🧬 : what did they inherit emotionally from their caregivers? / for rook … but also talk about what they got from helene and alistair <3
SYMBOL HEADCANON QUESTIONS | @haludh / @b1uewraith - i'm tagging you too since el is half yours.
staring at the wall knowing el's main caregiver for most of their life was...viago...and by extension, teia, who was a much better influence. but since her day-to-day mostly centered around viago's teachings, we'll go with him to start.
viago's calm and pragmatic thinking sticks out the most for rook. throughout the main story of veilguard, el is predominantly detached - it's a safeguard against the companions' emotions, and their own, but equally a bad habit from crow conditioning. i don't think viago ever would have expected her to be emotionless, but in an environment like that, it's difficult to maintain your influence above the vacuum. el learned to be approachable, but never unguarded as a result. they have a very prismatic personality in that rook can refract multiple facets and have those exist within her, while never truly embodying one or the other. so during the hunt for elgar'nan and ghilan'nain, rook tries ( and fails miserably in the end ) to remain collected and objective - but they've never been given the option to make friends, or have people other than viago and teia care about them.
and that's where her mother comes in, absolutely. helene has a one track mind for the majority of her early adulthood. she sets a goal and she meets it, no matter what stands in her way, but there's always been a desire to belong beneath all her actions. she didn't need to bring morrigan along because of the risk - but she did, because she didn't like how flemeth treated her. she didn't need to invite bodahn to the camp - but he has a son, and with the state of the world, she'd rather them have a safe place to go. it's these little chances that chip away at that closed-off demeanor, and it's the same for el. eventually, they open themself to so many chances they can't help but care on a deeper level.
from alistair, i think she gets his sense of humor and his earnestness. there's nothing el does that's without intention; combined with their mother's stubbornness, they will set a goal and see it done and make sure that everyone is fulfilled to the best of their ability. rook doesn't throw around promises or words in general aimlessly. when she says something, she means it.
