ofcrowsanddragons

[ofcrowsanddragons]

I am here for this! I love some good god strife. Thank you so much for sharing!!

He gestured with his other hand, sweeping it wide to encompass the whole of the dead city. “The corpse of a god who starved. A god who loved you! A god you betrayed!”

Clapping my hands gleefully.

WIP WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 8/14/25

Hello, it’s WIP Wednesday Thursday, again! The confusingly named game where you:

Reblog this post with a snippet of whatever you’re working on (art, writing, music, crafts, whatever!) and I encourage you and comment briefly !

It doesn’t need to be Dragon Age! You can do whatever !

Because it is weekly, I won’t really be reblogging after Thursday is over, but you can still add stuff, if you want!

If you are looking for comments on/promotion of work that is currently being published, I do that on Bio(ware)feedback days! The next one is 8/16/2025!

Thanks for sharing your work! Have a great day!

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Thank you! It's always so much fun to write Magpie sparking off of Viago like this, and I'm so happy to hear that the tone of the celebration and Magpie's feeling of victory and life is ringing true.

And poor Vi! He really does like Teia...

WIP WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 8/14/25

Hello, it’s WIP Wednesday Thursday, again! The confusingly named game where you:

Reblog this post with a snippet of whatever you’re working on (art, writing, music, crafts, whatever!) and I encourage you and comment briefly !

It doesn’t need to be Dragon Age! You can do whatever !

Because it is weekly, I won’t really be reblogging after Thursday is over, but you can still add stuff, if you want!

If you are looking for comments on/promotion of work that is currently being published, I do that on Bio(ware)feedback days! The next one is 8/16/2025!

Thanks for sharing your work! Have a great day!

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Useless Veilguard fact of the day: Day 184

Rana can offer a comment on Neve and Lucanis's romance.

Rana: Neve. Rumor says you're dating an assassin. Neve: You mean this assassin? Rana: Oh, I didn't... aren't you the Demon of... Sorry. You seem... nice? Lucanis: Thanks?

Check out the tag for more useless facts: #useless davg fact of the day!

[ofcrowsanddragons]

DIGITAL ARTISTS: remember to create a new layer for each individual mark yuo make and dont label any of them today

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Here's a potential future snippet for A Working Relationship, with Viago and Rook a hint of background Teia/Rook. (Viago is suffering.)

It was a summer night, with just a hint of the cool sea breeze shuffling onto the rooftop. Music and laughter lit up the night, and stored ice had been brought in from the interior to flow along with the alcohol. Two fellow Crows, a couple, leaned in to congratulate me. Their body language was warm and loose, and I leaned in close to the woman as she asked me a question.

My Talon was there, too, although the dancers were giving him a wide berth. He watched from the far corner of the makeshift bar, clutching his cane and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

I laughed. "He's not hurting anyone," I assured her. "Who do you think is paying for the drinks?"

The woman's eyes widened as if she'd just realized something, and I laughed and clinked my glass against hers. Feeling giddy and wanting to make a point, I drained the rest of it and handed it to her, clapping her on the shoulder as I ducked away. Dreams always turned into nightmares around me eventually, but I could enjoy the ambiance while it lasted.

"Viago!" I exclaimed, putting my hand on his back to catch my balance, ignoring it as he stiffened. He knew I wouldn't hurt him. "Come dance with me!"

"Are you drunk?" he asked incredulously. "Have you even been testing—"

"You've been watching my drinks and this would be a bad time for you to poison me to death anyway," I said, collapsing into the seat next to him, my back to the bar. I gave him a toothy smile. "If you just want to make me suffer a bit, hey, that's up to you."

"I think I do," he said darkly.

I waved away the threat. "And this is your party, too! Is your leg bothering you too much?"

"Are you my minder, now?" Viago asked, leaning away.

"I'm a Crow!" I said with delight, tossing my head back to laugh as I swayed toward him. It was still so new. "Just a little dance, come on. You got me here. I've almost doubled my life expectancy because of you."

He muttered to himself, but his eyes had softened just a little bit at being given the credit. It was good for him to be teased. All of us were too afraid to try it, most of the time.

I knew that I'd won as he finished off his wine and stood up, handing his cane over to the bartender, Nicolai. I winked at them and they shook their head, popping the cane into a side cupboard and wiping their gloves on a saturated cloth, which they discarded in a bin behind them. Mix drinks for the Crows and you get to know poisons fairly quickly. Or maybe we recruit a specific kind of bartender.

Pulling Viago along by the sleeves of his overcoat, my face almost hurting from smiling so much, I pulled him into the throng of partygoers, and the band kicked into a new song.

"You'd better be able to prove to me that your reflexes are good even after drinking all that sangria," he said, settling into the rhythm of the dance with the practiced ease of a man subjected to too many high class lessons.

I captured the lead and he looked at me with fond exasperation, which meant he was in a good mood. "Well, you get what you pay for." I spun him, just for fun, and he went with a roll of his eyes, ducking under our clasped hands even though he was quite a bit taller than me. This wasn't a formal event: we were birds on a rooftop crowing that the world hadn't cut us down yet.

This was the role of the newly-initiated Crow, fresh from their first hunt and alive with it. It was always disorienting to be pressed into something resembling one's own shape, but it was nice. I liked it, even if Viago was remembering me as taller than I was.

The spin had been funnier with the height difference in reality.

He put an arm around my waist so he could control our movement, pulling us into a series of steps that were less frantic and wild, and I leaned into him. On another night, I would have been thinking about contact poisons and painful lessons, but I'd chosen to set that aside. Someone had died so that I could celebrate my life tonight, after all.

"You should watch out," Viago said, just barely audible over the music.

"For anything in particular?" I asked him, enjoying the friendly touch, the strings of the instruments, and the cadence of our feet against the tile.

"Teia Cantori."

I eased back and smiled at him. "You should go easier on her. She likes you."

Viago looked unimpressed. "She's been a Crow for long enough that she's almost in position to take House Cantori for herself. She knows better than to become close with a Talon of another house. I'll work with her, but we're not friends."

"And yet, you call her Teia." I shrugged at his frustrated grimace. "She still likes you. I like her, too."

"I know. She's asked for you on a job in a few months." He paused, looking for something in my face. "I can tell her no. I won't have her taking advantage of you."

"I really do like Teia," I assured him. "If you think she'd actually be interested in me now that I'm not a fledgling, I think I'd like to see that."

There was something pained in his face. "All right."

"Yes!" I said, throwing my hands in the air with a little hop. I threw them around his shoulders in a hug. "Thank you."

"I'm only allowing this because it will be a good use of your skills," Viago said sourly.

WIP WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 8/14/25

Hello, it’s WIP Wednesday Thursday, again! The confusingly named game where you:

Reblog this post with a snippet of whatever you’re working on (art, writing, music, crafts, whatever!) and I encourage you and comment briefly !

It doesn’t need to be Dragon Age! You can do whatever !

Because it is weekly, I won’t really be reblogging after Thursday is over, but you can still add stuff, if you want!

If you are looking for comments on/promotion of work that is currently being published, I do that on Bio(ware)feedback days! The next one is 8/16/2025!

Thanks for sharing your work! Have a great day!

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Things I Think About A Stupid Amount:

How Lucanis and Illario's smirks mirror each other

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Your Choice (Illario-centric Dark Future AU)

Chapter 1/4 Chapter 2/4

Rated E, Non-Con, DDDNE, Character Study. (A meditation on the concepts of mercy/mercilessness, externalizing pain, and forgiveness/revenge.)

Summary:

Dark Future AU. For months, Illario has been desperately holding a house of cards together, charting a course for the Antivan Crows in a future ruled by gods. Uncovering secret after dark secret about Rook de Riva has made him frantic to get the blood mage away from Lucanis.

When he triumphs at the opera house, he captures Rook and Lucanis both. Elgar’nan is coming to take Rook for his own purposes, but Illario still has time to get a few kicks in.

Main Tags:

Rape/Non-con, CCNTW, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dark Future AU, Illario-centric, Graphic Threats of Torture, Rape as Torture, It's About Power Not Sex, Projection, Helplessness, Dry Humping, Blow Jobs, Face Fucking, Self-Hatred, Mind Control, Blood Magic, Demons, Everyone Has a Bad Time, Zara-related Trauma, CHARACTER STUDY, Be Careful What You Wish For, Gothic Horror Elements, Bittersweet, Horror Story, Ambiguous/Open Ending

Excerpt:

It was a recurring nightmare. The blood mage handed him the knife, and he took it. He was so afraid, he thought, gripping the handle. Illario was so damn sick of being afraid. He watched the blood mage tilt up the victim's chin. "Just enough to bleed," crooned the mage, pointing with two fingers to a spot on Lucanis's neck. Illario was obedient. Illario couldn't fight, and so he put a hand on his cousin's collarbone and held him mercilessly still. "This could kill him," Illario said, his voice stripped of emotion. Rook laughed at him, and Illario was forced to bow his head before them. "Do it," they said.

Read it on Ao3.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Her love language is being a pain in the back 💜🐦‍⬛💃✨

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Working on a lil younger Lucanis from the first flashback in the OJ fic and I just think…maybe that beard is hiding more delicious little freckles

[ofcrowsanddragons]

my friend just send me a photo of this:

with the text "please explain this reference."

my entire life has been leading to this moment. excuse me while I become an unskippable cutscene.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

i just wanted to be a regular fan i didn’t choose this

[ofcrowsanddragons]

A little Mags and Viago snippet that spun off into Mags/Viago:

His lips captured mine, and I made a sound of surprise, opening to him without meaning to. He had a hand on my jaw, tangled in the curls there, and he brought me in close and swallowed the sound I made.

I pulled back, looking into his eyes. He allowed me the space, but that pained look never left him. "What?" was all I could think to ask.

A half-smile crossed his face, part grim amusement and part painful fondness.

He kissed me again, more deeply, his arms wrapping around me. Now that I was allowing myself to feel it, he tasted of desperation and guilt. The wind began to kick up in the dream, blowing colder. Was I Viago's nightmare to overcome? I only felt the heat of his lips, the safety of his arms, the hot, wet slide of his tongue as I whimpered, caught off guard by his desire.

To him, it tasted like a poison meant to weaken the victim to the point that even a novice could take a blade to their throat.

I licked at the flavour, bitter and sweet, and he broke the kiss, panting, looking at me like he couldn't look away.

"Oh," I said, still caught in my shock. Was his desire the poison, or was I?

"'Oh', he says." Viago laughed, clutching me to him, not looking away from my face. "That's not how you should be looking at me, right now."

[ofcrowsanddragons]

i did this instead of writing. help.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Not sure if anybody made it already b u t

the world is ending

and you are a horrible goose

[ofcrowsanddragons]

A little Mags and Viago snippet that spun off into Mags/Viago:

His lips captured mine, and I made a sound of surprise, opening to him without meaning to. He had a hand on my jaw, tangled in the curls there, and he brought me in close and swallowed the sound I made.

I pulled back, looking into his eyes. He allowed me the space, but that pained look never left him. "What?" was all I could think to ask.

A half-smile crossed his face, part grim amusement and part painful fondness.

He kissed me again, more deeply, his arms wrapping around me. Now that I was allowing myself to feel it, he tasted of desperation and guilt. The wind began to kick up in the dream, blowing colder. Was I Viago's nightmare to overcome? I only felt the heat of his lips, the safety of his arms, the hot, wet slide of his tongue as I whimpered, caught off guard by his desire.

To him, it tasted like a poison meant to weaken the victim to the point that even a novice could take a blade to their throat.

I licked at the flavour, bitter and sweet, and he broke the kiss, panting, looking at me like he couldn't look away.

"Oh," I said, still caught in my shock. Was his desire the poison, or was I?

"'Oh', he says." Viago laughed, clutching me to him, not looking away from my face. "That's not how you should be looking at me, right now."

[ofcrowsanddragons]

I still think there is magic.