#!crow rambles

[screamintoad]

ACE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE MY FAVORITE CHARACTER NOW

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Viago, when playing as Rook De Riva: you IDIOT you were my favorite fledgling why did you have to make a mess of this now I have to jump through all these convoluted hoops to keep you safe. Teia stop telling Rook how much I missed them it's not funny they could have DIED. also your room is exactly the way you left it please come home

Strife, when playing as Rook Aldwir: Why hasn't this weird bug i kicked out of our camp ages ago died yet :|

[crows-of-buckets]

I think romancing Lucanis as a crow is specifically fun bc like.

Imagine you're one of the other talons. Some whelp fucks up a mission to get rid of the antaam, and yet for some reason Viago doesn't kill them (you know he has a soft spot for that crow, his little protege, but you don't mention it. They're out of the way, that's all that matters right now). You go on with your life.

The First Talon dies. You and the other talons gather to watch one of her grandchildren take her place (you never did think Illario would end up in her shoes. He somehow managed to prove you wrong). Suddenly this Crow who fucked up that one job busts in with Lucanis "demon of Vyrantium" dellamorte with them. The two of them take down Illario (they work together so smoothly, like they've done it all their lives. Lucanis threatens to kill Illario over hurting them. You hear Teia cheering them on. You're too busy killing venatori to think about it). Afterwards, the previous first talon whom you thought was DEAD walks in, and names Lucanis first talon. Instead of making his own decision on what to do with his cousin, Lucanis asks the de riva crow what he needs to do?? And listens to what they have to say??

Okay weird. It's whatever, maybe they have good advice (you doubt it. They REALLY fucked up that job). You later find out that Lucanis took a job for them, and you explain his weird behavior away with that. You move on with your life.

Fast forward a few months, Lucanis Dellamorte has killed a god. So has Rook de Riva, the little shit who fucked up the job??? They also possibly killed/tricked/convinced ANOTHER god?

At some gathering of the talons you make a joke about someone needing to assassinate them before their ego gets too big. Suddenly you have not one, but THREE talons threatening to take you out. Viago and Teia you can kind of understand, but Lucanis??? This is where you find out that APPARENTLY Lucanis and rook are a thing. You just threatened the first talon's partner TO HIS FACE.

This random little asshole from house de Riva has THREE different talons wrapped around their finger. Do you know how jarring that has to be for the other talons??? It's so funny to me idk. Rook de Riva and their murder of talons

[ryderdire]

I adore @secondlina s Comic Crow time and speffically I really like the fox and crow duo their so sweet and I’ve always really liked odd duos sooooooooooo ye fanart time lol

[adarkermiserablecrow]

I feel like that one dream eddie had where he was being silly with his son in the kitchen then suddenly died of a gunshot wound unable to make a sound is a very good summary of his character

[sunsis]

Everyone forgets that Kaz and Inej are Friends to Lovers just because Kaz is a sassy edgelord. Inej was literally his right-hand woman and most trusted confidant, they’re proof that Friends to Lovers isn’t a “boring” trope when your characters are individually interesting while having a great dynamic even outside of romance.

The only enemies to lovers pairing in SoC are Helnik because Matthias was literally a witch hunter that tried to kill her at one point.

Jesper and Wylan were not friends at first or enemies but a secret third thing; Annoyances to Lovers, which is a very underrated and fun trope. Not all characters who bicker and banter are enemies/rivals, especially when they’re on the same side from the beginning. Hermione and Ron are another popular example of this.

[sketchy-noodles]

For context, me and a few of my fellow crows on Phil’s Discord had this idea of “What if there were Minecraft crows that were specialized and adapted to live in different realms/biomes?”

And now we have End Crows 💜

Transcript & closeups below:

END CROWS

A guide by Philza Minecraft

PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS:

Largest of all crow variants

Thinner with longer legs (LANKY)

Wings & feathers adapted for silent flight

Sharp serrated beak for eating chorus fruit

BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS:

Social! Seem to flock in large groups

Allergic to water (like an enderman)

Enjoy taking dust baths!

Hoarders of shiny things (have a weird obsession with spoons for some reason?)

Prefer dark environments

Nest in End cities/trees

OTHER NOTES:

Purple glowing eyes

Feathers have an iridescent purple tint

Surrounded by particles

DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT!

Tattered fringe feathers

Longer legs

Velvety down feathers on legs & wings absorb sound frequencies!

Serrated beak!

DIET: omnivorous

Chorus Fruit

Endermites

Etc.

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

Idk why this is so funny to me but it absolutely is

[trialsofthedas]

SPOILERS FOR VEILGUARD —>

For those of you who have played and/or watched the scene that takes place after the dragon attack if you are a crow!rook who chose to save minrathous, you know this little line Viago throws at you?

“Because you always think of something. You always do. Except this time.”

Once again, I’m asking you guys to think about Lucanis having to tell Viago that rook is missing post-tearstone island. Because they don’t know where Rook is. They don’t even know if Rook is alive. All they know is they killed one of the gods, they did it, but the smoke cleared and solas is free but Rook is gone. and it’s WEEKS according to that Bellara romance scene.

Viago refuses to believe Rook is gone. Not Rook. Not the stubborn little idiot who had more lives than the feral street cats of treviso they so loved to pet. Not the little crow who spent years following Viago around with one hand always fisted in his cape until it was beat out of them to not show that kind of weakness. Not the little scrap of a being that succeeded for always being quick, but fell for their mouth that ran that much quicker. Not Rook, who he sent away to learn patience, to get them out of the hot seat and away from the other houses who wanted their head. Rook, who fought and won against gods and dragons and the blight. Not a crow who always completes their contract. Not Rook who was supposed to come home.

Not Rook. So Viago refuses to believe it. The first few days he clings so hard to the mantra. “Rook always thinks of something.” And they will come back and laugh and laugh and laugh at how worried Viago was and Viago will sigh and ring their neck and slip poison into their food to make sure they’ve been keeping up with their daily antivenoms— and Rook will be there.

But those days turn into a week, and then into two, and Viago hasn’t received any update from this so called ‘veilguard’ and all of the sudden “Rook always thinks of something.” is crumbling because what if this is the exception? this is the “except this time.” Because it is always until it’s not. and there is no time to truly mourn is there? there is still one god left to slay and very little time left to do it.

And Viago will fight. The loss of his… the loss to House de Riva is felt, but Viago is a professional. His wings are not clipped. ( his feathers are broken, hard shafts digging in and pulling blood from oozing cuts. they need clipped, groomed, removed. but his wings still work. they just hurt. ) He will finish this contract, in their name if nothing else.

But Viago let himself forget. “Rook always thinks of something.” And he let himself doubt and underestimate when he swore he would never be caught by those things again. but maybe this once, it’s okay. it’s okay because Rook stands in front of him, alive. Broken, but alive.

because a Crow always completes their contract, and a Rook will always come home to bother Viago.

Until they don’t

[chatlote]

Waiting for as long as it takes.

Bonus comics undercut / Explanation of Crow's Nest

[screamintoad]

Ace Trappola you will put me in the trenches

[lessnearthesun]

Kaz and Inej obviously get married one day because she’s religious and Kaz wants the tax benefits + he wants to make her happy, and I just know when that day comes Kaz takes HER last name

[crows-of-buckets]

Zevwarden friendship is so important to me... I love them so much

[a-substantial-trash-pile]

mentioned to my mother that i wanted to learn how to make friends with the neighborhood crows and this is what she texted me a little later:

[secondlina]

We are sending out Crow plushies gradually, we send these ourselves so it's a bit slower then a warehouse, thank you for your patience! Here is a batch of 150 we re sending out today! We sold a total of 1437 which is INSANE. Thank you so much 💙💙💙💙

[saessenach]

Thinking many thoughts about Miss Andarateia Cantori tonight because what do you mean we get to be in her house for the entire game, in which she and her boyfriend/partner-in-crime run a gambling den, assassin guild ANd find the time to argue with the public administration while opposing a military occupation?? who does it like her??

Joke aside, I think she's an incredibly fun character, and I'm really happy that hers was the lens through which we saw the Crows this game. Whenever I see random posts and critiques commenting that the Crows were too "sanitised" or "found-family", I want to yell a bit, because DATV never claims that to be the case!! Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but what we see is anchored in a very specific context: not just Treviso under Antaam occupation, but also the Cantori Diamond, which falls under Teia's jurisdiction.

She's an elven orphan turned Guildmaster and Talon, who desperately wanted to find family in the Crows! While the other Talons resisted her attempts at every step (some more succesfully than others ksks), that implies 1) her approach towards her own House was probably not dissimilar and 2) it got her the Talon position in her 20s. Ergo, her modus operandi was probably fairly successful.

For all that she threatens to evict anyone who treats her like a landlord (lol), the Diamond is very much a reflection of her as a character. It's all completely in line with both her general characterisation in 8 Little Talons and with the point she reaches at the end of that story when confronting Emil. I don't think it's a coincidence that out of our two POVs in 8LT, she's the one discussing Crow ideology with their would-be-murderer:

and

and

Following this particular set-up, of course orphans like Jacobus are treated kindly; of course fledglings have time to gossip in quiet corners while training; of course she helps the Dellamortes however she can?? She decided these people are family to her, and she wants to do better by them than what she got. This is wildly compelling to me personally, because she's such a delightful mix of idealism and disillusionment, honesty and manipulation, compassion and retribution - and she's so fucking obstinate about it!!!

There's also the little connection with the Crows' beginnings, specifically in Treviso. Iirc, it's mentioned in 8LT that her base is Rialto (she's also got gardens there), so a part of me wonders whether the Diamond was an inherited property from a previous Cantori Talon, or whether she got it up and running between then and the events of the game. I think that between that little tibdbit and with Lucanis being named First Talon at the end of the game, it's pretty obvious that the theme of rebirth is very much the point in the Crows' plotline - a messy, hopeful and spiteful rebirth.

All of this is to say, what we get doesn't at all negate the other aspects we've seen from the Crows in previous games, but rather puts them into perspective. The game just goes on to ask - isn't there another way to do this? what else is there room for us to be? is there any chance we might find some kindness in this world? and one of the ways these answers are explored is through Teia's character (we start this series with Zevran's story within the Antivan Crows - an elven orphan bought from a brothel, who doesn't have the power to change this guild, and end with Lucanis, Viago and Teia, who is, specifically, an elven orphan picked up (?) from the streets, who remains one of the powerhouses of the organisation. I love a bit of narrative symmetry ✨)

And honestly, I find this entire thing delightful - it's cheeky and dramatic and a lot of fun, and it makes sense for these characters, if you only sit with it for a second and give it a bit of thought!

(PS the way she draws Viago into her orbit and the way their partnership works is another rant entirely, and they drive me absolutely insane nghhh)