#again please check out felassan's posts though because it's much more elaborative! :)

[mrs-gauche]

So, I had planned to write a comment on the three published synopses of the upcoming comic series "The Missing" (first volume to release on January 25th btw!), but since @felassan​​ kinda beat me to it and already wrote amazingly detailed posts summing up everything and elaborating further on what I fail to put into words lol, I'm just gonna add my pointless ramblings poor two cents to it now, I guess. 😶

(Beware also of spoilers for Tevinter Nights, Absolution and the comics under the cut!)

(Thanks Dark Horse btw, for already giving away half the plot with these, jeez 😂)

First off, when I first read the second synopsis, not gonna lie, I was genuinely surprised that Solas turned out to be the "former friend" in question. 😂 I know, it was kinda the obvious answer, but maybe that's why I wasn't really expecting it? I think the title also lead me a little astray here? Assuming that the title is actually referring to Solas.. Given the circumstances, referring to Solas as "missing" would be.. pretty funny and also more than a litte strange to me, actually? lol It would definitely raise a few questions here...

So, let us assume that the theory about the eight year timeskip since Trespasser turns out to be true. Have they (the Inquisition) been searching for Solas this entire time? And if that's the case, why is that so funny to me? 😂 (Especially considering the whole ending of Tevinter Nights, even though we can't really tell when exactly that last chaper took place.. Imagine they've been searching for him for the better part of a decade, and then he just pops up with a silly wig and a fake french accent at some tea house one day. lmaoo)

Furthermore, why is it *only* Varric and Harding that seem to be conducting this search? You would think that for something as crucial as finding the person that announced to destroy the world, there would be a few more people on this search than that? lol So, what's the rest of the remains of the Inquisition doing then? Are there several teams searching in different places maybe? To expand this search as far as possible? Maybe they're trying to keep a low profile by searching in teams of two, since it would reduce the risk of Solas finding out about what they're up to? I mean, wasn't that the whole reason for why they even said they needed to "find someone Solas doesn't know"/never sees coming at the end of Trespasser, to try and keep him in the dark about any efforts against him?

Also, speaking of Varric. Assuming that this story takes place after Absolution now, the ending of the series could explain why Varric left Kirkwall and his position as Viscount? Maybe, aside from trying to stop the obvious threat/end of the world, they are now desperate to seek help/information/any answers from Solas on what to do against the corruption of the Blight and the red lyrium spread? (Because if there's *anyone* who would know something, it's him right?) What does the state of the world look like in regards to the Blight and red lyrium in general after a potential eight year timeskip?

Okay, so why would they be searching for Solas in the Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell then? Honestly, when I read this the first time, my mind (as always lol) immediately went back to the red lyrium idol again. And no, I still don't believe that a single thing about the Bard's tale in Tevinter Nights actually happened (but that's just me). lol So, assuming this happens after the end of TN (and Solas isn’t already in possession of the idol like he claimed), he would still be searching for that flippin thing now, wherever it may be. (How could the idol end up in the Deep Roads beneath Tevinter you ask? No idea. 😂) But I also can't forget about the ominous "Hunt of the Fell Wolf" poem from the Jaws of Hakkon DLC that talks of a demon wolf (Solas?) in a "labyrinth of winding cave" (Deep Roads?) where there's an "idol that could prove the monster’s doom"(!! Coincidence?? I think NOT! lmao).

Btw, wouldn’t it be kinda funny though if Solas was searching for the idol now, while Varric who found the idol with Hawke in the first place, is now searching for Solas? lol

So, what's the plan here exactly? Assuming they would be successful, in which case Varric and Harding find Solas and then.... what? You're telling me Varric and Harding are gonna tie him up and talk him out of his endeavors? 😂 Single-handedly kill him? Torture him with tea? Spy on him? Reminisce about the Inquisition days? lol I honestly think it's more likely that they would try to talk to him, being former friends and all, unless they have some type of super secret weapon against him that we don't know about yet.

So what *would* Solas be doing in the Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell? (Besides, you know, painting yet another teaser trailer thumbnail for YouTube. lol)

(Our man has been procrastinating hard for the past eight years, painting as many Deep Roads cave walls as possible to avoid going through with his plans. lmao)

It's also worth to remember that a lot of Tevinter was actually build on the ruins of old Elvhenan, which could explain why there are still places with names like "Solas" to be found on the map. (And btw, what is it about this place that lead to it getting this name, anyway? I mean, that name practically guarantees for this place to become relevant in some form down the line in DA4, right? Especially since Solas' line about how he supposedly came from a "small village to the north" won't ever leave my mind and we all know that this man is always telling at least half the truth, so.. could he have been referring to the place literally called Solas, if that's his place of origin or would that be too much on the nose? 😂) Anyway, it definitely raises the question on how old some of these Deep Roads beneath Tevinter actually are and if there could be structures found beneath it that even precede them (like what we saw in The Descent)? And maybe that's part of the reason why Solas would go there..?

Anyway, since none of this actually seems to matter now, because as it turns out in synopsis two, apparently Solas wasn't there after all. 😂 Next stop is Vyrantium and an encounter with "deadly Antivan Crow assassins", which is interesting, since the last we heard of Vyrantium and crows, it was in the "The Wigmaker Job" in TN. Additionally, the cover of volume two features two characters that kinda look like the crows Teia and Viago!

I'll be honest, I had completely forgotten that Teia and Viago even made an appearance in Deception. lol But the look does kinda match? So the question is, what lead Varric and Harding to go from the Deep Roads to Vyrantium and then to the Arlathan Forest?

So, the Arlathan Forest. Again, please check out felassan’s post for more information, they’ve done a fantastic job to write down every important bit to know here. Much like Teia and Viago, it was also featured in both TN and one of the short stories “Ruins of Reality”. As were the characters Strife and Irelin! Could they be the mysterious “Veil Jumpers”? What even is a Veil Jumper, anyway (felassan gave some pretty cool speculations on this!)?

Former DA4 Creative Director Matthew Goldman made an interesting comment on a fanart once, that lead people to speculate that the group of people we've seen in a lot of concept art are called “Veilfire archer”?

..Which does sound to be in the same vein as Veil Jumper, so could they all be part of the same group of people/an entirely new faction even?

(Notice also the recurring background with the golden/autumn leaves. Reminds me of the leaves and branches seen on the (now removed) vinyl cover (showing the Black City *cough* Arlathan *cough*??).)

And lastly, what is this "crucious stone" and how does it relate to literally anything? lol While felassan did speculate about a potential link to Latin/Tevene, someone else pointed out that "crucious" is literally Greek for "crucial". So.. plot crucial stone? lol As in, literally another MacGuffin? (Red lyrium idol, you're getting competition lol) The fact that it's Greek is interesting to me, given that we've been speculating for a while now that BioWare seems to take a lot of inspiration from Greek mythology for anything regarding the ancient elves. 👀 And since we *are* in the *Arlathan* forest here after all, maybe that's where the connection lies..?

People have also pointed out that, based on the track Varric and Harding have been taking so far, first Marnas Pell, then Vyrantium and now the Arlathan Forest...

...assuming that, if they were to go further east, they would end up at the White Spire, which is why some people assume that this is where Solas has to be now. lol

I mean, anything is possible! We know next to nothing about the White Spire (not to be confused with the White Spire in Orlais btw lol), other than it's an Antivan mountain north of the city of Brynnlaw, so there is really nothing else to go on as to why Solas would even be there.. But considering how they are marketing this comic as a direct tie-in for DA4 and there’s still one volume to go (I think?).. Maybe we do end up knowing where Solas is at the end of this comic and this will segue directly into the beginning of DA4 somehow?

(I also want to mention that Rivain is also right next to the White Spire when going even further east. Rivain being also where the main base of a certain guild of treasure hunters is located. Lord of Fortune has been a very popular candidate for the potential next protagonist for a while now. Just saying... 👀)

#''two cents'' it said.. followed by a goddamn essay lmao #I'm sorry 😂 #again please check out felassan's posts though because it's much more elaborative! :) #also I'm a sleep deprived German who sometimes forgets how English even works lol #dragon age the missing #dragon age absolution spoilers #tevinter nights spoilers #tevinter nights #da4 #dragon age 4 #tinfoil time

[feynites]

So I saw this post and I thought of Dirthalene and I just... um... did this...

*throws to @selenelavellan and runs*

Dirthamen has, somehow, asked Sylaise to help him with his ‘relationship problems’.

Dirthamen is not entirely certain how this happened. He had not been aware that he was having ‘relationship problems’, though apparently, he has been, and for quite some time. Sylaise assures him that she is doing a very great favour, though, and despite the fact that she is several years younger than him, Dirthamen is willing to concede that she is much more accomplished in the field of relationships than he is.

“Ta-da!” Sylaise exclaims, and finally pulls the make-up brush away from his face. “You can open your eyes now.”

“Should I?” Dirthamen wonders. He has been fully capable of opening his eyes throughout this process, after all, but had been cautioned that if he did, it would ‘spoil everything’.

“Yes,” Sylaise says, huffily. “I worked a miracle, you should look at it and be in awe.”

Dirthamen opens his eyes, and stares into his younger sister’s vanity mirror. And then blinks, and takes a moment to process the image in front of him.

He looks… like he is wearing a mask, almost.

A very smooth mask, that has contoured and softened his features in a variety of ways, not all of which he can readily identify. The overall effect is very dramatic, however. His eyelids are shimmering, and there are a few deliberate spots of glitter on top of his cheekbones – like freckles, almost, but gleaming – and his lips have been given the illusion that they are larger than they are.

Sylaise is smiling.

“I did fantastic,” she informs him.

“Thank you,” Dirthamen says, dutifully. “Well done.”

Sylaise nods at him.

“Briala found out from her tutor, Felassan, who is in classes with Des, who is friends with Selene, that she likes pretty people. And I mean, well, who doesn’t? Pretty people are the best. So. You’re going to wear that nice blue blouse – the you wore for Falon’Din’s going away party, remember? – and I’ve stolen one of Andruil’s skirts that she never wears anyway, and it’s going to look fantastic with it. I wish we had time to go and get you some kitten heels in a decent size – I don’t think you could walk in pumps – but we only have another hour left. And then you’re going to give this to Selene, because if we let you handle it yourself you’ll probably just do something weird, like compare to her an emu or something, and when she says ‘yes’, you are going to pay me back by driving June and I to the movies any time we want to go,” Sylaise informs him.

Dirthamen takes a moment to process all of that.

“Emus have long legs…” he muses, though he does not think Selene is very much like one, anyway. He knows the blouse Sylaise is referring to, at least. Or he thinks he does. Falon’Din’s going away party had been a very dramatic affair. His brother had not wished to attend military school, although their father had been insistent. Dirthamen does not think he would have been sent away if their mother was still alive. But he cannot know for certain, and in the end, it had been their father’s decision to make.

Selfishly, Dirthamen is somewhat glad that their father had been angry enough with Falon’Din to deny his final request that Dirthamen at least go with him. According to his brother’s texts on the matter, Military School is the worst place that has ever existed.

Sylaise flicks the back of his ear.

“Don’t say to her,” she instructs. “Just walk your sexiest walk and then give her the letter. Alright?”

Dirthamen nods. He almost asks what would be entailed by his ‘sexiest walk’, or which sort of walk that might be, but after a moment he decides that he will google it instead. Sylaise shoos him out of her room – she has to get ready for school now, and Dirthamen must change into his blouse and the skirt the she thrusts into his arms. He passes Andruil in the hall, but she does not seem to recognize the skirt as anything belonging to her.

She stares at his face for a long moment, though.

“What the hell happened to you?” she finally asks him.

“Sylaise is helping me,” he explains.

Andruil snorts, in what he suspects is amusement, and then after a moment, shrugs and carries on to her own room. Dirthamen can hear his father singing in the master bathroom, as he finally makes his way into his own, and shuts the door so that he can begin changing.

He is careful not to touch his face with his blouse, although after a moment, he realizes that Sylaise seems to have sealed the mask of make-up onto his face with some sort of impenetrable veneer. The skirt fits better than he might have expected, but requires stockings, he thinks, so he goes and puts on a pair of those, and then finds some nice dress shoes that do not seem too out-of-place with it, so far as his comprehension of aesthetic rules can determine. Sylaise had told him to leave his hair long, so he does. But it tends to fall into his eyes, and he still has class work to deal with, so after some consideration, he retrieves a silver hair clip and uses that to solve the dilemma.

By the time Father is calling for everyone to come to breakfast, his outfit seems to have come together. Dirthamen gathers up his school bag, double-checks that he has his homework, and heads for the dining room. He is the first to arrive, and his father double-takes at him as well.

There is an awkward moment of silence as they regard one another.

Then his father gestures to him.

“What’s all this about?” he asks.

Dirthamen blinks.

“Sylaise is helping me,” he says.

His raises his eyebrows.

“With what?” he wonders.

Dirthamen shifts, slightly, and wonders if he should say, or if he should make excuses. He tries to weigh the possible consequences of his father discovering that he has a crush, but he finds the possible reactions difficult to gauge. Father had not taken well to Sylaise and Andruil dating, but then, Dirthamen has rarely been treated in the same manner as his sisters.

“There is a girl at school…” he begins, tentatively.

“Ah,” his father says, and then nods, as if things suddenly make much more sense. “A girl, you say? Is it that little friend of yours? The scrappy one who looks like she crawled out of a rummage sale?”

Dirthamen shakes his head.

“No, it is a different girl,” he explains. Inanallas is a good friend, but Dirthamen does not think she would like to date him. He is not sure he would like to date her, either. After a moment his father grunts, and then reaches over, and claps a hand on his shoulder.

“Well,” he says. “…Well, is she, um… like you, then?”

He considers the question.

“She has very light hair,” he says. “And she likes math. She is a member of the competitive mathematics team at school.”

His father nods.

“Math, eh? Quiet girl?” he guesses.

Dirthamen tilts his head.

“Mostly,” he confirms.

This seems to be an acceptable response, as his father leaves the matter be, and instead focuses on scolding Andruil and Sylaise for taking so long to get to the table, once they finally arrive. Breakfast is hurried this morning, as they are running late, but the chauffeur still manages to get them to school before the first bell rings.

Inan meets Dirthamen at his locker.

She stares at him.

“…What,” she says.

“What?” Dirthamen asks back.

Inan reaches over, and gingerly pokes at his cheek. She looks at her finger, and narrows her eyes, and then pokes at him again.

“Please refrain,” he requests.

“You look like someone photoshopped you,” Inan accuses.

“Sylaise did my make-up,” Dirthamen explains.

Inana squints.

“Is she testing out new techniques or something?”

Dirthamen shakes his head, and then means to elaborate. But the class bell rings, and interrupts him before he can, and so he and Inan have to hasten into the classroom instead.

He receives and inordinate number of looks, throughout the morning. Several people stare at him during class, and in the move to the next one, he notices a few more odd looks which are only diffused when one of his fellow homeroom students walks into a door. Venavismi rushes over to the help the boy, and the subsequent noise and clatter seems to draw most attention for a while.

It is not until first break that Dirthamen gets a chance to approach Selene’s own locker.

She is standing in front of it, caught up in a conversation with Elanna, who is in Dirthamen’s history class, and has loaned him pencils.

He does not wish to intrude. But after a moment Elanna nods towards him, and Selene turns and looks towards him.

There is a moment where Dirthamen attempts to parse the meaning of the look she gives him. She herself looks very nice today, he thinks. The summer shorts she is wearing have flowers embroidered onto the pockets, which almost match the ties in her own hair.

Dirthamen clears his throat.

“Good morning,” he says.

The textbook in Selene’s hands catches on fire.

It is not a lot of fire, thankfully. Elanna knocks it out of Selene’s hands, and Dirthamen casts a cooling spell, which does not seem to be particularly effective. The fire smolders across the plastic cover of the textbook, warping the print, but does not quite spread to the pages before Selene gestures emphatically and manages to put it out.

Selene does not look at Dirthamen, as she hastily gathers up the mangled textbook, and then turns on her heel and flees.

“…Uh,” Elanna says. “Hang on, sorry, I’m just gonna… go after her. Sorry. Please don’t tell anyone that happened!”

She turns, too, then, and runs off. Dirthamen cannot help but feel as if he has done something wrong, even though he is not certain what. His father sometimes ignites things accidentally when he is very angry. Had he made Selene angry? Does she not like make-up? Or dresses? She has never responded to Dirthamen in that manner before.

He considers it a bit more, but even several reviews of the situation do not yield any satisfactory answers.

Sylaise’s letter, which he was supposed to give to Selene, crinkles in his pocket. Dirthamen reaches in, and pulls it out. He would not wish to cause Selene to light any unintended fires again. Textbooks can be expensive, and he does not think her family is as financially secure as his own. Perhaps he should abandon the plan altogether, but then, Sylaise had worked very hard to help him, and had been very clear in her instructions.

A compromise, perhaps?

He slips the letter into Selene’s locker, and then has to make his way back towards his own, on the other side of the school.

He contemplates washing the make-up off at several points throughout the rest of the day. Inan offers to help him, but in the end, Dirthamen does not think he could remove Sylaise’s sealants with the simple tap water and toilet paper available in the school bathrooms. Selene is in his Math class, towards the end of the day, but she seems to have traded seats with Tasallir, and she spends the entire class not looking at him.

Dirthamen’s heart sinks.

Has he offended her, then?

He wonders over it for the rest of the day, trying to figure out what it might be that he has done wrong, and how he could possibly solve it. Perhaps he should write an apology? Or stay away instead? What would be better appreciated?

By the end of the school day, he is still uncertain.  There is a kind of pleasantness to watching Selene in class, even if she keeps ignoring him. But there is very little, he finds, in trekking across the parking lot, and feeling as if the mask of his make-up is much too thin.

He almost does not hear the voice calling after him.

“Dude,” Inanallas says, poking his elbow. He looks, and she gestures behind them, and then he turns and sees Selene hurrying over towards them. She seems faintly out of breath, her cheeks suffused with colour and her hair coming out of its ties, as she stops in front of him.

“Yes!” she blurts.

Dirthamen blinks.

Oh.

That was the response Sylaise told him to wait for.

He opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, Selene runs off again; leaving a few smoking footprints behind, as she races back across the parking lot, and down to where Adannar seems to be carpooling their group of friends today. She does not look back towards him, although Elanna offers him a thumb’s up.

“What just happened?” Inan asks.

Dirthamen must shake his head.

“I am not sure,” he admits. “I will have to ask Sylaise.”

Perhaps he should have read the letter first, for context. But it is too late now.

#dirthalene #random modern au i guess #idk there are like nine million other things i should be working on #but #i mean #at least it's something ^^;