#ada aldwir

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a body is a thing of agony // I will protect you

Spite, Lucanis and Rook appear in castling

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tumblr didn’t like Lucanis’ version, but you can view it here

repaint of this piece from 2024 | spite and rook appear in castling

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

You are observing her, his passenger said. A voice in his ear, a shadow in the corner of his eye. It was easy enough to ignore, most days. By now, they were bedfellows in misery. “It is prudent. She’s the one who rescued us. We owe her our freedom. And of course, there is the matter of the contract.” So many words to say, “No, but—”

Lucanis watches Rook. Spite watches Lucanis.

Contains end game spoilers for Veilguard.

This is the prequel to castling I wrote to explore Lucanis and Spite's relationship, and what attracts them to Rook.

Once again completely unbeta-ed: it's just me and my feelings that I took down to the river.

gambit

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Rating: Teen

Relationships: Lucanis Dellamorte/Rook/Spite, Lucanis/Spite, Lucanis/Rook

Additional Tags: Veil Jumper Rook (Dragon Age), Angst, Demonic Possession, Developing Relationship

Read on AO3

[dustdeepsea]

I have to ask about The King's Gambit! And bonus - feel free to draw a little sketch of anything DAV that you feel inspired by!

[collected WIPs for this round here]

The King's Gambit is an age-old aggressive opening that Romantic chess players revered. This opening leads to open games that are exciting and, in most cases, decisive.

With the rise of engines and computer analysis, top players have virtually abandoned the King's Gambit in high-stakes games because of its risky nature. However, tactical players who enjoy sharp games can still employ this opening to play for a fabulous (and usually sacrificial) attack to win the game in style. (source: chess.com)

Doesn't that sound like someone we know, standing on an open field, waving a lyrium dagger about? :)

I wanted to explore Lucanis (and Spite) and Ada (my Rook's) early interactions. We know where their story leads, but what sparks their initial attraction?

First try, unedited, under the cut!

He had come to the conclusion that his saviour was quite mad. There was no other explanation for why she threw herself into battle the way she did.

Once, on a job in Dairsmuid, he had watched a mongoose forced into a fighting pit with a twelve foot snake for sport. The brown, furry creature was tentative at first, sniffing the air, skirting the dirt arena, narrowly avoiding being bitten several times. Then all at once it had struck, aiming straight for the snake's head and crushing it decisively.

A lot of money had changed hands unhappily after that fight.

Ada Aldwir cut an odd, shambling figure in her scrap leather and ornaments, a six-eyed mourning-mask strapped to her face. She fought like that Rivaini mongoose, if it could also cast deadly lightning. The smell of singed hair and sharp ozone had followed them through the halls.

He'd been surrounded by beauty most of his life; he also knew how briefly most beautiful things lasted. When she had first taken off the mask to greet him, he studied her face with dispassion. A fairly symmetrical one, if plain, with soft features.

Too tan to be Ferelden, too pale to be Antivan or Rivaini—so from somewhere along the sprawl of the Free Marches. Black hair. Brown eyes, stick-straight lashes that slanted downwards. ("Easily remedied with cosmetics," he heard Illario say in his mind.) On second glance—fuller lips than expected, but nothing distinct.

And yet.

Beneath the layers of blood and ash and magic, she smelled like flowers. His senses had only become keener after the Ossuary. Whenever he passed her, clean and freshly changed back at their base of operations, it was like walking through a garden in the evening. Not any particular garden he had ever visited, but the abstract idea of one—where young couples in Treviso would promenade. A skin-warmed memory of a night time stroll.

You've been observing her, his passenger said. A voice in his ear, a shadow in the corner of his eye. It was easy enough to ignore, most days. By now, they were bedfellows in misery.

"It's prudent. She's the one who rescued us. We owe her our freedom. And of course, there is the matter of the contract." So many words to say, "No, but—"

What do you think she tastes like? He kept his face schooled, as he continued walking. Strong. Bitter. Storm magic.

The image of Rook's bare wrist against his tongue made him inhale sharply. "Stop that."

A low chuckle. The world wavered briefly before he realised he was still holding his breath. Lightheaded, he exhaled, then struggled to gulp down a lungful of air, looking around discreetly.

There was no one about to witness that moment of indiscretion. But that wasn't true, was it? Spite was there, and he was always watching.

[dustdeepsea]

Ada Aldwir (she/her)

Veil Jumper Human Mage Specialisation: Orb & Dagger, Burst (Lightning)

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several sentences sunday

Thank you for the WIP tags @luvwich @ofcrowsanddragons!

It's been going slowly, but I've been picking away at the prequel to my existing Rook/Lucanis story castling.

Lucanis is trying very hard not to be perceived below the cut. Veilguard endgame spoilers within.

"Rook is grieving," Neve explained, finally, when he had asked her about it obliquely. The two of them were alone in the kitchen. Burnished sunlight trickled in through the high windows, lighting a deceptively domestic scene.

Lucanis knew there was a dossier with his name on it somewhere in her office that she was constantly updating, filing mental notes even as they spoke pleasantly over coffee and twice-baked biscuits. There was another one for Rook as well; he wondered if Neve would ever let him read it. He wondered what he would find.

"Who was it?"

"A friend of ours, named Varric," Neve replied. "Harding and Rook were the closest to him; I didn't get to spend much time with him, but I liked the man. That's part of why I'm here to finish the job."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that."

She slanted a look at him. Considering. "The nickname was his," she said, at last.

"What?"

"Rook." A simple noun; a catch in the throat. "He gave her the name and it stuck."

Neve could have told him any number of platitudes about a dead man he would never meet. 'He was brave, he took care of his friends, he fought till the end for what he believed in.' So why this one?

She knows! The frost mage is clever, Spite hissed in his face. Too clever.

"She's a detective and this is her job. Calm down." He had trained to control his heart rate, to take sips of air without appearing like he was straining. This was easy. He could do this.

Spite continued to writhe in his periphery, as Lucanis looked towards Neve and nodded. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll wait for her to tell me herself."

Neve's small smile was genuine, but tinged with sadness. "Tell me, if she does, but I'm not sure it will happen that soon."

[dustdeepsea]

extended author's notes | castling

castling (Lucanis/Rook/Spite, DA: Veilguard, explicit): AO3 link

I wrote one of these notes for another fic, and I really enjoy looking back at a completed project and talking about it. Here's the DVD commentary + my process notes for anyone who's interested below the cut!

An evolving story

castling was written after a 6-month writer's block. I talk a little about it here, but basically, it started out as a drabble that I kept adding on scenes to, and it changed along the way.

The original planned theme of the story was mimetic desire. Basically—do we value a thing for what is, or because others desire it greatly as well? In an OT3 this leads to interesting dynamics that I wanted to explore.

As I wrote and played more of the game, I found my second theme: acceptance of the shadow self. This eventually became the main theme I focused on, so I'll reproduce my fevered tags here:

what if the parts that you've been taught are ugly or wrong your whole life manifested as a literal demon

but that demon also gave you the strength to do what was required to survive

what if your trauma taught you survival mechanisms to keep you alive?

what if someone understood they were as much a part of you as everything they loved about you

what if they loved them just as much as the rest of you

what does forgiveness and letting go look like?

2. Remixing canon

I didn't want to do a straight retelling of the canon Rook/Lucanis romance (lots of authors have done a fantastic job of it! I don't know what I would add!)

The challenge I set myself was to branch off from the "Minrathous is saved" decision point. In this world state, Lucanis and Rook have been flirting gently up to "Coffee With The Crows", before things get messy. I wrote a few guiding statements and motivations:

Lucanis is hardened and becomes avoidant of Rook.

Rook must win back his trust through words and deeds ("Bloodbath").

Spite is fascinated by Rook, maybe even to a worrying degree. (To him, she is Determination personified.)

Spite has autonomy and wants to separate from Lucanis.

Rook reciprocates Spite's attentions. More importantly, she acknowledges his autonomy.

Lucanis cannot tell where his desire for revenge and his attraction to Rook arises from—or he knows but is afraid to confront it.

Spite will never knowingly hurt Rook.

From there, it was easier to figure out the scenes I wanted to write, and everyone's behaviours. For example:

Spite becomes the obvious "wingman", manoeuvring situations to bring him (and Lucanis) closer to Rook.

Rook becomes the more active partner who initiates romantic gestures. There is no "almost kiss" scene in the pantry. Instead, Rook initiates a hand-kiss.

Spite uses "we" in the waking world but "I" in the Fade to refer to himself (special cookies for you if you spotted this :)

"Inner Demons" never happens in this world state. Instead, Spite and Lucanis learn to work together because of Rook.

3. In character

Ada "Rook" Aldwir

Rook's personality is pretty well defined in the game so I tried to stay true to it. ("Heroic nonsense saved your grandson and is rescuing you now.") She is outgoing, intuitive, and direct but ultimately well-meaning. Rook is a Veil Jumper—and no one goes into the haunted magic forest willingly if they love the modern city and systems they live in. (She hints at this in chapter 4, and I would love to explore it in future.) This affinity for the strange and liminal makes her sympathetic to Spite. Rook is more of a cipher in the earlier chapters, but I think she came to life in the sparring scene. The way she fights barehanded was inspired by wushu and the Monk class from DnD, focused on her element of lightning. (In Veilguard, she is a Spellblade.)

Spite

Spite is sarcastic, demanding and mercurial. I took a few liberties with this character, including picking he/him pronouns to add to the blurring of boundaries with Lucanis. Spite speaks much more eloquently in-game in the Fade (in Inner Demons), and I preferred that style. He begins castling by taking over Lucanis, but once he finds equilibrium (through them both agreeing on their feelings for Rook), they start sharing the pilot seat. I knew that I wanted Spite and Rook to have a connection, apart from Lucanis, so the Fade was the natural place to set their "bottle episode". As I wrote about Spite and Lucanis' imprisonment, I realised that for a spirit who was content in the Fade, being ripped away and trapped in a limited form would be horrific. I didn't need to write elaborate, graphic torture after that—the implications for them were terrible enough. (Most of chapter 5 was me sobbing over this.)

Lucanis (I know he's everyone's blorbo, and I'll try not to step on any toes here!)

Lucanis is cautious, charming and kind. I chose to write him not as demisexual, but tied up in knots about sex and violence because of the nature of his work. I didn't want him to be an afterthought to the Rook/Spite relationship. He kept running away so much at the beginning, I was genuinely worried we would have no story, so I deliberately wrote chapter 4 from his POV. After that, Lucanis was surprisingly the easiest character for me to inhabit while writing. He's also such a naturally sweet character that his almost silly overprotectiveness of Rook just happened. I really enjoy the way they both play off each other, because Ada is such a Creature in so many ways, and he's simply moonstruck. It's one of my favourite dynamics that appears in my other stories as well.

4. Recurring motifs I enjoyed discovering

Not all of these were planned, but in no particular order: the knife to the neck, electricity, spirits/angels and demons, small repeated gestures (a lover's vocabulary), awareness of the breath, restraint/self-denial as torture, hand holding, the body as both a site of violence and pleasure.

5. In closing

If you made it all the way down here, thank you for listening to me ramble! I hope you enjoyed reading castling as much I did writing it: I learnt a lot, and I exorcised a lot of hang ups about my work in the process. I definitely have thoughts about how to improve the story (crucially, the Lucanis/Spite relationship is missing here), but I'll take that energy into the next piece.

I realise most of this is about the "framework" of the story; if you'd like to know my thoughts around any particular scenes please feel free to send me an ask anytime <3