No not this thread, so she should be safe from such enablers here right? Should be being the operative word.
I don't know if any are interested in the Western AU, but there is a second chapter of cheese uploaded. I make no apologies for smart ass Felassan or Solas.
Oh, enabling has been known to leak back into here, from where it originated. There are just higher concentrations elsewhere. 
And there's my most favorite dwarf-loving Northern Irish dark side of the Moon! (sorry, that was low even by my standards)
Though I've never been a TES fanatic. I like the lore and stuff but the games as games (NPCs, my own character, combat,...) feel so lifeless and stiff. However, I've played ESO for about 7 hours now and I'm bored already.
And my favorite British Doctor Who friend!
Thanks Gwyvian.
Though, as I can see from your post count, you din't particularly spam while I was gone. You're still under 500 posts, how do you do this?^^
I go for walls of text per post rather than lots of short ones. Plus I literally don't post anywhere else, except for maybe 2-3 posts tops outside the Solas thread. And I disappear for months at a time. 
I just came back from a long hiatus to keep myself away from any possibiities of spoiling Trespasser. *sigh* And now I've finished it and I'm struggling with feelings of emptiness. 
Oh, enabling has been known to leak back into here, from where it originated. There are just higher concentrations elsewhere.
Well we wouldn't be worthy of our titles if we didn't give a gentle nudge or a helpful shove where it's needed. 
Wait.. when have Abelas and Cassandra started to become a thing?
..Anyway, I come with a little gift (maybe?).
When Trespasser came out I recorded and shared over the forums some mp3s from the game.. People overall appreciated although some guy made me notice that the quality was not very good. That was because I recorded them as videos and then converted them to mp3s in some crappy software..
Anyway now we have the OST so there isn't much need for it, except for the beloved "Dread Wolf" track that Bioware has forgotten (
There is quite a good version on YT, however the person who recorded it probably just muted the dialogues, but you can hear the music decreasing when Solas and Inq are speaking - so it was pissing me off, cause I go slightly OCD in these situations xD
So I decided to re-record it, and thanks to a mix of Audacity and freeze frame, the audio is clearer and doesn't decrease
Long story short: if you want it it's here: https://www.dropbox....NCQtROIrka?dl=0
Let me know if it's better than before
)
Thank you. 
This is going to help my work immensely. (And feels tsunamis.)
Hey um...I just noticed something in this last playthrough:
So..um...If Solas is pride, will saving him involve taking that demon out of him? The opposite of pride would be humility? So if we save him by taking him from his demon form and become more that the spirit within him should be (like Cole's compassion spirit)...am I making sense here?
Just an odd thought, so I thought I'd throw it out there.
Art post! Also, just letting you know that Solas Blush Monday is now becoming a thing on Tumblr so expect to see more blushing Solas art.
Orlais Theme by kallielef. Gorgeous! (Solavellan)
Blushing Solas. 
Some sexy Solas sketches. 
(NSFW-ish)
Concept!Solas.
(Apparently from reading people's tags on this art, they would've romanced him and followed him to the ends of the earth
if he looked like this instead of the one we got now. Seriously, is it really because he's white and bald that dissuade them from romancing him?
Sorry, I'm a bit salty. 
)
Elven couple with backpacks. (Solavellan)
Solas and Kidquisitor.
The Unending Wake, Part 30.
The Unending Wake, Part 31
I just came back from a long hiatus to keep myself away from any possibiities of spoiling Trespasser. *sigh* And now I've finished it and I'm struggling with feelings of emptiness.
Why is that? Actually, while I was not as pleased with most of Trespasser as others were, I did like the ending. I thought that it actually made Solas look better -- not to us maybe, but to those who only saw him as evil incarnate. He was shown to be caring, torn, and thoughtful. I thought it established him as more than only the next game's antagonist. Plus it added to him having a lot more airtime and being described in much more detail and with finer shading than other characters. I think he's the most fleshed out and most alive NPC of BioWare games so far. Lightyears from the likes of Saren and even ahead of Mythal.
Codex says that Pride demons are most likely seen as men (as opposed to the demon form we fight them in.) The codex talks about men who are actually pride demons, as if they don't know it and what their pride does to them.
So..um...If Solas is pride, will saving him involve taking that demon out of him? The opposite of pride would be humility? So if we save him by taking him from his demon form and become more that the spirit within him should be (like Cole's compassion spirit)...am I making sense here?
Well wisdom was turned into a pride demon, so I'm not sure if he would change into one because he's already in the 'real' world. But it is a possibility.
Why is that? Actually, while I was not as pleased with most of Trespasser as others were, I did like the ending. I thought that it actually made Solas look better -- not to us maybe, but to those who only saw him as evil incarnate. He was shown to be caring, torn, and thoughtful. I thought it established him as more than only the next game's antagonist. Plus it added to him having a lot more airtime and being described in much more detail and with finer shading than other characters. I think he's the most fleshed out and most alive NPC of BioWare games so far. Lightyears from the likes of Saren and even ahead of Mythal.
Because it's finished. It's being suddenly slammed with massive disillusionment that the world has an actual ending (as far as this story segment goes), a feeling that is only this pervasive when I am left yearning for something while the final credits already started rolling, I'm out of sync with where the story currently is supposed to end because I feel like there should be more.
I spent months and months waiting for it (longer than most, since I couldn't get it when it first came out), building my anticipation and agonizing over its lack, and then I finally got it and I was mostly satisfied while it was going on, but then it ended. I hate finishing games and books (movies are quick and painless) from a certain point of view, I rush through games and then procrastinate the final mission for weeks, I will consume a book in a day and leave the last chapter untouched for months; it annoys me, because I want to know, to have the full experience, but I also know that it will have an ending if I continue - I work around that by starting from the beginning immediately after finishing (I'm still in an unbreakable loop of listening to the audiobook version of Wheel of Time since years, I practically have every book memorized). That way I have something to look forward to again within that story. This is especially true of games usually... except that with Trespasser that begins and ends with my Solasmancer canon for me, I really don't feel like playing through it as anyone else but a Solasmancer. That's a strange concept to me under normal circumstances. I'd play through it with my canon again, except that I don't necessarily want to play through the entire DLC again, just the end - but that sort of defeats itself after a while, because I realize I'm revisiting it again and again because I'm looking for something more, something not there. They did, after all, stretch it out again, so even though I feel more satisfied than I did at the end of DAI (much more), I'm not completely satisfied. Which is not bad considering the continuation of the story/game, yet I'm also a believer in finishing things properly. So I would have been happier if my Lavellan had made a definitive choice and followed through (er, that Solas would let her, that is).
Not to say that I don't love it, I do, I think Solas finally had a chance to shine as who he truly is, which is excellent for filling the gaps that were present so far in his story - but I am still left feeling oddly empty regarding my own character. From a storytelling perspective I think it's a superb finalizing for their relationship, but I don't usually play games to have my custom characters wallow and flail about with only one, desperate and anguish-filled purpose left out of all the great things s/he achieved until that point. I'm still digesting this experience. I mean, in ME I felt so emotionally exhausted by the end that I literally thought that Shepard dying would be an incredible relief. It was crafted very nicely to evoke that feeling, leave me satisfied with a relatively sad (if epic) ending. Also, I know that DA has a new protagonist in each game (at least so far), which means that we're probably pretty much stuck with this ending regardless of how we feel about it - DAII aready twisted me about a bit since after all the melodrama, I get one measly sentence telling me that oh, my character and my LI ran off together.........
Well anyway, I'm not questioning design choices, I'm fine with them, I'm just acclimatizing myself to being satisfied with this ending. Solas has ruined me a little, though, I really want to enjoy DAI to its fullest in different ways, but every time I even walk by Solas I feel hollow and sad for not playing my Solasmancer, let alone listen to his comments. *sigh*
Well anyway, I'm not questioning design choices, I'm fine with them, I'm just acclimatizing myself to being satisfied with this ending.
I definitely feel a bit of this. I made decent progress in my Adaar's playthrough after Trespasser, but I find myself giving every elf the side-eye, doubly so with Solas. It's like everything he says has taken on yet another layer of meaning, and some of the ambient dialogue with the elves in the Inquisition makes me very, very paranoid 
But I'm the opposite about my Solasmancer. I might have mod-shopped to the nines for her, and I swear I'll get around to doing a completionist playthrough with her before DA4. But I can't get around to actually playing her. She meets Solas for the first time, and I know where it's going to go over the next three years, and I just have too many feels to keep playing 
I definitely feel a bit of this. I made decent progress in my Adaar's playthrough after Trespasser, but I find myself giving every elf the side-eye, doubly so with Solas. It's like everything he says has taken on yet another layer of meaning, and some of the ambient dialogue with the elves in the Inquisition makes me very, very paranoid
But I'm the opposite about my Solasmancer. I might have mod-shopped to the nines for her, and I swear I'll get around to doing a completionist playthrough with her before DA4. But I can't get around to actually playing her. She meets Solas for the first time, and I know where it's going to go over the next three years, and I just have too many feels to keep playing
I thought doing a replay of my Solasmancer would fix that problem, but I haven't been able to force myself to fully commit to it. I've gotten up to the Arbor Wilds with my m!Lavellan and both my Adaars are pretty far along, as is my Cullenmancing Trevelyan (relatively speaking), but I keep retreating into a ball of misery when I don't get the "inside glimpse" of Solas' story. It's like something is wrong with those playthroughs. I really like my m!Lavellan, though - I get the elven connection without being at the mercy of quite so many feels.
Because it's finished. It's being suddenly slammed with massive disillusionment that the world has an actual ending (as far as this story segment goes)
[...]
but I also know that it will have an ending if I continue - I work around that by starting from the beginning immediately
You seem a bit undecided.
So you want an end and don't want one at the same time. Considering that I think BioWare did great. I don't feel Trespasser gives us an end to anything. Solas leaves, yes, and he explains himself a bit. But it is completely up to your imagination what to do with this. There's nothing final after all. He will be back, his way will continue (and can take long), and even the relationship isn't definitely over. A thousand things might happen in the future. There are no bridges burnt, we can always turn around and go back. They skillfully avoided any decisions that mean hard cuts. They even let the inquisitor learn about him in Trespasser, so there's nothing standing between them anymore. They might not show it explicitly but for the roleplayers everything is an open playground and they can do and make up and roleplay whatever they wish.
which means that we're probably pretty much stuck with this ending regardless of how we feel about it
I'm not sure I agree. We might not play the same character again (who knows after all, maybe they are bold enough to copy GTA5 and AC Syndicate and have us play multiple characters) but they can still bring her back and continue the love story. They didn't do such a splendid job regarding Hawke or the Warden, since we only got a few sentences about/from them. But they could actually provide us with the means to add to our past experiences without sacrificing new protagonists. Like give us one (optional) mission in the next game where we play our inquisitor again, meet Solas, influence their interactions etc. Switching characters isn't too uncommon after all. Something like the Witcher did would work great to continue the past inquisitor's story without giving up on a new main protagonist. I feel the freedom DAI left us with is so much stronger than anything DAO or DA2 gave us.
You seem a bit undecided.
So you want an end and don't want one at the same time. Considering that I think BioWare did great. I don't feel Trespasser gives us an end to anything. Solas leaves, yes, and he explains himself a bit. But it is completely up to your imagination what to do with this. There's nothing final after all. He will be back, his way will continue (and can take long), and even the relationship isn't definitely over. A thousand things might happen in the future. There are no bridges burnt, we can always turn around and go back. They skillfully avoided any decisions that mean hard cuts. They even let the inquisitor learn about him in Trespasser, so there's nothing standing between them anymore. They might not show it explicitly but for the roleplayers everything is an open playground and they can do and make up and roleplay whatever they wish.
That's my point. I want to know the end but I don't want it (as a whole) to end. I'm not saying that this is the end of the story, but it is the last DLC of DAI, this particular story within the overarching Dragon Age story is over, even if elements from it carry over, even if they are significant ones. I like that about DA, actually, there is always an element of continuity while still breaking from the previous story. As I said, I liked the ending, very much so - it didn't evoke warm and fuzzy feelings in me, but that doesn't mean I cannot appreciate it. Nor does that appreciation mean that I do not want more, as you say, from a design standpoint that's actually a good thing. (It's still miserable to live through, though.)
As for roleplaying it... I don't find that satisfying in this instance. I like my stories to be on the same playing field at all times, if I roleplay a game, then I want it roleplayed from start to finish, if I play a video game, then I want all the story to be in that medium. Anything that doesn't appear there overtly is just a bandaid patch-fix over any wounds the game might have created. It just doesn't work for me otherwise unfortunately.
I'm not sure I agree. We might not play the same character again (who knows after all, maybe they are bold enough to copy GTA5 and AC Syndicate and have us play multiple characters) but they can still bring her back and continue the love story. They didn't do such a splendid job regarding Hawke or the Warden, since we only got a few sentences about/from them. But they could actually provide us with the means to add to our past experiences without sacrificing new protagonists. Like give us one (optional) mission in the next game where we play our inquisitor again, meet Solas, influence their interactions etc. Switching characters isn't too uncommon after all. Something like the Witcher did would work great to continue the past inquisitor's story without giving up on a new main protagonist. I feel the freedom DAI left us with is so much stronger than anything DAO or DA2 gave us.
You know, I kind of miss having more recurring characters. In ME I was always so pleased to see the evolution of so many of my friends and LI's, I kind of miss that in DA - but I am adamantly supportive of having more new and shiny characters fill up those spaces, so the sentiment isn't too strong. I'm thinking more along the lines of specific characters getting a little more screentime, since they went to all this trouble to have us be invested in their fates.
I'm sure that Solas/the romance will continue, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. But DAI's story is still finished regardless - anything that comes after will be an entirely new chapter, a new story in DA, it just won't be the same, it won't be the "main plot". I wasn't nearly as invested in Hawke's fate once I stopped controlling her (or him depending on my PT). Hawke's story is finished, we just add a tiny epilogue and it feels much less personal. I'm afraid that there isn't a lot of room to expand on that for the Solas romance, either, unless they actually do bring the Inquisitor back as the controllable protagonist, even if briefly.
Hey, I was thrilled the first time I got a reference out of Alistair about my character - and then after a while I stopped caring, her story was finished and that was that, even though I was deeply invested in her LI progression when I was actually playing DA:O. They need to work on the quality of the continuity presentation, I guess. I am hopeful, though, considering some dev comments about Solas and future DA games... I'm just apprehensive that my character won't get nearly as much love. (And unless my DA4 protagonist can romance Solas also, it won't have the same feel for me beyond the same satisfied/disillusioned volatile mix that Trespasser already gave me.)
Well, may I be wrong. I hope I'm just being paranoid.
I definitely feel a bit of this. I made decent progress in my Adaar's playthrough after Trespasser, but I find myself giving every elf the side-eye, doubly so with Solas. It's like everything he says has taken on yet another layer of meaning, and some of the ambient dialogue with the elves in the Inquisition makes me very, very paranoid
But I'm the opposite about my Solasmancer. I might have mod-shopped to the nines for her, and I swear I'll get around to doing a completionist playthrough with her before DA4. But I can't get around to actually playing her. She meets Solas for the first time, and I know where it's going to go over the next three years, and I just have too many feels to keep playing
But DAI's story is still finished regardless - anything that comes after will be an entirely new chapter, a new story in DA, it just won't be the same, it won't be the "main plot".
Yes... so basically you didn't have any sort of problem with Trespasser but with the approach of DA itself, maybe the approach of any game other than an MMO or pen&paper RPG -- it will end eventually. Well, BW cannot do anything about that, I fear.
I wasn't nearly as invested in Hawke's fate once I stopped controlling her (or him depending on my PT).
Well, I was... unfortunately just: she was so empty. Or maybe not even empty... she was somebody else. It was not MY Hawke (me, in fact) anymore. She spoke differently, looked different, acted differently. All that mage hate, all the anger and shallowness and dryness, no bit of humor, nothing at all... That one had done things my Hawke wouldn't have done, not even considered. Not my Hawke, no continuation. Just a different person, some standard prototype female representation wearing her armor, pretending to be her, talking whatever nonsense about somebody by the name of Fenris who might or might not be related to somebody I once knew. Had she been anything like the character I had made come alive years back I would have been invested, even if not controlling her.
A Witcher-style Ciri would have been better, of course: let me have her, just for a little while, and maybe see the inquisitor through her eyes... ah, anyway.
I've been working on my completionist Lavellan playthrough and FINALLY it's not that bad and I'm somewhat used to watching her suffer.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm part of a tiny minority that gleefully throws their PC headlong into angst. I have a hard time not playing the Solasmance, not just because I like it so much, but because it just feels too easy with everyone else. It's just... flirt, kiss, fall in love, maybe get married, aaand you're done. Happy ending. Congratulations. Throw your LI over your shoulder (Eh, maybe not if you romanced Bull) hop onto that shining steed and ride off into the sunset together. You win, easily and without (any serious) trouble.
I remember a few weeks back I was talking on another forum with a guy who romanced Dorian. And he said that he was happy the Inquisitor lost their arm in Trespasser, because otherwise they wouldn't have lost anything during their entire journey. And I was just sitting there like "My Inquisitor had her faith completely dismantled, her boyfriend dump her in a field, and then, two years later, found out that same boyfriend's an immortal god bent on destroying her world. Bullshit she didn't lose anything." But it put things in perspective for me, how without the Solasmance, Inquisition's a pretty easy ride. Which I guess appeals to some people, but to me that's just... boring.
It's the same reason I can't finish an Origins playthrough where I romance Leliana or Zevran - things are so easy with them, when there's such fascinating drama to be had from romancing Alistair or Morrigan. I guess I just love to make my PCs suffer. :\
EDIT: ^ Ah, well, there we are then.
Art post.
I'm not sure about this artist's rendition of Solas (he looks pretty badass though) but the sketch is just gorgeous!
Are you studying or flirting? (Lovely artwork!)
Adorable sketch of Solas and Lavellan kissing.
Solavellan sad ending - finished version. 
Modern AU Solas and Lavellan going to the movies.
Midnight meeting at the library. (Solavellan)
Lavellan carrying Solas.
Solavellan sketchdump.
Some more blushing Solas.
Hooded Solas.
Solas mermaid AU.
The Unending Wake, Part 32. (Lavellan and Dorian)
Ready for some Trespasser screenshots and insights?
First of all, there's a giant moon when you first enter the Elven Ruins (where the explosion happens in the distance). Don't know what that means, but it's there.
Feelings about the Winter Palace (Jim is stalking in the background):
I had a thought. Could Solas actually have been cruelly toying with lavallen? He definitely seems to be an enabler (not sure if that is the right term) as he seems to push the idea that he cares about her, but yet in Trespasser he seems to know what she would be going through and was okay with the idea that she would die from his mark, as oppose to I don't know telling her the truth of the anchor and that they would need to cut her hand off if she wanted to live through the experience of the anchor now going into critical meltdown. It just doesn't seem like something you'd let happen (her nearly dying) if you truly love someone.
It wouldn't even be that far out of character as we know he's a great actor in that he used his guile to fool all the other powerful elven mages from his time and killed them off.
I remember a few weeks back I was talking on another forum with a guy who romanced Dorian. And he said that he was happy the Inquisitor lost their arm in Trespasser, because otherwise they wouldn't have lost anything during their entire journey. And I was just sitting there like "My Inquisitor had her faith completely dismantled, her boyfriend dump her in a field, and then, two years later, found out that same boyfriend's an immortal god bent on destroying her world. Bullshit she didn't lose anything." But it put things in perspective for me, how without the Solasmance, Inquisition's a pretty easy ride. Which I guess appeals to some people, but to me that's just... boring.
It's the same reason I can't finish an Origins playthrough where I romance Leliana or Zevran - things are so easy with them, when there's such fascinating drama to be had from romancing Alistair or Morrigan. I guess I just love to make my PCs suffer. :\
EDIT: ^ Ah, well, there we are then.
Erm... When Solas left the Inquisition at the end of my playthrough, I still had a bunch of rifts left to close. I assume it's the same for other ppl too. He's not gonna take your anchor when you still need it to close those rifts.I had a thought. Could Solas actually have been cruelly toying with lavallen? He definitely seems to be an enabler (not sure if that is the right term) as he seems to push the idea that he cares about her, but yet in Trespasser he seems to know what she would be going through and was okay with the idea that she would die from his mark, as oppose to I don't know telling her the truth of the anchor and that they would need to cut her hand off if she wanted to live through the experience of the anchor now going into critical meltdown. It just doesn't seem like something you'd let happen (her nearly dying) if you truly love someone.
It wouldn't even be that far out of character as we know he's a great actor in that he used his guile to fool all the other powerful elven mages from his time and killed them off.
Spoiler
<snip>
Concept!Solas.
(Apparently from reading people's tags on this art, they would've romanced him and followed him to the ends of the earth
if he looked like this instead of the one we got now. Seriously, is it really because he's white and bald that dissuade them from romancing him?
Sorry, I'm a bit salty.
Spoiler<snip>
Personally, if he looked like that, I probably wouldn't have wanted to romance him at all. Not my type, but then..neither are bald men. :-P I am very happy with the way Solas looks and very glad he's not overly handsome or sexy like Zevran. This version reminds me of Zev way too much.
I had a thought. Could Solas actually have been cruelly toying with lavallen? He definitely seems to be an enabler (not sure if that is the right term) as he seems to push the idea that he cares about her, but yet in Trespasser he seems to know what she would be going through and was okay with the idea that she would die from his mark, as oppose to I don't know telling her the truth of the anchor and that they would need to cut her hand off if she wanted to live through the experience of the anchor now going into critical meltdown. It just doesn't seem like something you'd let happen (her nearly dying) if you truly love someone.
It wouldn't even be that far out of character as we know he's a great actor in that he used his guile to fool all the other powerful elven mages from his time and killed them off.
Spoiler
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