#Rook x Lucanis

[celiansartblog]

A little follow-up to this bc Spite deserved his ride around 👏👏👏

[mistresscoranna]

I'm dead.

My dream is to have someone looking at me the same way as this man.

[kaeoticneutral]

Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

art by @comfortyart 💜

[mxfitforge]

Yeeeah, I'm TOTALLY normal about them. Nothing to see here. #SendHelp

And you know at some point after they start figuring their shit out, Lucanis had enough sense to get them out of that damn pantry on occasion. So, here's some quality time at Villa Dellamorte.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

thinking about Lucanis again (always). and how so much of his narrative boils down to the theme of "control". and of course also about how this applies to the Rook x Lucanis relationship.

like the first scenes with him in the game are, in theory, about freeing him from the Ossuary (although he seems to have an escape attempt already in progress at the time, they certainly weren't just letting him keep those knives on him for enrichment purposes, Rook just provided an opening/distraction he could take advantage of and crucially Rook has A Way Out of the whole place not just a cell). but ACTUALLY the purpose it to put him right into a new contract for Us, one set up by his own grandmother and first talon no less, and the person he has the MOST trouble saying no to. He's escaped torture and the Venatori for sure but he still isn't free, which I think is part of what leads to Spite's confusion/the Inner Demons plotline. He agrees to the contract but you can tell it's in many parts out of a sense of duty/mourning vs something he actively wants to do for himself. And then the FIRST real heartfelt conversation you have with him, where he tells you "even before I was captured, my life was not really my own. So much had been determined for me." But he's chaffaing at that! He thinks "to live truly is to live fully" and so directly tells you he doesn't think he's lived a life true to himself. He's been constantly smothered by the weight of expectations around him, even though he longs for more.

And then once you get him to the Lighthouse you see how this Big lack of control in his life comes out as all these smaller frustrations. He's terrified of sleeping and downing 11 cups of coffee per hour because sleeping means he will lose control to Spite, even though Spite is shown to flee rather than fight when he feels threatened, and once calmed down, is more drawn to just benign curiosity/mischief than anything actively malicious. Like if Lucanis loses control and sleeps for a few hours he is not going to wake up surrounded by bloodshed, he's going to wake up to a belly full of candle wax because he wouldn't like Spite taste one while they were awake. Which is the other half of this--he constantly denying Spite's impulses for reasons that in some ways make sense (HE doesn't want to eat candles), but not in a way that's actually satisfying to either of them (why not just take a bite, chew for a bit, and spit it out so Spite knows they kind of suck actually?). But he CAN say no to Spite and so he does. Over and over. Spite's one of the few people he can deny things without feeling bad about it, because it's HIS body he doesn't like that has to share now (<- this is what he thinks about it at first anyway, but he's wrong, it's both of theirs and it's useless to try to hold those kind of boundaries forever. but the "no its mine" spiteful instinct is very beautifully ironic and reflective of them both and their early relationship).

And personally I think this is where his fear of his own desires and intimacy is coming from, at the root. I don't think he's afraid of the concept of being in a romance or having feelings (even if they're unusual and rare for him, this is by no means incompatible with him being demi) but I DO think he is afraid of the kind of power it gives people over you. Getting something you want means there's something else that can be taken away. Admitting your desire means the other person has the opportunity to deny that. The more you have, the more you have to lose, and he has lost again and again and again in his life--his parents, his childhood to the crows, his independence, even his future--he doesn't aspire to be first Talon but he knows the rumors. He knows his grandmother wanted it for him, not Illario. His life path has been laid out for him by others and up to this point he has simply been going along with it anyway, even though it bothers him. He COULD argue and fight Caterina and push for Illario who actually wants the job to be First Talon instead, but from The Wigmaker Job we know he doesn't. He just ignores it and pretends maybe it won't happen, without him having to do any of the work. Which is why in the end Illario is the one who has to make a move about it (and even warns Lucanis of this!!!!). Lucanis KNOWS all this makes him a target but is neither taking charge or getting off of the train tracks, just closes his eyes.

And I think THIS context is what makes the almost kiss scene in the pantry make more sense to me. Rather than being afraid of having feelings (and then NEVER addressing this in game with a Rook who pursues him anyway) or not knowing how to finish what he's started via crow seduction training, it's more like this is a pivotal moment where he can actively choose to step off the planned path of be given a job -> kill the gods -> enact revenge -> go home. even if he doesn't at that point realize that a relationship with Rook could be something that lasts long-term, the very act of doing something just for himself is what's foreign and scary and hard. It's that first step off the tracks, and even if he were to keep walking in the same direction, it means he's making a choice about it. he's accepting that one way or another it IS in his power to go along with everyone else's plans or not. Hence the hesitation, and drawing back, and needing to clear his head.

And then the rest of Rook's role in his narrative IS about giving him more and more control for himself. Inner Demons, dealing with Illario, his questlines move less towards revenge and more towards just... not being locked into one fate. Which of course Caterina comes back and immediately tries to overturn by declaring him First Talon after all, even though she and him and everyone else knows she's not ACTUALLY ready to give up her rule/decision making power yet. Which in a way is maddening because cmon I did all this work here so this sad man could have some agency in his own life just to watch him get sucked right back in (which, at least we get many directions to headcanon from here), but there's no denying that THIS version of Lucanis at least is actually going in with his eyes open now. THIS Lucanis has had a taste of life outside the Crows, and seen the politics and power dynamics in other places/organizations, and finally has emotional ties to the big picture state of the world now, both in relationship and friendship paths with Rook. He's not just hyper focused on each contract as it's given to him now, he's looking at the whole thing.

Anyway of course the beautiful culmination of all this within the romance is the lighthouse scene with Rook, where he finally is willing to let himself be vulnerable (emotionally and physically), and fall asleep without fear of what Spite's going to do in the meanwhile. He also (depending on dialogue choice) finally talks about his feelings directly with you for the first time instead of in roundabout ways (the dessert being "not enough" is it really the dessert you mean, Lucanis. is it.). Even though he is STILL reluctant to verbally admit his feelings or let Rook share their own at this point, I think that's more a narrative choice about saving those last emotional dialogue options for the big final battle. but it is another point where he does have to stop just following along and ACTIVELY choose that yes, yes sometimes loving is worth the risk of losing it. Even if someone takes it away from you later, even if you don't survive it, sometimes the love alone makes it worth it.

I have like another 5000 words I could add into about how Spite ties into all this, about how having the demon in him is something he both fears AND how it forces him to acknowledge that actually yes he DOES share the same base feelings/instincts Spite does in terms of not wanting to be told what to do. And how this in a way is part of what gives him permission to act on it since he can no longer just shove it down out of sight. but this post is long enough already so i'm just going to take the rest of this and gnaw on it all day like a chew toy I guess.

anyway. AHG. it is kind of frustrating that the culmination of his arc seems to be "and then he got the job he never wanted anyway" but I do think at least all this prepares him for it in a way Caterina actively failed to actually do on her own. He NEEDED that step away from his straightforward path. Whether he stays first talon or not, and with or without rook as a romantic partner, he's finally been able to explore ideas outside the expectations of others.

[livefromthedas]

Absolutely nailed it with this analysis!

Rookanis and Romance Archetypes

I have longer thoughts that I should probably write out, but here's where I'm at with Lucanis and Rook as a romance (I Love Them).

First of all, when you're looking at the capital-R Romance genre (not to be confused with the Romanticism movement, because we WILL be here all day), one of the most important bits of analysis to start with is determining what the "fantasy" might be and who it's for. Judgement-free. Occasionally, a friend will approach me about a book, boggled that all their friends like it, and we'll play this game. "What's the fantasy" is important, because otherwise we get bogged down with judgements like "Don't women know that a love interest like this would be bad for them?"

Yes, usually. Take the older stereotypical bodice ripper where the love interest kidnaps the heroine and carries her away to have his way with her. In this fantasy, the heroine is perceived as beautiful and irresistible and doesn't have to cross the social boundary of Having Desire. Another version of this is more common today (in the books that people will admit to reading), and that's the fantasy where the heroine has desire, but the love interest is uniquely capable of intuiting it and returning it.

Coming back to Veilguard:

Lucanis/Rook is flipped in-game, as far as romance archetypes go. For all that Rook is the protagonist of the game at large, you get hints in early game flirting scenes that this romance isn't going to go the way you might be expecting. When it comes down to it, Rook is the love interest, and Lucanis is the hero (i.e., the character referred to more commonly as the heroine).

In the romance arc, of the two of them, Lucanis is the one with the Disney/musical theatre "I want" song. The fantasy is for someone to see him as he is and to reach out for him where he's at. This feels impossible at the beginning! He's newly an abomination, he's a killer, and he feels that there's something deeply wrong with him as a human being—that there always has been.

His fantasy becomes that as he works through his current family issues, his dangerous supernatural malady*, and his sometimes panicked response to the pressure of saving the world, there's half a chance that there might be someone who will wait for him at the end of it. And when he gets to the point where he can face the Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known, there will still be someone who looks at him and sees something better than what he sees in himself.

The fantasy for the player is an uncommon one, for the romance genre: it's the fantasy of being capable of being that person to someone else. Rook can be capable of handling anything life throws at them. Rook doesn't need to be afraid of any kind of violence. More importantly, Rook can be worthy of that kind of trust.

Next time, I argue that Neve/Lucanis and Rook/Lucanis are both illustrations of healing in a positive direction, but in different ways.

*Don't @ me over this. Being fused together the way they are is dangerous for both Spite and Lucanis

[sweetestsalts]

truly had to be this short antivan king to get me to post my art on here huh

he's smitten, your honor

lucanis and my mourn watcher rook, isolde ingellvar

[point-maitimo]

He's dangerous, isn't he? Riannon de Riva and her demon 💜

[saucywendeee]

They’re engaged

[headachecat]

“As the words settled in, Lucanis’s gaze drifted to Rook, and for a moment, he simply took her in. She lay beside him, her eyes half-closed, her hair spilling over the grass like the roots of the forest itself, mingling effortlessly with leaves and earth. In the ambient, necrotic light, her skin took on a pale glow, as if the Necropolis itself had claimed her, woven her into its quiet, undying ethereal landscape, like some wild spirit, a keeper of this secluded patch of the world.

Lucanis felt an sense of awe overtaking him. He sensed he was intruding upon something timeless. She belonged to this place, as if she were not just lying on the earth but somehow rooted in it, becoming a part of it.”

From The Hours Found - by headachecat on AO3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60395146/chapters/154153939#workskin

And a heartfelt thank you to @refrainee for illustrating this lovely little moment for me ❤️

[fruk-choosing-a-username]

crying hysterically over this thanks

[cherrypikkins]

to everyone's (and no one's) surprise lucanis has been buying such things for the lighthouse gang since the first grocery trip

[livefromthedas]

I have a slew of headcanons for these idiots, but one has me pondering a little deeper today.

I frequently joke that if these two don’t wind up with half a dozen kids, I’d be shocked. So, what the hell. Let’s explore that idea.

I suspect that up to the point of bringing kids into the situation, Rook and Caterina at least had an amicable relationship - Rook helped defeat gods, save Treviso, and continues to help her grandson heal after some deeply fucked up trauma. Caterina, however, is incredibly used to having full control over her family - Rook puts a massive wrench in that gear.

Rook has no problem with their kids joining their father’s house as assassins - She knew what she was getting into getting with Lucanis to begin with. The problem comes with her demand that those children be able to choose whether or not they want to go down that path. Caterina would insist that they should all be a part of the family business - Rook would absolutely go down in flames fighting for those kids’ autonomy. Thankfully, Lucanis sides with Rook. He knows this life is not for everyone more than anybody.

While they do wind up having 6 kids, only 5 make it to adulthood. 3 of them become Crows. In order of age:

Valencio (Becomes a Crow, and a damn good one. Will succeed his father eventually.)

Elian (Deceased, Age 4)

Verana (Becomes a Crow. Mage like her mother.)

Santino (Becomes an alchemist. Specializes in poisons. Does not become a crow, but his work is heavily taken advantage of by House Dellamorte)

Xavier (Becomes a Crow, but is somewhat calamitously bad at it. Very fortunate his family is good at keeping him alive.)

Ramona (Frequently ill from very young. Winds up going into the arts)

Their second born, Elian, dies horribly at age 4, in an attempted war of succession from another house, after consuming a poison meant for Rook. The plan had been to off the wife, and pick off the kids (at the time, they have 3) until House Dellamorte forks over its seat as First Talon.

This goes very poorly for the rival house. Lucanis, with Rook at his side, takes out the warring house’s Talon, his wife, their eldest son, and all four of his Mistresses. All are strewn up in a public square in Treviso, left for the community to find upon daylight, in a very clear message that House Dellamorte is not to be fucked with. The house responsible for the coup attempt is dissolved and its assassins scatter to other houses. House Dellamorte actually goes out of its way to take in the three young children of the slain Talon, to assure they are properly looked after. These children become Fledglings for the Crows.

[kaeoticneutral]

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

Crows getting hitched! This beautiful art is by @theesteppenwolf 💜

[rhynny]

Don't say Lucanis never takes you anywhere nice 😂

Who else stops in the middle of a critical mission to take advantage of the romantic Treviso skyline?

[amidst-wonderland]

ROOK & LUCANIS DELLAMORTE | DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD

↠ "I'll tell you the tale of a charming rogue, who stole the heart of a hapless hero."