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.headcanons
& the body
Araceli's at the age where she's got a fast metabolism, preferring to eat little and often rather than sitting down to eat big meals. Spends a lot of her time running around doing climbing and parkour or swimming so she really does need to eat to keep her energy up plus she'd hate to lose the figure she has. If she thought she was getting too thin/losing her curves she'd definitely make sure she ate more.
In terms of taking after her parents, Araceli has her father's curls and his smile with her mother's eyes and mouth. Her build is closer to Neria's too but she's got more mannerisms that make her resemble Felix; Araceli knows what bit comes from which parent.
She has a few scars from being shot by guards after her exploits and there's one on the back of one leg where she had to go digging the shot out when she was drunk enough to stand it, that was a fun night. There are a few little scars here and there from duels. One wrist has a pale scar from breaking her wrist badly enough the bone popped through. After Craintellier and being attacked by Ruby in werewolf form she has a horrific bite scar on her right calf.
Araceli has very soft skin everywhere except her hands and her feet where her skin is tougher from parkouring and handling her weapons. She takes good care of her skin with balms, butters, salves, oils etc. She doesn't get sunburns but she looks after herself. Doesn't like the feel of linen or chainmail against her skin.
Straight teeth, no cavities, realistically not perfectly white because come on.
Right-handed for writing, right-hand dominant for her rapier but left-hand dominant for her pistol and throwing knives. Perfectly comfortable using her off hand because her livelihood relies on that.
Araceli has pretty perfect posture, good enough that a mother would be proud with her head straight, shoulders back etc. She always swings her hips with a swagger when she walks unless she makes a conscious effort not to as if she's on the deck of a ship because that's a very Castilean thing to do and she moves as if she's confident about herself and her place in the world even when she's not. Fake it 'til you make it.
Araceli's first scar was the time she broke her wrist and the bone broke the skin.
Her first piercings were her ears.
Araceli shows complete trust by letting someone tie her up or restrain her in some way. She doesn't have a lot of physical advantages at all if you take away her ability to move so she would only do this if she completely trusted that person.
Another strange trust thing is letting people see or know that she angry-cries. She's enraged about it for obvious reasons because she thinks it ruins arguments and she has to trust that the person seeing it will know that they haven't won the argument if they see her doing it.
Araceli worries about her hands a lot, she's very protective of them because they're the tools of her trade (it's why the one thing she followed to the letter after Craintellier was resting her broken thumb.) As for the rest, she likes to wave as she parkours on by: she's laughed off other broken bones, being shot and stabbed, it can all bite her honestly.
Araceli is a terrible patient when she's sick or injured. She argues that she's fine when she's clearly not fine. She hogs all the blankets when she's cold then throws them across the room when she's too hot then demands them back even if someone else is in the bed. She's furiously upset about losing her independence and relying on other people for things and being limited.
If and when she gets sick, it's usually her throat or chest from rooftop escapades in the dead of night then leaping into freezing cold water and running home in soaking wet clothes. She medicates with rum, brandy, and rage at her body betraying her.
Araceli has no pre-existing; salt air made a healthy girl.
When Araceli isn't doing the bard thing, her face says it all when she lets it. She's not shy about pulling faces at people. Also a hand talker but taught to control it and her face by her parents before the bard life got hold of her.
Bouncy when excited. Korrin probably gets the most of it when Araceli shows her a new thing she's studying.
Araceli's quiet, she's so quiet, she only makes a noise if she wants to be heard even with all her jewellery and weapons, she knows how to move her body without making a noise.
Coconut oil is Araceli's favourite for dealing with her hair but it's on the expensive side. Olive oil is good too and it's always there, the old faithful, and you can lift it from anywhere when you're strolling past and no one's going to miss a bottle of it in the grand scheme of things. Argan oil is also great and on the fancier end of things but her skin and hair feel wonderful after.
Rubs her left thumb (that she broke on purpose to attempt to escape her bindings when kidnapped by the Venatori) absently, especially when upset or stressed
& family
Araceli's mother is Neria Castell, a Bride of the Sea which is a holy prostitute, a woman that provides the 'embrace of the sea' so it's considered a healing act. Neria's own parens are a teacher and an artist, and Neria isn't particularly close to them since she knew what her calling was and chose the sea. Neria did the bulk of the raising of Araceli since Araceli grew up in the brothel, hiring tutors to give her daughter as good a start as she possibly could but she taught Araceli the same amount of lessons herself about reading a person and between the lines, how to interpret body language, how to dress and paint her face and what that all means etc. There was a lot she tried to teach a small Araceli about politics and how it was everywhere, and that small Araceli declared it boring. Try to imagine how much Neria laughed upon Araceli telling her she was now in the queensguard.
Neria very much has the role of the feminine aspect of the sea so when Araceli has to picture that, it's her mother she sees all the time, and that's the woman she most admires. They're incredibly close for all that they might argue because Araceli was a handful growing up with all that energy and her penchant for scrambling around. Given Neria's path in life and how long she's been a Bride, she's a highly respected woman throughout Castileos.
If Araceli's parents were dying and she had one thing to say to them: she would simply say that she loves them so very much, and that they'll see them again.
If Araceli was the one dying and she had one thing to say to her parents: I'm sorry (because she's probably done something to get herself in that situation), and that she'll be where they should be. Look, dying is easier when you're religious and really do believe in your afterlife, it's comforting to know you'll all be together again one day.
Felix's mother was the captain of a ship who gave birth to him during a storm; when the storm went calm and quiet, she said it was the sign of a Son of the Sea being born. Everything Araceli knows about sailing a ship is everything Felix learned about sailing a ship, and everything Felix learning about sailing a ship came from his mother. She's smaller than Araceli is, has a smaller ship now since Felix inherited hers and says her ship has old lady aches and pain, that she ship doesn't go too fast but she gets there. She has a letter of marque as a formality and sign of respect for her long service but she follows after the oldest whales with scars from battles with krakens since they're the ones with knowlede. She helps to keep them safe from anyone thinking about harpooning them.
Neria's parents aren' as close to family since being a Bride of the Sea means leaving a bit more but her mother would tell her about the night she was born and how the moon looked like a pearl and the waves crashed high as the rooftops, and she knew Neria was going to be a Bride because of that. Neria's mother was a teacher and her father was an artist. The big vanity Neria has came from her mother originally, something her father made for her and her mother would sit Neria down so she could watch her getting ready and impart lessons the same way Neria did with Araceli.
Felix does not have a father, both he and his mother say his father is the sea and no one will fight them there.
& childhood
Araceli grew up with her mother in her mother's brothel, Neria being a Bride of the Sea providing spiritual healing as well and prostitution being legal in Castileos and run by the prostitutes themselves. There were a bunch of other kids in the brothel and they all helped out in the kitchen mostly to keep out of trouble when she wasn't in lessons with her tutor. Neria did a lot of stealth teaching when she was getting ready since Araceli loved watching her mother and it was special time for them; Araceli's love of her body, her hair, her clothes, all of that comes from Neria.
Felix sailed all the time so she hung out at the docks waiting for her dad to be in port but he made sure every eye in the docks that he knew was looking out for his little girl, dad also taught her many of the same lessons as Neria as well as when people are lying to you but he did it when he taught her how to gamble via cards and dice. Everything she learned about sailing, she learned from Felix.
Felix was the one to give her Lux at the age of twelve to teach her to be responsible although by that time she was already running around with a group of young thieves, getting up to no good, learning parkour.
Many of the lessons taught by both parents were taught early enough that she was taught before she would know the true lesson and so she would do something (i.e. read a person) without even thinking about it like breathing.
Her first proud accomplishment involved escaping the brothel to climb onto the roof as a very small child, her mother's terrifying quiet voice was worth it.
& tattoos
Araceli's whale tattoo is of her grandmother's (Felix's mother) favourite whale because she's a very cool old lady. She had her grandfather (Neria's father) draw the design for her. This was her first tattoo.
& food
Has a preference for fresh food, especially fish.
Has a fondness for crab too.
Very fond of citrus fruits since she used to buy them fresh off the ships.
Generally bought the catch of the day, loves to cook a variety of fish stews.
If she had to eat one food every day for the rest of her life she'd eat paella. It's her favourite because it's never the same twice and you make it with whatever the catch of the day happens to be.
Araceli doesn't have it in her to refuse food really, she's seen people literally starving and while she was lucky enough not to be in that position, she'd feel too guilty. That said, she isn't very fond of red meat since it was super expensive for her back home so beef, lamb, mutton? Not a big fan. Goat or ram? Same goes. She can doctor them up but she'd rather not.
Unless she was going to starve to death, she'd never eat whale. It's breaking a holy rule for her since they're only allowed to hunt whale when there's no food left whatsoever and it's only ever been broken in the oldest of old days.
Araceli is a damn good cook. Not super fancy but cooking is such a gesture of loving, affection, and caring to her, it's time spent doing something, it's providing for others. She can stretch a meal super far but make it delicious. She knows how to use every single part of a thing as far as possible, can and will plan in advance, and makes sure the meal is balanced. She loves it.
Cooking was a big part of her life - the brothel kitchen, her father's ship, the taverns, all the food stands at the docks, the palace, how she fed her whole building of starving artists, it's a big part of her identity.
If she had to eat one meal for the rest of her life? Fish stew with garlic toast; it's served in a bread bowl thing, usually she'd make it with whatever the catch of the day happened to be, lots of tomato sauce, some orange zest, garlic, white wine, chilli. (It's adapted from a real recipe for Mediterranean fish stew with garlic toasts.)
& drunk
Drinking watered rum is the norm for Castileans and that's given her a good tolerance for someone of her stature but Araceli is a handsy drunk. She'll lean on you, grab you, tell you she loves you, kiss your cheek etc. Hungover she'll hide. Make you suffer much later if you make her suffer. If she can do the I told you so thing she'll do it to someone else if she loves them and they didn't piss her off because in her opinion, being drunk doesn't absolve you from being a dick so if you were? Guess what she will not be happy with your drunk or hungover ass. She'll look after you, get you home, sober you up, and tell you how you were a dick. In complete, excruciating detail.
& free time
If Araceli could take photos she'd have her goddamn phone in her hand all the time. So many selfies. With friends. With family. Lux would have his own instagram account with a punny name. Her own account probably has positive messages on lots of posts, pictures of nights out with the girls, working hard on projects. Parkour shots! Sticking a go-pro on herself then parkouring to have some shots from that then at the end where she takes a dramatic selfie then shows the view from the highest point.
Her guilty pleasure involves taking stupendously long baths and spending more than half of that time on her hair when she doesn't really need to spend as much time doing any of that, and just lounging around. Then swanning around in a towel after when she should get dressed. Another guilty pleasure is that if she's near the sea you'll need to drag her out, especially in Thedas because the chances are so few.
Her unguilty pleasure is taking off for rooftop time when she needs to be alone and away from people to breathe and think, she just needs some time to herself to be utterly alone. Another unguilty pleasure is Lux being in the bed, look he'll always be in the bed unless sex is happening.
Even if showers were a thing, Araceli would choose a bath every time. The girl topping up the hot water with obnoxious bath bombs and candles, she needs to look after herself thanks.
Araceli can sing and play the lute because she's a bard. She could always sing but she's gotten much better but she's still a little shy playing the lute in front of people she knows and cares about compared to random nobles at parties.
When she needs comfort, Araceli would go to the ship graveyard at home where the ships were allowed to be reclaimed by the sea when they'd been salvaged for anything useful. She'd just got and sit for hours. Or she'd go to the brothel, sit at her mother's dresser and watch Neria put her face on the way she did when she was little.
In Skyhold she hid away places with Lux where she couldn't be found, just curled up somewhere since she was usually homesick and didn't want to talk about it. Or she might've played songs on her lute or done some cooking if it wasn't too terrible.
Cooking in general is a big comfort; if there's enough food to feed a small army, you know she's upset.
Pet peeves and petty dislikes? People who don't put their clothes or things away in the proper place, it pisses her off so much, she gets irrationally irate about it, it drives her nuts. Even when it's undressing for sex she'll either fold her clothes or get out of bed right after and put them away properly.
Other people being in the kitchen when she's cooking piss her off too unless it's a division of labour/helping her out thing. Couples cooking is just not a thing for Araceli. People getting in the way 'helping' or asking 'is it done' - how about your face is fucking done she'll fate you.
& education
Araceli had tutors chosen by Neria and paid for by both parents since they wanted to give her the best start they could in life so she had to study history, philosophy, politics and naturalistics (the word for life sciences where she comes from) until she left home at fifteen. She found it all kind of dry because she was an active kid but she was actually pretty good at it? Set her a challenge and she wants to excel. But that wasn't what she wanted to do with her life really. She did enjoy the politics later when she realised the lessons her parents taught her applied to it and her work, and she's enjoyed learning the history of how everyone in Thedas is stupid and doomed to repeat themselves since arriving.
& sleep
Araceli likes to have a mid-afternoon nap because it'd be the heat of the day or extremely humid back home depending on the season so most places close around then and she also would do most of her work at night so that pattern is pretty set for her. At night she goes to bed very late, sleeping for a few hours, then up super early for a rooftop run then back to bed for another couple of hours. She doesn't snore but if she's upset she'll mumble and mutter. Doesn't sleep well without Lux in the bed because he's slept in her bed since she was twelve and they're rarely away from one another. Prefers a firm mattress but really enjoys a good hammock too, they're practical and comfortable.
Sleeping with Korrin involves having to be careful so Araceli has to sprawl half on, half off her unless they're spooning. She's happy trading off on who is big spoon/little spoon.
On a sleepless night Araceli will take a circuit or two around the rooftops, sitting up on a high spot with her lute to play and sing or to sit very quietly with it, writing another letter home if she thinks lighting a candle back in their room would wake Korrin. Sometimes she might read too, there's a lot of reading to do in Thedas.
Moves a lot in her sleep too. Also prods Korrin over so she can be the big spoon when she comes back to bed for the second sleep post-parkouring.
Araceli's bedtime routine involves putting her hair into a braid because otherwise it'll be a mess and it might get caught on Korrin's horns (once was enough, never again), takes off her makeup, moisturises because you need to look after yourself. Checking all the locks again. Making sure all her work is away, puts her weapons by the bed and neatly puts her clothes away because she takes care of her things, probably has to brush Lux out too so he's nice and calm.
She can go without sleep but she usually breaks up her sleep; mid-afternoon nap, goes to bed very late for a few hours, gets up early for a rooftop run, then another hour or two in bed.
& attitudes
Her favourite insult to use is one that's mostly reserved for men: swordtail. After the little fish. Men that like to strut around, all flash no substance? There aren't too many in Thedas and she's different about things in Thedas than she would be back home because she has to be aware since what she does has more impact; Araceli doesn't have rank or status or protection like she does in the guard and even if she doesn't consider herself a rifter, she's aware that something she does is going to reflect on others. She'd honestly rather have it out with someone but if she really does trust a person, she'll teasingly talk shit behind their back. But she has to trust that other person. If that got out she'd be pissed off with the person who talked.
If Araceli found out someone's fear, how she'd behave would depend on the fear and the person. Some things she could tease about gently and if it's a shared fear she could laugh about it because there are times protecting someone does more harm than good when the world has teeth. A lot just really depends on the person.
Araceli has a pretty broad sense of humour with a soft spot for clever jokes and dirty jokes. She likes fun things but she's not above trying to mess with people (see: her dicking around with Church about what girls talk about over cards and that they totally do talk about magic in the bedroom.) Things with Araceli depend on who she's with and how public the situation is? If the situation called for joking she'd do her best to pull it off but she's not 'the funny girl'.
In terms of what she admires in a person, sometimes she really admires people who can switch off a few of the things she does as standard (some of the lessons her parents instilled in her super early) because it might be nice to just 'be'? She gives a good illusion of it but she isn't one of those people that does that. Being someone that really does just say what they think and to hell with the consequences, again for the same reasons.
In Thedas she wishes she was good at archery because she misses ranged weaponry but she can't get good at it or get a real feel for it.
Also wishes she was better at other survival things people take for granted because she didn't grow up that way. She can cook for you but the whole camping thing and outpost deal, that's not really her scene.
Araceli's an extrovert but she does need some solo recharge time. Back home she has the ship graveyard she goes to alone but in Thedas she heads to the rooftops with her lute or goes for a run up where no one can catch her.
Honesty depends on who Araceli's with, where they are, and what they're discussing. A tiny group of select people get 100% honesty. She's grown up knowing tells etc and in Thedas she doesn't fully trust people or their motivations so she's selective as well as being careful about her wording.
Greatest strength; probably her parkour skills since they get her into places and out of trouble.
Greatest weakness; being too loyal to the people she loves, at least when she's in Thedas where that can and will be used in Thedas but she refuses to compromise on that.
Greatest fear; that everything that has been whispered about her is true. In Thedas, specifically, that she's never going to go back home again and that everyone and everything back home has forgotten her.
Araceli hates her temper. She knows how bad it is and does try very hard to breathe and control it but if she's alone or around a person that isn't going to use it against her for something she'll just let go. No matter how ugly it is to see it plus the fact that it can come with angry crying which she feels undermines her very legitimate anger at times because people will think it's cute for some stupid reason.
Bringing up her parentage causes Araceli to question herself because there's always a split second where she thinks what if they're right and she's unsure of her place in the world at times. It'd only be worse if people knew about the true relationship between the queensguard and Leandra. In Thedas she worries more about what happens if/when her friends find out about her being in the queensguard since she's gone so long saying nothing about that at all and combined with the bard thing it just makes her unsure of where she'll end up exactly.
If something tragic or bad happens to Araceli, instead of believing she caused it or deserved it, or rushing to blame others, she believes more in things working themselves out on a large scale. Her belief in the sea and how it works come into play since she believes that the sea guides her where she needs to go. That being said, if she had a hand in it, she'd hold her hands up and accept blame. She'd only blame those who genuinely deserved it; the best example is how she didn't blame Ruby for hurting her during the Venatori kidnap because the Venatori put Ruby in that situation and hurt Ruby just as much as the rest of them, that's how blaming others for things works out for her.
Araceli treats people in service jobs very well. She's a common girl at the end of the day, she's lived like them and around them, she knows how badly they great treated and wants better for them probably. This is what she and the queensguard are working to accomplish and she's pretty upset it's not even on the radar in Thedas.
When it comes to orders, it's a case by case basis; she has a very strong idea of pulling together in bad times and following a captain sort of figure but if there are people she doesn't really respect or if she questions their motives/their orders and they go against her beliefs, she probably wouldn't be able to follow their orders in all honesty.
Take Araceli away from her skillset, and she's uneasy and apprehensive. Putting her down on the ground where she's at a disadvantage freaks her out more than she likes admitting because she relies on her parkour skills to get away from bad situations. Being away from the sea still messes with her a lot which is why she talks about it so much, trying to hold pieces of it closer to her.
Being around a lot of men isn't something she actively enjoys either? She doesn't really trust men that much if she doesn't know them on a personal basis and men are always going to have a size and strength advantage over her too.
Five unusual characteristics Araceli has:
1) she actually knows and has a strong bond with both parents when that wouldn't usually be the case for someone like her since her parents are a whore and a pirate.
2) extrovert that needs a decent amount of time to recharge by herself.
3) she's willing to hear all sides of the argumet and to take as much as she can from broken/crumbling systems to building something new out of them? There's much to be said for salvage people, she doesn't feel she should need to argue this.
4) deeply spiritual for such a 'flighty' girl.
5) in general just how she appears on the surface vs the many layers she has given all the gross tropes that come with her (class, parentage, profession, all facets of her sexuality, being a woman of colour) and that she isn't punished for being who she is.
Araceli probably wouldn't murder someone even if she was able to with zero consequences because there's no person she hates to that degree. Fighting someone in a proper fight and them being killed is different to planning and executing a murder, and there are worse things than murder for dealing with enemies.
Araceli wants to be weighted down and given to the sea when she dies because that's what custom dictates in Castileos; you're returned to the water that gave you life, and your body feeds things that'll give life to others while the merfolk take you down to whatever lies beyond.
Sometimes Araceli gets so overwhelmed that she has to stop and take a break from things. She tends to get swallowed in her work at times, by being in a place like Thedas or just being away from home so she goes to find a place she can be totally alone. In Skyhold she'd go up to the rooftops with her lute and/or Lux to just sit and be alone where no one can bother her, in Kirkwall she'll be able to find a hidden spot at the docks to watch the ships. In canon she would go to the ship graveyard where no one ever bothered her. She loves people, she loves her work but she needs time to recharge or to sit and just breathe.
If Araceli was granted three wishes, she would wish for:
1. That the poor people of Thedas are actually helped because you can't have any sort of real lasting change in the world when such a large group are overlooked
2. That most of the Inquisition will develop a shred of self-awareness because how can this many people be this stunningly bad at grasping politic situations and how to handle them, how have you lived this long?
3. That she can go home again because honestly she's never not going to be homesick and feel like there's a wound in her somewhere
& weather
Araceli's favourite season is summer because at home there's something going on at all times and in Skyhold she wasn't actively freezing for a change.
In Skyhold she spent stormy, overcast, rainy days indoors studying bard things or holed up in the tavern scamming idiots. In Kirkwall it'll be far less cold so she'll be happier to be out and about.
She prefers storms if she's by the sea but preferred clear skies at Skyhold because it hopefully meant it was less cold.
Sun and rain make Araceli happiest, a bit of wind doesn't go amiss. When it's perfectly calm it doesn't make her sad but it can make her antsy since those are bad for sailors. Snowstorms upset her, she doesn't like being that cold.
& name
Araceli means 'altar of the sky' in Latin and her mother named her for the moon because the moon is connected to her mother's life in a huge way and it's important to Castileans given the creation myth of their world. It's pronounced Ara-che-li.
Bonaventura means 'good fortune' and it's her father's surname. It's a fitting name for a pirate and for him to give to his thief daughter.
Castell means 'castle' and it's her mother's surname. Having a name with a connection to nobility as well as the old mystical connection that comes across with her mother was important.
All her names come from Latin, Spanish or Italian and all those languages and cultures influenced the worldbuilding for Castileos.
& possessions
If she had only one bag of stuff somewhere with her, this is what Araceli would pack under essential items: pistols, rapiers, dice from her father, hipflask. A few books her mother bought when she was born. A pot of kohl, several bottles of hair oil, spices. Compass. Change of clothes. Fishing line and hooks, treats for Lux. Small stash of coin.
The contents of Araceli's pockets are; scrimshaw dice, playing cards, spare lockpicks, hairpins, treats for Lux, various coins in the pockets and more sewn in fake pockets/the lining, a seashell from Rivain, scraps of parchment and something to write with for note taking purposes.
Araceli likes her spaces to look lived-in. They're tidy with everything having a proper place but she has knick knacks and odds and ends on shelves etc. Araceli's made the place she and Korrin share look like it belongs to them; there's a map of Thedas with various pins for where they've been (blue for Araceli, red for Korrin, purple if they both went), a model ship and ships in bottles picked up in Rivain, lots of seashells, various bear pelts and slankets from Asher.
& associations
Araceli is fire (she's a cancer but was almost a leo) because it's all about spirit, energy, inspiration, activity and being outgoing. It's associated with being really goddamn driven and passionate and how that can be a destructive influence when uncontrolled.
& sexuality
Araceli is bisexual but leans heavily towards ladies with men involving a series of caveats mainly to do with age and class i.e. they've got to be the same class as her because higher class men have objectified her and made her very uncomfortable, same as most men with any number of years on her.
& religion
Araceli believes that the sea is a thing that lives through people and creatures with different aspects embodied in man and woman, that they're all different parts of it. This isn't defined as a religion as such in Castileos however.
& speech;
Possesses a few verbal tics. Ends certain things as questions, usually with 'no?' or 'sí?' depending on the situation. Slips into Castilean when she's very tired or upset in some way, has some words she's so used to saying that she generally doesn't say them in common (e.g. thank you). Otherwise she's very good at articulating her thoughts but she's very careful about it depending on the company for obvious reasons. Araceli's Orlesian isn't great. She has a pretty big disconnect between the word she reads and the word she hears/says and she just struggles with the pronunciation a lot of the time, she doesn't really like situations where she has to speak or sing it around nobles. Her knowledge of Qunlat is limited mostly to what she's heard Korrin say and that's mostly insults.
& confrontation
Confrontations depend on the situation. She knows how to do politics. If she can then she'd rather just deal with it head on and know where she stands, the girl has been in many duels at home so that tells you plenty but she knows how to play the game so what does she want out of the situation and what benefits her the most. A good example is Korrin and Araceli with the Anders fallout.
Remove the threat/problem or remove themselves from the threat/problem? She'll remove the threat/problem, that was literally her whole goddamn job back home with the queensguard for Leandra and she loved it (she's a little worried at times about how much she loved it but what can you do) also don't hurt or mess with the things and people she loves, she will find a way to ruin you.
In canon Araceli does have enemies there's no one named yet but a lot of the council might not actively dislike her but there's enough ideology differences and resentment that it basically ends up that way. In Thedas? Still no one with an actual name? It's more things and they're things she can channel her energy into so the whole mage freedom cause. I mean she really hates the mages that kidnapped her and the others but they've been dealt with. Oh and she has a vendetta against all desire demons because one looked like her in the Fade to tempt Korrin and that is not okay so she's basically made it her personally mission to strangle any desire demons. Not stab them, strangle them.
& alignment;
Neutral good; Araceli wants to do what's right and she's willing to bend or break the rules so long as no one gets hurt.
Araceli's at the age where she's got a fast metabolism, preferring to eat little and often rather than sitting down to eat big meals. Spends a lot of her time running around doing climbing and parkour or swimming so she really does need to eat to keep her energy up plus she'd hate to lose the figure she has. If she thought she was getting too thin/losing her curves she'd definitely make sure she ate more.
In terms of taking after her parents, Araceli has her father's curls and his smile with her mother's eyes and mouth. Her build is closer to Neria's too but she's got more mannerisms that make her resemble Felix; Araceli knows what bit comes from which parent.
She has a few scars from being shot by guards after her exploits and there's one on the back of one leg where she had to go digging the shot out when she was drunk enough to stand it, that was a fun night. There are a few little scars here and there from duels. One wrist has a pale scar from breaking her wrist badly enough the bone popped through. After Craintellier and being attacked by Ruby in werewolf form she has a horrific bite scar on her right calf.
Araceli has very soft skin everywhere except her hands and her feet where her skin is tougher from parkouring and handling her weapons. She takes good care of her skin with balms, butters, salves, oils etc. She doesn't get sunburns but she looks after herself. Doesn't like the feel of linen or chainmail against her skin.
Straight teeth, no cavities, realistically not perfectly white because come on.
Right-handed for writing, right-hand dominant for her rapier but left-hand dominant for her pistol and throwing knives. Perfectly comfortable using her off hand because her livelihood relies on that.
Araceli has pretty perfect posture, good enough that a mother would be proud with her head straight, shoulders back etc. She always swings her hips with a swagger when she walks unless she makes a conscious effort not to as if she's on the deck of a ship because that's a very Castilean thing to do and she moves as if she's confident about herself and her place in the world even when she's not. Fake it 'til you make it.
Araceli's first scar was the time she broke her wrist and the bone broke the skin.
Her first piercings were her ears.
Araceli shows complete trust by letting someone tie her up or restrain her in some way. She doesn't have a lot of physical advantages at all if you take away her ability to move so she would only do this if she completely trusted that person.
Another strange trust thing is letting people see or know that she angry-cries. She's enraged about it for obvious reasons because she thinks it ruins arguments and she has to trust that the person seeing it will know that they haven't won the argument if they see her doing it.
Araceli worries about her hands a lot, she's very protective of them because they're the tools of her trade (it's why the one thing she followed to the letter after Craintellier was resting her broken thumb.) As for the rest, she likes to wave as she parkours on by: she's laughed off other broken bones, being shot and stabbed, it can all bite her honestly.
Araceli is a terrible patient when she's sick or injured. She argues that she's fine when she's clearly not fine. She hogs all the blankets when she's cold then throws them across the room when she's too hot then demands them back even if someone else is in the bed. She's furiously upset about losing her independence and relying on other people for things and being limited.
If and when she gets sick, it's usually her throat or chest from rooftop escapades in the dead of night then leaping into freezing cold water and running home in soaking wet clothes. She medicates with rum, brandy, and rage at her body betraying her.
Araceli has no pre-existing; salt air made a healthy girl.
When Araceli isn't doing the bard thing, her face says it all when she lets it. She's not shy about pulling faces at people. Also a hand talker but taught to control it and her face by her parents before the bard life got hold of her.
Bouncy when excited. Korrin probably gets the most of it when Araceli shows her a new thing she's studying.
Araceli's quiet, she's so quiet, she only makes a noise if she wants to be heard even with all her jewellery and weapons, she knows how to move her body without making a noise.
Coconut oil is Araceli's favourite for dealing with her hair but it's on the expensive side. Olive oil is good too and it's always there, the old faithful, and you can lift it from anywhere when you're strolling past and no one's going to miss a bottle of it in the grand scheme of things. Argan oil is also great and on the fancier end of things but her skin and hair feel wonderful after.
Rubs her left thumb (that she broke on purpose to attempt to escape her bindings when kidnapped by the Venatori) absently, especially when upset or stressed
& family
Araceli's mother is Neria Castell, a Bride of the Sea which is a holy prostitute, a woman that provides the 'embrace of the sea' so it's considered a healing act. Neria's own parens are a teacher and an artist, and Neria isn't particularly close to them since she knew what her calling was and chose the sea. Neria did the bulk of the raising of Araceli since Araceli grew up in the brothel, hiring tutors to give her daughter as good a start as she possibly could but she taught Araceli the same amount of lessons herself about reading a person and between the lines, how to interpret body language, how to dress and paint her face and what that all means etc. There was a lot she tried to teach a small Araceli about politics and how it was everywhere, and that small Araceli declared it boring. Try to imagine how much Neria laughed upon Araceli telling her she was now in the queensguard.
Neria very much has the role of the feminine aspect of the sea so when Araceli has to picture that, it's her mother she sees all the time, and that's the woman she most admires. They're incredibly close for all that they might argue because Araceli was a handful growing up with all that energy and her penchant for scrambling around. Given Neria's path in life and how long she's been a Bride, she's a highly respected woman throughout Castileos.
If Araceli's parents were dying and she had one thing to say to them: she would simply say that she loves them so very much, and that they'll see them again.
If Araceli was the one dying and she had one thing to say to her parents: I'm sorry (because she's probably done something to get herself in that situation), and that she'll be where they should be. Look, dying is easier when you're religious and really do believe in your afterlife, it's comforting to know you'll all be together again one day.
Felix's mother was the captain of a ship who gave birth to him during a storm; when the storm went calm and quiet, she said it was the sign of a Son of the Sea being born. Everything Araceli knows about sailing a ship is everything Felix learned about sailing a ship, and everything Felix learning about sailing a ship came from his mother. She's smaller than Araceli is, has a smaller ship now since Felix inherited hers and says her ship has old lady aches and pain, that she ship doesn't go too fast but she gets there. She has a letter of marque as a formality and sign of respect for her long service but she follows after the oldest whales with scars from battles with krakens since they're the ones with knowlede. She helps to keep them safe from anyone thinking about harpooning them.
Neria's parents aren' as close to family since being a Bride of the Sea means leaving a bit more but her mother would tell her about the night she was born and how the moon looked like a pearl and the waves crashed high as the rooftops, and she knew Neria was going to be a Bride because of that. Neria's mother was a teacher and her father was an artist. The big vanity Neria has came from her mother originally, something her father made for her and her mother would sit Neria down so she could watch her getting ready and impart lessons the same way Neria did with Araceli.
Felix does not have a father, both he and his mother say his father is the sea and no one will fight them there.
& childhood
Araceli grew up with her mother in her mother's brothel, Neria being a Bride of the Sea providing spiritual healing as well and prostitution being legal in Castileos and run by the prostitutes themselves. There were a bunch of other kids in the brothel and they all helped out in the kitchen mostly to keep out of trouble when she wasn't in lessons with her tutor. Neria did a lot of stealth teaching when she was getting ready since Araceli loved watching her mother and it was special time for them; Araceli's love of her body, her hair, her clothes, all of that comes from Neria.
Felix sailed all the time so she hung out at the docks waiting for her dad to be in port but he made sure every eye in the docks that he knew was looking out for his little girl, dad also taught her many of the same lessons as Neria as well as when people are lying to you but he did it when he taught her how to gamble via cards and dice. Everything she learned about sailing, she learned from Felix.
Felix was the one to give her Lux at the age of twelve to teach her to be responsible although by that time she was already running around with a group of young thieves, getting up to no good, learning parkour.
Many of the lessons taught by both parents were taught early enough that she was taught before she would know the true lesson and so she would do something (i.e. read a person) without even thinking about it like breathing.
Her first proud accomplishment involved escaping the brothel to climb onto the roof as a very small child, her mother's terrifying quiet voice was worth it.
& tattoos
Araceli's whale tattoo is of her grandmother's (Felix's mother) favourite whale because she's a very cool old lady. She had her grandfather (Neria's father) draw the design for her. This was her first tattoo.
& food
Has a preference for fresh food, especially fish.
Has a fondness for crab too.
Very fond of citrus fruits since she used to buy them fresh off the ships.
Generally bought the catch of the day, loves to cook a variety of fish stews.
If she had to eat one food every day for the rest of her life she'd eat paella. It's her favourite because it's never the same twice and you make it with whatever the catch of the day happens to be.
Araceli doesn't have it in her to refuse food really, she's seen people literally starving and while she was lucky enough not to be in that position, she'd feel too guilty. That said, she isn't very fond of red meat since it was super expensive for her back home so beef, lamb, mutton? Not a big fan. Goat or ram? Same goes. She can doctor them up but she'd rather not.
Unless she was going to starve to death, she'd never eat whale. It's breaking a holy rule for her since they're only allowed to hunt whale when there's no food left whatsoever and it's only ever been broken in the oldest of old days.
Araceli is a damn good cook. Not super fancy but cooking is such a gesture of loving, affection, and caring to her, it's time spent doing something, it's providing for others. She can stretch a meal super far but make it delicious. She knows how to use every single part of a thing as far as possible, can and will plan in advance, and makes sure the meal is balanced. She loves it.
Cooking was a big part of her life - the brothel kitchen, her father's ship, the taverns, all the food stands at the docks, the palace, how she fed her whole building of starving artists, it's a big part of her identity.
If she had to eat one meal for the rest of her life? Fish stew with garlic toast; it's served in a bread bowl thing, usually she'd make it with whatever the catch of the day happened to be, lots of tomato sauce, some orange zest, garlic, white wine, chilli. (It's adapted from a real recipe for Mediterranean fish stew with garlic toasts.)
& drunk
Drinking watered rum is the norm for Castileans and that's given her a good tolerance for someone of her stature but Araceli is a handsy drunk. She'll lean on you, grab you, tell you she loves you, kiss your cheek etc. Hungover she'll hide. Make you suffer much later if you make her suffer. If she can do the I told you so thing she'll do it to someone else if she loves them and they didn't piss her off because in her opinion, being drunk doesn't absolve you from being a dick so if you were? Guess what she will not be happy with your drunk or hungover ass. She'll look after you, get you home, sober you up, and tell you how you were a dick. In complete, excruciating detail.
& free time
If Araceli could take photos she'd have her goddamn phone in her hand all the time. So many selfies. With friends. With family. Lux would have his own instagram account with a punny name. Her own account probably has positive messages on lots of posts, pictures of nights out with the girls, working hard on projects. Parkour shots! Sticking a go-pro on herself then parkouring to have some shots from that then at the end where she takes a dramatic selfie then shows the view from the highest point.
Her guilty pleasure involves taking stupendously long baths and spending more than half of that time on her hair when she doesn't really need to spend as much time doing any of that, and just lounging around. Then swanning around in a towel after when she should get dressed. Another guilty pleasure is that if she's near the sea you'll need to drag her out, especially in Thedas because the chances are so few.
Her unguilty pleasure is taking off for rooftop time when she needs to be alone and away from people to breathe and think, she just needs some time to herself to be utterly alone. Another unguilty pleasure is Lux being in the bed, look he'll always be in the bed unless sex is happening.
Even if showers were a thing, Araceli would choose a bath every time. The girl topping up the hot water with obnoxious bath bombs and candles, she needs to look after herself thanks.
Araceli can sing and play the lute because she's a bard. She could always sing but she's gotten much better but she's still a little shy playing the lute in front of people she knows and cares about compared to random nobles at parties.
When she needs comfort, Araceli would go to the ship graveyard at home where the ships were allowed to be reclaimed by the sea when they'd been salvaged for anything useful. She'd just got and sit for hours. Or she'd go to the brothel, sit at her mother's dresser and watch Neria put her face on the way she did when she was little.
In Skyhold she hid away places with Lux where she couldn't be found, just curled up somewhere since she was usually homesick and didn't want to talk about it. Or she might've played songs on her lute or done some cooking if it wasn't too terrible.
Cooking in general is a big comfort; if there's enough food to feed a small army, you know she's upset.
Pet peeves and petty dislikes? People who don't put their clothes or things away in the proper place, it pisses her off so much, she gets irrationally irate about it, it drives her nuts. Even when it's undressing for sex she'll either fold her clothes or get out of bed right after and put them away properly.
Other people being in the kitchen when she's cooking piss her off too unless it's a division of labour/helping her out thing. Couples cooking is just not a thing for Araceli. People getting in the way 'helping' or asking 'is it done' - how about your face is fucking done she'll fate you.
& education
Araceli had tutors chosen by Neria and paid for by both parents since they wanted to give her the best start they could in life so she had to study history, philosophy, politics and naturalistics (the word for life sciences where she comes from) until she left home at fifteen. She found it all kind of dry because she was an active kid but she was actually pretty good at it? Set her a challenge and she wants to excel. But that wasn't what she wanted to do with her life really. She did enjoy the politics later when she realised the lessons her parents taught her applied to it and her work, and she's enjoyed learning the history of how everyone in Thedas is stupid and doomed to repeat themselves since arriving.
& sleep
Araceli likes to have a mid-afternoon nap because it'd be the heat of the day or extremely humid back home depending on the season so most places close around then and she also would do most of her work at night so that pattern is pretty set for her. At night she goes to bed very late, sleeping for a few hours, then up super early for a rooftop run then back to bed for another couple of hours. She doesn't snore but if she's upset she'll mumble and mutter. Doesn't sleep well without Lux in the bed because he's slept in her bed since she was twelve and they're rarely away from one another. Prefers a firm mattress but really enjoys a good hammock too, they're practical and comfortable.
Sleeping with Korrin involves having to be careful so Araceli has to sprawl half on, half off her unless they're spooning. She's happy trading off on who is big spoon/little spoon.
On a sleepless night Araceli will take a circuit or two around the rooftops, sitting up on a high spot with her lute to play and sing or to sit very quietly with it, writing another letter home if she thinks lighting a candle back in their room would wake Korrin. Sometimes she might read too, there's a lot of reading to do in Thedas.
Moves a lot in her sleep too. Also prods Korrin over so she can be the big spoon when she comes back to bed for the second sleep post-parkouring.
Araceli's bedtime routine involves putting her hair into a braid because otherwise it'll be a mess and it might get caught on Korrin's horns (once was enough, never again), takes off her makeup, moisturises because you need to look after yourself. Checking all the locks again. Making sure all her work is away, puts her weapons by the bed and neatly puts her clothes away because she takes care of her things, probably has to brush Lux out too so he's nice and calm.
She can go without sleep but she usually breaks up her sleep; mid-afternoon nap, goes to bed very late for a few hours, gets up early for a rooftop run, then another hour or two in bed.
& attitudes
Her favourite insult to use is one that's mostly reserved for men: swordtail. After the little fish. Men that like to strut around, all flash no substance? There aren't too many in Thedas and she's different about things in Thedas than she would be back home because she has to be aware since what she does has more impact; Araceli doesn't have rank or status or protection like she does in the guard and even if she doesn't consider herself a rifter, she's aware that something she does is going to reflect on others. She'd honestly rather have it out with someone but if she really does trust a person, she'll teasingly talk shit behind their back. But she has to trust that other person. If that got out she'd be pissed off with the person who talked.
If Araceli found out someone's fear, how she'd behave would depend on the fear and the person. Some things she could tease about gently and if it's a shared fear she could laugh about it because there are times protecting someone does more harm than good when the world has teeth. A lot just really depends on the person.
Araceli has a pretty broad sense of humour with a soft spot for clever jokes and dirty jokes. She likes fun things but she's not above trying to mess with people (see: her dicking around with Church about what girls talk about over cards and that they totally do talk about magic in the bedroom.) Things with Araceli depend on who she's with and how public the situation is? If the situation called for joking she'd do her best to pull it off but she's not 'the funny girl'.
In terms of what she admires in a person, sometimes she really admires people who can switch off a few of the things she does as standard (some of the lessons her parents instilled in her super early) because it might be nice to just 'be'? She gives a good illusion of it but she isn't one of those people that does that. Being someone that really does just say what they think and to hell with the consequences, again for the same reasons.
In Thedas she wishes she was good at archery because she misses ranged weaponry but she can't get good at it or get a real feel for it.
Also wishes she was better at other survival things people take for granted because she didn't grow up that way. She can cook for you but the whole camping thing and outpost deal, that's not really her scene.
Araceli's an extrovert but she does need some solo recharge time. Back home she has the ship graveyard she goes to alone but in Thedas she heads to the rooftops with her lute or goes for a run up where no one can catch her.
Honesty depends on who Araceli's with, where they are, and what they're discussing. A tiny group of select people get 100% honesty. She's grown up knowing tells etc and in Thedas she doesn't fully trust people or their motivations so she's selective as well as being careful about her wording.
Greatest strength; probably her parkour skills since they get her into places and out of trouble.
Greatest weakness; being too loyal to the people she loves, at least when she's in Thedas where that can and will be used in Thedas but she refuses to compromise on that.
Greatest fear; that everything that has been whispered about her is true. In Thedas, specifically, that she's never going to go back home again and that everyone and everything back home has forgotten her.
Araceli hates her temper. She knows how bad it is and does try very hard to breathe and control it but if she's alone or around a person that isn't going to use it against her for something she'll just let go. No matter how ugly it is to see it plus the fact that it can come with angry crying which she feels undermines her very legitimate anger at times because people will think it's cute for some stupid reason.
Bringing up her parentage causes Araceli to question herself because there's always a split second where she thinks what if they're right and she's unsure of her place in the world at times. It'd only be worse if people knew about the true relationship between the queensguard and Leandra. In Thedas she worries more about what happens if/when her friends find out about her being in the queensguard since she's gone so long saying nothing about that at all and combined with the bard thing it just makes her unsure of where she'll end up exactly.
If something tragic or bad happens to Araceli, instead of believing she caused it or deserved it, or rushing to blame others, she believes more in things working themselves out on a large scale. Her belief in the sea and how it works come into play since she believes that the sea guides her where she needs to go. That being said, if she had a hand in it, she'd hold her hands up and accept blame. She'd only blame those who genuinely deserved it; the best example is how she didn't blame Ruby for hurting her during the Venatori kidnap because the Venatori put Ruby in that situation and hurt Ruby just as much as the rest of them, that's how blaming others for things works out for her.
Araceli treats people in service jobs very well. She's a common girl at the end of the day, she's lived like them and around them, she knows how badly they great treated and wants better for them probably. This is what she and the queensguard are working to accomplish and she's pretty upset it's not even on the radar in Thedas.
When it comes to orders, it's a case by case basis; she has a very strong idea of pulling together in bad times and following a captain sort of figure but if there are people she doesn't really respect or if she questions their motives/their orders and they go against her beliefs, she probably wouldn't be able to follow their orders in all honesty.
Take Araceli away from her skillset, and she's uneasy and apprehensive. Putting her down on the ground where she's at a disadvantage freaks her out more than she likes admitting because she relies on her parkour skills to get away from bad situations. Being away from the sea still messes with her a lot which is why she talks about it so much, trying to hold pieces of it closer to her.
Being around a lot of men isn't something she actively enjoys either? She doesn't really trust men that much if she doesn't know them on a personal basis and men are always going to have a size and strength advantage over her too.
Five unusual characteristics Araceli has:
1) she actually knows and has a strong bond with both parents when that wouldn't usually be the case for someone like her since her parents are a whore and a pirate.
2) extrovert that needs a decent amount of time to recharge by herself.
3) she's willing to hear all sides of the argumet and to take as much as she can from broken/crumbling systems to building something new out of them? There's much to be said for salvage people, she doesn't feel she should need to argue this.
4) deeply spiritual for such a 'flighty' girl.
5) in general just how she appears on the surface vs the many layers she has given all the gross tropes that come with her (class, parentage, profession, all facets of her sexuality, being a woman of colour) and that she isn't punished for being who she is.
Araceli probably wouldn't murder someone even if she was able to with zero consequences because there's no person she hates to that degree. Fighting someone in a proper fight and them being killed is different to planning and executing a murder, and there are worse things than murder for dealing with enemies.
Araceli wants to be weighted down and given to the sea when she dies because that's what custom dictates in Castileos; you're returned to the water that gave you life, and your body feeds things that'll give life to others while the merfolk take you down to whatever lies beyond.
Sometimes Araceli gets so overwhelmed that she has to stop and take a break from things. She tends to get swallowed in her work at times, by being in a place like Thedas or just being away from home so she goes to find a place she can be totally alone. In Skyhold she'd go up to the rooftops with her lute and/or Lux to just sit and be alone where no one can bother her, in Kirkwall she'll be able to find a hidden spot at the docks to watch the ships. In canon she would go to the ship graveyard where no one ever bothered her. She loves people, she loves her work but she needs time to recharge or to sit and just breathe.
If Araceli was granted three wishes, she would wish for:
1. That the poor people of Thedas are actually helped because you can't have any sort of real lasting change in the world when such a large group are overlooked
2. That most of the Inquisition will develop a shred of self-awareness because how can this many people be this stunningly bad at grasping politic situations and how to handle them, how have you lived this long?
3. That she can go home again because honestly she's never not going to be homesick and feel like there's a wound in her somewhere
& weather
Araceli's favourite season is summer because at home there's something going on at all times and in Skyhold she wasn't actively freezing for a change.
In Skyhold she spent stormy, overcast, rainy days indoors studying bard things or holed up in the tavern scamming idiots. In Kirkwall it'll be far less cold so she'll be happier to be out and about.
She prefers storms if she's by the sea but preferred clear skies at Skyhold because it hopefully meant it was less cold.
Sun and rain make Araceli happiest, a bit of wind doesn't go amiss. When it's perfectly calm it doesn't make her sad but it can make her antsy since those are bad for sailors. Snowstorms upset her, she doesn't like being that cold.
& name
Araceli means 'altar of the sky' in Latin and her mother named her for the moon because the moon is connected to her mother's life in a huge way and it's important to Castileans given the creation myth of their world. It's pronounced Ara-che-li.
Bonaventura means 'good fortune' and it's her father's surname. It's a fitting name for a pirate and for him to give to his thief daughter.
Castell means 'castle' and it's her mother's surname. Having a name with a connection to nobility as well as the old mystical connection that comes across with her mother was important.
All her names come from Latin, Spanish or Italian and all those languages and cultures influenced the worldbuilding for Castileos.
& possessions
If she had only one bag of stuff somewhere with her, this is what Araceli would pack under essential items: pistols, rapiers, dice from her father, hipflask. A few books her mother bought when she was born. A pot of kohl, several bottles of hair oil, spices. Compass. Change of clothes. Fishing line and hooks, treats for Lux. Small stash of coin.
The contents of Araceli's pockets are; scrimshaw dice, playing cards, spare lockpicks, hairpins, treats for Lux, various coins in the pockets and more sewn in fake pockets/the lining, a seashell from Rivain, scraps of parchment and something to write with for note taking purposes.
Araceli likes her spaces to look lived-in. They're tidy with everything having a proper place but she has knick knacks and odds and ends on shelves etc. Araceli's made the place she and Korrin share look like it belongs to them; there's a map of Thedas with various pins for where they've been (blue for Araceli, red for Korrin, purple if they both went), a model ship and ships in bottles picked up in Rivain, lots of seashells, various bear pelts and slankets from Asher.
& associations
Araceli is fire (she's a cancer but was almost a leo) because it's all about spirit, energy, inspiration, activity and being outgoing. It's associated with being really goddamn driven and passionate and how that can be a destructive influence when uncontrolled.
& sexuality
Araceli is bisexual but leans heavily towards ladies with men involving a series of caveats mainly to do with age and class i.e. they've got to be the same class as her because higher class men have objectified her and made her very uncomfortable, same as most men with any number of years on her.
& religion
Araceli believes that the sea is a thing that lives through people and creatures with different aspects embodied in man and woman, that they're all different parts of it. This isn't defined as a religion as such in Castileos however.
& speech;
Possesses a few verbal tics. Ends certain things as questions, usually with 'no?' or 'sí?' depending on the situation. Slips into Castilean when she's very tired or upset in some way, has some words she's so used to saying that she generally doesn't say them in common (e.g. thank you). Otherwise she's very good at articulating her thoughts but she's very careful about it depending on the company for obvious reasons. Araceli's Orlesian isn't great. She has a pretty big disconnect between the word she reads and the word she hears/says and she just struggles with the pronunciation a lot of the time, she doesn't really like situations where she has to speak or sing it around nobles. Her knowledge of Qunlat is limited mostly to what she's heard Korrin say and that's mostly insults.
& confrontation
Confrontations depend on the situation. She knows how to do politics. If she can then she'd rather just deal with it head on and know where she stands, the girl has been in many duels at home so that tells you plenty but she knows how to play the game so what does she want out of the situation and what benefits her the most. A good example is Korrin and Araceli with the Anders fallout.
Remove the threat/problem or remove themselves from the threat/problem? She'll remove the threat/problem, that was literally her whole goddamn job back home with the queensguard for Leandra and she loved it (she's a little worried at times about how much she loved it but what can you do) also don't hurt or mess with the things and people she loves, she will find a way to ruin you.
In canon Araceli does have enemies there's no one named yet but a lot of the council might not actively dislike her but there's enough ideology differences and resentment that it basically ends up that way. In Thedas? Still no one with an actual name? It's more things and they're things she can channel her energy into so the whole mage freedom cause. I mean she really hates the mages that kidnapped her and the others but they've been dealt with. Oh and she has a vendetta against all desire demons because one looked like her in the Fade to tempt Korrin and that is not okay so she's basically made it her personally mission to strangle any desire demons. Not stab them, strangle them.
& alignment;
Neutral good; Araceli wants to do what's right and she's willing to bend or break the rules so long as no one gets hurt.