History Fanfic / WalkingInCircles

Solas wakes up from his sleep earlier than he did in canon, but instead of having ample times to prepare for his plan, his carelessness and unfamiliar with the current world causes him to be caught by the Templars and thus, is imprisoned in the Circle of Otswick, the same place Evelyn Trevelyan has been staying for years. Solas, being who and what he is, is dead set on escaping but freedom won’t come so easily, not to himself or Evelyn, or any other mages. Meanwhile, the Kirkwall Rebellion and the mage uprising is brewing in the horizon…

** Later, he’s also revealed to had almost been made Tranquil before due to suspicions that he killed a Templar. He didn’t, since if he was the one that did it, according to Danforth himself, that Templar would have died a slower and far more painful death from being bludgeoned.

Solas wakes up from his sleep earlier than he did in canon, but instead of having ample times to prepare for his plan, his carelessness and unfamiliar with the current world causes him to be caught by the Templars and thus, is imprisoned in the Circle of Otswick, the same place Evelyn Trevelyan has been staying for years. Solas, being who and what he is, is deadest on escaping but freedom won’t come so easily, not to himself or Evelyn, or any other mages. Meanwhile, the Kirkwall Rebellion and the mage uprising is brewing in the horizon…

* RapeAsDrama: Circle mages are regular victims of this, either by forces or coerces. One of Evelyn’s friends was raped by a templar which resulted in a child that was taken away from her and gave her severe depression. This happens less often with noble-born mages like Evelyn but the threat is still there.
** Ser Grieves was transfer to Ostwick because he framed and turned a mage into a Tranquil after she refused his advance, she couldn’t say no afterward.

** Defiled by Evelyn once they get Skyhold, she asks Solas to move into her room, but he’s reluctant to do so because it may damage her reputation which in turn can affect her position in the Game. Evelyn, of course, has none of that.
* SenseFreak: [[spoiler: Apparently, being Tranquil aside from cutting off one’s emotions, it also increase the intensity of some of their physical senses]] as after recovered from it, while Evelyn can’t really control her emotions, most of her senses has become much more intense than before. Food taste stronger, smells linger and a shift in temperature can make her recoil.
* SexForSolace: Evelyn asks Solas to do it with her after she was released from her punishment for her escape attempt, he helps her clean up and eat instead, believing that she deserves and needs reassurance and warm than a quick fuck.

* SignatureScent: Solas always smells of herbs and old books to the point that even without looking and being surrounded by blood, Evelyn can still know that he’s there with her. When she meets Solas/Fen'Harel in the bad future, one of the things that make her realizes how wrong things have become is that he smells of old blood and armor instead of his usual smell.

* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Plays for drama when [[spoiler: Evelyn and Solas]] share a room after their escape from Ostwick. [[spoiler: Evelyn]] is a Tranquil so she doesn't see the act of sharing a bed as anything special despite her partner's protest, but at the same time, even with her state there's still enough of her in there to want to comfort him to the point that she mimic her old self's habit of holding his hand. After that experience, [[spoiler: Solas]] avoids sleeping next to her and only touches her when he needs to since the pain of seeing her like that is just too much.

* TranquilFury: Solas after he found Evelyn [[spoiler: has been made Tranquil]]. So much that Ser Clacher found them, the elf just silently walked forward and gave him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown with a sword instead of using his magic, finally killed him after confirmed that the man didn’t force himself on Evelyn.

* AdultFear: If a mage in a Circle gives birth, her child will be taken away immediately, most of the times she won’t even be allowed to hold it before that happens.
** Templars who actually care about their offspring with the mages could face a very big possibility that their child may also be a mage, and may not survive their own Harrowing. [[spoiler: Ser Ralston and his dead daughter who should have been around Evelyn’s age was one of those cases]]

* AntiVillain: Solas is a bigot who looked down on most people, he also intends to destroy the Veil and this world as people know it, but at the same time, he isn’t afraid to stand up to help people, even those who he considers beneath him.

** And Solas to Evelyn not much later, when he discovered her [[spoiler: has become a Tranquil]].
** Two years later, Evelyn once again declare her love for Solas after [[spoiler: she comes back from being Tranquil]].
* TheAtoner: Solas toward Evelyn. He’s extremely protective and considerate toward her both out of love and guilt because, as he puts it, most of her ordeals and traumas were all or partially his faults and he’s murdered her twice over with his mistakes.

* AttemptedRape: Evelyn first met Signy when the latter was being cornered by Grieve. Later, Grieves also attempts to force himself on [[spoiler: Evelyn]] but she killed him instead.

* BewareTheQuietOnes: Signy is a quiet girl who rarely talks even to her friends, but she [[spoiler: is also a blood mage who doesn’t hesitate to kill when the time comes]].

* BrokenBird: Evelyn by the time she gets the Mark. The trauma during the circles uprising plus her two years [[spoiler: as a Tranquil]] has made her into a much more cynical and ruthless person to the point that she actually [[spoiler: support Solas’s goal]]. Yet at the same time, she still retains her kind and caring attitude.

* ChastityCouple: Solas and Evelyn after they escaped from the Ostwick Circle. During the first two years, it’s because she was [[spoiler: a Tranquil who can’t give consent]] and Solas has lines that he won’t cross so they only touch when he needs to guide or take care of her. They don’t do it for months after she got the mark either despite having no problems hugging, kissing or even sleeping in the same bed as the act of sex reminds Evelyn of her trauma during the uprising and her being afraid to give up control to someone else.

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Evelyn very first EstablishingCharacterMoment in the first chapter is her risking to be beaten by a Templar just to protect Solas’s wolf jaw pendant for him. She also uses her family noble status to protect other mages from being harassed by Templars, even though it’d weaken her own self-protection. In fact, this trait is what made Solas notices and falls in love with her in the first place.

* TheConscience: Evelyn is this to Solas. Due to his past, he tends to act rather selfish and arrogant at times but with Evelyn's influence and her constantly [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out]], along with his love for her, his behaviours have changed quite a bit that there're occasions where he helps other people not because it benefits him but because 'it's something she'd do'. Of course, sometimes it takes more than just her words to reach him, namely after Wisdom's death, it's only when Solas realizes that his actions during his wraith has hurt and made Evelyn fears him that he snaps out of it.

* DoWrongRight: When Evelyn and Solas get caught while they’re having a tryst (it’s just a cover for Solas’s failed escape), she gets a scolding from Monette but it’s mainly about Evelyn’s choice in partner and places to do it rather than her having a lover in the first place. As Monette put it, if Evelyn has to get a lover, it’s better to be someone with influence (like a Templar) rather than [[DramaticIrony an apostate elf with no name or influence]].

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Grieves cares enough about his family that he actually back downed when Evelyn, to stop him from sexually harassing mages, threatened to use her family’s influence to destroy their livelihood. It doesn’t stop him from hitting or threatening her, though.

* FirstLove: Evelyn previously fell in love with a young mage named Anselm. He was taken to the Kirkwall Circle when his mentor was revealed to be a blood mage. When Evelyn goes there with Monette, she discovers that he had been made Tranquil for a few years and was killed during the Circle Annulment.
* FlowerInHerHair: Evelyn at one point tucks the flower Solas gave her into her hair and keeping it for the whole chapter. It’s actually less about demonstrating her femininity and more about symbolizing her strength underneath her unassuming appearance as that small flower she wears is actually poisonous.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Solas and later Evelyn. Even Solas’s taken surprised by her decision and he griefs for her loss of innocence to become like that.
* WouldHurtAChild: When the Ostwick circle’s annulment happens, it’s obvious that many of the Templars aren’t afraid to kill children in their sleep (or while they wake up for that matters).

** It’s deconstructed later, when her love for children and seeing the younger mages being slaughtered or Tranquilized is what pushes her [[spoiler: to side with Solas]].

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The new Knight-Commander Claybone obviously believes what’s she doing is good and that all mages are monsters that need to be contained or killed. But by the time Ostwick Circle’s Annulment happens, she’s very much become a monster that had no qualms killing defenceless mage children.
* HoldingHands: Once she's got the Mark and is [[spoiler: cured of Tranquil]], Evelyn and Solas almost always do this (among their hugs, kisses, and Headbutt of Love) whenever they're within arm's reach with each other, and it's even often specifically described in those scenes that they're [[IntertwinedFingers entwining their fingers]] and not just simply holding hands. It's to compensate for their time in Ostwick when they can't show affection publicly and their two years afterwards, not to mention it also brings them great comfort, especially Solas.

* InnocentCohabitation: For two years after they escaped from Ostwicks, Solas and Evelyn live together but due to her being [[spoiler: a Tranquil]], nothing affectionate or sexual happens between them despite them being lovers before. Solas also forces himself to only touch her when he needs to taking care of her.

** Circle mages often find short dalliance with each other as a way to ease their stress and boredom. They often don’t try to prolong said relationships, though, in fear they could be used against them and others.
* SignatureScent: Solas always smell of herbs and old books to the point that even without looking and being surrounded by blood, Evelyn can still know that he’s there with her. When she meets Solas/Fen'Harel in the bad future, one of the things that make her realizes how wrong things have become is that he smells of old blood and armor instead of his usual smell.

* TranquilFury: Solas after he found Evelyn [[spoiler: has been Tranquil]]. So much that Ser Clacher found them, the elf just silently walked forward and gave him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown with a sword instead of using his magic, finally killed him after confirmed that the man didn’t force himself on Evelyn.

* SignatureScent: Solas always smell of herbs and old books to the point that even without looking and being surrounded by blood, Evelyn can still know that he’s there with her.

* BenevolentBoss: Evelyn mentioned that people being this trope will rarely give their employers reasons to betray them.

* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu: Evelyn, a human mage and Solas, an Elven God. Solas fears the day she knows who and what he is but has tried to accept the fact that she may leave him. [[spoiler: She doesn’t care, in fact, it just makes her more worry for him, not of him]].

* HoldingHands: Once she's got the Mark and is [[spoiler: cured of Tranquil]], Evelyn and Solas almost always do this (among their hugs, kisses, and HeadbuttOfLove) whenever they're within arm's reach with each other. It's to compensate for their time in Ostwick when they can't show affection publicly and their two years afterwards, not to mention it also brings them great comfort since they really only have and trust each other, especially Solas.

* TranquilFury: Solas after he found Evelyn [[spoiler: being Tranquilized]]. So much that Ser Clacher found them, the elf just silently walked forward and gave him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown with a sword instead of using his magic, finally killed him after confirmed that the man didn’t force himself on Evelyn.

* TheConscience: Evelyn is this to Solas. Due to his past, he tends to act rather selfish and arrogant at times at times but with Evelyn's influence and her constantly [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out]], along with his love for her, his behaviours have changed quite a bit that there're occasions where he helps other people not because it benefits him but because 'it's something she'd do'. Of course, sometimes it takes more than just her words to reach him, namely after Wisdom's death, it's only when Solas realizes that his actions during his wraith has hurt and made Evelyn fears him that he snaps out of it.

* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Play subtly for drama when [[spoiler: Evelyn and Solas]] share a room after their escape from Ostwick. [[spoiler: Evelyn]] is a Tranquil so she doesn't see the act of sharing a bed as anything special despite her partner's protest, but at the same time, even with her state there's still enough of her in there to want to comfort him to the point that she mimic her old self's habit of holding his hand. After that experience, [[spoiler: Solas]] avoids sleeping next to her and only touches her when he needs to since the pain of seeing her like that is just too much.

* MundaneLuxury: Being imprisoned from a young age has made Evelyn enjoys and fascinated by things most people won’t think much about like travelling, flowers. having your own private space, snow storms, etc.

* SenseFreak: [[spoiler: Apparently, being Tranquil not only server one’s emotions, it also reduces the intensity of some of their physical senses]] as after recovered from it, not only Evelyn can’t really control her emotions, most of her senses also become much more intense than before. Food taste stronger, smells linger and a shift in temperature can make her recoil.

* PosthumousCharacter: Anselm who when first mentioned by Evelyn is already dead. His demise is one of the first major key factors for her decision of actually trying to change the status quo and escape from the Circle.

* NoMoreLies: Solas finally tells Evelyn who he actually is after they escaped from Ostwick Circle. At the time, he does so because with her condition at that time, there’s no harm in telling her the truth.

** Evelyn also has one when she realized that despite understand what is a Tranquil, she, like everyone else, has taken them for granted and forgot just how horrible it actually.

* ShipperOnDeck: Averted with Keldra, Evelyn’s best friend. She openly and constantly opposes to the idea of Evelyn and Solas being together or even acquaintance, believing that Solas being too old will prevent him from adjusting to a life in a Circle, and thus will bring dangers to himself and Evelyn.

* ForWantOfANail: Solas being taken into the Circle of Ostwick caused a chain of events that lead to Evelyn, the Inquisitor herself to develop a much more radical view about the current world affair which results in her [[spoiler: becomes his ally and confident in his plan of taking down the Veil]] and he actually agrees with her decision unlike in canon.
** The BadFuture also happened different from the canon game, where instead of resigning to his fate and be imprisoned, Solas, in his grief and rage of losing Evelyn, gathered forces to take over Redcliffe castle, making it his headquarter in his war against Corypheus. He also killed Alexius to take the amulet.

* GildedCage: Basically, how life is inside a Circle. You will be fed, clothed and given education, if you climb up the ranks high enough, you can even enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. But you can’t leave your tower without permission, all of your research and results belong to the Chantry, any chance of acting out of line can result you being beaten, imprisoned, make Tranquil or killed. And even if you act within your line, you can still be abused by the Templars if you don’t have your family backing you.

* HeroicSacrifice: When their escape plan is discovered by the Knight Commander walks in on Evelyn, she instructs Solas to run back to his dorm, letting people think there’s only her and Fitz in the plan. She doesn’t get killed for it but the isolated imprisonment certainly does a number on her.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Evelyn revealed to Solas after his meeting with Monette that the First Enchanter is more than she seems as underneath all those flowers and teas in her room. Much later, Monette [[spoiler: gives Evelyn some special tea that helps the latter being drugged to sleep for the kill by the Templars]].

An AU fanfic of DragonAgeInquisition by [[http://archiveofourown.org/users/Milee_Cosgrove/pseuds/Milee_Cosgrove Milee_Cosgrove]].

* CondescendingCompassion: At one point, Solas praises Evelyn by saying that he can’t understand how can someone as wise and compassionate as her could exist while her “kinds” are nothing like that. This, of course, pisses her off and she instantly calls him out on that.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Vivienne tries to persuade Evelyn to join her cause by appeal to the latter’s background as a noble-born mage and her youth’s naivety. But apparently, she didn’t do enough research to know that noble or not, Evelyn has seen and suffered enough during the uprising to find the idea of continuing the Circle system to be absolutely appalling.

Solas wakes up from his sleep earlier than 2 years earlier than canon, but instead of having ample times to prepare for his plan, his carelessness and unfamiliar with the current world causes him to be caught by the Templars and thus, is imprisoned in the Circle of Otswick, the same place Evelyn Trevelyan has been staying for years. Solas, being who and what he is, is deadest on escaping but freedom won’t come so easily, not to himself or Evelyn, or any other mages. Meanwhile, the Kirkwall Rebellion and the mage uprising is brewing in the horizon…

** Solas also often notes that no matter how many things about himself that he’s ashamed of are revealed to Evelyn, she always accepts him without any hesitation which makes him even more depends on her than he’d want.

* BrokenBird: Evelyn by the time she gets the Mark. The trauma during the circles uprising plus her two years [[spoiler: as a Tranquil]] has made her into a much more cynical and ruthless person to the point that she actually [[spoiler: support Solas’s goal]]

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Evelyn very first EstablishingCharacterMoment in the first chapter is her risking to be beaten by a Templar just to protect Solas’s wolf jaw pendant for him. She also uses her family noble status to protect other mages from being harassed by templars, even though it’d weaken her own self-protection. In fact, this trait is what made Solas notices and falls in love with her in the first place.

* CondescendingCompassion: At one point, Solas praises Evelyn by saying that he can’t understand how can someone as wise and compassionate as her could exist while her “kind” are nothing like that. This, of course, pisses her off and she instantly calls him out on that.

* HeelRealization: Solas when he comes to understand that Evelyn, and by extension the people in the current age, despite their weak connections to the Fade are all true people with their own lives, emotions, desires and dreams that’re no different from the people of the old world.

** Kinnaird may look like a selfish guy at first glance but it’s because he has to lookout for his sister, as she’ll be the one to be punished if he does something wrong. he’s also a healer, despite his appearance suggests otherwise.
** Danforth used to be a healer who secretly helped female mages dealing with the result of their rapes; but he was almost made Tranquil and transferred to his current position when he was suspected to be a blood mage who killed a templar. He didn’t but he does wish to be the one who did it, in a much slower and more painful way.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The new Knight Commander Claybone obviously believes what’s she doing is good and that all mages are monsters that need to be contained or killed. But by the time Ostwick Circle’s Annulment happens, she’s very much become a monster that had no qualms killing defenceless mage children.

* LoveHurts: At first, Solas doesn’t dare to reveal his feeling to Evelyn as he thinks it as a betrayal to his people to fall in love with a shemlen, not to mention he’s also afraid about Evelyn’s reaction if she knows who he is and what he’s planning. Only when she [[spoiler: becomes Tranquil]] that he finds to courage to confess but it’s already too late, and he spends the next two years regretting everything.

* TheMole: [[spoiler: Evelyn]] acts as Solas’s eyes for two years, using the status of [[spoiler: a Tranquil]] to avoid attention.

* MeaningfulEcho: The first time Evelyn talked to Solas, she asks “Do you have anything that you wish to keep?” His answer was “My pendant.” Much later, when he remembers about that question again, his answer this time is “You (Evelyn).”
* MercyKill: Kinnaird mentions that some other mages often tell their friends to kill them if they ever made Tranquil.
* TheMole: After escaping Otswick, [[spoiler: Evelyn]] becomes Solas’s mole as Tranquils are always overlooked or ignored by other people and thus being perfect for spying duty. It should be noted that he didn’t force her to do so and it was her suggestion in the first place since Tranquils hate, as much as they can, being idle.
* TheMourningAfter: A non-fatal version happens to Solas after Evelyn [[spoiler: becomes Tranquil]].
* MuggingTheMonster: A non-violent example in which a pickpocket tries to mug Solas and Evelyn, he ends up losing his own purse instead.
* MundaneLuxury: Being imprisoned from a young age has made Evelyn enjoys and fascinated by things most people won’t think much about like travelling, flowers. having your own private space, snow storms, etc.

* PetTheDog: Monette is a selfish coward who looks out only to herself but she does care about Evelyn not just as a potential alliance in her power game. Enough that she actually gives the latter [[spoiler: enchanted tea to counter the drugged wine]] even when it gives her no benefits.

** His third attempt involving using sew-together clothes as wings and parachutes. It left a dent in the cobble stones.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Implied by Solas in the BadFuture when he talked about how he killed Alexius to take the amulet, then gathered forces to take control of the Redcliffe Castle and stubbornly refused to lose it to Corypheus despite the fact there’re more important and safer places he could use. Evelyn guesses that Solas remained there where he thought she died to always feel his anger the most keenly.
* RunningGag: Solas’s little feud with his and Evelyn’s cat, Fennel. The cat makes it his life mission to steal Solas’s food and bed, and general annoy the hell out of the elf.

* ShipperOnDeck: Averted with Keldra, Evelyn’s best friend. She openly opposes to the idea of Evelyn and Solas being together, believing that Solas being too old will prevent him from adjusting to a life in a Circle, and thus will bring dangers to himself and Evelyn.

You can find it [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5725846/chapters/13192810 here]]

* BiTheWay: Kinnaird who had a one-time tryst with Evelyn and is also in love with Fritz.

* DeadpanSnarker: Solas, Evelyn, Danforth, Fritz, even Signy when she decides to talk. it’s easier to count the ones that aren’t this trope.
* {{Determinator}}: Fritz, no matter how many times they caught him, he just won’t give up. [[spoiler: In the end, only death can stop him]].

* FieryRedhead: Fritz, who is free-spirited, determined and snarky.

* HeroicSacrifice: When their escape plan is discovered by the Knight Commander walks in on Evelyn, she instructs Solas to run back to his dorm, letting people think there’s only her and Fritz in the plan. She doesn’t get killed for it but the isolated imprisonment certainly does a number on her.

** Kinnaird is in love with Fritz but they were only together for a short while before broke up due to Fritz constantly trying to escape and Kinnaird wanting to keep his sister safe.

* PrisonEscapeArtist: Fritz whose several escape attempts are the reason the Ostwick Circle established several new rules:

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted as one point Keldra actually have to deal with her stained. And Signy [[spoiler: uses her period blood to practice blood magic]].

** Later, when she meets [[spoiler: a Tranquil]] Evelyn again, she takes her in under her protection to prove to the Chantry that the templars went too far but also out of guilt.

* WhatAnIdiot: Vivienne’s idea of convincing Evelyn to join her is to yap about importance of circles and how a little war and some drastic action of templars shouldn’t be used to get in the way of the greater good; never mind the fact that Evelyn’s not only witnessed firsthand all the horrors caused by the Circles and The Templars, she was also a victim of it. Needless to say, Evelyn blows her offer off and swears that no Circle would ever rise as long as she still has influence.