153429 réponses à ce sujet

[NightSymphony]

I played Surana first. She's my cannon. King Alistair's mistress.  I played a Dalish elf next and then finally a Cousland. I've probably started a city elf a dozen times and never finished.

 

I have never finished playing a dwarf either. I just can't get into it. I don't really like playing humans either but I wanted to be queen once. I am always an elf first. I love playing elves. I just find humans so boring since I am one in real life.   I probably don't like dwarves because I hate being underground, plus the beards. I don't like long beards. 

 

I'm rambling..it is past my bed time and my brain is falling asleep without me.

[Qun00]

I agree that DAO elves had the same body model as humans, but scaled down. However, I must disagree if anyone says the same about their facial features.

Spoiler

Would you really tell me "That totally is a human face if you take away the tattoos and pointed ears"?

[ladyiolanthe]

My canon (and first) DAO playthrough was a Cousland who ended up being queen of Alistair. I tried Mahariel and Amell but never got very far with them. I just can't seem to enjoy subsequent Dragon Age play-throughs because I know the overarching plot already and I know that I am not likely to change my major decisions. I've tried; I just can't bring myself to try one of the other potential paths (like siding with the elves or the werewolves instead of trying to broker peace, for example). 

 

I was perfectly fine with not having a choice of races to play in DA2.

 

I had every intention of playing a female human again in DAI, and I did start off that way.  But then due to missing one crucial cue for the Blackwall romance (the conversation on the ramparts right after you get to Skyhold, argh), I had to go back to a save from 50 hours earlier.  And then I broke my computer and couldn't play on my desktop computer for months. I tried playing on my laptop but its graphics-rendering abilities are not inspiring, to say the least. And because of changing between two computers, I managed to sync the wrong cloud data and lose the 100 hours of gameplay I'd put in since having to go back 50 hours for the Blackwall romance...  

 

So, by the time I built myself a new desktop computer, I was way past wanting to play my Trevelyan again. So, in came Lavellan. The rest is history.

 

The one connecting thread between all three of my games has been that I play female dagger-wielder rogues. DAI broke my compulsion to play as a human and I would probably be interested in playing an elf again in a future game, now.

 

I really liked the dwarf lore we got in The Descent, but I found all the Orzammar politics quests in DAO *so tedious* that I haven't enough desire to play a dwarf, yet. Maybe by the end of DA4 I could play a dwarf if there's ever a DA5.

 

So far, I haven't the slightest inclination to play a Qunari! No offense to the Qunari lovers - they just don't appeal to me. You never know, though - that could change as more lore concerning them is made available! Which I suspect will happen in DA4 due to their renewed efforts against Tevinter.

 

Zaerath: I find that the CC in DAI really lets you build an elf's face how you like, and I am grateful for that. I'm not keen on the big-eyed look that was introduced in DA2. My Lavellan is more like a DAO elf, in that her face looks somewhat like a human's with pointed ears. I noticed that the DAI NPC elves largely did not have the giant eyes (Solas being a case in point) and I'm good with that. The body, of course, is a completely different story. I don't use mods so I had the default very slender female elf body like the ones from DA2. I like the range of variability we were able to create in our characters' faces, but I think I would have preferred a somewhat more filled-out body for my Lavellan. (Solas' body mesh was awesome, though, and Sera's wasn't bad, though I would have preferred slightly thicker arms).

 

I know quite a few people wish the vanilla DAI would have allowed us to modify bodies as well as faces so that we could have chubby elves or petite Qunari (among other things). I think that would be cool if it didn't gobble up too many development resources in terms of skin compatibility, etc. I think there's enough distinctive features of each race that, even if height and weight were highly variable on slider scales, you'd still be able to tell if a protagonist is an elf or a human or a dwarf or a Qunari. What do you all think? 

[CapricornSun]

Art post.

 

(I think this deserves to be out of the spoiler tags. )

 

Source: http://lavellanlove....o-new-followers

 

French toasts. Beautiful modern AU Solavellan art by nipuni!  (Look at the little face that Lavellan drew on the egg. )

Spoiler

Source: http://nipuni.tumblr...5/french-toasts

 

 

"What is the old Dalish curse? May the Dread Wolf take you?" Gorgeous artwork!

Spoiler

Source: http://smokesinatra....-the-dread-wolf

 

 

Solas wants to show some magic for you.

Spoiler

Source: http://elenpilgrim.t...e-magic-for-you

 

 

Awesome WIP of Solas' age progression from a boy to the man we have now. (GIF)

Spoiler

Source: http://bloodwrit.tum...le-gif-age-meme

 

 

Sketch of Solas wearing a wolf pelt hood.

Spoiler

Source: http://soltrash.tumb...5087144/screams

 

 

Concept!Solas hugging Lavellan from behind.

Spoiler

Source: http://brotherslavel...olas-more-often

 

 

Solavellan sketch dump.

Spoiler

Source: http://paranoidfacto...-my-immortal-by

 

 

Lavellan finds it hot when Solas gets angry. (Also starring Varric and Bull.)

Spoiler

Source: http://officialevanu...meone-trying-to

 

 

Redemption Ark! YESSSS!  (lol, the S.S. Zuko. xD)

Spoiler

Source: http://cheesiestart....leep-forgive-me

 

[Ghost Gal]

Really? I feel like City Elf was even less popular than Mahariel.

 

I feel like Mahariel became retroactively popular given the increased appearances and significance of the Eluvian and Dalish narrative in subsequent games. (Morrigan's Eluvian in Witch Hunt, Merrill's Eluvian and the Sabrae Clan in DA2, the Dalish Inquisitor and Eluvians and Ancient Elvhen discoveries in DAI, etc.) I hang around the DAO forums a bit, and I get the impression that the city elves started off as popular before then, or remain fairly popular despite.

 

(City Elf Warden for life!)

 

I chose to play city elf first, then that glitched and I rerolled and chose a Cousland Warden. Because she gets a dog right away. I'm not even kidding.

 

I imagine that the Cousland was most popular because of the option to be Queen/King, the others could only hope to be mistresses or companions...I did the Daslish Rogue origin first. Then did a Cousland so I could have at least one fairy-tale ending

 

Yeah... that's what kind of bothers me.

 

The Human Noble got the "objectively" best original content that game: They alone got to have a dog sooner than any other origin, they alone got to become King/Queen at the end, and Lady Cousland alone got to legitimately marry King Alistair and become his Queen and get the perfect fairy tale wedding and live happily-ever-after.

 

With all these great perks you can only get as a human noble, who wouldn't choose it over the others?

 

To be honest, I still suspect the Dwarf Noble Origin would have been a little more popular if you got the option to become King/Queen of Orzammar the way the Human Noble could become King/Queen of Ferelden (or were even allowed to marry Ferelden's monarch on account of being royalty; if Lady Cousland could convince the Landsmeet the "two Wardens = no fertility" thing isn't an issue, Lady Aeducan should be able to do the same, with the added bonus of pitching a political alliance with Orzammar in this shaky time), rather than losing your status and then it remaining lost.

 

From what I've heard, what few people played non-humans in DAO tended to do so for a measly gameplay benefit. I've heard that the few people who played an elf in DAO mostly played Mage Elves because of the boost to magic and willpower, and what few people played dwarves played the Dwarf Noble for Gorim's amazing discount. And, retroactively, most people who've now played the Dalish Warden did so because of the added allusions and significance to the Dalish/Eluvian narrative over several games. ("Hipster Dalish fans" here notwithstanding.  )

 

It's weird: the devs only offer substantial incentives to play a Human Noble (I mean, really, what sounds better? "You get to become Queen/King!" or "You get to become a Paragon"? Probably the former), then most people play the human noble character on account of said incentives, then the devs see that not many people played non-humans, then they figure "Not enough will play non-humans to include incentives," so players play the human on account of said incentives, then downward and downward it goes.

 

Solas was pretty much the first real incentive to play an elven character: He's a potential love interest who will only romance an elf. You get to experience something as an elf that you couldn't experience as a human. Between that and the overall narrative shifting into a particularly "elfy" direction, I think that could contribute to elven player characters being at an all-time high this game.

 

That said, the human origins will always be the most popular no matter what, but with proper incentive it doesn't have to be the staggering 80% human to 15% elf to 5% dwarf ratio of DAO... It could be the only 50% human, 35% elf, 15% Qunari and dwarf ratio of DAI. And that was only after races were added last-minute! (Imagine if they integrated race options from the beginning next game, and offered more original content and incentives to play not just elves, but dwarves and Qunari? I mean, it's gonna be set in Tevinter, the best customers of dwarf lyrium sellers and just next door to the Qunari headquarters.)

 

Okay, I'm done.

 

I've looked a bit into the differences of elves' design over the course of the game and basically what I got is:

DAO: practically human, just with pointed ears
DAII: made more non-human, huge anime-esque eyes
DA:I: somewhere in-between

Is that actually true? Which parts of DAO and DAII are in current design. Do you guys like it?

 

I personally never minded the DAO "thin human with pointed ears" design. They're an established fantasy race, and that's their established appearance.

 

Besides, dwarves always look like short and stout humans, but no one ever complains about them.

 

That said, I rather like DAI's design. I think it has a nice compromise between DAO's less stylized design and DA2's too stylized design.

[Ellawynn]

I imagine that the Cousland was most popular because of the option to be Queen/King, the others could only hope to be mistresses or companions...I did the Daslish Rogue origin first. Then did a Cousland so I could have at least one fairy-tale ending

 

I seem to always pick one of the least popular origins or characters, no matter what games I play.

 

Y'know, I only played Human Noble on my very first run, when I knew nothing about the game except that it reasonably might include a dragon and some ages somewhere, and literally the only reason I went with her is because her name is kinda-sorta similar to mine. (That was seriously it. Never let it be said that I make good decisions because I... I do not.) but I find it amusing how I stumbled into what's apparently considered the Golden Ending, especially for the Alistair romance. At the time, I thought I just had a knack for finding the happiest, fluffiest endings without even trying.

 

Then I romanced Anders on my first run of DA2.

 

Then I romanced Thane on my second (canon) run of ME2.

 

Then I romanced Solas on my first run of DAI.

 

I don't think I've got that knack so much anymore. 

[ladyiolanthe]

I am not certain that marrying Alistair and being Queen is as happy an ending as it sounds, honestly. On the face of it, sure, it seems happy, but if you think about the lore it could be just a hugely stressful thing. As the monarchs it would be a reasonable expectation that you need to produce heirs. But because of being Grey Wardens, you're both essentially infertile. Cailan was being pressured to put Anora aside due to the lack of heirs; it's only a matter of time before Alistair gets the same pressure on the off-chance that he *could* produce a child with a non-tainted woman. Then you'd have the pressure from Weisshaupt for contravening the "Grey Wardens shall not become involved in politics!" rule. You have a country ravaged by the Blight and the civil war to rebuild, with the Orlesian nobles sizing you up to see if you're ripe for the taking. You don't know how long you have before you're going to hear the Calling.

 

Anyway, I think it could be a hugely stressful situation, almost like feeling responsible for not figuring out that the dude you fell for is an ancient elven mage who caused the Breach to begin with and is now planning to attempt to destroy the world another way... and not certain that you have any hope of stopping him due to the fact that he could turn whatever forces you throw at him to stone with a thought.

[Ellawynn]

 

With all these great perks you can only get as a human noble, who wouldn't choose it over the others?

 

*Raises hand*

 

I mean, like I said above, I played HN, and yeah I went for the whole fairytale thing, became Queen, had Alistair boink Morrigan, but, eh, I wasn't crazy about it. It's why I made my Surana playthrough into my go-to canon, and my Dwarven Noble as canon B. The Queen Cousland ending was too perfect for my tastes, and the story in general was too generic - Surana, Mahariel, and Aeducan remain my favorite origins to both play and read about, extra incentives be damned. (I barely even use the dog anyway!) because, hey, neat and interesting lore perspectives. As a Cousland, you just get the generic fantasy noble experience. The other origins do a far better job of showing off the more unique aspects of Thedas, and in my mind at least, allow for far more interesting characters. It'd be difficult to have a Cousland that can compare to the experience of, say, playing an exiled Dwaren noble, knowing this is their first time on the surface, knowing everything here must be so extremely strange to them. That's worth any dog and a crown to me.

 

I am not certain that marrying Alistair and being Queen is as happy an ending as it sounds, honestly. On the face of it, sure, it seems happy, but if you think about the lore it could be just a hugely stressful thing. As the monarchs it would be a reasonable expectation that you need to produce heirs. But because of being Grey Wardens, you're both essentially infertile. Cailan was being pressured to put Anora aside due to the lack of heirs; it's only a matter of time before Alistair gets the same pressure on the off-chance that he *could* produce a child with a non-tainted woman. Then you'd have the pressure from Weisshaupt for contravening the "Grey Wardens shall not become involved in politics!" rule. You have a country ravaged by the Blight and the civil war to rebuild, with the Orlesian nobles sizing you up to see if you're ripe for the taking. You don't know how long you have before you're going to hear the Calling.

 

Anyway, I think it could be a hugely stressful situation, almost like feeling responsible for not figuring out that the dude you fell for is an ancient elven mage who caused the Breach to begin with and is now planning to attempt to destroy the world another way... and not certain that you have any hope of stopping him due to the fact that he could turn whatever forces you throw at him to stone with a thought.

 

The issue with that is that it's mostly conjecture - oh, it's logical, well-grounded conjecture, don't get me wrong, but the games themselves never really canonize it. Even in later games, where Alistair and Cousland have been married and childless for years (And Cousland's apparently disappeared) there's no strain on their marriage, no implied pressure from Wardens or nobility. The game itself presents a Queen Cousland ending as a happy one, no strings attached (Save for the sneaky witch lady running around with the King's bastard, I guess.). The expansion upon the idea, the realization that it might not be as fine and dandy as all that, comes entirely from the realm of fanon. 

 

Like, comparing those endings to ones where they break up or one of them dies, it's hard to argue that the Queen Cousland ending isn't presented as the perfect fairy-tale alternative. The only ending that's really comparable in terms of... happy ending-ness (?) is the one where they both live and Alistair turns down the crown. (Which, personally, I put as being just as happy as the ending where you become Queen, but whatever.)

[Nightspirit]

I chose human noble for my first PT, because I felt like the game was trying to guilt-trip me into choosing elves by saying oh look the elves are so oppressed by evil-evil humans. I knew next to nothing about the game, I'd only watched the zero punctuation review where he also said "I'd like to see a Tolkienesque fantasy where the humans aren't the biggest pricks in the room" which probably influenced my choice as well.

Now I have to say that I like the Dalish origin the most, because its vibe is so pleasingly mysterious. Strange ruins that shouldn't even exist, an even stranger mirror.. Tamlen... *cries*

[TheyCallMeBunny]

This might come as a shock, but I've never played the Human Noble in DA:O.   And I've almost done them all!

 

My first character was a F!Surana who romanced Alistair and both remained as Wardens. However, after someone accidentally spoiled I would have to leave either Alistair or Hawke in the Fade I went back to the Keep and made Alistair king instead (I could never choose between Alistair and my Hawke, never! So cruel BioWare!). As I recall I did not want to play as a human (because I felt they were unoriginal) and decided to play a mage because they are flashy.   I do remember considering to play a Dalish instead though, and recently I created my first Mahariel. 

 

In Da2 I played a sarcastic mage F!Hawke who romanced Fenris and supported the mages. I remember being a bit peeved that you could not play a different race. Although DA2 is not as good as DA:O, I still like my Hawke more than my Warden (I know, a usually blasphemous opinion on this forum) because she was just so incredibly funny.

 

And for DA:I I played a rogue F!Lavellan who romanced Solas and did not drink from the Well of Sorrows. I wanted to spice it up and try something different, but at the same time I really wanted to be an elf again, so that's why I left the mage-class and instead made her a rogue. I loved playing an archer, so I've been very happy with that decision! 

 

As to which origin is the best in DA:O, I think it is a matter of what you value. If you want relevance to the general story arc I would say the Human Noble (because Rendon Howe), but if it's the length of the origin I think the Dwarf Noble or the Mage origins are the longest. In the City Elf origin you marry and lose your spouse, which makes for great role-playing opportunities, and if you want to play a character with a very dubious past the Dwarf Commoner provides that. Which leaves us with the Dalish origin, which is short and with little relevance to the main story. Sure, if you are planning to romance Zevran then the Dalish origin is perfect, but you will not know that at the start of the game. I like to play Mahariel for the lore, especially now after Inquisition, but I can understand why many at the time did not. 

[Addictress]

Y'know, I only played Human Noble on my very first run, when I knew nothing about the game except that it reasonably might include a dragon and some ages somewhere, and literally the only reason I went with her is because her name is kinda-sorta similar to mine. (That was seriously it. Never let it be said that I make good decisions because I... I do not.) but I find it amusing how I stumbled into what's apparently considered the Golden Ending, especially for the Alistair romance. At the time, I thought I just had a knack for finding the happiest, fluffiest endings without even trying.

Then I romanced Anders on my first run of DA2.

Then I romanced Thane on my second (canon) run of ME2.

Then I romanced Solas on my first run of DAI.

I don't think I've got that knack so much anymore.

Thane, Anders, and Solas

Mmmm. My favorites! Very good.

[Vanel]

So this is the blankefort? ... M-my heart........... so much pain ... just finished Tresspasser. 

And I feel like ****.

His face looked so worn and weary, I belive it even tear stained. Seeing him like that pains me so much. :C

 

I don't care if Solas used my Lav, he had no choice, I absolutely agree with his goals and I WANT TO SUPPORT HIM TO THE END......but he won't let me.....

WHY SOLAS WHY! YOU SON OF A GUN! F**K the people F**K THEDAS AND EVEN THE INQ, the only ones worth saving are Cassandra, Varric & Cullen. But they will soon be eaten up sacrificed by the digusting evils, used and afterwards ridded of. 

Cas,V and Cull will fail no matter how hard they try. And even if they were to succeed it will be only a matter of time to corruption or fall, just like the Inquisition showed. The problem is ankered within the Root, the corrupted world.

 

Living life like stock, worthless weary of existence, but too scared to die, just a waste of space and energy. This dreafull misery, being controlled by drives and desires instead of the purity in mind.

That's why I could never ever harm Solas and I DON'T want to stop him. I belive he has a plan, and even if he failed the first time he learned from it to make it better. 

 

Sure it is a gamble with high stakes, but still, even if there is a tiny TIIINY chance of succeeding and turning everything into something more, something peaceful, something worthwhile - IT IS WORTH TRYING. This world doomed to fail anyways, it's creation was a mistake from the very beginning.

For me not wishing to support change even when chance given is a sign of utter selfishness. It means sustaining oneself of the backs, drinking their blood and feasting on their flesh, for reasons of comfort, fear and ignorance. Just like how the people in court were displayed, these demons create Monsters like Corypheus. I belive he was misguided and his mind broken, I can't imagine him being truely evil, he looked so desperate and lost in the end. It was not his fault to become like that it was the society that made him this way.

And look at the abominations roaming the lands, qunari bastards summoning demons and using Living Creatures as mere checkpieces, producing them like mashines, mindless exiction tools.

The chantry, again a system of suppression, intrigue and fake facades. Lies upon lies, pretending to be good, but only so far, till they feel theri power endangered.

The Dalish, missguided, corrupted children, talking themselves with lies to ease. Could it be that some of the Dalish know more than they pretend? Very likley, but without these stories, their race would sertainly become extincted, there would be nothing to keep them together, they have already lost too much.

What about the dwarves, why the Titans secret?

Also, why was the gift of magic declared a cruse,they drove so many mad, just out of fear.

 

.

.

.

 

...NO! NEVER! NOT IF GIVEN THE CHANCE; THE POWER TO TURN!

Keeping things as they are just prolonges the inevitable, the people have turned into abominations, just like the red Templers. their minds once pure and blue now corrupted and infectious.

 

Regarding DA4, hopefully we will be allowed to play as Inq again. But the next game should give more choices, like "destruction & recreation" or "humanity shall prevail", bla bla.

Seriously playing the good old marry sue hero is boring, it would kill the mood of the game and its message.

Like I said your choices and decisions should lead you to a very different out come, than just how tressp. ended. 

I mean I wasn't even angry at him. :C Also I didn't felt ungrateful nor wanted to stop him. :C grrr

Solas is my Hero and I adore him. He sacrificed everything to try, to make things better, this is plain goodness, pure and blank. Perfection. :C

 

------

 

Does anyone understand why Solas wouldn't want to let the Inq join him? (Leaving dev probs out.) Pretty illogical to me, I mean he could use her anker to do what ever he planned to do. C: ...

[Addictress]

What does All new, faded for her" even mean?

I never understood....the phrase...the..title of this quest. What does it mean??? :'(

[CapricornSun]

What does All new, faded for her" even mean?

I never understood....the phrase...the..title of this quest. What does it mean??? :'(

 

"All New, Faded For Her" is just an anagram for "Fen'Harel, Dread Wolf". Because the devs are sneaky that way.

 

Source: http://andyroosgirl....w-faded-for-her

 

[CapricornSun]

Art post.

 

Gorgeous 30min warmup portrait of Solas.

Spoiler

Source: http://theresa-draws...estressing-with

 

 

Non-GIF version of the Solas art used in the 'Welcome to Solavellan Hell' GIF earlier.

Spoiler

Source: http://lavellanlove....r-the-lavellans

 

 

Solas sitting down wearing a wolf pelt hood.

Spoiler

Source: http://soltrash.tumb...-become-a-thing

 

 

An animation WIP of Solas and Lavellan twirling around. 

Spoiler

Source: http://bloodwrit.tum...-just-wait-till

 

 

Solas and Lavellan WIP

Spoiler

Source: http://christina-emi...asxlavellan-wip

 

[FernRain]

I tried to make Merrill in the character creator of Black Desert:

Spoiler

.. at least I got the irises right! .

[Solas]

Welcome to the blanketfort Vanel

In regards your last question: Couple reasons. A lot of it he says himself. He doesn't want the Inquisitor, romanced or a friend, to see the 'monster' he seems to believe he will become. That could be literal (head fills with images.. Solas Blighted and tainted, solas the pride demon, Solas the big black demonic red-eyed Fadetouched wolf, Solas corrupted with red lyrium, Solas the abomination.. The last person who tried to tear down the Veil was a monster, ne? <corypheus> Imagine a Corypheussy style Solas. Corypheus wasn't originally a monster like that, just like Solas is now) and/or it could be metaphorical.. Depending on your perspective Solas in the past has done some pretty monstrous things already.. We know what levels he's capable of stooping to in pursuit of his goals, and the levels he's proposing to stoop to post-Trespasser are dialing it up to eleven. Perspective dependent of course. Maybe its a combination of both the literal and metaphorical. But yeah, he doesn't want you to see that.

Another reason is simply inferred: He doesn't wasn't his vhenan or his respected friend to suffer. He's capable of awful things but he doesn't enjoy doing it, he doesn't hurt people without reasons and doing so wracks him with guilt- even going to far as, I didn't want you guys to suffer needlessly in the short time remaining. He seems convinced he's not going to survive what is to come - perhaps he'll die in the teardown attempt, maybe in the fire and chaos searing the world post tear, maybe vengeful unleashed god-kings will want to make him suffer for locking them away - its the din'an shiral, there is only death in this journey. The idea of Solas extending his hand saying come with me, like he'd be selfish enough to fee l like I would see you suffer at my side rather than be apart from you.. Its actually ooc Imo. Yeah many Lavellans are suffering now since he left but he's a pragmatic man, he must think that is the lesser of two evils suffering-level wise. He is selfish to be sure (engaging with Lavellan knowing it would be kinder in the long run not to is selfish) but not that selfish.

And lastly something else he speaks of.. It doesn't sound like there's going to be a place for modern elves in his proposed new world. Modern elves aren't his people or who he's trying to save or restore. Its his world or ours and he's understandably picking his.

[ladyiolanthe]

The issue with that is that it's mostly conjecture - oh, it's logical, well-grounded conjecture, don't get me wrong, but the games themselves never really canonize it. Even in later games, where Alistair and Cousland have been married and childless for years (And Cousland's apparently disappeared) there's no strain on their marriage, no implied pressure from Wardens or nobility. The game itself presents a Queen Cousland ending as a happy one, no strings attached (Save for the sneaky witch lady running around with the King's bastard, I guess.). The expansion upon the idea, the realization that it might not be as fine and dandy as all that, comes entirely from the realm of fanon. 

 

Like, comparing those endings to ones where they break up or one of them dies, it's hard to argue that the Queen Cousland ending isn't presented as the perfect fairy-tale alternative. The only ending that's really comparable in terms of... happy ending-ness (?) is the one where they both live and Alistair turns down the crown. (Which, personally, I put as being just as happy as the ending where you become Queen, but whatever.)

 

Fair, but I think it's important to recognize that there isn't a lot on the Queen Cousland/Alistair relationship in either DA2 or DAI since their relationship is certainly not the focus of the later games. Also, if they were experiencing marital strife, why would they tell some stranger about it? 

 

While I felt that King Alistair referring to his wife as "the old ball and chain" in DA2 was meant affectionately, it could have some underlying truth to it. We do know from DAI codex entries that Queen Cousland is off trying to find a cure for the Calling. That could be in part due to pressures to produce an heir. We will never know, though - I agree that that part is pure conjecture.

[ladyiolanthe]

Welcome to the blanketfort Vanel

 

*snip*

He is selfish to be sure (engaging with Lavellan knowing it would be kinder in the long run not to is selfish) but not that selfish.

And lastly something else he speaks of.. It doesn't sound like there's going to be a place for modern elves in his proposed new world. Modern elves aren't his people or who he's trying to save or restore. Its his world or ours and he's understandably picking his.

 

To be fair, he does tell Lavellan multiple times that the relationship is not a good idea, that it can't work out, that he is being selfish, etc. So we can't say he didn't warn us!  Lavellan's the one who kept fanning the flames.    And if you pick the "And so he did..." dialogue when he self-deprecatingly refers to the old Dalish curse in Trespasser, many fans' headcanon hopes were likely dashed since game canon is that he and Lavellan never slept together because he "would not lie with you under false pretenses." He has a strong, strong sense of honour, that old wolf. And that's part of his problem, I think.

 

As to your final point - agreed.  

[Qun00]

Those elves travelling to meet Solas were never invited. He will either tell them to go home or manipulate them into becoming his temporary lackeys.

[NightSymphony]

Artses

 

Goodbye Vhenan sketch

http://monstertree-a...henan-586995493

 

"Get out of my sock drawer, Cole!" 

http://chloexbowie.d...rawer-587018732

[Solas]

To be fair, he does tell Lavellan multiple times that the relationship is not a good idea, that it can't work out, that he is being selfish, etc. So we can't say he didn't warn us!  Lavellan's the one who kept fanning the flames.    And if you pick the "And so he did..." dialogue when he self-deprecatingly refers to the old Dalish curse in Trespasser, many fans' headcanon hopes were likely dashed since game canon is that he and Lavellan never slept together because he "would not lie with you under false pretenses." He has a strong, strong sense of honour, that old wolf. And that's part of his problem, I think.
 
As to your final point - agreed.  

Oh for sure! That's why I say he's selfish but only to a point, truly selfish would be like damn she's hot I'm gonna hit that even tho that's very likely to hurt her intensely given my true nature etc. I tend to respond to "omg Solas is abusive and completely deceitful and insidious in Solavellan" type sentiments with the points that he signposted it clearly, said multiple times its a bad idea, tried to pull away and Lavellan was the active pursuer. Solas is truly gray area for me, neither a saint nor a jerkmonster.

[CapricornSun]

To be fair, he does tell Lavellan multiple times that the relationship is not a good idea, that it can't work out, that he is being selfish, etc. So we can't say he didn't warn us! Lavellan's the one who kept fanning the flames. And if you pick the "And so he did..." dialogue when he self-deprecatingly refers to the old Dalish curse in Trespasser, many fans' headcanon hopes were likely dashed since game canon is that he and Lavellan never slept together because he "would not lie with you under false pretenses." He has a strong, strong sense of honour, that old wolf. And that's part of his problem, I think.

As to your final point - agreed.

Weekes mentioned that it's up to the fans on whether Solas slept with Lavellan or not. Also, the line Solas says is pretty ambiguous so I wouldn't say it's canon that they never slept together.

I think Midnight Tea and Illyria explained on how those lines could be interpreted somewhere in the thread but I couldn't find their posts, so here are some explanations from Tumblr because I suck at explaining.

Source: http://sihaofskyhold...-with-you-under

Spoiler

Solas: “What is the old Dalish curse?… ‘May the Dread Wolf take you.’”
Lavellan: “And so he did.”
Solas: “I did not. I would not lay with you under false pretenses.”

You can see Solas as sexual!Solas or as asexual!Solas. That’s your headcanon, your choice, and both are valid.

But what is important to point out is this:
- an Asexual!Solas - if not sex-repulsed of course (that could also happen - your headcanon!) - may have had intercourse with Lavellan.
- And a Sexual!Solas may have decided not to made love with Lavellan, feeling it would be unjust to her. So there are the sexual!Solas and asexual!Solas headcanons, but those headcanon themselves aren’t the same as to say “Asexual!Solas DID NOT have sex with Lavellan” or “Sexual!Solas DID have sex with Lavellan”. It’s more complicated than that!!

When Lavellan says “and so he did” and Solas answers “I did not”, we can assume they aren’t speaking about sex. It wouldn’t make sense regarding their answers). I mean - they’d both know if that had happened or no, right? So here they are rather speaking on a symbolism level - the Dread wolf taking Lavellan’s heart, spirit, etc.

The following line Solas says is more interesting:
“I would not lay with you under false pretenses.”

Instead of looking that phrase with the Sexual or Asexual lenses (as explained above), I’ll talk about it on the “did have sex” or “didn’t have sex”.
- DID HAVE SEX: By that sentence, Solas (independantly of his sexual identity) says he didn’t lied to Lavellan when having sex with her - his feelings were genuine, he wasn’t lying AT ALL -NEVER!
- DID NOT HAVE SEX: By that sentence, Solas (independantly of his sexual identity) says he would never have laid with Lavellan because of the lies surrounding him & their relationship (unknown by Lavellan at the time).

Source: http://ar-lath-ma-vh...at-the-line-was

Spoiler

i see two interpretations of this exchange.

1) lavellan is referring to sex. she’s saying that he took advantage of her, the implication being that he simply used her either for his own pleasure or in order to manipulate her - or both. he denies this, claiming that he never would have slept with her simply for the sake of his deception. in other words, his feelings for her and their relationship were both genuine. his desire for her, sexual and otherwise, was not a tool for controlling her or falsely earning her trust.

2) lavellan is using the phrase strictly in the way the dalish do. he deceived her and toyed with her. everything about their relationship was a lie in order to use her as a pawn in his plot. he tricked her into thinking that he loved her and took advantage of her trust. he denies this and reinforces it by explaining that he would not cross that line of intimacy with her when she still did not know the truth.

headcanon away. it’s meant to be ambiguous.

Personally, when I first heard that exchange between Solas and Lavellan in Trespasser, I thought it was confirmation that they did sleep together. (And I know I'm not the only one who thought this.)

And as far as my Lavellan is concerned, she and Solas had sex. (Lots of it. Fight me.)

EDIT: Urgh! Why is this post at the top?!

Here, have some nice Solavellan kissy gifs.

Source: http://flmeth.tumblr...t-idea-it-could



More under the tags.

Spoiler

[lynroy]

*snip*

I love everything about this post. Gifs are an enjoyable side benefit.

 

EDIT: I found one of Illyria's old quotes with an explanation.

 

oh boy.

 

That is another line that caused a bit of contriversy in the Solavellan fandom.

 

Spoiler

It means one of two things.

1) They didn't sleep didn't together. When Lavellan says her line she means in a 'he took my heart' way. Solas reveals why he didn't sleep with her - he didn't want to when he felt he was being dishonest.

2) They did sleep together. Lavellan is horrified at the Dread Wolf 'taking' her, but Solas reasures her that he was always Solas when with her. None of what they had was faked or meant to trick her.

 

Which one it means is entirely up to the player to decide.  Weekes left it ambigous in the main game, and continued it in the DLC.

[Feliishiiaa]

Hi fellow Solasians,

First post here (and on these forums, but I think I will be seen more often on this thread than anywhere else).

I was listening to this song today and was like ‘wow, I think Solas could have sung that to my poor poor Lavellan at the end of Trespasser’.

It would have been quite fitting, don’t you think (warning, sad sad song incoming)
 

http://youtu.be/GSyXSeAHL_k

 

Putting the lyrics in spoiler in case somebody is interested but does not want to listen to the song :

Spoiler

"From My Hands"
 

So much I've thought
I'd have to say
Though I try to speak
My meaning strays
We can't avoid
The facts that brought us here
I've come to say goodbye

The lies I try
To tell with my own eyes
An act of pride
A wilful compromise
Please understand
How torn I am
When I walk away from here

I lament
The moments we won't share
If I am far too sentimental, I apologize
Please understand
This is who I am
And who'll I'll still be
When I've walked away from here

You know I'm not unkind
When I say
In the future
The past is just the past
No going back
No change of heart
But this is now
Time will not defer

My thoughts betray
So easily confess
How long I'll wait here
After you have gone
Nothing ends
But I won't believe that now
Please don't walk away from here

And when alone
When I remember days
Nothing will change
A single fact of who you were to me
Oh come what may
Forever to the end
I find it so hard to let you go

Hush now
Let it go now
There's no need
For sad goodbyes

Hush now
Let it go now
I know it's time to go
Time to let this fall
From my hands