Fadebound

"The Veil is torn, the sky is bleeding, and nothing makes sense. Survive first—figure out what the hell is going on later." Fadebound (AO3)

[haleise]

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Fadebound [Solas/MGiT] - She didn’t ask to save the world. She didn’t ask for the glowy hand. And she definitely didn’t ask for Solas to look better in real life. But here they are: him smirking, her spiraling, and the end of the world politely knocking.

Ingryth Wulfdale - She is not trained. She is not disciplined. But the mark listens to her—and the mages listen to that. (Excerpt from Commander Cullen’s field notes)

[haleise]

Fadebound

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationship: Solas/Original Female Character(s)

Tags: Modern Girl in Thedas, No Beta We Die Like Haven, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Unreliable Narrator

Words: 10,019

Summary: She didn’t ask to save the world. She didn’t ask for the glowy hand. And she definitely didn’t ask for Solas to look better in real life. But here they are: him smirking, her spiraling, and the end of the world politely knocking.

Chapter 4: A Chord Out of Place - Solas POV

And she closed the rift. When she turned to me, there was a challenge in her eyes. Not born of ignorance, but of will. She was afraid, yes. It trembled in her fingers, but beneath it blazed something brighter.​

That defiance, that unyielding spirit, it stirred something long dormant within me. In my youth, I had relished challenges, the thrill of pursuit, the allure of the untamed. Her resilience, her refusal to be subdued, awakened that hunger anew.​

I found myself captivated by her, drawn not just to her strength, but to the fire that fueled it. It was a dangerous allure, one that threatened to unravel the careful detachment I had maintained for centuries.​

[haleise]

Fadebound

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationship: Solas/Original Female Character(s)

Tags: Modern Girl in Thedas, No Beta We Die Like Haven, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Unreliable Narrator

Words: 8,948

Summary: She didn’t ask to save the world. She didn’t ask for the glowy hand. And she definitely didn’t ask for Solas to look better in real life. But here they are: him smirking, her spiraling, and the end of the world politely knocking.

Chapter 3: On My Head Be the Consequences

Cassandra stepped forward like she was about to rip him in half. “Order me?” she growled. “You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat.”

“And you are a thug,” Roderick fired back, probably the closest he’d ever gotten to bravery. “But a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry.”

“We served the Most Holy,” Leliana said, low and dangerous, “as you well know.”

Roderick straightened his spine like that was going to help him win this argument. “Justinia is dead. We must elect a replacement, and obey her orders on the matter!”

I bit my tongue to keep from asking if he was planning to elect someone before the world ended or after we all got vaporized by green sky fire.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[haleise]

WIP - Fadebound

Varric grinned. “Got a last name to go with that, Stray?”

The nickname caught me off guard, an official Varric Tethras nickname. I was pretty sure I was grinning like an idiot—eyes sparkling, cheeks aching—because Varric’s mouth had that smug little curve.

“Stray?” I echoed, part incredulous, part greedy to hear it again.

He raised a brow. “Last name, kid?”

Right. That. Shit.

I froze. Nothing came to mind. I should’ve planned for this, should’ve picked something believable, solid, already rehearsed. But of course I hadn’t, because planning was a thing other people did. Somewhere behind me, I heard a certain someone stifle a laugh.

I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Wulfdale.” It came out too fast, too forceful. My voice carried that brittle edge, the kind that dared someone to call it fake.

I felt him then.

His gaze landed between my shoulder blades. Not just looking—studying. As if the word had sunk claws into something buried deep and old in him.

My pulse jumped.

Well. That got his attention.

Brilliant move, Ingryth. Go ahead, wave the red cape at the ancient Fade-walking bull. Tug the tail of a half-feral, magic-saturated, thousand-year-old elf like you’d got a death wish and something to prove.

[haleise]

Scrawled in the margins of a field report recovered from Haven, handwriting attributed to one V. Tethras: “This stray shows up out of nowhere, claims a name that sounds like a bad Anders ballad, and shuts rifts like it’s no big deal. I've met a lot of weird people, but this kid? This kid’s something else.”

Fadebound [AO3]

[lunammoon]

you know how sometimes in a modern character in thedas fics there will be a plotpoint where the MC can't understand anyone or be understood because Fereldan/Trade is not English. They try French (and it can be understood bc that's Orlesian) or Spanish/Italian (which is understood as Antvian), but English doesn't have an equivalent?

In the Grand Necropolis memorial garden, the tombstones are all written in an English substitution cipher based on hexagons. Now, I COULD say that English is for Nevarran what French is for Orlesian but instead I'm going to go with what I think is the more interesting option, which is that English's Thedasian equivalent is some basically dead language from the Divine Age that you rarely see outside of the Grand Necropolis unless of course you are say, Nevarran royalty and have been forced to learn the language as part of your studies.

What I'm saying is that Cassandra should be able to somewhat understand an MC speaking English. Not that that would HELP with them being trustworthy because while Cassandra can understand, only being able to speak the language that tombstones and old relics are carved with isn't really helping beat the "I Am Weird And Should Be Investigated" allegations.

[axiomsend]

Modern Girl in Thedas trope is at its absolute best when it parallels the OCs experience with Solas' experience.

The two people in the whole world who woke up and discovered the world was not as they thought it was.

Your typical MGiT will come in not knowing how the fuck they got there but trapped and forced into becoming something they never wanted. And it gives them the chance to change things for better or for worse. They engage with the system as is because they are forced to, but they do the best they can to remake the world in their image and with their ideals and beliefs. And they engage with the people in the world as people despite knowing they were once nothing more than pixels on a screen.

Solas wakes up to the world he created and knows he must do something similar, but refuses to engage with the way the world works now. He seeks to destroy it, to bring back the good parts of the past while eliminating the bad. And he cannot allow himself to see the people in the world that he created as people because to do so would invite a guilt and shame that would only stop him from doing what he believes to be right.

The fact that often MGiTs get paired with Solas espouses, more than just the fandom's desire for the man, a kind of hope. That these MGiTs are capable of seeing the humanity in him, of seeing his flaws and his complexities and knowing what he did and what he wants to do and loving him anyway. By rejecting the notion that the world is any less real than the one they came from, that the love between them can be real, they pose an active threat to Solas' worldview. A true counterpoint, showing him that there is another way. That this world is worth fighting for, even if it isn't his.

[haleise]

Fadebound

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationship: Solas/Original Female Character(s)

Tags: Modern Girl in Thedas, No Beta We Die Like Haven, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Unreliable Narrator

Words: 6,149

Summary: She didn’t ask to save the world. She didn’t ask for the glowy hand. And she definitely didn’t ask for Solas to look better in real life. But here they are: him smirking, her spiraling, and the end of the world politely knocking.

Chapter 2: I Asked the Wolf if He Hunts Halla

“She’ll be great company in the valley,” Varric added with a smirk, clearly winding Cassandra up on purpose.

“Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated, Varric, but—”

They fell into a familiar rhythm of arguing, which was perfect because it gave me an excuse to glance sideways, only to find him already watching me. Of course. His expression was neutral, polite even, but there was something behind it. A stillness. Like he was waiting to see what I’d do.

I broke eye contact first, skin crawling like I had been caught somewhere I shouldn’t be. My eyes caught on the small jawbone hanging from his neck. It was too delicate to be a deer.

“Halla?” I asked before I could stop myself, the word slipping out. A ridiculous, impulsive little detail that might cost me everything.

He inhaled, a soft breath, almost inaudible. His surprise was brief, but I saw it. A shift, a blink, the barest tilt of his head.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[haleise]

Codex Entry: Ingryth Wulfdale

Classification: Marked Individual – Unknown Origin Status: Active

Few records exist on the apostate identifying herself as Ingryth Wulfdale. She appeared during the explosion at the Conclave bearing a Fade-mark not seen before or since—an active rift scar, tethered to the Veil itself.

Wulfdale claims no allegiance to any known Circle or Chantry faction. Her speech and mannerisms suggest foreign origin—possibly Ander or even something more distant, though no accent matches precisely. Her behavior fluctuates between erratic insight and barely-contained panic, yet she demonstrates a working knowledge of both magic theory and battlefield survival.

Her name, while unrecorded in any known census, carries a curious weight: Ingryth echoes ancient names from the Anderfels, while Wulfdale evokes old tales of wild northern vales—places whispered to be touched by spirits, wolves, and worse. Whether coincidence or omen, none can say.

Excerpt from Commander Cullen’s field notes:

She is not trained. She is not disciplined. But the mark listens to her—and the mages listen to that.

[haleise]

Fadebound

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationship: Solas/Original Female Character(s)

Tags: Modern Girl in Thedas, No Beta We Die Like Haven, Attempt at Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Unreliable Narrator

Words: 2,674

Summary: She didn’t ask to save the world. She didn’t ask for the glowy hand. And she definitely didn’t ask for Solas to look better in real life. But here they are: him smirking, her spiraling, and the end of the world politely knocking.

Chapter 1: Ass-Deep in Demons

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now. The Conclave was destroyed. Everyone who attended was dead. Except. For. You.”

She circled me like a predator—measured, methodical, ready to strike. I couldn’t think. My thoughts collapsed in on themselves like a dying star. Okay okay okay what was the right response? There was a diplomatic one. A funny one. A brave one—

“I—I didn’t do it?” I squeaked, my voice cracking like a preteen.

Her eyes narrowed. That was not the right answer.

Shit.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Mum said it's my turn with the Modern-Girl-In-Thedas