#illarook

[elvhendis]

He insisted.

[deputyrook]

Absolutely obsessed with how illario tells a lucanis romancing Rook that they chose the wrong dellamorte

SAME oh my god. It’s the fact that it’s a romance specific line that really gets me- it could easily apply to Rooks that aren’t romancing Lucanis, if he had meant “you chose the wrong Dellamorte to assist with your cause, because I’m the better assassin.”

But that’s not what he meant. Illario is specifically referring to Rook choosing the wrong Dellamorte as a romantic partner.

The jealousy he must feel, to be thinking of Rook and Lucanis’ relationship in the middle of their fight is CRAZY. I’m so curious whether he wants Rook because they don’t respond to his flirting, or whether he wants them because Lucanis has them- either way, I don’t see an explanation for this line that doesn’t come down to Illario wanting Rook for himself, and that being part of his frustration at being the “lesser” Dellamorte

[rookinthecrownest]

no im not thinking about a non-Mercar Altus class shadow dragon rook who's used a persona of 'dumb, vain, pretty, spoiled princess' to get her own family (venatori) to intentionally underestimate her so she can pass information off to the SD's and the interesting dynamic that might have with a certain Dellamorte who's also used his looks to get what he wants and idk where I'm going with this the Illario brainrot is getting real bad someone come help me

[casino-lights]

I posted an excerpt a while back from a wip I titled "shameless illario apologism" and I think it's time I post the whole thing because this stupid man resurrected my urge to write. a drabble about the ending of A Murder of Crows is beneath the cut with some mentions of Illario x oc because he is unfortunately my pookie. enjoy!

He looked so pitiful on his knees, gasping for air, one eye red and swollen from a particularly swift blow to the face. A single tear streaked down his bruised cheek, leaving a shimmering trail that caught the light with every breath he heaved. His doublet was more crimson than blue now, each dark blotch blossoming further across his chest as the blood from his wounds soaked into the embroidered silk. 

It would never come out. Yet more stains to add to the ones quickly mounting on Illario Dellamorte’s reputation.

“What are you waiting for, cousin?” he panted, fully expecting Lucanis’ blade to sink into his flesh any second now. “Finish what you start.”

Though he cast his eyes downward, he refused to close them. He would not meet his end in the dark. But his grandmother’s voice made him raise his face, and his heart plummeted into his stomach as he watched her make her way toward the stage he knelt upon.

“Get up, Illario,” she said flatly, as if she were simply asking him to take his feet off the coffee table. “No one from House Dellamorte kneels.”

As Viago hoisted him roughly to his feet, he found himself wondering if his parents were forced to their knees as they died. Were Lucanis’ parents? Were their cousins? Were their cousins even old enough to stand?

Illario forced himself to meet Lucanis’ eyes. Defiant, even until the end. If he was going to die at his cousin’s hand, he would look him in the eyes first. He would look their grandmother in the eyes and hope, as he had hoped his whole life, that maybe she would see that her least favorite grandson was capable of more than she thought. 

Lucanis asked his companion what to do with him. Rook. The woman who saved him from the prison he was in by Illario’s hand.

She responded with a question in kind: “Didn’t you say he’s like a brother to you? That he is your brother?”

As if Illario needed to feel even more shame. It was hard enough to look Lucanis in the eyes without memories of their childhood flashing across his mind. Wyvern-hunting. Prickle-burrs. Canes across the back. Coffee in the kitchen. Too-hot cookies. Tying knots with bloody fingers. Sauce-covered faces. Tear-stained cheeks. Crying against each other in the dark.

Lucanis was all he had. The only person he could ever rely on. The last member of his family who didn’t hate him, didn’t hurt him, didn’t think he was worthless. And Illario betrayed him.

Of course, when Illario taunted him, told him he used to be somebody, Lucanis replied with a bitter, too-quick, “And you never were.” Maybe he was hiding the hatred all along. Maybe he never respected Illario at all. Maybe Zara was right. His family never loved him.

“He was my best friend,” Lucanis said, looking at Rook. “One of my only friends, before you.”

Zara’s voice rang in Illario’s ears. A touching lie.

In a voice thick with the blood that coated his throat, Illario rasped, “You think you can show me mercy? That is not up to you, is it? Caterina is still First Talon.”

And like clockwork, Caterina answered, “His decision stands. Lucanis is the new First Talon of the Antivan Crows.”

Lucanis looked more surprised than Illario. He couldn’t muster shock. With both of them alive and present, this was the only possible outcome. This was why Zara told him he had to get rid of them. This was what he had suffered Lucanis’ presumed death to prevent.

“Viago, keep him out of trouble,” Lucanis said with a weary sigh. “I’ll come by to discuss the details in a day or two.”

“I’m no miracle worker,” Viago replied dryly, “but I’ll see what I can do.”

Illario the troublemaker. Dellamorte the Lesser. It was who he had always been. Sometimes, when he was in a more generous mood, he would joke about it. But it was always true, whether or not he gave himself the nickname in jest. Caterina saw him as an annoyance and a burden, and Lucanis… who knows how Lucanis really saw him? Right now, he was treating him like a little boy throwing a tantrum, not someone who had the throne of the most feared guild of assassins in Thedas within his grasp mere minutes ago. Was it brotherly love, or blatant disregard for everything Illario had accomplished?

All this for nothing. Worse than nothing. His grand prize was a crippling, mortifying defeat at the hands of the Demon of Vyrantium and an outsider, in front of every Talon, every House, every Crow with any kind of sway. The best he could hope for now was either a merciful death or a lot of short memories. His reward for his scheme, nearly two years in the making, was disgrace.

As Viago pulled him away, he looked only at his cousin. He mustered half a grin through the searing embarrassment. “Lucanis…”

“Don’t, Illario. Not now.” And he turned his head away.

Every step hurt worse than the last. His adrenaline wore off, leaving him tired and sore. He felt as pitiful as he looked. He felt like a child. His chest burned, his throat felt raw, and though his wounds stung and still seeped blood, it was his lungs that tightened, swelling with the urge to cry. 

He had not cried since Lucanis’ wake. Ironically enough, Viago had to escort him up the stairs then, too. Illario suddenly wished he was as drunk as he’d been that night, or that Viago would be merciful enough to knock him out again. Based on the sheer hatred in his eyes, though, that seemed like a faraway prospect. And his head would still hurt in the morning without any of the blissful forgetfulness a drunken stupor would bring.

The only thing missing from the next morning would be Lidia. She’d practically torn the Diamond’s guest wing apart looking for him after the wake. She hounded him until he ate, followed him through the city until he was weary enough to sleep, held his head in her lap and ran her fingers through his hair and soothed him until he could drag himself out of bed. She never knew how much of that paralysis, that deep depression he fell into was pure guilt. And still, all she ever did was defend him. After that depression was over, when Caterina and Viago questioned his ability to return to work; after Lucanis came back, when he tricked her into leaving the Diamond just in time for Zara’s people to take Caterina; after he killed Zara, when he held Lidia with scrubbed-raw hands and told her he didn’t want to fight anymore and that he could finally give her everything he promised if she could only just trust him a little while longer…

There would be no similar concern from her this time - not after what he put her through. He drained her blood in her sleep so he could find her if she ever left. He lied to her for over a year about where he was and with whom. He kissed her goodnight and held her until she was fast asleep before swapping his chest for a pillow and sneaking out their bedroom window so he could see Zara. 

He would return to Lidia before sunrise. That had been his promise to himself. Return to Lidia before sunrise, because she always looked her loveliest at dawn. He slipped back in through the window after a bath and crawled back into their bed, and she curled up against him and smiled and mumbled something drowsily about how he smelled nice. Every time, she asked if the job went well. Every time, he said yes. And every time, he felt that heavy ache like stones piled on top of his chest, another weight added with each contented sigh or nuzzle of her head.

He touched Zara with the same hands he touched her with only an hour before. He did it so many times he lost count. He always tried to make it up to her in the morning - a one-sided debt that kept growing and growing as he drew from her seemingly never-ending well of trust without ever replenishing it. Another betrayal to add to his list. Another person who actually loved him, lost to his own ambitions and Zara’s unfulfilled promises. He thought he would only lose Lucanis. He had prepared himself for that. He thought it would be quick and painless and Lucanis would never feel the sting of knowing his cousin - his brother - sold him out. 

And now he stood at the door of the smallest guest room in Villa Dellamorte, having cost himself Lucanis, Caterina, Zara, Teia, and everyone else who may have loved or even simply tolerated him once. He had no one and nothing to show for his efforts.

Not even Lidia. 

It would have been too much to hope that Viago would bring him to his own room. That would be much too comfortable for a traitor like him - and much too close to the new First Talon’s room. He stepped inside the guest room without a word to Viago, whose disapproving stare said more than enough to fill the silence.

As Illario sat weakly on the footstool at the end of the bed, Viago rolled his eyes and finally broke the quiet. “I’ll have a healer stop by. It’s more than you deserve, but I’m sure you know that. The First Talon wants you alive. Think on why.”

He locked the door behind him. And Illario was alone.

[dellamortethelesser]

wip excerpt 'cause i need motivation to finish this thang

Illario came around to their side of the table, passing by Viago to glance down at the specific stack in their hands. "What is it?" "The matter of payment; these are your contracts, after all." "Well, House de Riva is potentially working with me. How much do you want?" "Half." "I'll consider it." At least it wasn't a no. "Then you have your interrogator," Andrea said, reaching out to press the papers back into Illario's hands. He took them, but leaned in ever so slightly. "And I suppose you have your charmer." Viago coughed loudly. "And I have another meeting at dawn. I take it we're finished."

their first meeting :)

[elvhendis]

Illario x Rook fanart?? it's more likely than you think

[casino-lights]

"do you know what they call an orgasm in orlais?"

"if you finish that line, i'll kill you in your sleep."

"so you'll be coming to bed with me after all? perfect."

[casino-lights]

whoever let them out of treviso unleashed a second blight upon thedas

[deputyrook]

Here’s how illarook can still win: Illario figuring that his best chance out of house arrest is by charming Rook. And Rook isn’t totally oblivious, they know what Illario’s trying to do, so they just keep shrugging it off. He’s not used to actually have to work at seduction, and accidentally falls for them. pining Illario x Rook who’s aware of his game

Oh god that's so CUTE I love this. This also works really well for a non-de Riva Rook (though the psychic damage this would give Viago for a de Riva Rook is also fantastic lol)

I would also raise you: Rook who is absolutely vulnerable to being flirted with, who has never been the person that gets flirted with. Rook knowing that Illario is only flirting with them because he's trying to manipulate them- but Rook can't help but react to it.

Just... Illario running a finger across Rook's jaw as he teases them. Rook freezing, Illario watching as colour just floods their cheeks. Rook practically leaping away from him and skittering away, huffing in annoyance... and Illario knowing full well how badly his flirting affects Rook, despite how they continue to brush him off and avoid him.

[deputyrook]

(No ur so right about Illario x Rook dub/noncon. It’s literally ‘my virgin cousin vs chad me’ to Illario in the darkest parts of his heart. Plus I like to think Illario has a habit of luring Lucanis’ potential paramours to himself bc that’s the only way he feels he can one-up his cousin)

Yesssss. Illario has so much simmering resentment toward Lucanis being the favourite, I definitely think he takes some pride in the fact that he is (at least) charming and flirtatious in a way Lucanis never can be. I remember seeing a post suggesting that every time Lucanis starts getting a crush on someone, Illario swoops in and sleeps with the person he’s crushing on out of spite, and I can absolutely see that happening with the way he seems to react with jealousy toward Rook specifically. I think Rook rebuffing all of his attempts only makes him want them more tbh.

And like, I don’t think this jealousy is necessarily going to get better post-endgame? Arguably it could get even worse? I’m so interested in what Illario’s fucked up relationship with Rook is like post-game.

[casino-lights]

meet the new contenders for treviso's messiest couple

[deputyrook]

you are so right, illario/rook non/dubcon from his jealousy vibe is SO good. it just fits so well and yeah from that line definitely doesn't feel like it would be totally out of character at all

I’m just saying, at the very least I love the idea of a party post-game where Illario gets absolutely shitfaced and gets a little handsy with Rook, where Lucanis walks in on him cornering her, trying to make a move...

[casino-lights]

yes I do take screenshots every time they look at each other in cutscenes why do you ask

[casino-lights]

I updated my graphics settings so here's these lovebirds (derogatory) again

[casino-lights]

would love to hear 1 + 4 for lidia !!!!

thank you for the ask!!! the answers are below the cut to save everyone's dashes lmao

1: an overheard conversation about your OC

A note in Lucanis’ careful hand:

I know you said I owe you nothing, but enough has been said behind your back lately. I heard your name mentioned between Caterina and Teia; I feel you deserve to know. I will try to remind Caterina of your merits, but if she truly disapproved of you, you would know. Still, you know as well as I that her favor is temperamental at best.

C: Lidia is a fine Crow, but she is no longer tied to House Dellamorte. I believe she would serve House Cantori better.

T: Respectfully, I disagree. She is very much still tied to House Dellamorte, and House Cantori is doing well enough that I’d be comfortable declining.

C: She will never truly be a Dellamorte unless she marries in, and she seems uninterested given recent events.

T: She’s conflicted. Give her time.

C: Illario deserves neither her forgiveness nor her hand.

T: It doesn’t matter what he deserves. Lucanis is still her family. And Illario, as stupid as he was, as cruel as he was, still means something to her. His idiocy didn’t dampen their feelings for each other as much as they’d each like to think.

C: She would be foolish to return to him.

T: Return? She should kill him, but there aren’t enough Dellamortes left to go around killing the few we do have. Otherwise you would have done it by now.

C: Nonsense. I would have Lucanis do it.

T: Well, since that isn’t going to happen, we’ll just have to let Lidia work it out on her own. And while she does, she’ll keep getting her jobs from you.

C: From the First Talon, you mean.

T: I said what I meant. Lucanis is still working on his current contract, and if he gives her anything, it will be four-person jobs with himself, his cousin, and Rook at the same time. A proper Crow family outing. You know he likes to bring family on jobs.

Caterina just scoffed at this. It’s worrying how well Teia predicted our last job. 

As an aside, please know I would never kill you on Caterina’s orders. As the First Talon, I swear this to you: you will never die at the hands of a Dellamorte, and anyone else who tries will have to go through me.

4: a letter from your OC to their love interest

An unsent letter, crumpled after seemingly being saved from a fire:

Illario,

I don’t know what exactly to say, so I’m writing this in the hopes that it will be more coherent than a conversation. I am, firstly and most sincerely, so, so sorry. I know your feelings toward Caterina were complicated on good days, but it’s still a loss, and if you need anything, you know I’ll be here. While I’m hoping you won’t stop eating like you did after Lucanis’ wake, I will make you pastina again if you do. If it tastes better than usual, that has nothing to do with Lucanis’ return, I swear. You don’t have to do everything alone, but that being said, I hope his presence doesn’t mean you stop sharing your feelings with me because you feel like you’ve put too much on me over this year.

I don’t want to make this about myself, but I still feel like this is at least partially my fault. If I hadn’t followed you after you led Rook to the docks, you would have returned to the Diamond, or at the very least, I would have been there. You know I would have fought to the death. Not that Teia and Viago didn’t, of course, and I know we lost a few other good Crows that day, but maybe you and I could have made a difference. I don’t know. I should have just left it alone. Not every bad feeling I have is some terrible premonition, and I need to trust you more than I did that day.

I’m sure you had a lovely date planned around that necklace, too. Stealing those few hours just for us felt so freeing at the time but now I just wonder what was happening at the Diamond while we were sneaking into the villa. Now I don’t even want to go back there. There aren’t enough words to tell you how sorry I am.

I’m sure you would just comfort me as always. Maybe that’s why I’m writing this instead of telling you in person. Maybe I want to apologize a dozen times and linger in my self-imposed guilt longer than you would let me, you beautiful sap. You never can stand to see me upset. Just let me have this for a moment and don’t rush to reassure me “if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine” like you always do.

Please take care of yourself, Rio. I love you. I’ll always–

The letter is too charred to read further. Barely legible is the signature “your Lidia” with the top of the L curling into a heart.

[casino-lights]

update: they are in the same room

and what if I use photo mode and strategic angles to take screenshots of my oc standing next to illario. what then