#hjördis laidir

[choccy-zefirka]

All my Emmrich kissers! There are eight of them now! Maybe I need to make a number nine so we have Fellowship of the Emmrook

[choccy-zefirka]

It's a common theme for my Emmrook ships that they bond through a silly hobby that Rook has and hides out of embarrassment, only for someone from the inner circle (usually Emmrich) to discover it and support them; or a silly hobby that Rook does not hide but might not always be taken seriously for, persisting regardless and infecting Emmrich with their enthusiasm.

Specifically:

Evaraas Mercar writes crime serials and submits them anonymously to a Tevinter paper. They are very shy and secretive about this side of themself, until Neve puts two and two together and presents her findings to the book club, and Emmrich realizes that Evaraas has based a character on him. I have written a whole fic about it!

Hjördis Laidir has a flair for the theatrics, specifically dramatic storytelling with magical effects. She takes advantage of camping out in the Fade to put on elaborate shows with spirit actors and illusory backdrops, often featuring parodies of the villains the team once encountered. Other shows are recreations of her escapades with the Lords of Fortune. She does not force anyone to be in the audience, but Manfred and Spite are both delighted to watch, in their own way, as is Bellara. Emmrich, for his own part, is utterly giddy to be swept off in a world of adventure, like an enchanted princess on Hjördis' magic carpet ride. After learning the truth about Varric, Hjördis grows ashamed of her storytelling antics, because she will never measure up to Varric's legacy, but her companions reassure her otherwise.

(She also likes playing board games with Johanna's skull, though she cares more about Rule of Cool than about dice rolls. I don't think Johanna minds, as you can hardly go more Rule of Cool than turning into a giant skeleton).

Sataa Mercar was raised by her overprotective adoptive parents as a very sheltered, airy fairy maiden, learning all the elegant arts like embroidery and music. Later, after running away to join the Shadow Dragons and seeing the true horrors and corruption of Tevinter, she swears off her "frivolous" hobbies as a vestige of her past life. Yet the music room at the Lighthouse beckons her, and eventually, she reveals this terrible secret to Emmrich (at the time, she is not as close to him as to some of her other companions, so it feels less painful to disappoint him). Yet he insists that there is a place for beauty and hope even in a dark, blighted world.

Da'Adahl Laidir is a former Sentinel who stumbled upon a group of treasure hunters in an elven ruin and ended up joining them to see more of the modern world. Like Sataa, she is spreading her wings and discovering herself after a sheltered youth, only in reverse: her mentors, Abelas in particular, insisted that the Thedas of today is a decaying husk, innately grim and filled with untold dangers. Yet she is absolutely delighted to discover all the little things that make everyday people smile. You could say that her hobby is cultural studies, and she is very passionate about it, to the point of being annoying, but thankfully, she has her Yapper Squad (Bellara and Emmrich).

Beata Ingellvar is into fashion and makeup, and also paints a little. Since she favors a flowery pastel aesthetic, with a lot of pink and sunrise hues, and is a gorgeous petite dwarfette with an hourglass figure to boot, many people assume she is too stupid for the serious and important pursuits of a Mourn Watcher. Nonetheless, she asserts herself with spunk and confidence, and Emmrich is there to cheer her on through very rare slips into self-doubt.

Lenore Aldwir has always liked alchemy, and while her hobby was recognized as valuable by the various groups she joined — first the Agents of Fen'Harel, then the Veiljumpers — she never actually *talked* to anyone about it, because past bullying for her appearance has made her withdrawn and guarded, and because some people assume, looking upon her with a mix of fatphobia and ableism, that she is some kind of "not all there" savant and can't actually talk like a "normal person". She has resigned to being dismissed as a stupid, weird creature skulking in the background while normal people live their lives, and rarely speaks up even among her companions. Assan and Manfred are a different story; they will never judge her, and she often rambles to them about the formulas she's mixing while they watch her work. One day, Emmrich comes looking for Manfred and finds him listening, enraptured, to one of Lenore's alchemy lectures. She is mortified, because Emmrich is an actual academic and she is self-taught, and swears she did not mean to disrupt Manfred's studies and steal him away... But her fate is sealed. Emmrich is officially in love.

Vashkost Thorne is a cheery, larger-than-life Grey Warden whom Evka and Antoine rescued from a Tal-Vashoth cult that was trying to achieve ultimate strength by drinking darkspawn blood (not unlike the Antaam would soon do under Ghilan'nain's guidance). A lot about her is inspired by Karlach — the one broken horn, the unrelenting friendliness, the boundless optimism born out of living on borrowed time, the occasional bursts of righteous anger — so her silly little hobby is making plushies, in honor of Clive! I hc that she kisses both Emmrich and Bellara, who get soft, handcrafted gifts. (Manfred gets a teddy bear that's almost as big as he is).

Otrera Aldwir is a Veiljumper for gameplay reasons, but her "true origin" is a former agent of the Inquisition. Harding took her under her wing when, 10 years ago, Otrera was exiled to the surface from Orzammar for catching a glimpse of the sun through the crack caused by the tremors in Descent. Originally, though, Otrera was a very dedicated young member of the Warrior Caste, and trained ardently to protect her city. A cousin of hers was a Silent Sister, and Otrera would often follow her around, acting as her sign language interpreter. This instilled a love of translation and interpreting in her, though right now, she does not allow herself to have hobbies, because whenever she finds a cause to follow, she throws herself all-in, without a moment of rest and reflection. Somebody make her put her sword down and read a nice book of translated dwarven poems or something.

The last two Emmrich kissers without a silly little hobby are Vitaar Laidir, a deliberately crude pirate who secretly longs to be loved (and recently discovered that the Fade shenanigans are turning her into a mage), and Araña de Riva, a mournful and brooding half-elf, half-Qunari assassin who was picked up by the Crows off the streets, where she was doing gymnast and contortionist tricks to earn some coin. I suppose acrobatics/parkour could be her silly little hobby, but she's come associate it too much with her job (which she hates).

Any ideas? :D Assuming you've read thus far.

[choccy-zefirka]

Another bit of Emmrichmancer comparison: romantic and sexual history prior to meeting Emmrich!

Sorry for using the same visuals, I am comfy cozy in bed and can't take new screenshots.

Evaraas Mercar. Virgin. They barely have their role figured out, and have no clue how even to approach people about this relationship thing. They just assume their crushes are not mutual, bottle things up, and move on. Once they do come clean to Emmrich about their feelings, they trust him to give them a fun time, and as he does, they realize they are feeling attracted to him not just romantically, but sexually as well.

Hjördis Laidir. Has had a bunch of partners, though nothing long-term. Acts like your typical flirty rogue, and catches feelings for Emmrich accidentally in the middle of teasing him. Likes dropping hints that, as a pirate and treasure hunter, she's really good with ropes.

Sataa Mercar. At the time of joining the Shadow Dragons, had been completely isolated by her adoptive parents "for her protection"; upon running off, was determined to discover all of the world, including "adult activities". Is good friends with a few sex workers she patronizes, and has helped them out as a Shadow Dragon. Tries to shake off her childish belief in romance as a shameful mark of her past life... But sike!

Da'Adahl Laidir. Fooled around with a couple of her fellow young Sentinels in between training and worship rituals, but their trysts would always get broken up by Abelas. Has a huge romantic heart and is excited to learn about the modern Thedosian courtship traditions.

Beata Ingellvar. Had a steady boyfriend who she thought was going to propose to her, only for him to reject her as "too unserious" for an aspiring Mourn Watcher of the illustrious Pentaghast lineage. (See, Legally Blonde).

Lenore Aldwir. Had one, very awful sexual experience that left her disgusted by her own body for a decade. Deserves to be loved and cherished, and Emmrich is the perfect candidate for that.

Vashkost Thorne. Was dragged into a cult as a teenager with scarcely any sexual experience. Now that she is free, is very enthusiastic and touch-starved, plus has a newfound Warden stamina. Can't wait to passionately make out with Emmrich *and* Bellara.

Otrera Aldwir. Virgin. She is a warrior, she Trains and Fights. Emmrich joining the team has somewhat distracted her from Training and Fighting. She is worried it might be detrimental to the mission, but also... Well, it's Emmrich.

Vitaar Laidir. Had plenty of partners but always felt awkward and unsatisfied, because they expected her to act out the Big Mommy Dom archetype because of her appearance, while she'd rather have grapes fed to her or something. Emmrich is teaching Manfred how to remove grape seeds as we speak.

Araña de Riva. Virgin. She is a grim and brooding living weapon that never knew the tender touch of a lover. Her House, before it fell and she was taken in by Viago, was particularly brutal to its fledglings, and she is still stewing in angst over that. Teia is worried for her well-being and may or may not have held a knife to Emmrich's throat, making him promise not to break her heart.

[choccy-zefirka]

Fic Author Self-Rec!!

Thank you @volkoss for tagging me! :D

The rule was to hype up five of your fics, and I am happy to oblige! LOOK AT IT

Mister Monster — Skyrim, Gen, Rated Teen and Up (mostly for some self-destructive thoughts among minors brought about by child abuse and general shitty living conditions), 1500 words

An old-ish Skyrim fic that I polished and reuploaded, describing how my vampire character uses his powers to rescue kids and thus becomes an urban legend: a monster that you have to summon/invite in if you want help. Can be read if you have minimal knowledge of Skyrim, if you don't mind the occasional name drops for fantasy races. I really like its narration style, a sort of campfire story passed on by the older kids; and for a gen fic, it did pretty well too!

Doomscrolling — Mass Effect, Shakarian (pre-relationship), Rated Teen and Up, 3,380 words

Basically, Garrus is sitting around on Omega all sad because he thinks Shepard is dead, and thinks back to some bonding moments they had.

This was my first time trying to write something for the trilogy, let alone for such a popular character/ship: I'd previously written a couple of Andromeda drabbles, as I played that game before MELE, but did not even attempt to step into ME fandom spaces, because of the game's reception. Plus, I kept hearing from friends who were in the trilogy fandom that Garrus/Shakarian fans had a reputation for being obnoxious bullies, and when I took a shine to Garrus, I immediately felt a surge of immense guilt. Those were the feelings I had to battle through while writing this story; I did, however, persevere, and am proud of the result! It also helped me discover friendly, welcoming communities of Garrus fans, full of amazing people whom I'm proud to share a blorbo with! And lastly, I peppered in a bunch of pop culture references that may seem corny but made me smile.

Passing of the Years — Dragon Age: Inquisition, Inquisitor Lavellan/Gereon Alexius (not the main focus), Rated Teen and Up, 2,090 words

A character study of Elgara Lavellan, a city elf mage who was taken from her loving community to the Circle and, after growing up there, had to be made Tranquil because she freed the demon that had been trapped in the Fade to test apprentices at Harrowings. It explores her perception of the world as she lost her emotions and then regained them thanks to the Mark, and challenges her fear that she might be too old to explore her sexuality (she was a virgin at the time of her failed Harrowing, and still remained one 20 years later). I like the repeated motifs I use in narration: the colors of a sunset, the sight and sound of cute fat little birds on a branch, the taste of berry porridge. The simple everyday things that Elgara reacts to differently depending on where she is in life. My friends, who read the fic out loud as it had been chosen for our Discord server's fic reading calls, were also deeply moved by my writing, which means a lot to me.

Hjördis Laidir's Guide to Being Fearless — Dragon Age: the Veilguard, Emmrook (at the very end if you squint), Rated Teen and Up, 925 words

Another character study, describing the thought process of Hjördis, a young Lord of Fortune who projects a daring pirate persona in order to mask the fact that she's terrified of a lot of things. She tries to act impulsive before her anxious brain catches up to her, which eventually leads to her flirting with Emmrich in order to silence her fear of necromancy (given that she was a street urchin adopted in Kirkwall by Hawkemeribela, and her only other point of reference for necromancers is Quentin). This one is maybe not of a particular interest to my fellow fans, as with both BG3 and Veilguard, I have noticed a shift to blank-slate protagonists or reader inserts (which are very tricky to write for me, and I applaud anyone who does!). But I personally like being in Hjördis' head, she's such a mess masquerading as a storybook adventurer. The Flynn Ryder to Emmrich's Rapunzel, if you will.

A Trifle — Dragon Age: Inquisition, Gen, Rated General Audiences, 1,376 words

A little scene where Alexius, now assigned by the Inquisitor to work for Fiona, befriends a bunch of mage kids and begrudgingly slips back into his half-forgotten teacher persona. Also there's a cute cat.

I usually write about Alexius' redemption arc in the context of his Enemies to Lovers romance with the a specific Inquisitor, so it was fun to create a general hc/scenario that might fit anywhere, including in my friends' worldstates (should they share my Alexius woobification vision). It's a bit adjacent to blank slate protagonist fics, so a fun challenge for my OC-pilled brain :D

Thanks to everyone who reads this post (and gentle forehead kissies if you decide to follow the links).

I tag @druckkugelschreiber , @whiskynorocks , @bearlytolerant , @sky-scribbles and @lazyadmiral

[choccy-zefirka]

Your Emrook fanfics have been very cute but I am a little confused because in every story there is a different Rook. I really liked your pink Mourn Watcher girl but when I look for more stuff about her on your blog I keep finding other Rooks? It's a little confusing because usually people have one main character and ship on their blog

Yeah, sorry, I honestly really admire people who have one (1) OC that they consistently make content for, because I keep coming up with new ones (I even downloaded a mod that lets you have 99 Rooks on PC instead of 10). At one point, I actually attempted to tag all of my OCs but quickly gave up because the tag search was not returning all posts that I clearly remembered putting in there. I guess you will just have to bear with me, or send me asks if you are interested in a specific OC!

So far, the characters I ship with Emmrich are:

Evaraas Mercar, nb Qunari Shadow Dragon warrior; main source of character conflict — not knowing what "role" they have and fearing that their existence is not truly valid without a role

Hjördis Laidir, female elf Lord of Fortune mage; main source of character conflict — wanting to prove that she is not a coward and acting reckless to run away from her own fears

Lenore Aldwir, demigirl elf Veil Jumper mage; main source of character conflict — healing from childhood trauma caused by domestic violence and being bullied for her appearance

Beata Ingellvar, female dwarf Mourn Watch warrior; main source of character conflict — dealing with people who assume she is vapid and unintelligent because she enjoys a candy pink femme aesthetic

Araña de Riva, female Qunari Crow rogue; main source of character conflict — hating her profession and not believing that she can be a good person

I am also sorry to say that I am currently cooking a new Shadow Dragon Rook for Emmrich to explore ideas that did not fit into Evaraas' backstory

I sincerely wish my focus on OC creation was not as meandering, but I am just glad I am inspired to do OC stuff at all, considering the overall state of the world

[choccy-zefirka]

Fic game!

Tagged by @gallows-into-oblivion , thank you so much!

Rules: You will be given a word. Then you share one sentence/excerpt from your WIP(s) that starts with each letter of your word!

My word was FIRE, and again, since I don't have WIPs (I like to finish a small ficlet in one sitting and be done with it), I will just be sharing from the files on my computer! Thankfully there are not a lot of them atm because I regularly sweep my stuff up on an external drive. Mostly Veilguard stuff, mostly Emmrich x various Rooks.

***

Finer points of anatomy.

Her eyes dart upwards from her hand, and she gapes across their elegantly arranged tea table. Emmrich smiles, soft yet playful, eyes half-lidded and shining in the wisp light.

There is that side of him, that confidence — decades' worth of it — that sometimes makes her, all flushed and boiling alive in unspoken greed, wish for more than just quick kisses and lingering glances and fingertips resting on knuckles, shoulders, waists, whenever they stand too close. As if all of that was not already a gift far more generous than normally granted from someone like him to someone like her.

(Emmrich x Lenore Aldwir)

***

"I got a trophy from Fangscorcher, and then Rook came along and asked to help with a thing. A Qunari thing. I'm Rivaini, they were — are! — Tevinter, but some Qunari stuff just makes sense. To us both.”

Taash's brows knit together again, and their gaze snaps back, directly at Emmrich.

"The Qunari have a custom," they say with deliberate slowness, extending their open hand with the pendant. "When two people want to show how much they mean to each other, they take a dragon's tooth, split it in two, and each keeps a half on them. Always. So — "

They pause; Emmrich slowly raises a shaky hand to his mouth, realization beginning to dawn.

"Rook had one half with them already. This one was meant for you. I think they wanted to give it to you before we sailed to that stupid island, but..."

(Emmrich x Evaraas Mercar)

***

Right. You don't think. You follow your first impulse. Which, since you are — I am — also the daughter of Mama Bela, is to flirt. Relentlessly. Strike a confident pause. Try to stare him down, even if you barely reach his chest. See what will finally make that bookworm stumble over his words; what will finally make a blush creep over his cheeks.

Then, you just might realize that he is not so terrifying after all. That he is courteous and attentive... Which shouldn't matter; Mama Hawke always said that the death mage from the foundry was courteous and attentive with her mother before he took her... He wooed her with white flowers, dammit!

But — but his smile seems so sincere. His eyes seem so kind.

Watch out. You may slip. You may plummet.

Oh.

Oh shit.

(Emmrich x Hjördis Laidir)

***

Ever since then, the crypt has not seen a moment of peace and quiet, and even the sleeping forebears were woken up eventually. The child's squeals turned to laughter, to babbling, to long, excited conversations with her dear uncles and aunties, her sisters — the Ingellvar women that died particularly young — and her favorite grandma, whose gentle bony hand was her first memory.

(No Emmrich here, but Beata Ingellvar do be kissing him)

Okay, now that I've been typing for a while, I think I feel a bit less awkward about tagging people, so @sky-scribbles hewwo your word is BEARD (because Rookwall hfdjfhsdf)

[choccy-zefirka]

🌷🪷

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

I will answer this for Beata Ingellvar! Her safe space is the Ingellvar crypt, where she can chill with her undead family and dress up her skeleton aunties into pretty colors! They seem to enjoy it, and never judge her for being too frivolous for a Mourn Watcher just because she likes a hyperfeminine aesthetic

🪷 Does your Rook have an irrational phobia? (ie spiders or large man-made objects submerged underwater)

Hjördis Laidir has a ton of phobias, especially a fear of heights! She pushes through her fears, though, as she has a public-facing persona of a fearless pirate, and also does not want to be a burden on others like she was as a scared child.