#WAS HE JUST POWER HUNGRY

[flowinniego]

i’m absolutely DEVOURING the fact blitzø’s love interests (i’m not counting stryker) are connected to his childhood BUT I AM SO DAMN CURIOUS THE STORY BEHIND VEROSIKA AND HIM

[vitreouspositive]

that moment in tfone. but shattered glass. whoever sold the idea of canonising alternate universes??? actual genius.

[utilitycaster]

truly the constant of this campaign has been "literally no one likes Ludinus Da'leth at all"

[lycankeyy]

Oh my god I just remembered I have poptarts. Poptarts will save me

[lizzybeeee]

The Lucanis vs Illario story would have had greater emotional depth/intrigue if the writers didn't water down how fucked up the Crows are as an organization.

Just some thoughts about how, out of all the side villains, Illario had some great potential to be a really interesting/tragic character in my opinion.

TL;DR: Zevran Aranai has a knife with Caterina's name on it for good reason and Lucanis/Illario need therapy...or whatever the Thedas equivalent is called...talking to Rook, I dunno

Going into DATV as a new player, or even as a returning one, the whitewashing of the Crows has a lot of the potential complexities of that life simply ignored or barely touched upon. The entire 'Illario vs Lucanis' boils down to: Illario seething in the shadows about Lucanis being the 'best boy'™ of the family while Illario is an after thought - which he is.

Let's be real, Illario is not subtle and immediately comes across as the Scar to Lucanis' 'Mufasa'. It's a questline with a very straightforward villain who has pretty lackluster motivations from what info we're provided - being 'I want power and to be the First Talon'. The game does very little explore what motivations he may have beyond being jealous of Lucanis/wanting more power.

However, if you play the quest line knowing what previous games have set up about the Crows - about how cutthroat and brutal the life is behind the glamour - then you can see that the entire Lucanis vs Illario conflict has amazing potential to be a dramatic tragedy.

We've seen how the life of Crow can affect Zevran - someone who was sold into the life through child-slavery. How interesting would it be to see how the life of a Crow can affect someone who was born into it? It's pretty clear in-game that Caterina intends for her grandchildren to carry on the family tradition - despite the fact that this 'family tradition' has likely led to the deaths of most of her grandchildren and however many children she had.

If there's banter about how Illario's/Lucanis' parents/cousins died specifically I haven't heard it, but the impression I got in-game was that it was likely linked to the Crows/politics in some way? Feel free to correct me! Still majorly fucked up that she pushes her grandsons into this life regardless!

Lucanis/Illario's situation was not like Zevran's - who was sold into the Crow's through slavery, with no one to speak up for him. Caterina was a woman who had power, who knew what the life of a Crow meant, and who still pushed those she 'loved' into it because is consolidated her place in the system. For all the Crows talk of 'family' Caterina doesn't seem to give a shit about them unless if they're contributing to the family business in some way - not to mention the whole 'you fail and we kill you' clause of being a Crow in the first place.

In the 'Wigmaker Job' from Tevinter Nights Lucanis talks about how Caterina hit him [also Illario] with her cane for mistakes and had him spend days without food/water. How he used to hate her but now 'realizes' that it was her way of ensuring he survived the life of being an Antivan Crow. Did it end up protecting them? It likely pushed them both to refine their skills out of fear. It's likely that simply by association with her they would be targets and thus needed to know how to take care of themselves and fight.

But why have him as a Crow in the first place? Why not simply train them well to defend themselves? You can't deny that she doesn't benefit from having her grandchildren in the family business - intentionally wanting Lucanis to take over her position as First Talon. The Antivan Crows are a force to be reckoned with and being one brings a whole lot of power in Antiva - being part of the elite of that group even more so.

If the game showed us the ugly reality of the Crows - the brutality of the lifestyle and how cutthroat the organization is, it could have really added some depth to Illario's betrayal - having it be more than "I want more power/respect" to "this is the result of what you taught me was valuable in life."

Warden: "Do you actually enjoy being an assassin?" Zevran: "And why not? There are many things to enjoy about being a Crow in Antiva. You are respected. You are feared. The authorities go out of their way to overlook your trespasses. Even the rewards are nothing to turn your nose up at."

Illario, bitter about Caterina favoring Lucanis - resentful of the fact that she has already decided that Lucanis will be her successor, being offered power by the Venatori (at the expense of the Crows) and accepting because why not? How different is it from what the Crows do? Isn't power and status the whole point of working yourself up in the Crows? Getting into a relationship with Zara because why not? Isn't sex part of the allure of being a Crow? Why can't he have this? Why shouldn't he have this?

Rook: "When we met, it didn't seem like Illario and Caterina were close." Lucanis: "It was hard to be close to her. Even for me. And...I was her favorite."

Why would he have connections to his family? Why should he? Caterina certainly never seemed to value 'family' beyond what they could do for her and their family legacy. Most of his family is already dead, and of those that remain the only parental figure he has obviously favors Lucanis. We don't have a lot of evidence in-game to show that Illario ever really cared for Lucanis, but the prequel story 'The Wake' and Lucanis' own banter imply that they were practically brothers, best friends. Perhaps he did care and then ceased to at some point, perhaps he didn't at all, or perhaps he accepted that an early death for them both was inevitable like everyone else in their family. Dead now or later - what was the difference? At least if Illario sells him out now to the Venatori then he'll get something from it instead of another dead family member to bury.

It's the tragic result of raising a child in an environment where he was taught and experienced the need for self-preservation at all costs. Constantly threatened, punished, and made well aware of that fact that his life was an expendable commodity. Then, when things in the world went to shit he picked the only option that made sense to him. To save himself.

The irony of the potential fall of the Crows, the fall of House Dellamorte, coming at the hands of one of their own - not because he had a change of heart but because he was taught too well by them. The Crows view those that fail them as disposable, someone to be discarded - if the Crows fail Illario, what is to stop him from applying that mindset to them?

But this would require the writers to acknowledge how messed up the Crows are and we can't do that to our 'Noble Freedom Fighters'™. They'll also need to address Zevran's existence and what lore was established in past games...and we can't have that either lmao.

[clock-loves-rajbow]

Hiii! Huge fan of your rajbow fanart. But I got a question for u. do you know Danganronpa? Cause if you do then I have a fan art idea in mind where Bowie and Wayne are masterminds of a killing game basically and raj is the protagonist. So we be getting a kinda unhealthy Platonic Wayne and a Rajbow cause well... They had reason, the try to get raj on their side so that he can help them spread despair. Yeaaa... If you don't know Danganronpa, do a quick search about it.

Anyways hope you get this, have a good rest of your day or night.

I do like danganronpa!! (Even tho I’ve never played it, but the aesthetics are peak)

This au isn’t exactlyyy what you asked but I thought it was a bit more of a spin on the usual formula. Without getting too long into specifics the idea is that after the Tragedy that ended the world, Chris used his media power to host his own killing games: Total Death Island (lmao)

He’s done this with four other casts (the other seasons) but when it gets to the reboot things don’t go according to plan. Mid-way through the game Bowie finds a few hidden pathways Chris stalks and with the work of Wayne they kill him in a surprise attack.

They still don’t know where his base of operations are but they come into control of a portable remote Chris used to control the game while outside the main control room, and with it gain a large control of the killing game. With this power in their hands they steel to protect Raj while also finding a way out for the three of them.

Though things get a little morally dubious when Bowie keeps letting the game go on, letting everyone but Raj continue to be in danger. Power like this isn’t to be trusted to anyone, not even his boyfriend. He’s doing this for his own safety, after all. So until they find the way out, it’ll be his and Wayne’s little secret :)

[i-wish-i-were-softer]

Ozai can be the most terrible parent in the history of parenting but he didn't ignore azula's powers just because she was a girl.

[alexiethymia]

With the reveal that Aduo didn’t actually want to be the mother of the nation, looks like we now have a concrete path to a happy ending for Jinshi.

Though I actually really want to see him as the Emperor one day (at least for a time), it would be thematically appropriate if Jinshi takes not after the Emperor, but after Gaoshun and becomes the retainer of the future Emperor.

[brodyfoxxsmassivetits]

Tord mark? Pretty please?… :3

shore!

they both think each other is full of themselves and both are correct

[witchspeka]

It's always "Shou and Ritsu need to blow stuff up with their minds for mental health reasons" or Ritsu and Teru or even Shou and Teru!

But what about Mob? When does he get to blow stuff up with his mind for funsies? For shits and giggles? He didn't go through all of those meltdowns and character development for nothing, let him go ham on a junkyard car or something smh

I believe in Mob's narrative given right to fuck shit up sometimes

[heavenb3nt]

Anyone bothered by the fact that the things that drove him insane were done to him by people he should have been able to trust. The drumbeat was put in his head by Rassilon, and while it’s not news no one can trust their leader in general, he should’ve been able to. He shouldn’t have been driven mad for the end result of being pawn in a strategy. Then the guilt of Torvics murder, which Theta did, and no one blames him for that, but he chose to give it to Koschei when he had the chance. A lapse of judgment made by a scared child which drove his best friend to insanity. He also didn’t find out that either of these were done to him intentionally for a very long time. He went his entire life thinking it was all him, he was the problem and there was something inherently bad and wrong about him. I mean, the drums and the guilt. He never stood a chance. He was doomed from the start.

[cloverandstuff]

Someone give Tommyinnit a purge day or steel chair or something. He deserves to get all that out of his system, after all that shit.

[silentsialia]

Maybe I am jumping the gun early. But I am sad that they're setting Jack Doohan up to get fired mid-season. Alpine have little to no faith in him, and that sucks. Rookies are already under immense pressure and the amount of articles coming out that his contract is on a race-by-race basis doesn't help.

Yes my cousin Franco should be on the grid next year. But I want him in an environment where he can thrive. And by thriving I mean he should be protected. Like if the car is a tractor don't put all the blame for underperformance on him. There's hundreds of people working on these cars, and accountability would be nice to see. I'm not sure if Alpine is the place for that. What we have seen of Alpine in Drive to Survive doesn't inspire confidence. (Actually I think it's the most dysfunctional F1 team currently on the grid but that's a conversation for another day.) Alpine have fumbled Oscar, Fernando, and Esteban, all accomplished drivers. If Franco were to go there, would he be screwed over due to politics like other drivers?

I know I don't have the right to be picky. There aren't many seats on the grid to begin with. In the couple of years i've been following F1, I've never seen a rookie get so popular in such a short timeframe. That's why I consider Franco to be more special than the other upcoming rookies. I don't want Alpine to take him in, and then ruin what's special about him. A nurturing environment would be the best, and I'm not sure that they're capable of doing that. I know Alpine would seek him out due to the potential money and fans he could bring in, not just for his racing skills alone.

[shouts-into-the-void]

The more I think about it, the more I really want to know how Tetsuji managed to keep the fact that the Ravens are a cult under wraps, considering that even Neil was having trouble functioning normally after only 2 weeks.

Like, it isn't even the physical abuse that causes the biggest problem. It's the 16 hour days, inability to do anything other than exy, social isolation, and the dictated nutrition and choices. They learn none of the skills that a typical young adult learns in college- cooking, cleaning, time management, money management, networking, etc. Not all of the Ravens can be rich enough that that sort of thing just doesn't matter. They basically get dropped into the world after college with no idea how to get a place to live, feed themselves, pay bills, or anything required of an adult and with no support network to help.

And including the physical abuse, all of these athletes suddenly have to have a miriade of health problems due to over-exercise, lack of sleep, violent playing styles, and I'm assuming physical abuse from Tetsuji and/or Riko.

All of these athletes are apparently signing with pro teams and there can't be that many that they only have one or two athletes a piece. We know from Lucas that the drastic change to their personalities is very noticiable to anyone who did know them and they're mentally unstable enough to off themselves after being forced to leave the campus, so how has no one noticed that all of the players that get signed from this one college team are barely functional, incredibly mentally unhealthy, and insanely violent?

[don1t1red]

I hate how imperialism is so indoctrinated in DH1 that there is no option to destroy the Empire and have your happy ever after.

"Oh but Emily could do that and be a great leader of post-imperialistic society!" Yeah but we already have DH2 and we see that Emily isn't really interested in ruling her people at all. She acts only if it's becoming personal.

Besides neither DH2 nor DotO never tries to address her changes in the Empire or give us some real examples. In DotO she just "tries to renovate" the Empire instead of trying to understand why she has to do that and if it's even a good foreign policy to maintain.

"Oh but you can destroy the empire in DH1! You just have to go high chaos and let Emily die!" Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. No one is addressing high chaos as a "good option".

Not to mention the fact that DH1 tries to push you to decide between a chance for colonies to finally get free and death of a royal child. The game simply does not believe in fact that you may hate Dunwall for everything it did to other nations or to your protagonist; it does not believe that you will [at least try to] perceive Corvo as a character with a great inferiority complex because of his nationality, and his story as an example of self-reflection. And therefore it gives you this choice instead of an opportunity to leave the decaying city behind and flee somewhere with only one good person who was ever close to you - Emily.

You *have* to play "a bad route" to do what you think would be the best option and the game's narrative will do its best to make you aware of "how bad" you are.

What am I trying to achieve here? I'm trying to give you [my reader] a different perspective to play this game or to make any fanworks or just a thing to think about. And maybe to give you a chance to listen to the Outsider’s monologue after the game with slightly more understanding of a problem the next time you play.

"It's just as well. The Empire was dying already. Completely rotten. All that was needed was the right man to send it over the edge."

[lucreziaces]

i think something just fell into place in my brain but idk how to make it make sense to anyone else, but i’m gonna try??

basically cesare spends two seasons trying his damn hardest to protect lucrezia’s innocence. first in s1 by trying to convince his father she's too young for marriage and then, by putting her to bed on her wedding night and telling giovanni sforza she’s young and it’s been a long day or whatever. and then, in s2, when she tells him she would happily kill tonight he reminds her that her killing juan would deeply upset their father and he then takes the task upon himself instead. then s3 comes along and she is (on more than one occasion) visibly upset by how things are going with alfonso, they’re not going as she hoped, he’s not a man she could fall in love with, he’s not a man that will ever cherish her and offer his life and soul to protect her/her honor/the things that matter most to her, etc.. and so, she turns to cesare, ready to give into what’s been brewing between them for YEARS. meanwhile cesare himself spends pretty much all of "siblings" struggling not to give into it because of the thought he’d be corrupting her soul. but despite his hesitation, he slips up and allows them to give into their feelings, crossing a line he feels never should've been crossed. then, he spends the rest of the season feeling ashamed because he believes he's damned her and so he tries his best to avoid giving into her again. anyway, i believe between this, having killed his own brother for power (and for lucrezia—both on her behalf and to protect her innocence, but mostly, let's be real, for power), and gaining his father’s trust is why he begins to shift into the monster that he’s come to be known as. it’s like these three things combined make something in his brain snap, turning him colder, and in turn making him more calculating and power hungry until he's the one forcing lucrezia to aid him in killing her own husband, therefore, committing the final act of corruption of her soul, bringing her down with him. twisted, dark, and complicated. my roman empire indeed.