Inquisitor Relationships Chart
Sans chart, because I, like @dirthera15 (who tagged me), find it difficult to simplify.
So. The crew. (And Morrigan and Solas.)
This is tricky, because Lavellan grew up with a clan that loved her, and so she is prone to naivety, which she is also aware of, but she also can't help but fall for people super fast.
Okay, you know what, I think I'm doing this on a graph.
Okay. We have Lavellan's willingness to be open with that person (or as open as she gets) on the x axis, and trust (how much she trusts someone) on the right. Then we have the fondness scale, which is kinda? correlated with trust, with the brighter green being more fond.
I think this illustrates really well Lavellan's trusting nature. But also, you mess that up, it's over, especially because she's got a very specific and remarkably flexible code of honor about lying and deception and wrongdoing.
Blackwall: in the dog house. She is not willing to be open with him, she does not trust him, she is not fond of him. He lied. It wasn't deception for a purpose other than to save his ass, he put his team in danger by doing so because he could not actually sense darkspawn and did not have the authority to invoke the Warden treaties after we learned about Corypheus, he came clean remarkably publicly instead of keeping up the lie and invoking the Rite of Conscription and then accused her of being corrupt when she went through established diplomatic channels and legal precedent to clean up the very public mess he left her with to prove that the Inquisition was not corrupt and was willing to own up to their mistakes and clean house, his original offense was being a traitor for MONEY, not principle, and he betrayed the people who trusted him too. Kudos to Solas for being like, I was too harsh, but no, Solas, you weren't. Completely different circumstances. And good for Blackwall for trying to become a better man, but go to the Wardens. You burnt that bridge with Lavellan.
Leiiana: Not willing to be open, doesn't trust, rather fond. Leliana's a spymaster. Don't trust spymasters. Also she accumulates errors in judgement as we go: e.g. Blackwall, the Qunari agents. And she's remarkably fervent in her devotion, which Lavellan finds concerning, and she gets really ruthless in the Dark Future. (Also I am slightly frustrated I went to all that work in Origins to soften her up and I have to do it again).
Josephine: Trusts, in the sense of competence at her job, less in that she was playing at being a spy for fun in her youth as a daring adventure, when Lavellan was doing it for real to keep her clan alive. And her general, 'my family is so poor' thing. C'mon Josie. Get real. Not willing to be that open, for the same reasons. Still rather fond. Josie tries. She's just got massive blind spots in a particularly annoying area for Lavellan. And she flutters a bit. Calm down, Josie. You're making me edgy by proximity.
Morrigan: She trusts her, but she knows how far it goes, and that's fine, not willing to be super open (yet. probably more during veilguard). Very fond. Very aware that Morrigan is an opportunist. I am so sure that the story about Morrigan stealing from the Dalish clan got around and it clicked for Lavellan when she saw the eluvian. And then she also saw Kieran and did the math on that, and that excused a great deal for her. And while initially royally annoyed at the Temple of Mythal, she realized that it was largely Morrigan blustering to prove her usefulness because she'd been wrong (and trolling Solas by asking Morrigan questions was pretty fun). And she feels a certain kinship with Morrigan, now that she knows her mother held a fragment of Mythal (Morrigan drank from the Well, and she respects Morrigan's sacrifice, even if Morrigan had wanted the knowledge for herself. It turned out to be Morrigan's birthright too, probably even more than Lavellan's).
Cullen: Trusts him quite a bit, as far as it goes, he's still a former templar though, and what was coming out of Kirkwall was not good for years. Respects his desire to get off lyrium, and to try to atone for his mistakes. Cullen is also very straightforward, which she appreciates at times (the Mourning Halla, for one.) Not willing to be super open. He's one of the advisors, he's devout, he's a former templar. She's happy to have them be open with her, she's not being reciprocal with them, though. Quite fond. He's trying.
Varric: Trusts about as much as Josephine, isn't willing to be that open, very fond. Varric Tethras is an author, he's a born liar, he writes smutty fanfiction about his friends. Love you, Varric, but you are always taking notes for a book in your head. Lavellan isn't spilling the beans.
Everyone else she trusts to the ends of the earth.
Sera: Loves Sera, not willing to be that open because of the elfy-elf thing. Hard to share things about yourself when they are all elfy-elf things. A wonderful friend, once you crack her shell. They bond over the Jenny thing (and cookies).
Cassandra: Reasonably open, but Cassandra's fervent belief hinders things a bit, particularly after Trespasser. Just hard to be that open with someone who's part of the Chantry hierarchy when the Chantry crushed the Dales, and harder when the gods had never been real. Very fond Cassandra.
Dorian: Dorian's tricky because he's trying so hard to be a better man, he knows he needs to go back to Tevinter and change things, they went through the Dark Future, and yet Dorian is remarkably wealthy and lacks a certain perspective on struggle in that department that makes things a bit tricky, for the same reasons as Lavellan struggles with Josephine, but she went though the Dark Future with Dorian. Loves Dorian.
Vivienne: Game recognizes game. Both are big fans of each other. Both are restrained people. She's actually been quite open with Vivienne, even though they are both restrained people because they kinda understand each other in some very specific ways. It just happens very rarely. Very fond of Vivienne. A dear friend and a secret weapon. Vivienne's who puts her back together for the Exalted Council showdown.
Cole: He reads minds. I also think he doesn't always understand the things that are going on up there and she doesn't tell things to Cole so much as he already knows, which is open but also not? Very fond of Cole. I think he's very comfortable to be around.
Solas: Solas, unlike Blackwall, was deceptive for a cause, and never lied about who he was as a person. He attempted to end things between him and Lavellan with remarkably poor success when he felt that they could not continue without it being a betrayal. Lavellan does not remove her vallaslin; she would feel VERY differently about Solas if she had. She trusts him. She's willing to be open with him (as open as she gets), and she loves him.
The Iron Bull: Also deceptive for a cause. Bull and Lavellan do the Stick together to decompress (platonic BDSM). They get each other, with the sense of duty, the spying for your people, the role being who you are as a person, the putting on what people expect to see and letting them underestimate you. She loves Bull too. They get each other on a really weird level. Lots of parallels between living under the Qun and living in a clan. Both collectivist. Bull puts her back together after the Exalted Council showdown.
And if anyone else wants to figure this out for their Inquisitor in whatever way they desire, have at it, and tag me. I want to see.
