teyrnacousland

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Bellara makin some good soup!!

And me realizing I need to practice drawing/coloring food 😭

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i do think bellara would be stoked to know that there's fics about her- that somewhere in the world someone has made her the star of their serial

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Illario Swap Mod Photo dump 2/?

All photos taken using my Illario Swap Mod

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Neve would totally send Lucanis cooking tiktoks that aren't outright rage bait, but they are doing something wrong - little things like breaking spaghetti, cooking carbonara with cream - and Neve just knows that will drive Lucanis crazy. As a treat. For her.

Harding would send Lucanis the most disgusting Brownie-Burrito-Cookiedough-Icecream-Smoothie rage bait videos, but completely sincerely like "OMG WE GOTTA TRY THIS!!!"

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a lot has been said about the way Lucanis looks at Rook but do you ever think about the way Rook looks at Lucanis. local godslayer madly in love with their assassin

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Local agent of chaos pisses off ancient elven goddess, more at 8

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writing tip #3787:

you should write regularly. yeah, regularly, why are you - oh. i mean, yeah, i guess once a decade IS regularly if you're doing it on the same day each time. hm. well, you got me there

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Is it just me or is Lucanis' voice in the save Minrathous route... heavier?

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"Lucanis doesn't respond to Rook's flirting."

Dude (gender neutral), WHAT are you talking about? The vast majority of the heart options aren't flirting! They're expressions of concern, care, support, and reassurance, for a character that is not at all used to being treated that way.

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a little sketch of Illario

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FAQ | Rules | Prompts

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12 WITH SPITE PLEASEPLE ASE PLEASE PELASA IM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

SKSKSKS BESTIEEE ilu so much here I deliver delicious food to you 🤲🏻

Nightmare Comfort Dialogue Prompts

12. "Why would I think you're weak? Everyone gets nightmares."

This is SOFT and SWEET and i LOVE this prompt oh my gosh thank you so much 🥹🙏🏻

Read more to protect the dash ❤️

Sleep wasn't something Azzurra ever found easily, even before all of... This. Before gods, and monsters; Blighted dragons and the literal end of the world. Before Tearstone Island and... And the regret prison, she'd never slept well.

Now?

It was a rare night that she was blessed with dreamless dark. Most nights, she was haunted by memories - Ghilan'nain's Archdemon, Razikale, three snake heads lashing and trying to crush herself, Lucanis, and Davrin under their weight. Elgar'nan's voice, taunting her through an eluvian she couldn't force her way through, Bellara pounding the other side as Blight slowly ate away at her, until all the was left was a rotting ghoul.

Worse, were the nights she was forced to watch Davrin die - again, and again, and again - a perpetual loop that only broke when she shot awake, screaming into the dark. Those were the nights she refused to go back to sleep, would wander the halls of Villa Dellamorte until the servants began stirring.

And tonight was another of those nights - trapped in a flurry of memories; of what-could-have-been's; her worst fears during those few months. It was a blazing mish-mash of Weisshaupt: the First Warden, darkspawn and other dead Wardens grabbing at her ankles with skeletal hands and trying to pull her down, down, down -

Azzurra bolted awake, panting and heart racing, eyes wide and locked on the ceiling. A low, pained sound caught in her throat, and she turned into Lucanis's chest without much thought, both seeking his comfort and hoping he wouldn't be dusturbed. She paused, surprised, when she was met with violet eyes peering worriedly down at her, Spite alert and at the forefront.

"Spite?" She breathed, unnecessarily, but he nodded all the same, gathering her further into his arms and tucking her head under his chin. "I - I'm sorry, I don't... I didn't mean -,"

"No. Explaining." He muttured into her hair, voice gruff yet soft all at once. Azzurra squeezed her eyes shut, burrowing into his chest and breathing in the scent of them - coffee, leather, a bit of ozone. "Rook isn't. Alone. We are. Here. For her." She felt him kiss the crown of her head, a gentle press of his lips, and before she could stop herself, she sobbed.

Spite made a soothing sound, but she managed to get out, "I don't want you to - to think I'm weak." She managed to get the words out between sobs, clutching at Spite now and letting him hold her tighter. It was helping center her, keep her tethered to the here-and-now, rather than drift back off to sleep, or linger in recollections of past pain.

Spite pulled back at her words though, making a confused, frustrated sound, and frowned down at her in confusion. "Why? Would I think. You're weak?" He asked her, violet eyes locked on her own, and Azzurra paused, surprised at the open confusion in his gaze. "Everyone. Gets nightmares."

She blinked, tears still falling, but considered what he said and... Really couldn't argue. Logically, she knew he was right. It just - she should be stronger, shouldn't she? Lucanis would tell her no, she shouldn't have to be; Maker, even Viago would now. "I... Suppose I never.. Really thought of it that way." She said slowly, blinking again.

Spite made a low sound, almost purring, and tucked her back into his chest. "Rook worries. Too much. Lucanis. Agrees."

She snorted, hiccuping gently as her sobs eased and she let herself wind her arms around Spite and return his embrace. "Of course he does," She sighed, pressing a kiss to his collarbone and snuggling back in. After a few minutes, when she felt herself begin to drift again, she whispered, "No more nightmares... Please?"

Spite made a soft sound and she felt him kiss her hairline. "No more. Nightmares. I can. Eat them." With that, Azzurra felt herself smile, and ease off into a warm, soft, happy dream, wrapped in black and violet wings.

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Sorry, Your Honor, ‘But Have You Seen Her Lore?’ Is A Valid Defense

My friend just sent me the speedpaint. I want a freaking iPad now uuugggghhh, it was sooo fun to use, I hate my life. Anyway, here ya go. I always redraw the nose like a million times in every drawing LOLOLOL I can never get it right on the first try! I think it turned out pretty decent for drawing her from memory. Whatever, this is the only thing I got done after a whole day at uni, my classes were useless af.

But can we talk more about Caterina Dellamorte?

I want to devour this woman’s mind in the same way I long to consume Illario’s. To reach 70 years like a crow—and worse yet, to bear the title of First Talon—is profoundly awe-inspiring, even terrifying. Rook is singular because I would’ve soiled myself merely sharing a room with her. I crave to know who this formidable woman was before she lost her FIVE children and SIX grandchildren.

Do you think the scent of flowers lost all meaning for her after so many funerals? How much grief can a mother endure before her heart grows numb to it? It’s horrific, it’s tragic—and yet she stands there, unbroken. I can do nothing but revere her.

I want to believe she was as passionate as her grandchildren, as bleeding-hearted as Lucanis, as fiercely alive as any of them before everything was torn from her—because that makes it all the more agonizing. Amidst this endless mourning, which surely lost all meaning somewhere in the recesses of her mind, did she cling to faith as a woman of devotion? Or did it, in the end, estrange her? Is that why Illario and Lucanis are such "bad" believers? Did such suffering draw her closer to the Maker’s teachings, or force her to recoil?

I am convinced she was hardened to the point where only one purpose remained: to ensure the survival of her grandchildren, her last living kin. And she succeeded, by the way! Yes, child abuse is wrong (says the victim, lol), but I can’t bring myself to judge this woman by her circumstances. She did what she believed necessary, and in the end, they both survived—in one way or another. She forged two master assassins who serve the world better alive than dead.

So why, Caterina? Why tear apart the last family you had left in this world? Instead of teaching unity, instead of bequeathing your more-than-capable grandchildren the title as something shared—why make them doubt each other? Is your favoritism deliberate, or just another of your fatal miscalculations?

I have my own headcanons, of course—that Illario resembles his mother too much, and his mother, in turn, bore the face of the man Caterina once loved so fiercely she built a family with him. But this is just me trying to force logic into the void.

Why craft a perfect team, a fusion of a master assassin’s finest talents split between your two grandchildren, only to turn it into a battle for supremacy? Was it this same blindness that led to the slaughter of nearly your entire bloodline? Or is this the scar tissue of too much grief, calcified into cruelty?

I could spend entire lifetimes turning this woman over in my mind and still never voice every thought I truly harbor about her. I can’t help but press the weight of my own traumas into these musings—yet I also believe that’s precisely what draws me to her with such violent force. She’s fascinating. She’s excruciating. I adore Caterina Dellamorte, and let NONE of my fanfics convince you otherwise!

And please, for the love of god, never take Lucanis or Illario’s internal monologues as gospel in my storytelling. This character is devastatingly intricate. Profoundly layered. A tragedy unto herself.

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THE FUCK YOU MEAN NOBODY KNOWS?

Does everyone in the Necropolis just not question shit?

First it's the crypt baby. 'Oh yeah, it's out crypt baby. Where did he come from? Uhh, we're not really sure'.

And now it's 'Oh, this is my colleague Vorgoth. Why are they a cloud of smoke in a cape? We honestly don't know'.

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Forever laughing about Lucanis saying „at least I know I’m doing it“ because this man has no idea what he is doing

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"...which means she's making everyone as miserable as possible. Except Teia. She likes Teia." This is what Lucanis says about how Caterina is doing, post inner demons.

Caterina's relationship with Teia is one of the most interesting in the Crows. We see from Eight Little Talons that Caterina does indeed like Teia, that her sharp comments are softened by Teia's fond reaction to them. As if those are the comments of an overly stern grandmother, but Teia knows she cares underneath - or at least, believes she does. Teia is familiar with Caterina, perhaps overly familiar, calling the First Talon <i>nonna</i> with a kind of sense she knows she's overstepping, but does it anyway. But Caterina, whilst she pretends to repudiate it, doesn't seem to seriously ever reject her. "Don't you nonna me, Andarateia Cantori. Not even my actual grandchildren call me that."

So, a few things. Teia considers the Crows family, something with Viago warns her to be cautious about in the story. This seems genuine - Teia gives the impression of idealising the Crows that gave her a way out of poverty and obscurity, and give her power, money and influence that most elves in Thedas can only dream of. Not only does she have power, she has the power to do good. Cruel men are attracted to her, and she uses her position and training to take them out. There's something genuine, then, about the way she treats Caterina. She genuinely sees her as a maternal figure, and Caterina doesn't seriously dissuade her.

We know that Lucanis and Illario don't call her <i>Nonna.</i> That at least at once point, they resented her for her brutal training, even if Lucanis has made his peace with that, now. But their relationship is not one of freely given affection. It's at arms length, a boss and her underlings.

So whilst it's obvious what Caterina might respresent to Teia, and what use she might be to securing Teia's position, its also fascinating to think about what Teia represents for HER.

Teia is a capable woman who rose from obscurity on the back of her her own skill and cunning. Caterina is a capable woman who probably sees some of herself, in that. Teia idealises the Crows as family, as protectors of Antiva. Caterina knows better, but she also sees how that COULD be true. Why try so hard to bring the Crows to an alliance, otherwise? There's no way Caterina didn't know it might fail. But she tried, anyway.

And there's the comment Lucanis makes. That Caterina 'likes' Teia. He says it with a kind of fondness, like he's glad his grandmother has her. I wonder, perhaps, if he's relieved that Teia, unblemished by Caterina's harsh guidance, can give her the affection he probably can't. I think, by the end of the story, he knows too that Teia will negotiate for him, that she can be the one to smooth over ruffled feathers. That with her, things will be easier.

There's no way these two women would have established a relationship like the one they have without the dynamics of power involved. Teia might be blinded - somewhat - to Caterina's cold nature and ruthlessness. But she's also extremely clever, and having Caterina fond of her is useful, even when she's no longer First Talon. And I think that's probably where the dynamic shifts. As Caterina's power diminishes, Teia doesn't need to keep on her good side. But she does anyway. Because that fondness and affection is genuine, and I expect whilst they'd never say it, they both value it as much as each other.

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Viago at Rook: *squints in suspicion* Viago at Crow Rook: *smiles slightly*