#his relationship with Lucanis is good it's not bad but they don't have this. Illario doesn't really have this kind of support from anyone

[teyrnacousland]

I think Illario being a companion and getting the little compliments the other companions give when they get a kill would fix him. A couple of times hearing 'wow, nice shot Illario!' every time he does anything and he'd get better

[vaguely-concerned]

lucanis truly has a near terminal case of burned out golden child syndrome. caterina fucked both of these kids over so incredibly bad with the dynamic she enforced there, with illario being labled the perpetual fuckup kid where lucanis 'could do no (would never be allowed to do) wrong'. the way he admits in the first coffee date scene that the only thing that happened when he showed he could carry the weight of expectation was that more weight was added makes me so sad. you can hear it in caterina's voice in his intro mission that she's incredibly proud of him, but this is clearly a leandra and hawke situation where that pride never translates into relief or resolution or unconditional warmth or understanding or anything that really helps.

[hollowistheworld]

There are already so many delicious meta posts on everyone's specific thoughts on what's going on in Illario's head, but I am jumping in myself because he and Lucanis are making me CRAZY

I think that soooo much of his jealousy is that he and Lucanis get treated as a binary. Damn near every time Lucanis talks about something he is or isn't good at, he brings up how Illario is the opposite. It isn't just that they're constantly being compared (already something that's going to be super damaging to both of them and their relationship) but there's such a strong sense that they're not allowed to overlap.

Like, Lucanis is better at physical combat? Okay, so Illario is bad at it. It doesn't matter that he's still very good, that's he's good enough to still be a living, working Crow at the ripe old age of 30+, as a member of the First Talon's family no less. It doesn't matter that he's good enough to drop down from the ceiling (when and how did you get up there???) and kill Zara before anyone can register he's there. It doesn't matter that he's still a significant boss, even once you factor out the Venatori. He's worse than Lucanis, so Lucanis is the 'good' assassin and Illario is the 'bad' one.

In the reverse, Lucanis's self-esteem about his social skills is in the DIRT. He is CONSTANTLY bringing up how Illario is the people person. Even when, in the same breath, he says Illario only ever had relationships with people he didn't like and they never lasted, he's still saying Illario is better at it. And because Illario is better with people, he's 'good' at it, and Lucanis is 'bad' at it.

In any discussion with or about Lucanis and Illario there is, apparently, zero overlap in their skill sets. Despite the fact that that's very obviously not true. But they've been set against each other so thoroughly that they don't even realize it. Because presumably Caterina started training them and they had a knack for some skills more than others and rather than encouraging them to teach other or partner up to boost each other's strengths, she was most likely going "Look, Illario, your cousin did that move so much better than you, be more like that," and "Lucanis, Illario perfected this ages ago, it is not that hard to convince someone you're harmless" and all they got was that one of them was the assassin and one of them was the conman and never the two shall meet.

And Caterina, of course, heavily favors Lucanis. And I imagine there's a million reasons why - starting with the fact that it sounds like his mother was the last favorite. (And how can Illario compete with that? He'll never be the son of the favorite.) But I think a big reason is Lucanis's skill set. Maybe he's the most like her. Maybe she thinks if he's good in combat, he won't die like all the others did. Has she just written Illario off as a lost cause, certain to get himself killed? Not consciously, I'm sure, but subconsciously? Easy to imagine. Easy for Illario to feel that way, whether it's true or not.

And then!! He's being babysat! This idea that Lucanis is the one who can fight (and therefore Illario cannot) has taken hold so deeply that Lucanis feels like he has to look out for Illario, has to protect him, and of course that's bundled up in the 'we're all we have left' but when you're suffocating under the weight of your cousin being a mother hen that feels much less sympathetic. And when you're a 30+ assassin it's gonna feel pretty aggravating if everyone acts like you need your cousin to help you tie your shoes in the morning.

And I don't think either of them realize this. Introspection is not a Crow skill. All Illario knows is he can't be a good assassin while Lucanis is alive, because only one of them can be a good assassin. And that built and built and I think the opportunity to have Lucanis killed crossed his path, and he - Well, despite what Caterina might think, he is a very good Crow. So he took the opportunity. And then he couldn't go back.

And what does he have, under this binary? At least the good fighter, the good assassin, can have a talent for other athletic work, a passion for knives. At least the favorite can find another hobby without feeling grandmother breathing down his neck, asking why he's learning a new skill when he hasn't even mastered the important one. What's under a conman, a grifter, a politician? Sure, he can make people like him, but he can he ever connect with them enough to like them back? Does he know who he is? Would he know where to begin to try and find out?

I'd argue that - whether he knows it or not - is the biggest reason he tried to have Lucanis killed. He doesn't know who he is other than Caterina's least favorite grandson, Lucanis's cousin. He doesn't know how to find out.

[bitethedemon]

Daggers, Poison, and Shiny Things (Lucanis x Reader x Illario): Chapter 3

<-Last Chapter

Link to this fic on AO3

Tags: Slow burn, De Riva Reader, Eventual Smut, Messy Love Triangles

Fic summary: You lost everything in Rivain: your family, your home, and your hopes of ever becoming a seer. Treviso offered you revenge, but you were not prepared for the loneliness you would find amongst the Crows. The busiest assassin in Antiva became your only friend. That is, until he died and left you alone to pick up the pieces of yourself and his devastated cousin.

Imagine then, that your dead old flame shows up after a year, very much alive, with a very loud demon at his side and a hot new boss, while you have to explain that you are now dating his cousin. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

WARNING: NSFW Content, Toxic Relationships, Baby-trapping

“How do you work like this?” Viago asked and gestured to your worktable in the laboratory. “No order, ingredients thrown around, solution on the table. River…”

“Good morning to you too,” you mumbled. “There is order to my chaos.”

“A moronic thing to say,” Viago said and started sorting through your mess. “There is no order to chaos. That is why it is called chaos.”

He sighed and swore under his breath in Antivan as he began tidying up your workspace. It had been Viago’s laboratory once. He was a master poison-maker, the best the Crows had to offer, but now he left most of the grunt work to you. 

He looked at you out of the corner of his eye as he tidied up.

“What is you and Illario’s deal?” he asked.

You briefly looked up at him.

“I thought you didn’t care about my love life…”

“I don’t,” he said quickly. “But you are a de Riva. If something is going on, it will reflect badly on all of us. I would simply like to know in advance of the rumors.”

It was all bullshit, of course. Viago was big on gossip even though he acted like he was above it. His nose was solidly planted in everyone’s business.

“Why would you assume that whatever is going on is bad?” you asked. “What have you heard?”

“Nothing…” he said with a frown and a shrug.

He poured a healthy dose of various poisons into his morning coffee. He placed them in front of you afterwards. It was something he had urged you to do when you started working as a poison-maker. A little each day so that you could build up tolerance for your own poisons. You started measuring and pouring a little from each vial into your own cup.

“Although—”

There it was.

“I have seen him walking around slightly inebriated these last couple of days, and Teia swore she saw him flirting with someone a couple of days ago.”

You sighed deeply. Illario really was pissed at what you had said. 

“What do you want me to do about it?” you asked a bit too sharply.

“Well do something,” Viago said and sipped his coffee. “You will look like an idiot if people see him going behind your back. It is shameful.”

“He’s the idiot.”

“Okay, you are both idiots,” he said with a shrug. “Are you happy? Fix it.”

“He proposed to me,” you said calmly.

Viago choked violently on his coffee. He coughed and waved his finger around in the air to signify that he definitely had something to say about that once he was done dying.

“Don’t he dare,” he wheezed in a firm tone and coughed again. “Don’t you dare. I did not invest all this time in you for you to become a Dellamorte. Not that any of the families would approve. Is he—”

“I know,” you said. “I told him that too. I didn’t say yes, obviously. I’m not stupid…Don’t tell anyone.”

Viago opened his mouth to start ranting again before the door to the laboratory opened. It was Lucanis.

“This conversation isn’t over,” Viago said to you before grabbing his coffee and leaving.

He shut the door behind him. Lucanis looked from the door to you.

“Trouble?”

“When isn’t there?” you said with a sigh and then looked up at him with a smile. “Hi.”

He gave you a small smile and walked over to you. He placed a tin container on the table.

“I brought you food,” Lucanis said. “Couscous with mint and bell peppers.”

Your smile widened. It warmed your heart. You had missed his attempts at making Rivaini food dearly. It always tasted amazing, even though it had that distinct Antivan taste that he never quite managed to fix. Not that you ever had the heart to tell him.

“That’s so nice of you,” you said. “I haven’t had Rivaini food in ages, actually. How do you find time to cook when you’re doing…whatever it is you and your new allies are doing?”

He leaned on the edge of the table and looked at what you were doing.

“I don’t sleep,” he said with a shrug. “I try to do something productive with the time.”

You looked up at him. He did look like he had not slept in days. There were dark circles under his eyes.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” you asked with slight worry in your tone.

“Spite,” he said. “He takes over my body when I sleep. So, I don’t.”

You nodded and could not help looking at Spite. He looked as if he was simply listening in on the conversation, though he was observing you intensely. Lucanis cleared his throat in an awkward manner. You blinked and turned your attention back to him.

“Sorry,” you said and shook your head. “He’s difficult to ignore.”

“You are telling me,” Lucanis said with a tired smile.

He most likely wasn’t fond of you seeing him that way, or he was scared of how Spite might act if given too much attention. You decided to change the subject since he seemed uncomfortable.

“Why are you in Treviso?”

He tilted his head slightly.

“Illario didn’t tell you?” he asked.

You weren’t sure if you should tell him that you two were having trouble. Lucanis sure didn’t need more things to worry about, so you simply shook your head.

“He has some information for us,” Lucanis explained. “We are supposed to meet with him at Café Pietra.”

We. 'We', meaning him and Rook. They were just casually going to one of Lucanis’ favorite places in Treviso. That didn’t bother you in the least, obviously…

“Right…” you said quietly.

Then silence fell over both of you. You both just stood there for a moment. It was hard to put a finger on it, but everything was so just odd between the two of you. As if there was an invisible wall between you that hadn’t ever been there before. You hated it.

“Right,” you repeated and scratched your neck awkwardly.

You moved to one of the many bookshelves along the wall to pull out a book. It was one of those he had once given you. You looked through it and bookmarked two chapters with strips of paper before handing it over to him.

“Here,” you said. “You can borrow this. There are a few chapters on seer meditation and how to move out of trance after a possession. I don’t know…It might be helpful.”

He smiled when he recognized the book as one of the ones he gave you.

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” you said and smiled back at him.

“NO BOOK. Help. Us,” Spite hissed. “River is SAFE. Help Lucanis. FREE US!”

Lucanis’ eyes closed and his jaw clenched for a moment.

 “I…need to go. Good luck with Viago,” he said.

“NO!” Spite hissed in frustration.

You nodded and watched him leave in slight puzzlement. Free…us? You couldn’t stop wondering what Spite had meant by that. Something more was going on than just an unruly spirit.

You were tired. You had just closed down the laboratory and were on your way home. You heard close steps behind you and then an arm wrapped around your waist. You jumped slightly and turned to see Teia smiling up at you.

“River…” she said in a low, conspiratorial tone. “One of my fledgling’s just came back here from the bar down the street. The Sun.”

You knew of the Setting Sun, of course. It was Illario’s favorite spot to drink himself into a stupor. You already had a hunch were this was going.

“Yeah?”

“They saw Illario practically eating the face of some poor girl down there. It would just be a shame if you caught him red-handed.”

You felt a flare of anger in your stomach. Your jaw clenched and you looked at Teia.

“Thank you,” you said.

“Give him my best regards,” she said with a smile. “Don’t go easy on him.”

There were so many excuses. Illario could not quite figure out if he should play the victim card or the aggressive card. He was drunk, of course, so that did not help in the least. You had found him with the girl sitting on his lap. Now you were loudly arguing outside the bar.

“You are no different from everyone else,” he snapped at you. “You don’t love me. I am just the next best thing to him, isn’t that it?”

“If I wanted to be with Lucanis, you and I would not be together!” you yelled at him. “You have humiliated me. How stupid do you think I am, Illario?”

“I have humiliated you?” he hissed. “Do you think it is not humiliating to know that you will ever only see me in his shadow? That you will not even marry me?”

“I won't marry you because it is a ridiculous idea,” you snapped back. “Don’t you play the victim with me right now. You went behind my back.”

“As if you have only ever been upfront with me,” he said with a scoff. “Don’t you think I notice how you look at him? How you still pine after him? I hope I was a good replacement until the real thing came back.”

“Oh, shut up,” you gritted out in frustration.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he said bitterly. “Hm? He still visits you as if nothing has happened. How do you think that makes me feel?”

“You weren’t a fucking replacement!” you snapped at him. “Lucanis and I are still friends, yes, but I love you. We needed each other at a moment in our lives when we both had nothing, and I am loyal to that. Which is why it hurts so much to see that you cannot pay the same respect to me.”

He sneered at you. He ran his hand over his face, shook his head, and sighed.

“It doesn’t matter…” he said with a bitter scoff. “You are going to leave me. Everyone does eventually. My parents, Lucanis, Caterina, and now you. It doesn’t matter what I do.”

He was playing dirty with his sad eyes and bitter tone. It pissed you off to no end. You groaned in frustration and kicked the wall behind you hard. Gods, you wanted to strangle him sometimes.

You closed your eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then looked at him.

You shouldn’t forgive him. You were better than that. Had you been back in your village in Rivain and had you two been married, he would have been shunned from the community for what he just did. You really shouldn’t…

You gave another frustrated groan and then walked up to him until you were in his face.

“If I ever catch you with another woman again, you will wish that I had left you now,” you growled at him. “You humiliate me like this again, Illario, and not even death will give you peace from my anger. Do you understand?”

It was clear in his eyes that he was torn between whether he should let you speak to him like that or if he should simply agree with you. He had not seen this side of you like this before and it clearly threw him for a loop. You were raised in a society where a man should feel honored if a woman like you looked at him twice. Illario grew up in a society that told him that everyone should bow and scrape around him.

He eventually gave you a curt nod and put his hands on your hips. You slapped his hands away.

“You reek of her,” you said with utter disdain.

You turned and walked home, leaving him there alone.

You had removed the key to your house from where it usually was hidden. You did not want to even look at him. You were tired and you were pissed off.

Of course, removing the key did nothing more but send a message that you did not want him there. Illario found a way inside anyway, to no surprise. It was late in the evening when you heard some commotion from your bedroom. You grabbed a knife from your kitchen before going upstairs.

You swung the door open and pointed the knife at him.

“No,” you said firmly and pointed to the window he had come from with the knife. “Go.”

He looked like he had somewhat sobered up since you had yelled at him a few hours ago. He was not impressed with the knife. He knew as well as you did that you had never been good with them. His expression said as much when he looked down at the knife and then smiled at you in slight amusement.

You raised a brow in challenge and slammed the knife down on the top of the drawer beside you. A flash of fire emerged from your hand instead. He frowned slightly then.

“Don’t be like that,” he said.

“I have nothing more to say to you tonight, Illario,” you said. “Leave. I am not playing this game with you.”

“I am not here to play games, love,” he said in an almost pleading tone. “I thought we agreed to put it to rest. You’re sorry, I’m sorry… I just wanted to see you. We’re fine, no?”

Gods, he could be so thickheaded sometimes. You glared at him.

“So let us move on,” he said and slowly walked towards you. “I’ve missed you...”

You did not extinguish the flame in your hand. His eyes flicked from it to you.

“We both know you won’t throw that.”

The flame grew bigger, and your fingers twitched. He took a small step back.

“What do you want me to do? Hm?” he said with a hint of frustration.

“What do I want?” you repeated his question in an irritated voice. “I want you to leave, Illario. Instead, you are here acting as if everything is completely fine. As if you wouldn’t have fucked that girl, had I not intervened.”

“River, amore,” he said in an exasperated voice as if what you were saying was unreasonable. “We talked about this. I was in a bad state of mind. It should never have happened. I told you.”

“I need time.”

He sighed and looked from the flame to your face again. You saw how he relaxed his body language, and you had been around enough assassins to know it was a ruse. You tensed and readied yourself to move away.

He got ahold of you before you could even flinch. He wrapped his arms around both of yours and forced your arms down, making you to extinguish the flame so as to not set fire to yourself. He turned you around and wrapped one arm loosely around your neck and the other tightly around your middle and arms.

“You are cute when you’re jealous,” he spoke into your ear. “Please, love. Don’t be like this.”

You gave a low, irritated groan at his words. It wasn’t his first time pissing you off and then trying to fix it with honeyed words like this. You just felt stupid that it always somehow worked on you.

He slowly kissed his way from your neck to your ear.

“It was hot when you yelled at me earlier,” he said and bit the lobe of your ear. “I’ve missed you so much…”

He pressed himself against your ass and you felt that familiar stir of arousal in your stomach. You cursed yourself for giving in so easily. He loosened his grip on you when he felt you becoming calmer. You turned around to face him.

“Never again,” you said firmly.

“Never…” he agreed.

You sighed. You leaned forward and kissed him. He smiled against your lips and began walking you backwards towards the bed.

He pushed you gently to sit on the bed and started unbuttoning his pants. You sighed internally but took the hint when he started running his hand through your hair. You really ought to bite it off, you morbidly thought to yourself as you started to kiss your way up his shaft, it would save you so many problems with this man.

His breath hitched when your lips closed around him. His grip on your hair tightened slightly when you did. His thumb ran gently over your ear.

“You are so beautiful like this,” he murmured. “Don’t stop.”

You didn’t. You took him as deep as you could go without gagging, eliciting a low groan from him.

You knew this little dance of yours, because you had done it so many times. Illario was a selfish lover. You didn’t particularly mind taking care of him like this, but it was slightly infuriating at times like these where he had been an asshole. Still, you liked making him feel good.

He pulled out of your mouth after a while and helped you out of your clothes. He grabbed your hips and turned you so that you were on all fours in front of him. He ran his fingers over your folds, teasing your clit for only a moment before one of his fingers entered you. You were already wet, which in Illario’s head meant that not much more foreplay was needed.

His fingers pressed into the soft flesh of your hips before he sank his cock into you with a groan. He leaned down to kiss your back. His hands moved from your sides to your chest to play with your tits. He began driving into you in a slow steady rhythm.

“You are mine, aren’t you?” he mumbled into your ear.

“Yes,” you moaned.

He groaned and his thrusts became quicker.

“And you won’t leave me,” he said breathlessly as he moved. “When I become First Talon, we will get married, and no one will be able to take you from me.”

You were used to Illario babbling nonsense when fucking you. You mostly tuned it out, but the First Talon thing was a new one. His thrusts became deeper and harder. He leaned down to whisper in your ear.

“You should have seen how he eye-fucked that elven girl the other day,” he hissed into your ear. “I doubt he ever flirted with you like that. He doesn’t deserve you. He never did.”

You bit the inside of your cheek and tried your hardest to ignore him. He was close. You knew it from the way he bit your neck and shoulders. Your hand went to your clit and you started rubbing it in circles. He fucked you harder, and with your own help, you managed to come half a second before he did.

Though this time, he did not pull out like he had done millions of times before. You panicked when he bottomed out and came deep inside you.

“Are you fucking stu—”

He grabbed you in a way that made sure you couldn’t move, and he pressed you facedown down into the mattress.

“I’m serious about this, River,” he growled into your ear. “I want you.”

You winced as the contents of the bottle violated your tastebuds and went down your throat. You had to make a potion that would ensure you did not get pregnant from Illario’s spontaneous desire for fatherhood. Everything was such a mess right now. What the fuck was up with him these days?

Viago entered at some point and started speaking at you: Something, something, remember to request new ingredients, something, something, five batches behind.

“Are you listening, River?”

“No,” you mumbled absentmindedly.

“I would ask if your ears were for decoration, but I have seen how they look and know that cannot be the case,” Viago chided harshly. “What is wrong with you?”

“So many things,” you mumbled tiredly and started noting down ingredients on a piece of paper. “I’m only three batches behind. I’ll get the remaining two done today.”

“Hey,” Viago said and snapped his fingers in front of your face to catch your attention. “You are not focused. What happens when we are not focused?”

“Mistakes.”

“Correct,” he said, and his tone softened slightly. “Is this because of Illario? Teia told me of his little…fling. I did tell you to do something.”

“We made up,” you said absentmindedly.

You could almost hear Viago roll his eyes across the room. As if he and Teia were any better...

You turned to face him. You needed to talk to someone. You had three someones: Illario, Lucanis, and Viago. One was the problem, the other was riddled with other problems, so there was just Viago left.

“He’s sure he’ll become First Talon,” you said. “Like dead sure. It’s weird.”

“Illario? First Talon?” Viago let out a rare laugh. “Are you serious?”

“It’s weird, don’t you think?” you said, putting the thoughts that had swirled around in your head since he first mentioned it into words. “I mean Caterina just died, his cousin just came back, and now he has mentioned it to me twice.”

“Why does he think that?” Viago asked. “We both know that if another Dellamorte were to take the place of First Talon after Caterina, it would not be Illario.”

“I didn’t ask,” you said with a shrug. “But it’s weird.”

“Someone says something like that, and you don’t think to ask?” Viago asked with a scoff. “He could be planning something.”

“Well, please do forgive me,” you said sarcastically. “Illario was in the middle of proposing the first time he said it, and the second time, he was inside me. It didn’t really seem like the time to bring it up.”

Viago’s face soured as if he had just taken a bite of something utterly disgusting. He raised his finger at you.

“Don’t ever say those words in that order to me ever again,” he said.

You smiled. Making Viago uncomfortable was one of the few joys in life. It was painfully easy.

“I will send someone to sniff around a bit,” he said. “Keep this between us for now, yes?”

You nodded.

[fantasynexus]

Stages of Grief in Veilguard (Major Spoilers)

I firmly believe that the theme of Veilguard is the Five Stages of Grief and Loss and how the first five companions have their own stage that ties deeply into their individual stories.

Lucanis Dellamorte: Denial

Loss: Illario (Closest Friend) and potentially Treviso

Lucanis Dellamorte, especially a Romanced Lucanis, will tell you he's unsure if he even left the Ossuary. He's in denial that he's free, and you see him deny the 'realities' around him. Concerning the 'death' of his Grandmother. He's constantly questioning where and how she died as if he cannot believe that she is dead or the story of how she died. He also refuses to see the truth about Illario's Betrayal, at first, telling us he doesn't want to believe Illario would betray him.

Lace Harding: Anger

Loss: Varric

Lace Harding, as the game goes on, expresses a large amount of resentment and anger about what happened to Varric and the Ritual, as well as towards Solas, for obviously valid reasons. Killing Varric, The Titan's Fall, and the use of Lyrium to create the Ancient Elves. That just being the top of the list, I don't think this requires much explanation, considering we fight the 'Wrath of Stone' and Hardings Rage-filled Lyrium Double.

Davrin: Bargaining (Not the Strongest Argument)

Loss: Purpose

After Weisshaupt, Davrin consistently wonders what he did wrong and if he's even a real Grey Warden because he didn't die when slaying the Archdemon. He questions and dwells on the Gryphons being taken and if he could have done something different.

Neve Gallus: Depression

Loss: Minrathous (It gets destroyed no matter if you save it or not)

Depression forms itself in many different ways, including guilt and insomnia. Neve, feeling guilty for the Death of Rana's partner, consistently goes to their memorial to recharge their light and keeps their pendant. Neve is an apparent workaholic (Can't think about your feelings if you're drowning in work) who drinks way too much bad coffee that induces insomnia. Part of Depression is being withdrawn (Lone Wolf Archetype). Neve's Diet can also cause depression; it's a fact she mainly eats fried fish (if Lucanis Romances her). Poor Diet can worsen it or even trigger depressive episodes. Specifically Fried Foods and Caffeine.

Bellara Lutare: Acceptance

Loss: Brother

Bellara, by the time we meet her, has already accepted that her brother is dead. There's still a pain (There always will be) when talking about him, but she has accepted the loss and uses her work to honor him and continue what he wanted for the Dalish. Even when they go to honor his second death at the end of her quest line, she's already accepted that he's gone for good because she's already experienced the other stages of grief regarding him. (She also experiences them again in quick precession after finding out he's still alive)

We can also add in Emmrich and Taash for Funsies

Emmrich shows Bargaining and Depression regarding becoming a Lich, unable to let live because he's scared of dying. It's something that will inhibit him from becoming a Lich, and Depression with his lifelong dream being out of reach because of his fear.

His potential Loss: Manfred or Lichdom

Taash shows Denial, Anger, and Depression regarding their Mother. Whether it's their identity issues, relationship, or their Mothers' (and Hardings') death.

Loss: Mother and potentially Lace Harding

The Veilguard is just one giant support group talking to a therapist (Rook) who also needs a therapist.

I do think some could be switched around:

Bellara could also be Denial, Lucanis could be Depression, and Davrin could be Depression or Denial. I am open to other interpretations.

[browniejeane]

Has anyone done a rookanis While You Were Sleeping fic yet? Asking for a friend...

Just imagine....orphaned, alone Rook, working a menial job. falls for Illario at first. he's hurt, Rook saves his life. taken to the hospital. Dun dun dun, he's in a coma! Miscommunications happen - Rook is now a fiancee. Teia, Viago, Caterina are all around his bedside losing their minds as to how this could happen. Not to Illario. Jacobus and Chance are glancing at her like, who tf is this broad. And Rook's just...there. eyes wide, totally lost, but afraid to leave. Out comes the story of how she saved Illario from blood mages/venatori/what-have-you. Gets dragged back to the villa, ends up spending the night. In comes Lucanis, who had been away on a mission. He thinks something is amiss with the relationship between Rook and Illario. Rook leans into the miscommunications and things she's learned just by watching. Manages to convince Lucanis and family that she's really Illario's fiancee. Spends more time with the Dellamorte/de Riva/Cantori clans.

Chance finds out the truth. But loves that Rook loves them all so much, he keeps her secret. Tells her he knows, but that he's going to make sure that she stays part of the family. What's this? Oh no! She ends up falling for Lucanis. Is utterly bewildered by this - rants about it to Taash and Bellara, who are torn between letting it play out and coming clean and letting them all know it was a lie. Before she can make up her mind....Illario wakes up. Family, who have all come to adore Rook, convince him he has selective amnesia. He goes along with marrying Rook.

meanwhile, rook has had a big falling out with lucanis, who no longer wants to work in the family business -- he wants to branch out and do his own thing. see wyverns. run cafe pietra. no more killing. he says that he can't just drop everything and do that. not with the family relying on him the way they do. and how dare she open her mouth and suggest such a thing - she has no right to tell him how to live his life or speak to his family. She snarks back that somebody has to bc otherwise, hes going to be miserable forever. he says hed rather be slightly miserable but with family all around than comfortable and alone. she thinks he's being ridiculous - they part on bad terms. She decides she's going to go through with the wedding to illario.

Enter Zara on their wedding day, ranting and raving about how he actually had proposed to her. Forget the fact that she had run off with Calivan - that man didn't matter to her. She just needed some time apart for perspective. Except, whoops, Rook says she can't marry Illario because she's in love with Lucanis. And Lucanis says she can't marry Illario bc he loves her too. But she can't be with Lucanis bc there's too much they don't know. So the whole story spills out and then she runs while the wedding melts down into chaos. Just as she's getting ready to bounce out of treviso for good, WHAM. They appear. Lucanis. Teia. Viago. Caterina. Chance. lucanis has caterina's prized opal ring. He's on one knees. she says yes. they kiss. crows fly out of nowhere. they get married on a bridge in treviso. they honeymoon in ferelden and go wyvern watching. come home and lucanis runs the cafe, happy as a clam and with family all around. adopt a dog named spite.

roll credits. (no? just a me thought? alright. thanks for coming to my ted talk.)

[neverending-shenanigans]

Alright. So.

I don't actually post a lot here anymore, and especially not stuff I write myself. But I like this thing enough. It's eight chapters so far, it is very silly, people have said it made them laugh, which is all i ask for.

So if anyone on here has read this and liked it... Hi. Thank you!

Contractual Obligations (26712 words) by neverending_shenanigans

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Video Game) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lucanis Dellamorte/Rook, Lucanis Dellamorte/Rook/Spite, Viago de Riva & Rook, Andarateia Cantori/Viago de Riva Characters: Rook (Dragon Age), Lucanis Dellamorte, Viago de Riva, Andarateia Cantori, Illario Dellamorte, Spite (Dragon Age), Dragon Age: The Veilguard Ensemble Additional Tags: Female Rook (Dragon Age), Antivan Crow Rook (Dragon Age), Antivan Crows, Lucanis Dellamorte Needs Sleep, Lucanis Dellamorte is Down Bad, Lucanis Dellamorte's Personal Quest Spoilers, Viago de Riva is the older brother Rook never wanted, Named Rook (Dragon Age), Canon-Typical Violence, Not Canon Compliant, The Antivan Crows are my happy place, Spite is a Little Shit (Dragon Age), Spite Loves Rook (Dragon Age), I will ignore the main plot, Marriage Contracts, Miscommunication, Lucanis doesn't know how to flirt, Both Rook and Lucanis are idiots, Crack Treated Seriously, Mutual Pining

Summary:

Nothing is going as anyone had planned.

Rook thinks that she's getting a contracted killer (which isn't necessary because that's what SHE is, but it's out of her hands).

Spite thinks that he's getting a good time.

Lucanis thinks that he needs more sleep to even begin to deal with this situation.

But in the words of a very wise (and very fucking angry right now) crow: A contract is a contract. What can you do about it.

[landgraabbed]

starting to close off the companion quests. mostly because i want to see how i feel as i do them. so far.... eh?

harding. we met the shade that's been calling out to her. oh it's just a pissed off titan shade thing, oh no! btw, look at this giant titan in the distance. btw, you are inside a titan, we will inform you of that a million times in this short quest! nevermind that you figured that out around the time you arrived at the bastion of the pure back in the descent dlc of inquisition without anyone telling you shit! you're too stupid to figure that out now. if she honors the justified anger of the titans for what the elves--solas--did to them she will lose herself (bad!), or she can remember she is very demure and mindful and she'll be good! wow! i feel like this companion quest ties the most into the main quest with the whole lore dump, but nothing comes of it. sad. also what is the deal with the kal-sharok dwarves? wouldn't you like to know, weather boy, we were talking shit about how they changed to adapt to the blight to make you think this is deeper than it is. wow!

lucanis. saved caterina, exposed illario. nothing to write home about; he got his revenge, he dealt with illario. nothing to be gleaned from such a simple scenario. i think because i saved minrathous he automatically imprisoned illario. i wouldn't do that differently tbh. he didn't become a hero of the veilguard. and if that's because he's hardened.... i don't like that. i like the fact that a choice i made has a real impact on the commitment of my companions, but if the rumors i heard are true about it being tied to you doing all treviso quests if you saved minrathous, then it is truly tied to being hardened. which used to be related to companions' outlooks on life and not a "you prioritized something else in the contrived choice scenario we forced on you, feel bad" failure state kind of thing.

bellara. more ancient elves lore, ft. the forgotten ones--one of the most obscure parts of the lore so far. we could have explored more of the relationship between the evanuris, forgotten ones, and fen'harel's rebellion. from the sounds of it, it sounds like it was a free for all; but nope, it was grossly underutilized. anaris wants a physical body--for what, it is rather unclear. based on the circle codices it may tie into those from across the sea, who seemingly have everyone terrified to the point they retreated to thedas in ancient times and may or may not have lead to the creation of the qunari. could be interesting were this not tied into the fucking evil shadowy cabal ending that spits on all previous work. once again the dalish thing has a choice to either salvage more elven lore and risk uncovering dangerous information (because only elven culture has done bad shit ig, unlike every other people in thedas) or let it be, the less we know of our shitty ancestors who were all shitty and not largely a people ruled by tyrants, the better. besides, the dalish were always dumb to figure it out, because after being oppressed and persecuted by the evanuris, tevinter, orlais, and most other societies in thedas, the dalish got things wrong. silly! but remember, the writers REALLY wanted the dalish to have a win in this game :) my heart says keep the archive but there are no consequences and i prefer the drip of the other choice, so i picked destroy.

emmrich. quick! we need to find a way to create a forced binary choice at the end of this companion's questline! let's let manfred talk and also he's going to sacrifice himself! now emmrich has to choose between his kid and his lifelong dream of becoming a lich. other than that i liked the quest, probably because my rook was a mourn watcher and had more content. more complexity than the other companions, but still very little going on. because regardless of what you pick, emmrich IS going to have to come to grips with his fear of death, eventually. if he doesn't, well. he'll die eventually, and people will die around him regardless. if he becomes a lich, he will have to risk dying to achieve lichdom, he will see people be born and pass away time and time again. i picked lichdom. ghost thinks they're cool, and she figures that hey, at least he will be immortal in the battles to come. he will become a gentle usher and a living monument to his loved ones. btw the giant skeleton is "we have high lord wolnir minus the bling at home".

taash. not touching that shit, sorry taash! you won't become a hero of the veilguard! they came out to their mom and got a hot gf who smells nice in harding. 10/10

[erin-unknown]

Author Ask Tag

Thanks @hyperions-light! I'll do my best to answer these, though I haven't had much of a chance to really dive deep into any long-form fic (or my own novel for that matter).

I'll answer these for my aspirational fic about Neve, Lucanis, and Rook post-Veilguard. I'm currently working on something shorter, a young!Rook Thorne fic called Lights in the Shadow, that probably won't break 10K words. Hope to have that finished and edited within the next few weeks, work allowing.

What is the main lesson of your story?

I wouldn't say it's a "lesson" but after the credits rolled on Veilguard I thought: Well, what now? Everyone's experienced a massive status quo shift on their respective questlines, and you don't just hit the ground running after that without stumbling. You have a whole new "you" to get to know, after all.

Thematically I could see myself in the realms of re/building trust, honesty, and self-reflection. I'm mostly interested in their personal struggles, so I'm keeping the scope rather narrow, even within the context of larger events around them.

What did you use as inspiration for your world building?

I'm going to have to do a little research! The actual DA writers have referenced other genres for their companion questlines, so I want to honor that. It also just seems fun! I want to get more familiar with typical plot beats, tropes, themes, etc. in, like, noir/crime fiction, melodramas about powerful families, and stories about organized crime. I'm sure I'll think of more things as time goes on.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? So you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help them grow as a person?

Everyone has experienced a large status quo shift and are (hc) more or less in love, but all at slightly different stages. So, how does Neve handle the clashing priorities of the Threads and Dock Town? Are the lines of her moral framework being redrawn? Where do her personal relationships fit into this?

What does First Talon mean for Lucanis, and how do the events of the past year affect him, Spite, and his family? What is he going to do about the feelings he has for his closest friend/s? Does he take a risk, or will he push everyone away first?

Who is Rook now that he's left the Wardens and has just enough solitude to see how little he knows himself? There's time now to fear that future he was fighting for with the Veilguard. Plus, he's picked up a little demon problem.

I want to weave these storylines together using the shifting relationships between the three as the sort of connective tissue; it starts off as just Neve/Rook, then expands to Rook/Lucanis, and eventually Lucanis/Neve.

Spite is also there 😈 (and so is Illario 🤡💕)

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Lol, no clue. It'll have roughly 3 parts, but I don't know how the chapters will work within those.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Fanfic and probably AO3.

When did you start writing?

I've been telling myself stories for as long as I can remember. I used to draw these little pictures and narrate a story about them as I drew.

I started actually writing when I was introduced to fanfiction at age ten, I want to say? It grew into an epic Digimon/Sailor Moon/Ocarina of Time crossover fic and it was amazing...ly cringe but I had a ton of fun. I was writing almost constantly from then on.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr?

It's cliche but it's good to just write. Get words on the page, however you can. Even if it's nothing to do with your main wip. Even if it's only fifty words. Even if those fifty words might be bad.

And show those words to people sometimes.

I get the apprehension. Some of it is the horrifying ordeal of being known. Some of it the fear of confirming that our worst fears about our writing are true: something like "I am a mediocre writer with boring ideas" or "I failed to make people care about my characters and their struggles..." just to name a couple in my regular rotation.

But it's good to get comfortable with that discomfort. It's part of why I'm here on Tumblr now! It's nerve-wracking at times, but healthy in the right community, and can bring in a fresh perspective when you've been staring at your work for too long.

We can learn a lot from each other.

~

I thank anyone who's read all this for taking an interest, omg. This was actually really beneficial in helping some of my more scattered thoughts about this project coalesce. Neat!

Who hasn't been tagged yet? @arookacrow or @awardenandacrow, if you'd like to to do this, it would be cool to see 💕

Does... anyone want to do another for a different story? Lol.

[myrdr]

potentially a hot take but had lucanis allowed illario to come with him to kill zara, i don't think he would've stolen lucanis' kill, or stopped him from getting revenge.

lucanis doesn't let him go because he's worried. he doesn't want illario to be hurt or worse, killed. but illario takes this as a jab. " you don't think i'm good enough ? " " are you ? " lucanis points out what we already know. illario is insecure as hell and wants validation. and he'll take it from whoever will give it. because caterina won't give it to him.

even if lucanis had said something more validating, it wouldn't have been enough. illario believes he doesn't deserve lucanis' validation that he has been receiving all along. and i know lucanis has picked up on that.

however, i do think that, apart from the obvious betrayal and potentially being found out aspect, illario had a lot of reason to want to kill her, too.

using story boards as reference, i personally believe that zara manipulated illario at the start of their relationship. there's an obvious power imbalance, age, too ( because you cannot convince me they are the same age when she was using blood magic to appear young but i digress ) and illario's personality is arguably easy to manipulate if you know the right strings to pull.

did illario think his relationship was mutual, on even ground, maybe even more beneficial to him and the crows ? yes. of course. that's why he kept on with it. did he forsee everything happening the way that it did ? no, of course not. zara hiding lucanis from him is proof that she didn't give a fuck about illario in the way that it may appear when she whispers amatus. i believe she only said that because lucanis was there. because it'd make people realize about their relationship.

she hoped that lucanis would kill illario out of anger. out of her own spite. and he would have btw lol if illario hadn't used the device that zara ( elgar'nan ) gave him. she knew she was dead the moment her eyes fell upon lucanis. and then illario. she tried to manipulate lucanis to stop him from killing her. to focus on "the real bad guy here". illario.

she was ready to sell out illario the second her life was in danger. illario isn't innocent, but he also shouldn't be seen as a full on villan ??? illario isn't evil alligned but he's incredibly stupid and jealous and did things that spiraled into whatever the hell all of this is.

illario never meant for lucanis to be experimented on. to be force fed a spirt / demon. tortured. if illario knew that was a part of the venatori's deal ??? he would NOT have done it. is he stupid for not realizing that the venatori would've done something like that ? yes. yes. yes.

in the word's of lucanis, fucking illario.

he hurt lucanis and he'll never be able to take that back. and he doesn't want to. because that lessens lucanis' pain that he went through. illario deserves to have lucanis hate him forever and the fact that he doesn't .. hurts illario in a way that cutting off the relationship never can.

also why is it a surprise when a blood mage in a fucked up cult does fucked up things and reaps the rewards. zara literally uses blood magic. killing people. to sustain her life. it is not out of the box to assume that she had no issue manipulating vulnerable people. because yes. illario is emotionally vulnerable. look at how he grew up with caterina who constantly pinned him against the only person that loves and trusts him fully. they were raised as brothers but she wanted them to even see each other as rivals. because one day only one would take the seat of first talon.

rewatching when they talk to zara makes me annoyed because she MAKES IT SEEM LIKE illario is the only one who did anything bad and i just ~~~ NO. you're in a murderous cult. you didn't care about illario. you used him as much as he used you if not more.

the fact that she also makes it seem like he did everything for a promotion. the way rook says it , says it all. "he did all that for a promotion ? " it's disbelief. no illario did not do all of that for a promotion. it's deeper than that, regardless of how it appears on the outside. but he will say that. and make it seem like that. because fuck being vulnerable in any sense. being power hungry makes you look strong. unwavering. like you can handle whatever is thrown your way.

being open ? emotional ? in front of people ?????? in front of the people who you have fought against, tooth and nail, to prove yourself worthy of the crow name, of the first talon's seat ?????? he'd never do that in a million years and that's why it's so easy for people to judge him.

i'm never going to lessen what he did to lucanis, or what the consequences of his actions ended up as. he wanted to kill him and it didn't work out like that and now lucanis has to go through so much. but i'm not going to solely blame illario and make it seem like he's some kind of intense villain that deserves all the hate that he actively gets. bc i've seen a lot of it and most of it makes me go ? did we play the same game

my thoughts are genuinely all over the place but if you're reading this then you probably don't care alskdjalfa the fact that illario was gonna kill lucanis shouldn't be what makes him evil btw I mean In OUR WORLD yes it is but in the crows world it's like a regular tuesday. i don't even think that lucanis is mad about that. he literally acts all chill and whatever. applauds illario for his efforts. lucanis even says . he didn't suspect for a moment when he was on that boat that it couldve been illario. it's what came afterwards that matters. the imprisonment. the torture. the demon. none of which :) illario :) did. or knew about. until rook showed up. he fully believed !!!! lucanis was dead and that was that.

i fear illario is too good of a crow and because he was thrown in veilguard that's been arguably toned down in all senses, hiding a lot of the evil compared to da2 and origins for example, he comes off as a run of the mill villian. which sucks for his character to be reduced to such. but absolutely yummy for me to dissect and write him on a deeper, better, far more interesting level.

anyway i'll stop rambling now. i have too many thoughts for illario, lol.

a lil p.s side rant tho i feel like so much of veilguards original story was written out and it was really good back then but then then they back tracked on someimportant stuff so then future content made less sense or lacked the kinda ?? information it all originally had and i jus

mmm the game we could've had alksdjaa

and one last p.s.s ??? pp...sss.... i have nothing wrong with villians. they're delicious. they make stories interesting. but i do have a lot to say about people who twist characters with selfish motivations into something they are not. illario isn't evil. he's selfish. one might even argue, a brat. he was raised to be this way. he's everything that caterina wanted in an heir. only to be pushed aside for lucanis, who she favors because ( i believe ??? she favored his mom too ? i cant remember if thats fanon or canon but i like the idea of it regardless ).

it seems that no matter what he does, or doesn't do, the lesser dellamorte will always have a target on his back, whether it's deserved or not and i think that's been the driving force behind his character from the start.

[himbopunk]

🌹and 🌷 for the ask game!

meant to do this when u sent em oops. ask game in question!

doing hakim for both of these!

🌹 What’s the first genuine fight Rook got in with their love interest about? How was it resolved?

hakim and neve fight a decent amount, their main big early one (at the cusp of their relationship like. being one lmao) was about hakim not being upfront about the fact that he grew up in tevinter as a slave before being a raider + lord of fortune. (i think its kinda like, how the dragons/crows are harsher on you because youre supposed to look out for your people and you left to go help the other. he's not a shadow dragon but it's like, something super important about his life he didn't tell Anyone until the slip up with taash and then on top of that that retroactive feeling of betrayal cuz its like, you of all people then should know what the venatori rising + losing shadow dragons would mean... it's layered.). it kind of fizzles out a bit on its own though cuz thats how hakim and neve's fights usually go, i think? they get to the point they both are yelling or something, one of them realizes what theyre doing or says something stupid and the tension falls apart. theyre both just not great at being upfrot about their feelings so they gotta yell a bit and move on. (they dont usually get like super nasty/personal/etc its just. High Feelings that burn out quick)

hakim and lucanis don't really get into many fights until after the endgame i think bc the stakes finally arent world ending enough that they can let whatever they wanna fight about be an issue. i think. either its about illario or after an encounter with caterina. i think hakim gets super frustrated with the way lucanis can be with her and hes tried to be understanding about it but its like. he's not had any functional/longterm relationships before and seeing someone he cares about struggle w the circumstances of all lucanis' family + crow shit really gets to him. and considering hakim's whole like, live freely by your choices mentality, he just doesnt really get a lot of it. so i think either they argue about some shit lucanis didnt speak up on to caterina more than once despite hakim knowing how he feels, orrr theres also just the whole. mess of hakim having previously had a thing with illario. that ones complicated cuz hakim does Not like illario and thinks hes a piece of shit and lucanis doesnt exactly have a jealous streak but i just feeeeeeel like. whenever it is they finally have a big fight post-endgame some of the illario stuff comes out too on both ends.

i think neve intervenes and talks to them both individually. they both have to take a few days to cool off and then feel really bad about everything and apologize a ton. (probably lucanis goes to bring him food as a peace offering just as hakim is coming to bring him some cute small gift like smth for his knitting or an apron or smth wyvern themed.) this is not the last time this happens ofc but its not very frequent at all.

in general ig all corners of the relationship are rly good at empathizing with the other but neve and hakim will do it like mid-fight and then lose momentum but lucanis and hakim both get blinders on a bit and it takes a couple days to set in and sort things out

🌷If Rook needed to get away from their responsibilities for a moment, where would they go? Where is their safe space outside the Lighthouse?

drew a little smth for this, but hakim likes being on the coast, somewhere he can watch the ships take off from the docks. sometimes he'll find a spot on a rooftop watching the docks in treviso or dock town in minrathous, but there's a lot of little things there that don't quite hit the same as being back in rivain... there's a sweet spot of quiet and busy the air is + the sea smells a certain way. so if he's got access to an eluvian, he'll make his way to the rivain coast (preferably the southern coast or even an island bc thats what he actually prefers but he takes what he can get.)

usually its taash or harding who finds them there first when he needs to get away

[vaguely-concerned]

I feel that during the first coffee date walk through the market, rye has a fraction of a millisecond's kneejerk trauma freakout of '...wait. wait. am I really catching feelings for a rich boy again. with how that went down last time. am I truly that stupid' (once derogatorily referred to quite openly at a party as 'young master anaxas' pet mortalitasi' to which the young master anaxas only grinned and shrugged and STILL you don't break up with his smug controlling ass for good for six more months because you have a desperate bottomless yearning pit where your self respect should go, twice shy lol). and then he actually looks at lucanis standing next to him getting harding spearmint to help with bad dreams and generally being so quietly thoughtful and sweet through the prosaic yet necessary medium of grocery shopping it makes me feel a little unwell to truly contemplate. and rye is like '*the softest fondest eyes anyone has ever turned on anything* ...you know what. I suspect we don't have to worry about that repeating, I think we're probably safe. I am comfortable being this level of stupid. (slowly dawning marital intent even at this stage)'.

(part of the reason rye buys NONE of illario's bullshit at all right from the beginning is that he's basically vaccinated against this exact type of dude after that relationship lol. charming suave guy who in the beginning pays you a lot of lavish attention and takes pains to make you feel special every time you're in a room with him -- but shallowly and mostly, it slowly dawns on you, when there's something he wants from you (and he's often doing it at the expense of someone else, raising you up to put someone else down and you won't believe this... it can turn into a seesaw at a whim. yay). and beneath that there's just a seething pit of resentment and inferiority complexes and bitterness left to fester until he can make it everyone else's problem and that IS going to start to bubble up between the cracks with you too if you stick around for long enough. no thank you been there done that wasted my youth and potential on it and all I got was this lousy shiny set of new emotional intimacy issues haunting me for life! trust me illario I HAVE, as it were, chosen the wrong dellamorte before, which is exactly how I know I didn't this time. go get him lucanis I've got your coffee

hilarious mental image: rye and illario sitting quietly together while everyone else is busy milling about during a cursed dellamorte family dinner (the vibes are so bad. you know the vibes are bad. sitting as still as you can and hoping for calm skies is your best bet without lucanis or teia favourite child privileges to work with) and rye out of the blue gazing thoughtfully into nothing over the edge of his glass with half-lidded eyes to go 'you know. you remind me a lot of my ex. not in a good way' and illario with absolutely no shame and hilariously also something that's the closest he ever gets to real sympathy going 'yeah, I get that a lot'. best talk those two ever had, unironically. their bond leveled up to its final form that day. *soulsborne boss defeated text* MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING REACHED)

[symphorine]

magician & lovers for daea!

thank youuu c:

The Magician: What are Rook's thoughts on Solas? Do they change as the story progresses?

Oh man. Daea has a LOT of thoughts on Solas. They start off wary (he IS Fen'Harel after all) but willing to hear him out and his condescention pisses them off in two seconds flat. They see him as a necessarily evil for their fight against Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, as he seems genuine in wanting to stop them, but they do not trust him or like him. They gain some respect for him and what he's done watching his memories in the Crossroads, which is then negated by seeing the memory murals and the very fact that they're right there. They see it as wallowing and making himself willfully blind to what he's doing, and they don't care for that. They get why he wants to get rid of the Veil, they're not even necessarily against the concept (what was life like for elves before? what would the world look like without it? they do want to know! it's tempting!) but the fact that he seemingly does not care enough about the fate of the elves of today to put thought into it is infuriating. Discovering what he did to Varric and then them - for MONTHS - is the last straw. By the end of the game, they hold him in contempt. If he's a god, he's a poor excuse for one, listening to his people no more than the Evanuris. If he's a man, he doesn't get a pass for his failings. Plenty of men have failed and genuinely repented and tried to do better. He could too.

I'll say that's the state of things in game canon - I'm not really happy with the way it presents Solas overall (perfectly happy with him being the antagonist and kind of an ass, but poking apart at his motivations makes the whole edifice crumble real fast), but I don't think Daea's opinion would change anyway with more solid writing if Solas behaves the same. They've made their peace with what remains of their Creators not being gods for elves, and Solas makes himself no different in their eyes.

The Lovers: Who is your Rook's most significant relationship within the Veilguard? How do they help Rook feel seen and understood?

Lucanis is their romance! They start on a relatively bad foot, as Daea is a little baffled by him and not sure they can trust him - yes he's very good at killing, but he did spend a whole year getting tortured, and clearly he and Spite are not handling the possession situation well. They do work through it, through canon quests and also quite a few sleepless nights spent together. Mostly in silence, but they do get to talking, and Lucanis, while guarded in some respects, also is quick to open (which does puzzle Daea, like, how did you survive as a Crow this long man). When he starts to care and do things for them - just having their tea ready in the morning how they like it, offering to cook food they miss from home, sharpening their sword while he's doing it to his own weapons - is when Daea does start liking him. His remembering their favorite drink DOES hit for them, because they've spent a long time not really having anyone show that care for them. They both start relying on each other more, seeking each other's opinion and thoughts, and of course Daea helps with the whole mess with Illario and Caterina. They also warm up to Spite eventually, talking to him sometimes when it's sleepwalking in Lucanis's body and realizing the extent of what it's going through during Inner Demons. Really the thing for both Daea and Lucanis is having the constant quiet support with no judgement and someone to forget the world with.

Daea is also very close to Davrin and Bellara both. With Davrin, they bond over both being Wardens, even if Daea's experience and outlook is quite different from Davrin's, and get closer after Weisshaupt. Daea argues a lot in favor of him trying to contact his clan again, and to make him see he can be something other than destined to die (at least in terms of duties; they're still both Wardens with a limited lifespan). Davrin enjoys that they're very no-nonsense and they spar a lot together. With Bellara, Daea get to feel Dalish again and they both speak a lot about what to make of their gods and the memory lore revelations, but Daea also enjoys Bellara's energy and spirit, very refreshing for them, and they love to enable her and watch her tinker away, and move heavy stuff for her if she needs. Bellara reads her writing to them outloud for editing.

[bitethedemon]

Daggers, Poison, and Shiny Things (Lucanis x Reader x Illario): Chapter 1

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Link to this fic on AO3

Tags: Slow burn, De Riva Reader, Eventual Smut, Messy Love Triangles

Fic summary: You lost everything in Rivain: your family, your home, and your hopes of ever becoming a seer. Treviso offered you revenge, but you were not prepared for the loneliness you would find amongst the Crows. The busiest assassin in Antiva became your only friend. That is, until he died and left you alone to pick up the pieces of yourself and his devastated cousin.

Imagine then, that your dead old flame shows up after a year, very much alive, with a very loud demon at his side and a hot new boss, while you have to explain that you are now dating his cousin. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

(A really messy Lucanis/Named!Reader/Illario love triangle set in Treviso. Lucanis/Rook isn't the main relationship, but reader is jealous as fuck about them)

You had been called River amongst the Crows for so long that you had almost forgotten your real name. It had been a stupid joke from when you were just a fledgling that had stuck. ‘The Rivaini de Riva’ had at some point turned into ‘River de Riva’, and that became who you were. Viago would always say that you were just as unruly as your namesake too.

Viago had found you in a sanctuary for the poor in Treviso five years ago.

…well…

That was the official story you had been ordered to tell the others and especially Teia. The real story was that he found you in a whorehouse. You were barely a human being by the time he found you. You had spent months in captivity by the Antaam.

They had burned down your village, killed everyone, and taken everything from you. They brought you with them to Treviso, but they were unsure what to do with you. It was bad luck to kill a seer, though the same superstition had not bothered them when they killed your grandmother, your mother, and all of your sisters.

However, you were not going to point out the flaws in their logic or tell them that you never got to finish your training. You needed to stay alive so you could get your revenge.

You used your time wisely. The elders of your village had always praised you for being observant, and by the gods you were going to mentally note down every word your captors said, how they said them, were they went, when they came to your cell, when they left, when they took a shit. Everything.

Viago kept an eye on you in the meantime and when they gave you over to the whorehouse, he swept in and presented revenge to you on a silver platter. The information you gave over to the Crows resulted in the downfall of the camp that had taken you. You became a de Riva that same day.

The Antivan Crows had not forgotten that the organization had roots stemming from the Chantry though. It was a tough pill for a lot of the Crows to swallow. They looked at you and saw a savage witch that spoke to demons and let spirits possess her. You did not fit in.

Even worse, you were utter shit with a dagger, much to the dismay of Viago. You were hopeless as a fledgling. Viago even hired mages to teach you more ‘appropriate’ magic, such as the way of the Spellblades, but with no luck.

You were no good at following orders either, having never been used to taking orders from a man because of the matriarchal society in Rivain. It was driving Viago up the wall. The two of you were constantly fighting and it was a wonder that he did not give up on you entirely.

He stopped your training after you had learned the mere basics. Instead, you took to poison-making. That was what you found out that you were good at, so you were left to do just that. You liked that better anyway. You were left to do what you were good at, and Viago did not get grey hair prematurely. Everyone was happy.

Except most of the other Crows, of course. They still kept their distance from you, though it mattered less when you were free to keep mostly to yourself. You had your own little laboratory to study and make poisons for everyone else in.

That was how you met Lucanis.

Lucanis was barely ever around. Being the most expensive assassin the Crows had to offer, he was always busy. You had never even met him until he was one day standing beside you in your laboratory. You had jumped at his presence and almost dropped a vial of wyvern poison on the floor.

“Three vials of Quiet Death, please,” he said politely. “If you’re not busy, of course. I can wait.”

You had blinked at him in confusion. No one ever came into your space except Viago.

“I’m…sorry…who are you?” you asked.

“Oh, forgive me,” he said and bowed his head slightly. “Lucanis Dellamorte. I have a difficult time keeping track of who I have met and not.”

“Oh,” you said quietly and looked him over. “You’re…yeah. I’m River. Sorry. Usually people go through Viago, instead of coming in here…”

“Why?” he asked plainly without a shred of judgment in his voice. “Quiet Death is a simple poison, no?”

Because they all hate me, so Viago hides me away here.

“Because…” you began. You had no answer that didn’t sound pathetic, so you changed the subject. “We are out of Deathroot, unfortunately, but I can make you something else.”

You began looking through the supplies.

“Do you have a weight estimate on your targets?”

He thought for a moment before giving surprisingly specific estimates. It was great to hear someone who knew what they were doing. If you had a gold coin for each time you had heard ‘small’, ‘average’, or ‘big’ as a weight estimate, you would have been a rich woman. Every question you asked was given a detailed answer by him.

He watched you closely as you were working, as if trying to figure out what you were doing.

“What are you making?” he asked in a curious tone.

“It’s uh…a mix of things,” you admitted. “It’s a Rivaini recipe, but I’m improvising a bit since I don’t have all the ingredients. Don’t worry though. It will work.”

“Oh, are you the Rivaini that Viago keeps talking about?”

You gave a tight smile and a small nod.

“That’s me,” you mumbled.

“Your name is River de Riva?” he asked with an amused smile that belied image of the serious master assassin that she had heard so much about. “He is going insane, you know? I have heard him describe you with many colorful phrases.”

“He does that,” you mumbled and carefully dripped the toxin into the vial you were working on.

“He says you can’t fight, but it seems you are good at this,” Lucanis said and watched the careful movements of your hands. “Did he teach you?”

“Well, first of all,” you protested slightly and put a lid on the vial to shake it. “I can fight…just not in any way that he finds acceptable. Secondly, no, poison-making was a part of my training back in my village. Viago just showed me which ones the Crows specifically use, since he doesn’t like me using the Rivaini ones that work perfectly fine. Which is why I never made you this.”

You handed him the first vial.

“Understood,” he said with a smile.

You began shaking the next one and then shook your head.

“Sorry for ranting,” you said. “I rarely get the opportunity.”

“It’s fine,” he said and studied the liquid in the vial. “You promise me that this will work?”

“It will.”

You handed him another vial and shook the last one.

“You said you received training before joining us,” he said. “As what?”

You froze for a second. The conversation was going so well, and this man seemed so nice, and now you were going to ruin it. You were sure of it. You sighed quietly.

“As a seer,” you replied reluctantly. “Though I never finished my training.”

“A seer?” he asked. “Interesting. Why did you stop?”

You look over his face for any trace of judgment. You found none. It took you by surprise.

“I didn’t.”

His brow furrowed ever so slightly at your reply. He didn’t understand. You handed him the last vial.

“My home was destroyed, and my family were killed by the Antaam,” you explained, trying your hardest to not to sound like a sad, pathetic mess. “Seer training can take almost a lifetime, and it’s taught by the women of your family. I am the only one left, so I will never finish my studies…”

His dark eyes softened when he heard, as if the words had hurt him to hear. There was some recognition of pain in his eyes, and you would only understand much later where it came from. He bowed his head slightly.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

He mumbled his thanks for the poisons and promptly left the laboratory. You mentally hit yourself over the head for the entire day for opening up in that way to him.

A couple of days later you found a history book on Rivaini seers on the table in the laboratory when you came in in the morning. It would not help you finish your training, but you appreciated the thought more than anything.

That was the beginning of your relationship with him. You quickly learned that Lucanis was a crow in the literal sense: he left gifts and shiny things. That was his love language. He was not good at talking about his own feelings, though he did not mind talking about yours when the need arose. Lucanis did everything for you to not feel alone.

Half of the things he brought you, you had no idea how he even got his hands on. He would not tell you either. He always brushed away your gratitude. In the beginning it was mostly gifts that he insisted that he had simply stumbled upon. Later, the gifts became more personal. He even learned to cook Rivaini food just for you, which he would bring when he visited.

You adored him. It was hard not to, even though you knew he was simply being nice and that him being a Dellamorte meant that anything beyond friendship was no more than a naïve dream. Family was more important than anything to Lucanis, and he would be damned if you did not feel like you belonged to one, even though he seemed to be the only willing member for a while.

Eventually, more and more of the Crows started accepting you, simply because Lucanis did. You were introduced properly to Illario as well. You had always seen Illario as a rude bastard, but because of his cousin’s interest in you, he began warming up to you too. Illario eventually began flirting despite Lucanis’ interest in you. Or perhaps because of Lucanis’ interest, you realized later.

Either way, Lucanis was not fond of the situation, but he never said anything other than a few friendly warnings to you about how Illario treats women. Lucanis obviously cared and at the end of his life it only became even more obvious.

There had been an event at Villa Dellamorte that someone of your rank would never have attended had it not been because you were friends with Caterina’s grandson. Lucanis, Illario, and you sneaked off to the wine cellar sometime during the evening. At the end of the night, Illario and you were drunk and Lucanis was tipsy too.

You only remembered the night in fragments. You know that Illario flirted relentlessly with you that evening. You didn’t want Illario, but in your drunken stupor, perhaps you reciprocated. You weren’t sure. You only remembered that Lucanis was uncomfortable, torn between not wanting to be there and not trusting Illario enough to leave you alone with him.

You vaguely remembered Illario chuckling into your ear and then feeling his lips on your neck. It was when his hand ran up your thigh that you remembered sobering up and flinching slightly.

“I think I should get you home, River,” Lucanis had said and promptly gotten up from his chair.

You felt Illario huff against your neck before leaving a small bite there. You moved away from his touch.

“Why?” Illario asked and turned his head to look at Lucanis. “We are just having fun.”

“Illario…” Lucanis said firmly.

“She doesn’t want to go home, do you, River?” Illario said and put his arm over your shoulders. “Just a little seer possessed by spirits,” he joked with a smile and looked at Lucanis. “If you are tired, you can go. I will be sure she gets home safe.”

Lucanis looked directly at you.

“Do you want to go home?”

You nodded and got up. You stumbled slightly and Lucanis offered an arm for you to lean on. You did not even have to look back to see the hateful look Illario gave him. You could practically feel the tension in the air.

“You always get what you want, don’t you, Lucanis?” Illario said with disdain. “As if your intentions are any purer than mine.”

Then Illario mumbled something in Antivan that you did not quite catch, but Lucanis certainly did. There came a low growl of anger from him, and he led you to the staircase up and out of the wine cellar before turning to Illario.

“Go upstairs,” he said to you. “I will be with you in a moment.”

You stumbled up the stairs. The second you closed the door you could hear them arguing loudly in what was no doubt very colorful language. You had never heard Lucanis like that before.

When he came up and started to lead you home, he was deadly quiet for the longest time. It made you slightly nervous and you weren’t quite sure what to say.

“Are you..mad?” you asked, slightly slurring the words.

“Yes,” he answered curtly.

Another long pause of silence.

“At…me?”

“No, River,” he said, his tone softening slightly. “Not at you. At Illario. He acts like a child sometimes.”

You nodded and looked at his face as the two of you walked, trying to figure out what he was thinking. You often did without much luck. He noticed you staring and gave you a gentle smile.

“Not far now,” he said.

You kept walking. When you got to your house, you gave him the key. You could barely look straight. He unlocked the door for you to enter. When you saw the staircase up to your room, you gave a deep sigh. Lucanis took the hint and helped you up to your room.

“I didn’t mean to, you know,” you mumbled. “For that to happen, I mean. I don’t—”

Lucanis quickly caught you before you fell backwards down the stairs. He mumbled something in Antivan and held you by your waist from behind like a parent trying to teach a child to walk.

“I don’t even like Illario,” you said, continuing your drunken babbling. “I should have done something…”

“It’s not your fault,” he said and helped you up the final steps.

He opened the door to your room and sat you down on your bed. You looked up at him.

“Thank you for getting me home,” you said. “And even bringing me in the first place. I’m sorry it became such a mess.”

“Don’t even worry about it,” he insisted and pulled the blanket on the bed aside for you to get in. “It’s nothing.”

“You always say that,” you protested. “It means the world to me. Everything you do. I need you to know that.”

He gave you a smile.

“You are drunk, River,” he said and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Can I trust that you won’t throw yourself down the stairs in the middle of the night?”

“I don’t want Illario,” you mumbled.

“You have already said that.”

“I want you.”

His eyes softened at your drunken admission. He looked over your face in almost comical confusion, as if it had not been the most obvious thing in the world that you liked him. His eyes flicked to your lips for a second and you leaned forward.

“No,” he said gently and put his hand on your shoulder to stop you. “No, no. None of that.”

Your heart sank and you must have looked like a beaten puppy to him. His rejection was a knife in your heart. You felt ridiculous for even thinking that might have been where things were going. He gently brushed his hand over your hair.

“Not like this,” he said gently. “Goodnight, River.”

He squeezed your shoulder and left.

You had kept on replaying that night over and over in your head. The mental hangover had been insane. It did not help that you did not hear from him for about a week after. When he finally came, it was early in the morning, and he sneaked up on you in your laboratory. You weren’t sure what to say when you saw him.

You tried to say something, to get any word out of your mouth, but without any luck. You became even more speechless when he walked right up to you.

“I have been thinking,” he said. “Since last time.”

At least five excuses were already at the tip of your tongue, waiting to spill out in a jumbled mess.

“Did you mean it?” he asked gently.

The excuses died on your tongue before they could ever make it out. You couldn’t lie. Not to him. You swallowed hard and nodded, readying yourself for another rejection. It never came.

Instead, he looked at you with those warm eyes of his and placed a gentle kiss on your lips.

You froze completely for a long moment. When he broke the kiss, you finally snapped back into reality and leaned in to kiss him again properly. Your heart hammered in your chest. You felt truly alive for the first time since you arrived in Treviso.

It was only a week later that he died.

You were inconsolable. To have everything taken from you, just to be given a sliver of light in your life and then have it be taken away again. The only other person you could talk to who would understand was Illario, who was trying his hardest to drink himself to death. You and Illario found an odd solace in each other during that time.

Though even when you started dating him, it did not fill the hole in your heart of losing Lucanis.

In the evenings you would sneak off to read all the books Lucanis’ had given you on seer magic. You learned to contact spirits, but you could not find the one spirit that you wanted to talk to. Needed to talk to.

This obsession only made you feel even worse. You were Illario’s now, but even then, you were still obsessed with the man who he had been forced to compete with his entire life. Even in death, Illario lived in Lucanis’ shadow. The guilt kept you up some nights, but you could just not let him go. There was no closure.

It had been over a year now.

You were hunched over a tome on seer family lines in the laboratory, when you really should have been working instead. You kept reading the books he had given you. You weren’t sure why. Perhaps, you simply felt as if it was a way to honor him.

“River,” you heard softly from behind you.

You quickly shut the book closed and stashed it under a shelf. You fiddled with some equipment, so it looked like you had been working.

“What do you need, Illario?” you asked.

“River,” the voice called again.

It sounded odd. As if he was sick or something. The tone was all wrong. He sounded like Lucanis, you realized.

You felt a hand on being laid softly on your shoulder and you turned around. You turned white as a sheet and time seemed to stop.

You clasped your hands over your mouth and your legs gave in. You slid down to the floor and looked up at him. You couldn’t breathe. You frantically reached out to touch his leg to check if he was solid or just a figment of your imagination, and then you sobbed.

He crouched down and you clung to him.

“I thought—”

“I know,” Lucanis said and squeezed your arm.

As you were crying your eyes out, a grating, hissing voice flowed through your ears all of a sudden.

“Smells like earth. Poison roots and wyvern spit.”

Your eyes darted up and widened. Behind Lucanis stood a copy of him with grey skin and eyes that glowed purple. You knew immediately what that was. It smiled at you.

“Seer!” the demon said with excitement. “She sees. Hears…”

Your mouth fell slightly agape. Lucanis looked at you.

“You can see him?” he asked urgently.

“By the gods, Lucanis…” you mumbled quietly and looked into his eyes. “Who did this to you?”

“Help us. Now,” the demon said.