwick (with Fen'Harel in the background).
For those who saw my art in the oven earlier, I decided to toss some colour on it to see how it might go
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Can't wait to see the finished piece! So much talent here!
Thanks guys! Don't worry, I won't post any more about it till it's done. So long as they don't drop wolf hunt DLC in the next week, I am fairly certain I will be able to finish it 
So I got Black Emporium intending to fix a few of the things that bugged me about my Lavellan. Forehead a little too big, vallaslin too light, etc.
I weirdly can't bring myself to really make any significant changes other than makeup. I've gotten so used to the way she looks that my brain can't handle it any other way. Sorry, Clariel. You stay pretty much the way you are, little imperfections and all
My canon is getting no changes at all. I could tone down eyeliner intensity but whatever, she likes it. Mine is also one of the only Inquisitors I have seen with dark, shiny lip color on.
Letting Leliana kill the traitor is a decision I stand by, even if it did turn her into a crazy person.
Lol, I like hardened!Leliana as Divine. The three options probably won't wind up mattering a huge amount in the long run, but there is something tremendously karmic about forcing the Chantry to change or die.
Hehe I always pick that option. The alternative "But ZOMG killing is wronggggg" seems a bit silly given that's what the inquisitor does for a living
I really didn't like what had happened to Leliana by the beginning of Inquisition. I never hardened her in Origins. She was sweet and faithful and wanted to have a better life. So, for me, the only real option as a player was to tell her not to kill, that it was wrong, and that now is exactly the time for ideals. I didn't know it was going to influence anything, but I was so happy about her arc by game's end. She felt more like MY Leliana again, and so she was softened and became Divine. Which is likely to be my pick every time.
Hehe, I always kill those mages. They're too stupid and dangerous to be left wandering around, getting into trouble. If there were a recruit option, I would have taken it and put them under Vivienne/Cullen's watchful eye. But since we don't have that choice...
I don't have a problem with Leliana killing the double agent. I have a problem with Leliana killing the double agent without extracting as much information as she can out of him.
I never kill the mages either. They made an ignorant, arrogant mistake. They don't deserve a vengeful death for it.
I can't tell you the number of times I've run into this issue when writing fanfic. Like, "Wait. Wait, this doesn't work."
For such a private person, Solas had to pick the most public room in the castle...
I definitely set any private time they have in my fics in her quarters. Though I will have a bit in the rotunda in my next one that I'm thinking about. I want the timing of him finishing a panel and her arrival back after a trip to coincide.
It's true! I am a shiny shiny gem! But no, of course, I totally understood - I was just casting about for ways to distract myself from my deadline (much as I'm doing right now). I'd be way too pleased to draw all Talas present.
Edit: I forgot to add - I hope your new job's going well!
Yes! You are a wondrous faceted sapphire. Embrace it. And by all means, I'll happily thrown distracting prompts your way anytime. ;3
And the job's going great, thanks! I only wish it didn't cut into my awesome Solas thread-ing time. This place is the bee's knees, and I am feeling a distinct lack of it in my day to day life. Like, isn't it time we're all able to bypass this forum dealio and upload our posts posts directly to a collective brain? Come on.
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*stares closely... blinks* Scout Harding? _
Official Cat of the Team Optimism blanket fort:
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(Wanted to post this gif for a long time, but there was never a good occasion and I grew tired of waiting. So here, have a cute cat gif)
(#TeamOptimism forever)
UGH this is the worst time to suddenly be without likes. I really, really like this. I want this blanket dragging cat in my life. Must try to train my cat to drag a blanket.
Okay my Solavellan sex animations are PISSING ME OFF because anatomy no good WHY WHY D: I have like 3 started, but I HATE THEM ALLLLL~!
So I drew a softcore butt grab/stroke on Solas' sketchy couch:
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It is so lovely. Also, that's a glorious butt.
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I saw this picture and immediately thought of hobo!Solas. In fact, I could believe this was the picture was used as direct reference for his particular expression. Was it? Am I crazy? Maybe. Hobo!Solas has broken me.
For those who saw my art in the oven earlier, I decided to toss some colour on it to see how it might go
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Your art is gorgeous! The lines flow so nicely. Man, we have so many talented people on this thread.
And the job's going great, thanks! I only wish it didn't cut into my awesome Solas thread-ing time. This place is the bee's knees, and I am feeling a distinct lack of it in my day to day life. Like, isn't it time we're all able to bypass this forum dealio and upload our posts posts directly to a collective brain? Come on.
Ma nuvenin!
All that refreshing has finally paid off. A new chapter of Message Sent is up!
All that refreshing has finally paid off. A new chapter of Message Sent is up!
Ahhhh, so cute.
We know what you really meant, F.H.
Hevara & Solas - the smell of spring
Solas & Michel de Chevin - post apocalyptic AU
Solas & Cullen - sweaty palms
Michel de Chevin & Cole - the absence of fear
Anders & Cole - one last wish (This... I have feels).
The theory crafting has only died down because we've pretty much run out of theories.
Edit: And Madrar and Caddius running off didn't help.
Edit again: where are they, anyway?
What?? Madrar and Caddius are gone? *sniff* Well, not that I have room to complain after vanishing like a puff of smoke for months. *whistles*
Cee, that's not a theory.
That's canon.
Unrelated to Solas but does anyone know what happened to Faerunner? I was looking through yesterday's posts for the stuff I wanted to reply to and her account is now guest_faerunner o.O
I'm presuming the I'm out post was taken to heart after the bunch of discussions that happened? I think her arguments and criticism were good, though sometimes she did approach in a way that came off as dismissive and a bit....rough.
No idea why she's actually gone or if other stuff went into her decision, but the posts directed against her in this thread were absolutely hostile and unwelcome.
*snip*
Wow, it seems I missed quite a drama here - I had a nice debate with Faerunner, although that started out a little heated as well as I recall - but with the right communication it smoothed out; I'm not sure I entirely grasp this whole Fenris issue, but wow. It sounds serious.
Honestly, I think there's a whole giant list of things Solas could tell the Inquisitor about how the Dalish culture is wrong and never says, not just the Valasin. But he doesn't say these things because he's done that before and it didn't go over well. I don't see it as him deliberately withholding information and choice, just him deciding that it's not worth the fight at this point. He's offered his information before and it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. And if you get his "you don't care about elves" dialogue, he admits to having given up that particular battle.
I find this reading of the character, and we are all entitled to our readings, extremely problematic. Solas . . . gives up. And that's it? His opinion of the Dalish as a monolithic entity stands? He doesn't find the inquisitor worthy of the information because he is deciding his or her reaction ahead of time?
I was being facetious there. Doesn't always come accross well online.
But you have actually highlighted a reason why he doesn't tell friend!Lavellan:
'Only have him divulge this very earth-shattering secret to someone who has proven willing to listen'
Solas has trust issues and his only friends for the last goodness knows how many thousands of years have been spirits. Since he woke up he's been shunned by Dalish clans and treated as an apostate and second class citzen. He has really bad trust issues.
And he has no idea how Lavellan will react to this news. Solas is very careful in what he tells people and the only people he lets close are Cole and his girlfriend. The secret he has is huge. It could utterly destory some Dalish because it takes away everything they believe in. Solas shares it with Lavellan because he trusts her. Because he wants her to know the truth about himself. Maybe that seems harsh for a Lavellan who is only a friend but - here's the important part - they are only a friend. I consider this to be perfectly in character for a man who has massive trust issues and a habit of being very careful with what he tells people.
tl;dr: I have a lot of thoughts on this subject. Some of them are starting to make sense.
I'm gonna jump in here before I finish catching up - first, I'd agree with the assessment that Solas isn't deliberately withholding information; someone with so much knowledge about the Elvhen would in all probability take it for granted that the Dalish know next to nothing, the vallaslin being just one in a myriad of details that they got wrong about their history. I do think Solas is all about expanding yourself, but he doesn't go out of his way to educate anybody really, it's more... coincidental. He lets *you* ask for information, he never really volunteers it, except for this one instance.
As to this latter point about trust issues, I had a thought on that: I imagined what it would have been like had Solas confided in mLavellan in a similar, yet different way about the vallaslin, and I thought that actually that would have been incredibly suspicious. fLavellan is ostensibly clouded by her emotions to see all the tells, the signals that are slightly off, the fact that he knows just a little too much, and how he's always ready with explanations and theories that seem picture perfect, but if my unfettered mLavellan suddenly got this information from him, I think that might've been a hair more than the wagon could bear.
Just think about it - he's already pretty shady, and that's inclusive of the fact that he's so unfazed by the plight of modern elves, unlike pretty much every single other elf in Thedas. We might headcanon elves who aren't particularly attached to Dalish traditions or who shun the city elf life, but I don't recall any other in-game elf who doesn't feel at least a basic friendly bias regarding other elves. So, next to all of this, I imagine Solas telling me that he saw in the Fade (and yet speaks with such certainty about, when he himself keeps saying that the "truth" you see in the Fade is extremely mutable!), that might cause my brain cogs to start whirring that something is really off here. It's such a potentially offensive thing to say to a Dalish that you wonder why he would risk bringing it up and the only answer to that is that he must know with a certainty - but *how* could he *possibly* know any such thing for a certainty?
In comparison, the romance scene gives a lot of mitigating factors; he cares about Lavellan, he wants her to be in the best way possible, and it makes his remark a sign of good intention, regardless of how much it may or may not hurt or be offensive. He always seemed slightly more pushy to me in romance for the same reason, that he wants Lavellan to get things right, to do things for the right reasons and it seems somehow more important to him than when he sees a friend doing his own thing. He still won't volunteer information, but fLavellan can chalk it up to "my lover is concerned for me and wants to give me the gift of knowledge."
Anyway, this just occurred to me, I'm just playing mLavellan and this is based on my impressions so far of my interactions with Solas.
Back to reading!
Why do I feel like I just made a terrible, terrible mistake?
If Keith is proud of you, chances are you fucked up good!
About to go to bed and, naturally, I find hellspiraling material before that happens: http://roxystalkspoi...st/118346136734
Unacceptable.
It's in character!
I'm going to go replay DA2 and romance Fenris now. 
What?? Madrar and Caddius are gone? *sniff* Well, not that I have room to complain after vanishing like a puff of smoke for months. *whistles*
Wow, it seems I missed quite a drama here - I had a nice debate with Faerunner, although that started out a little heated as well as I recall - but with the right communication it smoothed out; I'm not sure I entirely grasp this whole Fenris issue, but wow. It sounds serious.
I'm gonna jump in here before I finish catching up - first, I'd agree with the assessment that Solas isn't deliberately withholding information; someone with so much knowledge about the Elvhen would in all probability take it for granted that the Dalish know next to nothing, the vallaslin being just one in a myriad of details that they got wrong about their history. I do think Solas is all about expanding yourself, but he doesn't go out of his way to educate anybody really, it's more... coincidental. He lets *you* ask for information, he never really volunteers it, except for this one instance.
As to this latter point about trust issues, I had a thought on that: I imagined what it would have been like had Solas confided in mLavellan in a similar, yet different way about the vallaslin, and I thought that actually that would have been incredibly suspicious. fLavellan is ostensibly clouded by her emotions to see all the tells, the signals that are slightly off, the fact that he knows just a little too much, and how he's always ready with explanations and theories that seem picture perfect, but if my unfettered mLavellan suddenly got this information from him, I think that might've been a hair more than the wagon could bear.
Just think about it - he's already pretty shady, and that's inclusive of the fact that he's so unfazed by the plight of modern elves, unlike pretty much every single other elf in Thedas. We might headcanon elves who aren't particularly attached to Dalish traditions or who shun the city elf life, but I don't recall any other in-game elf who doesn't feel at least a basic friendly bias regarding other elves. So, next to all of this, I imagine Solas telling me that he saw in the Fade (and yet speaks with such certainty about, when he himself keeps saying that the "truth" you see in the Fade is extremely mutable!), that might cause my brain cogs to start whirring that something is really off here. It's such a potentially offensive thing to say to a Dalish that you wonder why he would risk bringing it up and the only answer to that is that he must know with a certainty - but *how* could he *possibly* know any such thing for a certainty?
In comparison, the romance scene gives a lot of mitigating factors; he cares about Lavellan, he wants her to be in the best way possible, and it makes his remark a sign of good intention, regardless of how much it may or may not hurt or be offensive. He always seemed slightly more pushy to me in romance for the same reason, that he wants Lavellan to get things right, to do things for the right reasons and it seems somehow more important to him than when he sees a friend doing his own thing. He still won't volunteer information, but fLavellan can chalk it up to "my lover is concerned for me and wants to give me the gift of knowledge."
Anyway, this just occurred to me, I'm just playing mLavellan and this is based on my impressions so far of my interactions with Solas.
Back to reading!
You're right about the suspicion factor. I've actually seen quite a few people around the forums and on tumblr who don't trust what Solas says about the vallaslin because he's the only source on the matter. These people tend not to be Solasmancers. They're missing the point of the reveal. It comes at a very intimate moment when Solas had no reason to lie (Weekes even confirmed Solas was ready to leave all his plans behind to be with Lavellan, and that's the key - he wanted to be with Lavellan, not the Inquisitor or the Inquisition. Just his girlfriend.) Because of when this revelation occurs and who he's speaking to I trust it 100%. I wouldn't trust it so much if it happened outside this intimate scene with unromanced or m!Lavellans.
You know it goes. First it's one and then it's two and then...
See?! It's starting already!
Although, I'm not sure letting Loghain live is the worse of the two evils...
I personally find the story very interesting letting Loghain live
I may actually change this worldstate to have Loghain alive. Since I'm going to have no problem about leaving m!Hawke in the Fade it's going to be more interesting having Loghain as the Warden contact than Stroud.
I like Loghain as a character. I think he has interesting motivations and backstory and having him atone for what he did through his living deeds rather than (the much easier) sacrifice is a fascinating direction to take the character.
You're right about the suspicion factor. I've actually seen quite a few people around the forums and on tumblr who don't trust what Solas says about the vallaslin because he's the only source on the matter. These people tend not to be Solasmancers. They're missing the point of the reveal. It comes at a very intimate moment when Solas had no reason to lie (Weekes even confirmed Solas was ready to leave all his plans behind to be with Lavellan, and that's the key - he wanted to be with Lavellan, not the Inquisitor or the Inquisition. Just his girlfriend.) Because of when this revelation occurs and who he's speaking to I trust it 100%. I wouldn't trust it so much if it happened outside this intimate scene with unromanced or m!Lavellans.
Exactly. I think Solas simply knew that anyone else in any other situation than that moment would have mistrusted or misinterpreted what he says in the best case scenario; worst case, he gives away too much and reveals himself, like he almost does after Halamshiral. (And this is also true for people outside the game, too, apparently, haha.) I think that slip up after Wicked Hearts alone already confirms that Solas is getting mighty comfortable with the Inquisitor, regardless of who they are, yet fLavellan is a special case because she tempts him to actually abandon the facade intentionally - which would make the vallaslin reveal a far cry from "oh, I have bad news about your heritage by the way," something he could have said about sooooo many other things, I'm sure. This way it seems more of a gesture of painful trust, the extent that he can bring himself to extend considering his circumstance and the import of his plan (whatever that may truly be).
Exactly. I think Solas simply knew that anyone else in any other situation than that moment would have mistrusted or misinterpreted what he says in the best case scenario; worst case, he gives away too much and reveals himself, like he almost does after Halamshiral. (And this is also true for people outside the game, too, apparently, haha.) I think that slip up after Wicked Hearts alone already confirms that Solas is getting mighty comfortable with the Inquisitor, regardless of who they are, yet fLavellan is a special case because she tempts him to actually abandon the facade intentionally - which would make the vallaslin reveal a far cry from "oh, I have bad news about your heritage by the way," something he could have said about sooooo many other things, I'm sure. This way it seems more of a gesture of painful trust, the extent that he can bring himself to extend considering his circumstance and the import of his plan (whatever that may truly be).
I just find it very amusing that the amount of trust the player gives Solas' vallaslin reveal is dependent on whether or not they're a Solasmancer. Solasmancers almost 100% believe him, non Solasmancers react with either belief or suspicion, which is a fairly good indicator of why this reveal is left romance-specific.
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And
