#avarice 💕

[tacticalhimbo]

[TEMPLATE]

MERRY CHRISTMAS @theavaricesystem!!!

i wanted to make all my friends a little somethin' somethin' for the holidays, so i opted for little oc edits... and a special playlist :}

i had a hard time choosing who to do... but i remembered our chaotic bounty hunter babe, aeris, and just had to put a spotlight on her! i miss her shenanigans <3

i'll totes add you to the playlist as a collaborator on the playlist if you'd like, too. i also dk why the playlist cover won't show TT_TT but she has one

[tacticalhimbo]

@theavaricesystem

❄️🪶Goofy Ravens Playing in the Snow🪶❄️

[the-modern-typewriter]

I think I saw that one of your fav authors is VE Schwab. I actually found your blog while I'm waiting for one of her books at the library. I love how you both do power dynamics and flow! I 💕 your blog!!!

I would love to see a possessive king who has to keep recovering a prince that's betrothed to him but keeps running.

Thanks for giving me my fix while I try to last the months long wait at the library! 😂

"You're clever enough to keep escaping despite all odds," the king murmured. "Why aren't you clever enough to realise that will never end where you want it to?"

The prince glared at him.

The king helped himself to another sip of tea, before he finally deigned to glance up from his breakfast table. Implacable. So seemingly genteel among the fine trays and silver, as if he were not a thing of avarice and dominion made flesh.

"Even should you make it all the way back to your kingdom," the king said, "they'll send you straight back. They gave you to me, remember? You are my betrothed by right."

"They don't know you. If they'd known who was truly asking-" The prince bit himself off, his fists curling.

The king hummed.

"And you think telling them of my true nature will spare you it. That they'd fight for you?"

"Of course they would."

"And would they fight for you like I would?"

The prince stared.

The king smiled, pleasantly, and slid a plate of hot bread rolls across the table towards him. An indication to sit.

The prince did not, though his legs felt jellied with the exhaustion of running. He said nothing.

"I'd fight for you like a holy war," the king said, voice too soft for such dark eyes. "Like laying siege to paradise. I'd fight for you in a thousand year campaign. I'd reduce your kingdom to a citadel of bones and ash before I let them keep you from me. I'd begrudge you no amount of bloodshed, no horror, because you are mine." His head tilted. "How would your former people fight for you?"

"Honourably," the prince snapped, mouth dry. "Kindly. I am their prince!"

"Perhaps." The king shrugged. "Or perhaps they'd begrudge. Resent the ordinary lives wasted and the livelihoods ruined by their pretty little princeling who thought he had the right to marry for love. As if he were just a man."

Bile burned up the prince's throat, at that.

"Merely something to think about," the king said.

"Maybe I won't go home then! But even five minutes away from this place, away from you, is a blessing."

The king did not seem offended or bothered by that, any more than he had the prince's glare or numerous defiances. It made the prince want to shake him until his teeth rattled.

"Do you not care that I do not love you?" the prince demanded. "That I do not wish to be yours?"

The pleasant smile flickered off the king's face for the very first time and what was left was terrible.

The prince took an automatic step back, though he did not consider himself a coward.

The king rose from his chair, rounding the table. The prince looked around at the guards but they were the king's guards, no matter their official job title, and they only stared ahead unmoving. No doubt, they would stare even if he started screaming. Crying. Pleading.

The prince backed up another step before forcing himself to hold his ground. His shoulders squared as the king came to a stop in front of him. He braced for - he wasn't sure what.

"I will say this once, and only once, my clever prince." The king stroked the backs of his knuckles gently down along the prince's jaw, nudging his gaze back when it tried to slide away. The prince's breath hitched. "If I did not care, I could keep you with broken legs in a straight jacket, blind and dumb and mute until I felt you'd learned your proper place here. I could marry you tomorrow without care for your own customs, rituals or comfort. Do you understand?"

The prince felt a little dizzy.

"There a worse fates in the world than being mine," the king said. "The sooner you understand that, the sooner you might make a home in this place that you are not so eager to run from."

"So I should thank you?" It came out hoarse.

"I do not expect you to thank me. I know who and what I asked for when I asked for you."

The king's hand dropped and, for the first time, the prince felt strangely bereft of its heat. Its grounding presence. He swallowed.

"Get some rest," the king said, his pleasant smile back, "if you will not join me for breakfast. You have had a difficult night, from what I've heard, and I'm sure your next attempt to flee this place will be no less gruelling. You'll need your strength, love."

The prince let himself be led back to his chambers in a daze.

[chaosherald]

A Word with Friends

Avarice (Excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greed for wealth)

Hosted by @hedwigoprah

Thank you @woundedsoul12 for the tag! Friendly no pressure tags for @seaglassmelody @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @davrinsleftpectoral @jukkaricity @dags-over-caravans @kabsey @serstolas (and anyone else <3)

This was inspired by a post from @madamemortem, reblogged by and commented on by @void-bitten-ghost about the gooseberry pie conversation with Lucanis when he is romancing Neve and what the flip side of that might have looked like if he is romancing Rook. Thank you for the inspiration!

(In this house, we went the Rookanis route but we love and respect Neve Gallus and what she means to both Lucanis and Rook. 💕)

Market trips with Lucanis were generally an efficient affair. The man shopped with a purpose, a neatly annotated list, and an intimate knowledge of the Treviso market. Neve had agreed to go with him assuming today's endeavor would be brisk. A nice little break from her pile of notes. A chance to clear her head and stretch her legs and exchange sardonic observations with her friend.

Instead, she was stuck waiting while a master assassin agonized over his selection of produce, watching the sun climb higher in the sky and feeling every bit of the time that passed coming directly out of the work she needed to get done that afternoon.

Sideling up to Lucanis, Neve looped her arm through his. “Alright. You have been vacillating between different fruits for far too long. I know I'm not an authority on what meets your standards, but you're clearly in need of a second opinion. What are you stuck on?”

Lucanis grumbled, glancing at Neve before looking back at the paper in his hand. Following his gaze, Neve saw it wasn't one of his fastidiously planned lists, but a recipe. “Oh, trying something new are we?” she asked.

“Perhaps. I am second guessing myself.” Lucanis spoke quickly, like he needed to get the words out of his mouth before they ran off. “Does Rook like lemon?”

Neve blinked slowly. “Lemon?”

“In a sweet preparation. Like a pastry. I know this will go well with the tea she has been favoring, but I'm not sure…”

And now Lucanis was intentionally not meeting her eye. Evasive, tenser than usual. And Neve was pretty sure it wasn't the angle of the sun adding some color to his face. She grinned, shifting the arm still looped through his to elbow his side. “Oooh. You're planning something special for Rook. Well, isn't that a twist on the case we've all seen coming.”

Lucanis looked upward, seeking divine intervention or still avoiding her eyes. Probably both. “It's a foolish idea, I shouldn’t…”

“You should.” Neve interjected. 

Lucanis ignored her, folding up the recipe. “I shouldn't. It complicates things. It's…”

Neve plucked the recipe out of his hand, opening it and looking it over. “Clearly, it is the very soul of avarice, to want something nice, something a little selfish, for once in your life. Something Rook clearly wants too.”

Now he looked at her, eyes a little wider than normal. “Please tell me we haven't been that obvious.”

“Oh, you have, if one knows what they're looking for.” Neve patted him on the shoulder. “Moot point though. Taash and Harding got Rook talking last time they took her drinking at the Hilt. Half the Lords of Fortune know where she stands.”

“Mierda.”

“And lets see. Bellara told me keeping her mouth shut when she's around you two is causing her physical pain.” Neve started looking over lemons, placing some in their basket. “Davrin has assumed brotherly duties and teases Rook about the two of you whenever you aren't around. I also caught the tail end of Emmrich and Rook discussing the ethics of consent when two entities are sharing a body just the other day.”

Lucanis looked slightly mortified. He also replaced several of the lemons Neve had picked up with ones that met his ridiculous standards. “In this one thing, Spite is not part of the problem.”

“Fair. He has been pretty keen on Rook from the get go. I shouldn't be encouraging you though. We have a bet going. If you wait another month, I'll cut you in on my take.”

Lucanis looked at her, his expression slipping into the dangerously intense stare he used to intimidate targets and to make really sure he wasn't revealing actual feelings to anyone.

“Joking. Mostly.” Neve handed him back the recipe. “There's a baker in Docktown who makes Orlesian style pastries. Rook got one of the lemon ones last time we were there and said it was the kind of thing she used to buy in Nevarra when she had the chance. The tart’s a good choice.”

Lucanis looked at her a moment more then nodded, turning away to pay the vendor for the fruit. He gathered up their purchases and they both started walking back through the market.  When Lucanis spoke again he sounded almost calm, with just the tiniest hitch giving away his nerves. “Do you really think she'll like it?”

“Rook is a giant sap with a sweet tooth. She'll love it. Just make sure you actually talk to her after bringing out the baked goods. I'll discreetly clear the room for you two after dinner.”

“Thank you, Neve.”

“Sure. Least I can do. Just try not to get overly sentimental with each other in public once you figure things out. I like seeing my friends happy, but I have my limits on sap.”

Lucanis smiled slightly. “I don't think I have ever been accused of being overly sentimental.”

Neve rolled her eyes, but knew she wasn't entirely hiding her smile. “Only because most people don't pay attention.”

[dags-over-caravans]

A Word with Friends

Avarice - excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain : greediness, cupidity

Hosted by @hedwigoprah

Thank you @woundedsoul12 and @chaosherald for the tag ins 💕 and if I find the original post that got me thinking about how Rook can’t identify the scent in the Crossroads, I will tag them in, too.

Inspired by the Scent of Home banter in game, this is a Rook who grew up with Lucanis in Treviso and has been pining since day one. She’s certain that her feelings are unrequited - these two have spent the last 15 years estranged - and so what she smells at Elvhenan’s Haven in the Crossroads doesn’t give her the same warm and fuzzies as the rest of the squad.

The scene (and the sentiment) fits within my Purple Haze (Rookanis) slow burn, immediately after You tell yourself it’s raining … 😉

Cupidity

The rest are in full agreement: the bewitching aroma of Elvhenan’s Haven evokes for each of them the feeling of home — but Rook (privately) disagrees.

To Rook, the effusive, heady scent that bulldozes her is instead the scent of her own avarice.

Because Emmrich and Davrin and Lucanis all smell the incense of their youths — the camphor and the campfire and the coffee (respectively) of their best-loved places. And Harding smells her mother’s love, and Neve the city she mothers, washed clean.

But Rook?

Rook smells the dust of the long-forgotten attic; she smells old books and polished marble and crisp, moon-heavy Trevisan midnights. She smells cioccolata and coffee, vetiver and cedar, leather and steel and the ozone tang of the lightning strike.

And these are not the smells of Villa de Riva.

No. These are all Lucanis.

And so, she pretends to the others that she can’t-quite-place the scent that has her yearning, that wields her shame; she worries her flush deepens every time she smells it.

Because what is greed? — what is cupidity? — if not the selfish act of making a home where one is unwanted, where one doesn’t belong.

[tacticalhimbo]

@theavaricesystem @vendettapandav hey look it's us-

[clownboybebop]

my new spindle, Avarice 💕

[startersword]

💛 💕 ^_^

💛- friend

💕- i'd like to be closer

UEEEE HAI AVARICE!!! I FEEL LIKE IT'S BEEN 5EVER SINCE WE LAST TALKED I MISS YA SOOO MUCH. I think we still have each other added on discord so if you ever want to say hello i am @ tokishigeusami, ik usernames can get lost or forgotten after a while teehee. HAIII HAI HAI HAIII

[enchanted-moura]

Avarice🌸💗💰💕

[tacticalhimbo]

@theavaricesystem

canada lynx voted the animal of all time. Boy why are you so paws

[crazyboredasians]

Espero todos hayan empezado el año súper bien, yo sobrevivo de momento 💕 Quería buscar en esta ocasión a personas que estén interesadas en moderar un foro y tomar personajes canónicos de la historia para ayudarla a avanzar. Es un proyecto nuevo, de magia elemental y academia, con PBs reales. Probablemente sea un foro privado que abra sus puertas algunos meses para incorporar nuevos usuarios y, para aclarar, no busco dramas ni problemas, quisiera que sean personas dispuestas a una comunicación fluida. Pronto dejaré medio de contacto, muchas gracias por leer y buenas noches ✨

¡Pero dinos más, anon!

✰ avarice

[tacticalhimbo]

woe, depths of the ocean be upon ye

holy shit

[chaosherald]

Shameless Self Promotion Sunday

It has been - almost a month since I did one of these? Collating everything I've finished since my last self promotion post for my own sanity. 😂

(Also, heading on vacation - communal introvert-ing on our respective devices will absolutely be part of the festivities so I'll be around in some capacity but hey - the mountains are calling and online time will be limited. 💕)

Harding Week

Day 1 - Ferelden/Traveling (also A Word With Friends - Mendacious) Drabble - Harding has some fun with stereotypes from her homeland

Day 2 - Inquisition/Veilguard Diptych. Harding has a front row seat for two emotional breakdowns caused by the Dread Wolf

Day 3 - Friends/Family (also Writing Challenge Weekend) Lace Harding and how we define family

Day 4 - Kinship/Ancestors Isatunoll - A Lullaby

Day 5 - Cooking With both cooks out of commission, Harding decides to take up the slack (with some unexpected help.)

Day 6 - Scouting (also Thursday Bangers - Fantasy) The team helps Bellara with her writing. Harding is very passionate about scouting (and Taash.)

Day 7 - Free Day - Drabble. Archery and where it all started.

A Word With Friends

Avarice - Neve gives Lucanis the final push to make things official with Rook. (also on Ao3 as A Much Needed Nudge.)

Balter - Pre-relationship Rookanis. Lucanis is exhausted. Spite is a music lover. Feelings are felt but damned if the parties involved can make any sense of them. (also on Ao3 as Acoustics.)

Thursday Bangers

And I'd give up forever to touch you/'Cause I know that you feel me somehow Rook and Lucanis and their first time (nsfw)

All my friends we're glorious/Tonight we are victorious Post game team cuddles

Tarot Tuesday

Five of Swords What if Rook was grabbed on Tearstone?

Rook Appreciation Week

A Serial Adventure in Seven Parts

(I took this as a challenge and mostly wrote as I went so it's a little rough. At some point I hope to loop back and edit/expand it.)

Intended to be read in order: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Other

OC as a Demon

Why my OC sucks

And ending with the amazing, beautiful, fabulous art of Amara done by other people 😍

Mood board by @pixiedurango (which I keep falling more in love with as I find more details. The flowers. Get rid of my demons/lose my angels. Atelphobia. The clothing and accessories which both Amara and I would wear...!

Amara and Sabi having a study session and looking adorable. Love our fellow Mourn Watch Rooks! 💗 by @seaglassmelody

Amara Hanged Man Tarot Card by @vorpaling 😍

[moonrkgk]

Angel of Avarice stuck in the backrooms. For crimes. The usual. 💕

[samarzart]

it’s always so so lovely to see you on the dash! do you take questions about your ocs? i’m obsessssssssssedddddd with avarice i wanna know everything about them 🥺🙏🏽

omg ty that means so much to me! 💕

im always open to questions about my ocs!!

[tacticalhimbo]

@theavaricesystem

trans guy who doesn’t realize he’s turning into a werewolf because he assumes it’s all just normal side effects of starting testosterone