My name is Devan and this is my Dragon Age blog. No negativity, lots of egg, and so many feels. My main is @space-n-elves ~ Find me on AO3: ir_atisha or F_e_n_j_o_s_i (header by: @ladylike-foxes icon by: @quizzikemen)
Tidying up in my folders again, here is an older one I never posted. Full version on my bsky
I also have a comic in the works, I been posting one and one pages over on bsky. Will post Full comic here once I'm done with all the pages. Still got a couple more pages to go.
Scene interpretation of my Inquisitor Ilaan Lavellan with her Dread Wolf. She would be right in the middle of that final battle the whole time! Face close up under the cut.
There are several conversations before this where Lavellan and Solas grow closer, but I still think the conversation after she returns from the time-travel incident feels especially meaningful.
Lavellan does not simply say, “You’re special.” Instead, she tells him he is “not most people.” And somehow, I think that is exactly the kind of compliment that would reach Solas in this moment.
She even says she appreciates him not being most people.
Because after waking from uthenera, Solas must have known the loneliness of not being most people. He woke into a world that no longer remembered the truth he knew. When he tried to tell modern elves about the past, about the Veil, about being Fen’Harel, they did not believe him. He was even attacked for it.
So when Lavellan says she appreciates him not being most people, it feels like a quiet reversal of that loneliness.
The very thing that has isolated him — his difference, his distance from the world around him — is, for a moment, treated as something precious.
She is saying she is glad he is not like everyone else.
Glad that he is, in some quiet way, himself.
Maybe that’s a bit much, lol. But still.
And Solas, of course, answers by lightly deflecting with a joke about Orlesian fashion and magical surprises. But I think the softness still lands.
On the surface, it is such a quiet flirtation, carried through an intellectual exchange. But underneath, I feel like it touches something much older and lonelier in him.
I commissioned this piece from the unbelievably talented Hotwe, who is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, deliberate artists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I cannot express how grateful I am for the kindness shown towards my imaginary dolls at every step of this process. Thank you! <3
This is a paired piece to this one, also by Hotwe, which I commissioned immediately after finishing Inquisition for the first time. Once I finished Veilguard and filled out how the story ends for these two, I knew I desperately wanted the other half of this diptych.
Close-ups and lengthy notes on the incorporated symbolism are below the cut.
Where the first piece was much more somber and determined, I really wanted this moment to feel triumphant (if not unreservedly happy). These are two people at the end of a long war with each other, and moving forward doesn't mean erasing the road before.
Some notes in no particular order:
Solas's hands are now open, releasing the hard and inflexible grip he had in the original piece
The constellation is Fervenial, the Oak, for its associated concept of Vir Tanadhal: "fly straight and don't waver, bend but never break, and the idea of balance. ...The imagery of the hunter (Adahla) metaphorically striking like a bolt on Solas' plans and forcing a reframing of the lightning/smite-y/fate concept of Fulmenos into a concept of balance and growth/organic/spring" - straight from the artist's massive brain
(I've written about why constellations & stars, especially Fulmenos, are important to them here)
Red embrium leaves for healing
Spring growth for seasonal change
Solas, being pushed forward by the strong wind behind him, is finally able to stop thanks to Adahla's pressure
Adahla's dress is inspired by this statue (San Joaquín, Santa Ana y la Virgen Niña by Juan Alonso Villabrille y Ron), but has been reworked with Dragon Age motifs and emblems
The gold vines are from my post-Veilguard fic for them, The Heart Where I Have Roots
I plan to do one more post with both of these pieces together as soon as I can; their journey's been messy to the max, but it honestly brings me so much joy to know they've landed somewhere like this, and I'm again so thankful to Hotwe for bringing that ended war to life.
veilguard mermaids! i'm a little bit late cus i forgot that i wanted to draw all of them as mermaids and remembered about it uuh yesterday. but anyway i like how they all turned out!
and a lil thingie for giggles. real life sizes version (taash 15 m and harding 20 cm)
So, I have always loved DA:I, but I wasn't really into elves. I played Korin in DA:O mostly, and I had a million different Inquisitors I wasn't really all that attached to as people. I liked Solas as a character, of course he's interesting and well-written, I can see his appeal, whatever. I never did a PROPER Solavellan playthrough. I watched the full romance video, was like "yeah this is my canon for Veilguard/whatever" but NOW I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF IT AND MY HEART HURTS SO BAD FOR MY SWEET BABY MITHRA LAVELLAN UGGGHHHH. I finally made an Inquisitor I actually care about, and she's in so much pain, dude. Ok I get it now. I'm in Solavellan Hell. Thanks everyone. It's like I'm playing a completely different fucking game. I don't have the words. I feel like I had been ignorant before. It makes me ILL.
Thought I posted this ages ago, but I ended up hospitalised and didn't realise I had it saved in my drafts. 😵💫
Thank you so much @riadoodles for this gorgeous drawing of Vae and Emmrich! They look hopelessly in love, and I couldn't have asked for a better art trade! The way they're looking at each other, Emmrich's smile, Vae's gentle touch—it all makes my heart swell. You have an incredible talent, and I'm honoured you shared it with me. 🥹
A million times thank you! I love seeing them in your style. 💜💚💜
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