#they know I have the dellamorte brainrot

[haedia]

Friend: "Hey, how're you doing today?"

Me, thinking about how Lucanis loves Romance novels probably in part because he knows he'll be expected to carry on the Dellamorte legacy and that Caterina most likely already has a future spouse for him in mind, so, he's lived his life knowing he won't be given the opportunity to fall in love the way he's read about: "Oh, I'm fine"

[rookinthecrownest]

Illarook brainrot: what is it that draws people to Lucanis and away from Illario? That he’s kind. While Illario was told not to be and unlike him learned his lesson too well, now doomed to watch as others prefer his cousin who didn’t have all the empathy beaten out of him.

And then someone, Rook, chooses Illario for once and sees something in him that he didn’t even know was there

I am forever REELING at how unfair life has been for these two.

Lucanis for shouldering the pressure and lack of freedom that comes with being 'the golden child' - something he never asked for, Illario for being the black sheep and very obviously left out of this bond that Caterina (his main caregiver since he was EIGHT) and Lucanis share.

Lucanis was allowed to stay kind, and was given more leeway with his kind heart on jobs because of Caterina's favouritism. While Illario never had that luxury, and so he had to work twice as hard at being what his view of 'the best Crow he could be' was, to get even a fraction of the recognition Lucanis got? OUCH!!!

I'm reminded of that line of a DurgeTav from BG3

"Was I sweet once?"

Could a Rook who chooses him above all others bring back the sweetness that might have once been there?

I'd like to think so.

And this is just me spiralling here but;

It starts with small things. Maybe a moment at the final battle in Minrathous. A small smile of acknowledgement. Something that says 'Thank you for being here, don't die'. And then in the aftermath (assuming Illario isn't imprisoned), finding him in Treviso, probably very alone despite being watched/surrounded at all times (social pariah things, yknow).

Rook calls back to that meeting on the rooftop before Lucanis and Rook fight Zara at the Chantry. 'You promised you'd show me the sights, so pay up, Dellamorte'

Illario taking Rook out to the markets and showing them all the good vendors and the ones to stay away from (game recognizes game so to speak), and being surprised that someone actually earnestly cares about his opinion and listens to him.

Going back to cafe pietra. They make a habit out of it. Rook's a bit lost after saving the world (Who am I when the world doesn't need Rook anymore?), Illario's lost after ... well, everything.

Slowly, but surely, two lost souls find a little bit of themselves in each other.

Rook forces Illario to be more honest with himself and others. Illario teaches Rook to be a little more selfish sometimes.

:')

[dellamortethelesser]

I saw we were yapping about my dearest failure, Illario.

I just wanna dissect him, literally gnawing on the bars of my enclosure near constantly amidst my usual brainrot.

Supposedly he has to be intelligent, Lucanis believes he’s destined to be first talon when they’re younger, that’s cannot be all charm and sibling affection right? And he conned the Venatori into listening to him despite not being a mage! Sure the Venatori are idiots but they are pretty resolute on their whole mage bit!

I called him a peacock to my friend the other day and I have not managed to fully let go of it. I live in an area where I’ve unfortunately had run ins with peacocks in the past and he just really reminds me of them. He just wants attention/validation so bad the poor man and the other crows only ever mention him as annoying and dramatic, meanwhile he’s on some rooftop screaming and flagging his tail feathers around.

He cannot be this completely of an idiot can he? He managed to sneak around with Zara for a whole year, despite Caterina being hyper vigilant because she was suspicious of a traitor. That could not have been blind luck and I don’t think his grandmother is capable of falling for his charm, I want so much more of sneaky intelligent Illario, but not less of spectacularly bad opera villain.

I…had a point, I know I did, but I don’t remember what it was 😅

I'm always yapping about illario on this blog </3

I'm not sure if Lucanis thought that Illario was destined to be First Talon, but he definitely preferred Illario for the role--saying that he had the silver tongue and that his own talents lied elsewhere. I don't think that was a lie, and it was probably the closest to a compliment we see him give Illario in The Wigmaker Job (TWJ).

I'm unsure if I think he really believed that Illario was going to be made First Talon, though, because just afterwards he acknowledges that even he's heard the rumors about Caterina's favoritism.

"Your time will come," Lucanis assured him. "Will it? Illario's piercing gaze met Lucanis's in the mirror. "People talk. You've always been her favorite." He'd heard the rumors. For all their secrets and intrigue, the Antivan Crows were a chatty bunch. "My talents lie elsewhere," Lucanis said, gesturing toward the arsenal around him. "You're the one with the silver tongue." "So, if she named you heir to House Dellamorte, you'd refuse?" (The Wigmaker Job, Tevinter Nights, p.266)

I agree that Illario comes across unintelligent in Veilguard (VG), to the point of being comical and operatic (though one could argue that's the point being made, given the climactic finale to the Murder of Crows quest). But it is true that he worked with the Venatori--and apparently Elgar'nan--underneath Caterina's knowledge for a whole year. If the VG narrative treated him with more respect, I might have said that it was impressive.

But can we say that Caterina didn't know? I think it's implied that Lucanis was aware that Illario was likely responsible shortly after leaving the Ossuary. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Caterina might have known too. Given the propensity of House Dellamorte towards being unable to handle their own family members, she might have been unsure of what to do with the knowledge--and again slated it off to Lucanis to handle, just like when she named him First Talon.

This definitely isn't a critique of your ask, btw, I'm feeding off of some of the ideas you're sending me. I agree that I think the characterization of the Dellamortes in VG really failed to live up to what we were given in TWJ. I would have liked to see more cunning, charming Illario; that mask that fades away. He was depicted way too ham-fisted as the villain from the start.

[dreamywritingdragon]

Part of my Rookanis brainrot

So, my Rook, Ysleen Ingellvar, ends up having four kids with Lucanis (the last one wasn't planned. Surprise twins). And that song from Starkid's Nerdy prudes must die makes me think a whole lot about their second kid and first daughter, Caterina, especially the first time she speaks with Matteo Egrativi and Aledis Cantori (yes, I'm creating more OCs. They'll end up in Ijandia some day, just you watch)

Please enjoy my modifications with the names: (under the cut because it got long)

Cat: Eh! Eh geek!

Matteo: Me?

Cat: Your name's Matteo, right?

Matteo: hm, yeah...

Cat: Hi Matt. We've been in class together a long time, haven't we?

Matteo: Since first grade, yeah...

Cat: And I've just realized! I've never introduced myself! I'm Caterina.

Matteo: Dellamorte, the First Talon's daughter, I know.

Cat: yeah, but my friends call me Cat. We're friends, aren't we Matt?

Matteo: I don't know, are we?

Cat: well, I wouldn't advertise it to the whole guild or anything but...but there's an unspoken bond between us! We're classmates, comrades, we're Antivan Crows! We don't leave anyone behind!

Matteo: I got left behind this morning. That zipline is broken.

Cat: We succeed together, or we fail together. And I won't mince words. I'm gonna fail this test, Matt. Unless you help me cheat...

Matteo: Cheat!?

Cat: Come on, just finish your exam, pass it over, and I'll put my name on it! I'll give you mine, you get to take the test all over again, doesn't that sound fun?

Matteo: Hm, yeah, but won't we get in trouble?

Cat: Please, Matt. Don't you want to help me out?

Aledis: Cheaters!

Cat: Raah, butt out, Cantori!