#emeris laidir

[sucksinlosers]

[sucksinlosers]

I started playing only yesterday, so I don't have much on her yet (also, my PC cannot handle the graphics as well as I would want for pretty pictures orz), but this is Emeris Laidir, pirate and Lord of Fortune. She's a very 2000s adventure action hero in my head: charming, confident to the point of over, smug, and very punchable, all hide a lot of insecurities about her own self worth and a little bleeding heart.

I adore her, and I can't wait to play a lot more Veilguard today. The game is so much fun! The combat makes me so, so happy (even though I am not very good at it! The number of times I've died is embarrassing!)

Everybody show me your rooks, I'll go first, here's Kestrel Thorne (not his real name, but the one he chose for himself after several life-changing experiences including but not limited to leaving his clan to save his brother, narrowly escaping the circle, ending up in and then escaping slavery, and finally joining the wardens). He's soft and kind and gives everything to others so they don't see the massive black hole in his own chest, and he's definitely only mildly suicidal which may or may not be reflected in his fighting style and his interest in Lucanis.

OKAY NOW SHOW ME YOURS!!

[sucksinlosers]

[sucksinlosers]

Not me sitting here in the office quietly screaming about Em and Lucanis

I'll put the actual screaming under the cut because I don't want to bug y'all with it, but hnggg

I got this scene yesterday when I was playing, and I love how… soft it is? And gentle, and calm, and very much not steamy and hot.

I’m looking at a man absolutely delighted and in awe that he gets to share a moment with the person he loves, finally at peace with himself - as much as Spite and him can be, at any rate - and sharing what he loves with them. I’m looking at a woman who flirts with everyone and everything to cope, to feel safe, to feel anything, finally feel safe enough to let her guard down and express genuine love and affection.

Would an on screen kiss have been nice? Would I have wanted a sexy moment between them, like the almost-kiss seemed to be leading up to? Yes, yes I would have. But this? This is better. The way they’re looking at each other, the way Lucanis comes over from his own seat to stand next to Rook and tell them this, that he wants them there and is happy.

Every line this man says to Rook is about how much he adores spending time with them. “Time spent with you is an added benefit”. “I could never lose hours to Rook”. Are you kidding me? Are you KIDDING ME?!

This is a dynamic I could not have asked for when Mr. Dellamorte first popped onto my screen, and I knew I was a goner, and I am so glad I did not get what I imagined initially. I am so glad this is what I’m getting.

[sucksinlosers]

I miss them okay

[sucksinlosers]

Feeling very humbled by other people's Rooks and their art for them. I can only offer more screenshots of Em orz

Putting up a few more to make myself feel better.

[sucksinlosers]

Strength for the Rook tarot ask game? <3

people are asking me things okay STAY CALM we practiced for this okay be cool be cool- Thank you for the ask! <3 Strength: Who makes the first move? How is it received? Is this reflective of their relationship dynamic in general?

It was 100 percent Emeris, and it did not go well. She tries a line on Lucanis, as is her nature, and he's immediately put off by it a little bit. Doesn't actively turn her down but plays if off. She reminds him of Illario, in a way - there's an exuberance Em and his cousin have in common. A way with words that he envies a little bit. He's seen up close how confidently Illario wields his charisma, but more importantly, how little Illario's lines and flattery seem to mean. Lucanis ascribes the same lackadaisical attitude to Em, at first. Doesn't trust it, doesn't yet know if he can trust her. She did save him, and he does have a contract with her now, but that doesn't really tell him all that much about her as a person. The more the team spends time together, the more Lucanis interacts with Em, the more he sees she's not really like his cousin at all. It's not like she stops flirting with him, but it's not cheap lines anymore. It's more genuine than that: "I don't think you can buy something for everyone and then not get something, yourself. Here." or "Hey, cuervo, you need to get out the pantry. I made coffee." or "Look, I know it's a dumb feather, okay, but I saw it and I thought of you because Crows and- Harding it's not funny stop laughing!" There's even a whole period where she actually starts being worse at smooth talking whenever he's around. Actively. It's reflective of them in the sense that neither of them is what the other is used to dealing with, so they have to work that out. Once they grow closer together, Em does bring back the terrible pickup-lines, and Lucanis rolls his eyes at her every time - but not without just the smallest smile, because now, he knows she means it. Really knows she means it.

[sucksinlosers]

(i was honestly just trying to see how tall they were compared to each other but uhm. well.)

(...yeah no i have no excuse)

[sucksinlosers]

When your moot makes you a painting of your hyperobsession and hides it framed under your pillow and you SLEEP ON IT FOR A WHOLE NIGHT BECAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT and then you don't find it until morning but it's still great because LOOK!!! AT MY BABIES?!?!!!!

[sucksinlosers]

More Emcanis stuff for @shinylayatha (if I say it enough I won't feel embarrassed about doing it for myself, too!) (Grouped these together because they made sense together in my head!)

How long does it take for them to officially get together? Did any of the other Lighthouse members have any suspicions beforehand?

A while. These are both people with emotional baggage up the whazoo, and they are both very… not good at dealing with them for their own, personal reasons.

I subscribe to the theory I've seen floating around here that Illario probably fucked with Lucanis a lot as they were growing up out of jealousy, and probably still does. Little jabs to make him insecure, get under his skin. “A kiss goodbye? How would you even know? Have you seen her, cousin? Woman like that, she's seen and heard it all. This is not like one of your little romance novels, Lucanis.”

Em, meanwhile, isn't used to attachments. There was no room to get attached when she was still enslaved, and, as a pirate, you don't stay in one place long enough to put your roots down. Dating someone in your crew makes them lose respect (If they see you with your legs spread and your ass in the air, right Isabela?), if they're not already trying to sleep with you just to get ahead or more easily stab you in the back.

That said, it'd be difficult for the team not to notice that something is up. Taash and Neve are among the first who have them figured out, maybe even before they do - before the near-kiss in the pantry, at any rate. Em and Lucanis just... kind of gravitate toward each other. At any rate, they dance around each other for the longest time. I don't think they consider themselves ‘together’ together until after the Prison of Regret, but by then the whole team has clocked that, yeah, these two are down bad for each other.

Who says "I love you" first? What is the other's reaction? Who thinks it first? 

Em wants to say it, before Tearstone, but Lucanis doesn't let her. They're both on edge, both nervous about the mission in front of them, nervous about their feelings and how those complicate things. Em tries writing her feelings out instead, but that doesn't go very well, either, and… well. Tearstone.

They don't wind up saying the actual words until before the final battle in Minrathous, and Lucanis says it. It's not a shock to Em at this point - these idiots have gone through a lot, and I… I like the idea that their exchanges of “I have you, don't I?” “You do.” are kind of ‘I love you's for them anyway. 

She does kiss him for good measure undoubtedly to the 'scandalized' amusement of Dorian and the Inquisitor close by, rests her forehead against his, and whispers it back against his lips. That's probably the first time they're this physically affectionate in public (discounting the hug they share when the Veilguard pulls Em out of the Fade).

Lucanis thinks it first, though. After the near-kiss, and then it's in a panic. But honestly, genuinely, after Inner Demons. Em has seen the worst parts of him, the things he fears most, and not only does she team up with Spite to help him, she takes his face in her hands and tells him it's okay. That she's not leaving. That this, all of this, is still a mess she wants to be in, because it's him.

[sucksinlosers]

I have figured out how to take ungodly amounts of screenshots of Em, it's over for you losers

[sucksinlosers]

(Doing some prompts from a Rook Codex writing thing I found. This one's been sitting in my notes for a bit. This would be #16, a letter from Rook to their love interest that unlocks after Tearstone.)

a note found in the pantry, crumpled and torn, as if read and discarded multiple times:

Hey,

You wouldn't let me say it before we left, and I know it's bad luck and all that, but I just wanted this has never hap I need I lo

We're not gonna miss this time.

- M

[sucksinlosers]

Have some pictures of my soon-to-be Harding smoocher Warden

And Em with the gang just because this made me so happy

[sucksinlosers]

1, 3 and 5 from the fifty rook questions if you’re takin em!

AN ASK?!?! IN THIS ECONOMY?!?!?! (i didn't get any heads up from tumblr when this came you, so sorry this took forever. but you, my friend, have made my day omg thank you thank you thank youuuu)

Since I made a second Rook recently, I'll just answer these for both Emeris Laidir (Elf/Rogue/Lord of Fortune) and Ardeth Thorne (Human/Warrior/Grey Warden). 1. How old is Rook? I have Emeris at her early 30s. I don't know if she knows, exactly. I don't know how much it matters to her? Celebrating name days was probably a luxury she couldn't afford in the Alienage. Ardeth is around 44, although I doubt he, too, celebrates any kind of name day since joining the Wardens. 3. What was Rook's life before their faction? Emeris was born in the Alienage in Kirkwall and abducted from there when she was around 10 (when the Blight began in Ferelden and things were starting to go way south in Kirkwall). Lots of shipping her around back then, until she was liberated from her masters by a small group of Lords. She betrayed her master and showed the Lords where he kept a relic they were interested in, and the rest is history. When it comes to Ardeth, I haven't quite decided where or how he wound up with the Wardens. I like the idea he's a native of Amaranthine, originally, and got involved with the Wardens when the Hero of Ferelden, then the Warden-Commander, so when Origins: Awakening takes place. Perhaps he was enlisted by one of the noble houses that conspired against the Warden-Commander and wanted to join the Wardens as a sort of penance? It's possible he tried getting to Adamant during the events of Inquisition, but couldn't make it there entirely before the Inquisitor saved the place; he probably met Varric and Harding during that time.

5. What was life like for Rook before joining the Veilguard? For Emeris, there was a lot of pirating and treasure hunting involved. I reckon she would up with the Lords of Fortune in her late teens, honing her skills as a rogue - although more on the spectrum of making explosives and poisons and swashbuckling than really any subtlety or lock picking. Being with the Lords was her first taste of freedom since she was taken from the Alienage, although whether living in an Alienage is 'being free' is a different sort of debate. I like to think she did everything she could, during that time, making a name for herself as kind of a wildcard. No job too risky, and all that. Feel like that was probably how she wound up meeting Varric and Harding.

Ardeth, again, I kind of picture as being too late to, uhm, participate in whatever was going on at Adamant during the events of Inquisition (lucky him). He probably felt very lost, suddenly not hearing his Calling anymore after it persistently drove him in the direction of Adamant. Inquisition scouts probably found him shortly after, and he was recruited into the Inquisition along with the rest of the remaining Wardens then and there.