Rook… Saying I Owe You My Life Is Not Enough. You Know My Mind. I've Assumed You Know My Heart Because…

insane taash lucanis banter where taash asks why the butcher didn’t just move to treviso like their mother moved to rivain and start a new life in the city he loved instead of occupying it and lucanis says:

Lucanis: Antaam are trained from childhood, yes? The Butcher would have grown up only ever learning how to be a warrior, a conqueror.

Taash: So he invaded the city and turned into a monster, because his tama never taught him how to do anything else.

Lucanis: He still had a choice. There is always a choice.

not that this is relevant to lucanis at all

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cis+ Lucanis who isn't transgender but he's always been drawn to femininity and that's why he's always so tightly controlled in how he dresses and presents himself

he allows himself long hair and well-tailored outfits of high quality fabrics, but he resolutely Does Not Look at any skirts or dresses when the team goes shopping

he lets Bellara paint his nails after Emmrich and Davrin go first, because it's just a funny little joke that the boys get their nails painted too, and then hides them under gloves until the paint chips because he can't bear to either look at his hands or scrub the paint off

he has to mind his facial expressions to make sure he doesn't give Illario's eyeliner and gold jewelry too many jealous stares. it would be wrong if he wore that. he's mentally comparing himself to other women instead of men and thinks he'd be too ugly--

or worse: everyone would finally see. they'd look at him and know how much he enjoys it, wants it, not just as wealthy status symbols and peacocking and machiasmo, but genuinely getting to be soft and pretty

so when Rook (of any gender) rescues him, and buys courting gifts for him, and treats him gently, and doesn't pressure him to take a dominant sexual role in the relationship ...

well. it takes him a long time to accept that. to put aside all the Antivan ideals of masculinity and the Crows' attitude toward casual sex and the perfect stoic male heir his grandmother wanted

to believe Rook might want him, love him, be just as smitten by him in the soft moments, not the sexy dangerous assassin he worried they expected him to be

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I think to think of Spite’s gender as “I’ll have what he’s having”

ik some people like to use it or they pronouns for spite bc spirits don't technically have gender and i understand and respect the hustle but i do think it is so funny that lucanis just assigns spite he/him at possession. lucanis is like oh he looks like me and i am a he/him so spite will be he/him too and spite who has already gotten stuck to the flypaper that is lucanis dellamorte's one and only mortal body doesn't even care. he's just like well yeah this might as well happen

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Some facts about Lucanis (and also Spite and the Crows) gathered from the banters

I went through all companion banters on DanaDuchy's channel after playing the game to write down all facts about companions/the world that I haven't seen brought up anywhere in the game as a writing reference (and for funsies).

Note: This list may not be exhaustive. I might have missed some something or didn't write it down because I considered it common knowledge. If you have anything to add, please DM me or send an ask! (do specify what banter the information is coming from, though)

Note 2: Posts from this series (mostly) don't include information from banters specific to quests or between companions and faction members. I plan to do another playthrough to capture more of those and will add any relevant info to the character posts.

Other characters' posts: Bellara, Davrin, Harding, Emmrich, Neve, Taash. I'm also planning a post about just the Lighthouse some time later

About Lucanis: 

Family and the past:

Lucanis learnt to cook while helping the kitchen staff at the villa when he was a little boy. One of his motivations was learning how to make churros

Side note: Lucanis mentions that cioccolata calda was his favourite drink when he was a baby, and he serves churros to a romanced Rook who picks cioccolata calda as their favourite drink. It’s all coming together! 

Lucanis wanted to be a Crow when he was a child (at least most of the time)  

All of Lucanis's relatives were Crows as well, and all of them were killed by a rival Crow house

Lucanis says Caterina would be proud of Illario hiding his plans well, as well as killing her 

Lucanis says that the hard part about setting Illario free would be convincing Caterina 

Lucanis says that nightlife was more of Illario's thing, and he never got out as much

On Crows and Antiva:

Viago still stares daggers at Lucanis for throwing his (Viago's) pet snake out of the window in a dream

Lucanis doesn't like it when people confuse murder and assassination ("Murderers are hobbyists, we are professionals")

Lucanis has taken contracts in Orlais

Lucanis doesn’t know Treviso as well as he once used to 

Heir didn’t train Lucanis

Lucanis says he has never killed an innocent “by his count” (other people may disagree) 

Lucanis doesn’t think of the Crows as a “big organisation” (unlike the Inquisition) because they stab each other too much

Lucanis became a mage-killer at Caterina’s behest (she wanted to tap into new markets)

The nickname “The Demon of Vyrantium” came from Tevinter news-sheets, though Lucanis thinks Viago started it

Lucanis says that there aren't any special tricks to killing mages. Though, if nothing else works, you can try pissing them off, as that could attract a demon that would eat the mage

Lucanis once killed half a dozen venatori while stuck inside an elevator 

Lucanis doesn’t consider himself a gentleman assassin, manners are less important than getting the job done

Lucanis sometimes spares his targets. He mentioned letting go of a servant who killed her master, as well as a 14-year-old boy. He thinks it’s wrong to kill people so young because they still have time to change

Lucanis doesn’t accept contracts without merit, and the merit is decided by the talon of the house

General:

Lucanis can make bread

Lucanis has never been to Ferelden

Lucanis isn’t interested in killing wyverns, just looking at them :)  

Lucanis has a pet snake 

Lucanis stays awake at night by cleaning his gear, exercising, studying Orlesian and knitting ("it’s just another kind of blade work") 

Lucanis doesn’t understand a lot of things people find attractive

(In a conversation with Harding) Thinking about cooking was one of the things that helped Lucanis stay sane in the Ossuary (the other was thinking about killing his enemies) 

(In a conversation with Davrin) Lucanis survived the Ossuary by shutting down and not thinking about anything except escaping

These two points sort of contradict each other. Either an inconsistency or Lucanis describing his experience differently to different people. 

The Wetlands ruined at least one pair of Lucanis’s boots

(If Rook chooses to save Treviso) Lucanis offers to pay for any supplies the Shadow Dragons may need 

Lucanis doesn't get a better bed because he's afraid of accidentally falling asleep 

Lucanis can identify the killer’s weapon and the height difference between them and the target just through the blood splatter left at the scene

Lucanis considers Grey Wardens dangerous 

Lucanis doesn’t like necromancy, because bringing people back to life is a waste of hard work

Lucanis finds the ice coffee from Minrathous offensive (Harding describes it as “snow, but made of coffee, sweet, and with cream and toffee sauce on top”)

Lucanis had never been in a romantic relationship before Rook/Neve

Relationships with other companions: 

Lucanis gets into reading Bellara’s serials (very passionately - they chat about it a bunch)

Lucanis is outraged that the Veil Jumpers don’t get paid for their work and offers Bellara his contract negotiator

Lucanis made biscuits for Assan

Lucanis is sceptical that the griffons will be safe with the Wardens

Lucanis think that Assan shouldn’t go soft (referring to the time he took care of a halla) because he is a predator at heart

(If Emmrich becomes a lich) Lucanis offers to hold a funeral for Manfred

Lucanis and Harding talk a lot about dreams (mostly silly things like showing up naked for the job, getting chased by someone/something etc.)

Lucanis thinks Harding is deadly with her bow

Lucanis offers to pay Harding for being his lookout/aide at the rate of 6000 gold per contract

Lucanis offers the help of his contract negotiator to Neve after he finds out she doesn't have one

Lucanis made deep-fried peppers for Taash

About Spite: 

Emmrich can hear Spite even when he doesn’t take over Lucanis’s body (at least from a close distance)

Spite is impartial to Emmrich, believing him more than Lucanis

Emmrich says it’s impossible to separate Spite and Lucanis without killing them

Emmrich encourages Lucanis to read to Spite to bring them closer. Lucanis agrees to let Spite pick a book

(If Emmrich becomes a lich) Spite asks if he and Lucanis can get rid of their skin too 

(If Manfred is revived at the Necropolis) Spite asks Emmrich to teach him how to use fire magic. Lucanis isn’t thrilled by the idea

Emmrich sets up wards to prevent Spite from leaving the room when Lucanis is asleep

Spite no longer sleepwalks after “Inner Demons” because he apparently understood the concept of space

By the end of the game, Spite has agreed to stop sleepwalking completely

Spite controls the wings (confirmed in banter with Harding) 

Spite wants to try swinging off the astrolabe at the Lighthouse

Spite is very excited about Manfred having hands and feet (Curiosity. Has. Feet!)

Spite finds the wisps in Neve’s room unnerving (as do Lucanis and Neve)

Spite likes to play with whetstones Bellara got for Lucanis (Bellara got them from the Irelin who supposedly got them from somewhere in Arlathan) 

Spite wants to try eating self-lightning candles at Blackthorne Manor

About the Crows: 

Crows frequently visit Nevarra and have received 20 contacts to assassinate the king. The King has been poisoned 7 times

Crows get a lot of contracts for Divine Victoria

Some seers in Rivain are powerful enough that there are contracts on them as well

Caterina once killed a man with a thimble

When Crows kill someone, most of the time they want others to know it was them (rather than presenting the death as an accident) 

The crows buried six different Eight Talons and rarely take contracts in Ferelden after the Zevran fiasco

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i'm obsessed with Lucanis tender heart Dellamorte deciding the night before what is absolutely going to be the hardest fight of his life (so far) and possibly his last day alive is the perfect moment to make love for the first time ever.

and i say 'make love' and not 'lose his virginity' or 'have sex', because i fully believe that's how he sees it - the concept of virginity likely means nothing to him, has never concerned him, and his feelings for Rook go so far beyond the mechanics or urges for sex. this is THE culmination of all his yearning - to be close to them, to be vulnerable with them, to pour himself and his feelings into them and know without a doubt they'll be there with love and open arms to receive it and give the same to him. this man is SMITTEN.

he knows it's going to be over in a matter of seconds (it is). he knows it'll probably be awkward (it's not, he's shocked by how much it's not). he knows they need to sleep, they'll be putting their bodies through hell soon enough. but none of that matters anymore because he has the love of his goddamn life back, healthy and whole and falling into his arms. they have the rest of their lives (however long that is) to get better at this part. so yeah, he's going to have his three seconds of love making and he's going to soak in an entire night of their company and connection and conversation when they should be sleeping, he's going to greedily take every single moment he can, because he's done denying himself. they love and accept him, and he's starting to love and accept himself, too.

Lucanis Dellamorte, the man that you are.

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most precious daydream

thinkin about lucanis' struggle with his wants vs. familial expectations, rook being a catalyst for his reach for freedom and understanding the crows from an outside perspective, and all of the cut content and epilogue scenes ...

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Turns out you can smile. A real one, even. And more than once.

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I didn't know Lucanis was so worried if Rook got hurt on the battlefield. Maybe I didn't get injured enough 🤔

Rook! Hold on! x 3 Hold on, Rook! x 3 Rook is down! Get to Rook! We need to help Rook! Fall back! Help Rook! Rook needs us! Get to Rook - hurry! I've got you. You're all right. Hold on. No worries, I have you. Hang on. I'm here. Hold on.

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🩷 Spicy questions for your Rook + their romanced partner 🩷

What is Rook's sexual orientation and identity? What are their pronouns?

Is Rook dominant, submissive or a switch?

How often does Rook spend "alone time"?

Does Rook have any sensitive spots?

Is Rook down for casual one-night stands?

Is Rook attracted to anyone (specific person or just negative qualities) they shouldn’t be and why? (bonus points if it's not their love interest)

Does Rook have any kinks? Do they act on it or just think about it?

What's Rook's favorite thing their partner can do for them in bed (hair-pulling, pinned wrists, etc.)? Is there something they don't like at all?

What does Rook like to wear and what do they like seeing their partner in (e.g. lingerie)?

What is Rook's favorite part of their partner’s body?

What is Rook's favorite intimate non-sexual thing to do with their partner?

What gets them both in the mood?

Do they prefer foreplay or are they impatient?

Who is usually on top? Do they switch?

Do they have names for each other in bed?

Are they adventurous in bed?

Do they have a favorite place?

Are they into (consensual) pain?

What is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to them in bed?

Have they ever had a threesome? If not, would they? With whom?

Morning or evening?

Have they ever been caught?

Are they into dirty talk?

Are they loud or quiet together?

Do they have a safe word?

What do they usually do after? Are they a couple that likes to cuddle?

Feel free to reblog and ask each other about your Rooks! 🩷

I tried to keep them "tame", not sure if tumblr will like this.

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