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Neve POV:

"Teia told me," said Viago, shooting Neve a dark look. "¿Qué? Ni siquiera tienes el valor de llamarte 'Grajo,' como un Cuervo de verdad, 'Rook'?"

"Varric likes his puns," Rook stated, unmoved.

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The problem with Jason, both in and out of universe, is that he fits the fallen angel type of character and people really do not like when their gods are questioned.

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we all have that one mutual that follows you and you follow them too

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My current Neve/Rook/Lucanis pre-ot3 snippets:

The Midnight Society series summary Sidequest ending: Partners in a Dangerous Game Different first meeting Spite & Rook admire Neve (Lucanis pines) Lucanis and Neve worry about Rook

The Midnight Society series summary

It's true that most of the Lighthouse's residents have trouble sleeping. But in the midnight sun of their sanctuary's magical kitchens, it's three bodies in particular that seem to gravitate toward late night coffee as black as their souls.

Or, two Crows and a private detective.

---

Lucanis started flirting with Neve because it was less intimidating than the alternative.

Their personas fit. The infamous Mage-killing assassin stalking the shadows for blood and the famous Mage-detective stalking the corrupt streets for clues were well-worn sets of clothing. The hint of danger was to be expected, for them, but it was also easy. When it came to Neve Gallus, he could be the person he was supposed to be, and she let him. Mostly.

Rook turned all of his expectations upside down. Entirely too optimistic for a Crow and not nearly bloodthirsty enough, Viago de Riva's favourite protege pushed Lucanis to his limits and demanded that he become something greater than the expectations that had been placed on him. Greater than the horrors that had been forced into him.

It would have been easy to avoid Rook and let the easy words and suggestive looks with Neve carry him through the rest of his contract. It was an annoyance that his traitorous heart had to beat in tune with both of theirs.

It was terrifying that neither mage had enough self-preservation to stay away from Spite.

---

Sidequest ending: Partners in a Dangerous Game

"I heard from Chance that you let a traitor go."

Rook paused in sharpening their knives at the table in the corner. "Is that what he called it?"

Lucanis nodded, but his words were casual. "In those words, yes, but I could tell he was laughing. He'll likely keep a closer eye on you from now on, though."

Rook grumbled something under their breath. Lucanis would pretend that he didn't hear the word "Illario" in the string of muttered invective.

They took up the knife again and set to very intently removing a minuscule nick from the blade. Lucanis approved, overall. There was no reason to carry substandard weapons: you never knew when you were going to need to rely on the perfection of a blade's edge. With slashing motions moreso than stabbing, really.

"SICKLY SWEET," Spite complained from where he sprawled on the floor next to Rook. The demon affected a relaxed pose just to irritate Lucanis further. "MAKE THEM STOP. BAKED APPLES AND SOFT CHEESE. RIPENED TOO LONG."

Lucanis wrinkled his nose.

"I got a letter from the pair, you know." Rook said this casually, as if they were barely paying attention to Lucanis. It was a good showing. "A Venatori and a Crow fell in love, abandoned the city for each other. Maybe Venatori recruits having a chance to pick another life isn't a bad thing."

Spite sprung to his feet and shrieked, an inarticulate wail of disgust and betrayal. Lucanis felt a pang in his own chest.

"How about the Crow recruits?" asked Lucanis, pretending not to notice.

Rook hummed and didn't answer, but he supposed that Rook themselves were an answer to that question.

Spite fell silent with a sharp intake of breath. He looked Rook up and down, and then snapped his eyes back to Lucanis, declaring: "ROOK SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED. NOT ENOUGH. VENATORI BLOOD SPILLED."

---

Different first meeting

"I have to admit," Neve said, feet clicking on the marble floors, "So far, this place is surpassing my expectations."

Rook stepped carefully between a pair of shredded bodies, peering out into the next hallway. "It's true," they said. "Until the Ossuary, I'd never experienced such hospitality from Venatori."

"So nice when they lie down and die for you."

"When they get torn apart by their own demons," Rook agreed, eyeing a peculiar set of bloody gashes that appeared to have torn through two Venatori mages in tandem.

"Although some of these wounds are a little off for that," said Neve. "Some of these are stab wounds, with the bloody weapon left out in the open. Are the Venatori fighting each other, I wonder?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Rook, "But it could easily be something weirder."

By mutual agreement, Neve and Rook turned the first (bloody) office inside out in their search for clues. Neve quickly flipped through the notes on the desk. The other mage flipped through the journals on the shelf. Rook felt the air shift.

Rook moved instinctively. In one motion, they drew their mage-knife and called up power to block—

Their opponent anticipated them.

A deft pair of hands moved with Rook, using their momentum to swing them off balance. Rook's hip hit the side of a table, but they kept their feet with the enemy at their back.

The whisper of a blade touched their throat.

It felt so much like sparring with Teia that Rook froze. Their opponent closed the space, and Rook lost their chance to make a fade step backward to loosen the hold.

"It's possible I'm hallucinating," said a low, dangerous voice in their ear, as a hand slid into their hair. Rook calculated how quickly they could overload the space with electricity. Neve had turned around with her staff raised and Rook saw the same calculation in her eyes.

The hand tightened. The blade scraped the surface of Rook's neck in threat.

"…but why are a Crow and a Tevinter mage here to treat with the Venatori?"

Wait.

"Wait," said Rook, lifting their hands slowly to ward off Neve from doing something rash. "I'm here with a contract."

"Hm," said Dellamorte, "Not freelancing?"

"Catarina Dellamorte sent me," said Rook, feeling very foolish. They had taken out a despair demon one-on-one in a knife fight two days ago. If this was how they died, Viago was going to kill them. "To give you a contract."

Neve was lowering her staff, but Rook could tell it was to de-escalate, rather than because she believed there was no threat. Then again, the other Crow moved the knife scant inches away from Rook's throat, so they would take the win. Rook breathed in, dizzy with the ambient magic that was building between the three of them.

"To be honest, this was supposed to be a rescue," Neve said in her low, sardonic voice, not putting away her weapon. She kept her eyes, unblinking, on the man behind Rook.

The non-mage assassin of mages whose ambient magic was merrily crackling, barely held back from being unleashed.

Rook cleared their throat, bringing everyone's attention back to them. "So," they said, forcing the hoarseness from their voice, "Could we put the knives away for a moment before we talk about the demon?"

Since Rook hadn't been violently killed in a horrible misunderstanding yet, they twisted their neck a bit to look back at their captor and hypothetical rescuee. Brown eyes looked back at them incredulously. "And can you teach me that move?"

(This one posted to Ao3 as the Knife to Meet You ficlet.)

---

Spite & Rook admire Neve (Lucanis pines)

Inebriation is something that Crows typically avoid. Wine flows freely, but Crows are expected to keep their heads in all situations.

Even so, Rook was hit by a nasty bit of magic during a trip to Minrathous. Holed up in Neve's tiny apartment as the owner is out searching for a rare tincture, Lucanis is treated to painkiller-induced rambling from Rook along with an angry tirade from Spite.

At the point that Rook starts talking about the casual confidence that Neve projects when she's "classily telling evildoers to go drown in the rotting harbour", Spite stops ranting and starts paying close attention.

Rook can't hear Spite, but the two of them ramble happily (with manic interjections from the demon) about Neve's admirable implacability until she returns with the tincture.

---

Lucanis and Neve worry about Rook

Lucanis looked tiredly into the black depths of his coffee. Clicking footsteps approached the table.

"Something wrong with the roast?" Neve asked. "I know you're fussy about temperature, but I suspect being lukewarm doesn't help."

He took a quick breath and brought the coffee to his lips, taking a fortifying sip. It was a good thing she had come by. He might have slipped again.

"No," he said finally. "I'm just thinking about that last fight with the Aantam."

Neve sat delicately across from him. "The one where Rook ran into the middle of three axemen and told us to take out the snipers?"

Lucanis scowled. "They're careless."

"It could always be worse," said Neve, kicking back in the chair so that Lucanis could see her face more clearly behind the veil. "When I started working with them, they barely took the time to give those instructions."

"My grandmother always told me that an impatient Crow is a dead Crow."

"Now that we're well on our way to having our own little murder here at the Lighthouse," said Neve. "Maybe you can teach me to keep a better eye on our most illustrious leader."

The door swung open and two sets of eyes turned to a bedraggled Rook, carrying a sheath of loose parchment. "Lucanis, do you happen to—oh hey, Neve."

Lucanis looked back to Neve, who rolled her eyes. He sighed and drank the rest of his lukewarm coffee in one pull.

"I suppose if I make more coffee, the two of you will be wanting some?"

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@sheis-theslayer Ao3 tag teamwork let's goooooooo

"It's possible I'm hallucinating," said a low, dangerous voice in their ear, as a hand slid into their hair. Rook calculated how quickly they could overload the space with electricity. Neve had turned around with her staff raised and Rook saw the same calculation in her eyes.

The hand tightened. The blade scraped the surface of Rook's neck in threat.

"...but why are a Crow and a Tevinter mage here to treat with the Venatori?"

Knife to Meet You by amiablecrow (Neve/Rook/Lucanis pre-ot3)

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"It's possible I'm hallucinating," said a low, dangerous voice in their ear, as a hand slid into their hair. Rook calculated how quickly they could overload the space with electricity. Neve had turned around with her staff raised and Rook saw the same calculation in her eyes.

The hand tightened. The blade scraped the surface of Rook's neck in threat.

"...but why are a Crow and a Tevinter mage here to treat with the Venatori?"

Knife to Meet You by amiablecrow (Neve/Rook/Lucanis pre-ot3)

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When you're writing a character with they/them pronouns, but YOU headcanon them as genderfluid, so the he/him and she/her pronouns sneak in there by accident.

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Well obviously, we need to fix that.

Guys. Guys. The Neve/Rook/Lucanis tag doesn't even EXIST on AO3 yet.

What are we doing here! What was it all for! Please I'm begging you we need to launch the OT3.

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the concept and idea of “you can always start trying to be a better person” is extremely important to me both in media and irl and i continue to be deeply deeply disturbed by the trend on this site pushing that these ideas in media are bad writing or even morally reprehensible

because theyd rather someone stay terrible or just straight up die than become a better person 

from a compassionate point of view it’s deeply distressing and from a pragmatic point of view it’s outright frustrating

it’s fucked up. 

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Hell Yeah

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The Lighthouse now has a Swear Jar!

reblog to increase sampo size and the Caretaker's hearing range

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HERE LIES JASON TODD...again—wait no he's back—

(I don't actually know how many times Jason has died, but here are the dates I used:

1983 - Jason is introduced 1988 - A Death in the Family 2005 - Under the Hood begins 2006 - The Batarang (after which the Superboy Prime Punch Effect is seen again, so...he almost definitely died here) 2021 - I'm 99% sure Jason dies in Task Force Z and is brought back in the next issue. 2024 - Jason is killed by Zur en Arrh and brought back by Lazarus Resin.)

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black mask having a dart board with red hoods picture and homicidal fantasies about him while jason just bats at him like a bored cat with a string is glorious, peak dynamic, even better that jason’s just using him as a middle man

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Robins + Text Posts & Tweets

Part. 3 - Part. 5

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bro is that fucking jason todd

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Chai tea bag + lil but of brown sugar + apple cider packet + 16 oz. mug of hot but not quite boiling water

it will not Fix You but like. maybe. maybe.