#my first game was as a Crow...

[midnightwind]

I want to go back to the time where I thought each faction got a little quest line just for them based on which you started as

[lizzybeeee]

When you spend 20 years attempting to bring down the child slavery, murdering, human trafficking exploitation ring that stole your childhood, murdered your friends, and killed countless innocents only to have them rebrand as 'Noble Freedom Fighters™' off-screen.

[crows-of-buckets]

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

[mogwaei]

i forgor to post him here - Zevran meets Hades!

[sky--phantom]

I am trying here!!

[vaguely-concerned]

having seen at least the rough outlines of all the romances now I have to say that I think emmrich's is probably objectively the best in terms of coherence and completeness of story arc (with the understanding that ultimately the 'best' romance is whichever one makes YOUR heart sing anyway so objectivity is a silly thing to claim that way, it just felt like it's the arc with the most well-paced focused content and the least dangling threads)... but lucanis' is my favourite haha. just. the whole kneeling before your beloved full of reverence but without any of the distance that usually implies??? his complete undramatic certainty and calm in every scene with rook after this, having spent the whole game caught between fear and longing???? mr. lives in a pantry but it says nothing about my psyche don't worry about it it's purely for tactical reasons that I keep myself contained in a small dark room not entirely unlike a cell, love among the parsnips -- finally coming to rook in their room and it's so comfortable and comforting???? after all the times rook supports and comforts him through the game he's finally able to return the same to them when they need it while being so calm and steady and it's so fucking sweet and feels so effortless and with no price attached?????? he basically assigns himself the role of your bodyguard and he WILL stab a god over it??????????????? the turn to protector (which was in his heart all along longing to get out and find a place) of it all????? he sounds like he's found himself unexpectedly stumbling into such a soul-lightening state of revelatory existential relief, full on 'you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves' mary oliver style, and he goes and he shares that with rook and protectively envelops them in it when they're hurting??????????????????????????? hello for the maker's sake hello can anyone hear me?????

[vampcaprisun]

what do y’all think illario’s hobbies are? what is he interested in? what does he do in his spare time? what does he know a lot about the nobody would expect? what did he love as a kid that he hasn’t thought about in years but could jump back into in a heartbeat if given the chance? what are his wyverns and cooking and knitting and romance novels?

who would he be if you took him away from his family and his job and the politics of it all? i don’t think he even knows the answer to that, but there still has to be an answer!

[beheamothscreamoth]

Quick question for the Touchstarved fandom!! As much as we love Ais calling us 'Sparrow,' I have to ask - if you had to decide, what other bird nickname do you think he would call you/your MC? :O

For example, Ais would my Unnamed MC Daniella 'bluebird,' while he'd call my Alchemist MC Edgar 'crow' (and another OC I'm planning, Shinju, 'woodpecker!')

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

"We want complex female characters"

You guys couldn't handle Lottie Matthews. You couldn't handle Jackie Taylor. You couldn't handle Taissa Turner. Actually you couldn't handle any of the Yellowjackets cast...

You guys couldn't handle Inej Ghafa, you couldn't handle Alina Starkov- hell you couldn't handle a single Grishaverse girls.

You guys couldn't handle Katniss Everdeen. Lucy Gray actually broke your fucking minds.

You guys couldn't handle any girl from Euphoria or Stranger things in any capacity.

You guys could not handle the female characters of motherfucking Bridgerton like- first off that's embarrassing and secondly actually shut up.

Get back to me when you give female characters grace, at least a fucking fraction of empathy and learn what nuance is jfc.

[carcasscounty]

Woe, crowmauler be upon thee

[pixiedurango]

For the first time ask: first time Lucanis felt comfortable touching/being touched by Cara? <3

(I combed through your posts to see who she's with and I think it's Lucanis! If I'm wrong, please use whoever you ship her with!! <333)

First of all: Thank you for your ask. I really loved writing this. Secondly: If you expected something sweet (Well I did, before I started writing), sorry to disappoint - not really, since we're all suckers for a little angst and gore. So I hope you enjoy this little walk with me into the abyss that is Lucanis's mind right after "Bloodbath".

Blood was a common sight in Treviso. Puddles from more or less public assassinations, dripping patterns along the way of Crows, limping back to their hideouts after an intense training or a contract which almost failed. But even by Trevisian standards, their level of being bloodstained was insane. They both were literally soaked in blood, leaving a nasty trail of slowly drying blood clots and other things that really should not be outside of a body. It was an unhealthy mixture of their own blood and the gore of countless and nameless poor bastards, who’s sanguine fluids unfortunately ended up being the filling for Zara Renata’s wicked and insanely oversized bathtub. Hers, was on them, too. Converging with Illario’s and that whole bloody crimson mess was crowned by the word amatus echoing in a never ending echolalia in Lucanis’ head.

He felt numb and raw at the same time. Spite was raging inside the all of him, and he had not a single nerve to reason with his demon. Largely because he felt the same rage, but also because he was empty. Nothing made sense. Why had his cousin been there all of a sudden? They had demanded of him to stay back. Why could Illario never do what was told? How did he know where to find them? Amatus? Mierda!

Lucanis felt his legs buckle as he failed to put together the pieces of this bloody puzzle. Usually he would at least have smirked upon that silly pun. But not even this happened. His features remained like carved in marble as he put one foot in front of the other. Letting Rook be the lead, hoping that she would be able to bring them somewhere where they could clean up themselves from all the gore before they had to get back to the Lighthouse.

Rook! He should ask how she’s doing. He realized that it was Spite who urged, to check on her.

Rook! Hurts! Help Rook!

But Lucanis couldn’t even make his vocal cords work. Later! He tried to calm down Spite. And himself.

Amatus. Illario. He needed to stop to think about this any further, or he would snap.

With the last straw of sanity he could find deep within, he made himself look at her. Rook. Cara.

So many years ago, when she was just Cara to him. The de Riva girl, who suffered along with them through Caterina’s harsh regime. They were each other’s comfort when everything hurt from training - or from their young souls wanting to cry rather than to callous themselves after the First Talon playing her cruel mind games with them.

Cara, who had only been a sweet but distant memory long after she had been gone from his life, and became a last resort in the ossuary. When everything else failed to keep him sane, he recalled her face to soothe the pain of his cursed reality. These thoughts were so precious, that he only rarely allowed himself to think them. As if the comfort her smile would give him, would wear out and dissolve into nothing if he’d use it too often.

How odd, Lucanis realized, how the ossuary all in a sudden offered him a moment of distraction and a way to confine all the unthinkable. Locking away the current terror somewhere back in his consciousness. How bad must it be, when the memory of the most fucked up place in the world is better than the here and now.

No! It was not the ossuary. Cara! It was her. The way, she continued to walk on. Leading. If anyone had asked him right at this moment, if there was anything in this world he was entirely sure of, it would have been that his tormented heart truly believed, that Cara would lead him home. In case they both would survive this mess they were stumbling through - and in regard of the whole "kill the old Elven Gods to save the world" pandemonium. Lucanis realized, that he somehow believed, that she would be able to lead him home. Wherever this home would be. Probably wherever she was.

Now that he could not be sure of who and what Illario was, anymore - Cara might the only person who maybe was able to get him. Get him and accept him. Maybe.

Lucanis Dellamorte, hurt inside and out. Covered in blood of the innocent and his mortal - now dead but not killed by his hand - enemy. Tormented by his inner demon that of all things was a demon of spite. In this very moment, Lucanis Dellamorte despite all things felt… hope.

That hope, it radiated from the woman walking next to him. Who was equally drenched in blood, probably felt a similar confusion and hurt about Illario’s demeanor and actions.

But she kept moving forward. Stubborn and unflinching. Beat up but never stopping. She had been ready to give her life to help him with his revenge and now she was ready to continue side by side with him, after what was not even worth to be called a victory. He knew, she would continue being there for him, even if he would continue to lose everything.

Afterwards, he could not even say exactly how it happened. But when his hand slipped into hers and he felt the soft, squeezing confirmation, he was glad that it was alright with her. Lucanis knew all in a sudden, that whatever would lay in their future, he would never ever let go of her again. Literally and figuratively. He was ready to kill any God, who would try to take her away from him, or he would die trying - and that was the contract he made with himself in this moment.

[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.

[crows-of-buckets]

Arcane warrior being a specialization in dao is so funny considering the mage origin. Guy who has never stepped foot outside a tower left to join the wardens and is now regularly decapitating men. 10/10 no notes

[librarydilf]

i am not immune to this face

[employee052]

idk, crowsx3 design??? sdkjfh

the heads are all made of porcelain, and can rotate like that one horror short film with kevan brighting voicing in it

[justashamwithwastedpotential]

How I intended to play Rook: *serious, stoic, ruthless, ready to stop Solas at any cost*

How I've actually been playing Rook: *PANICKED SCREAMING*