#a toast to us all

[lucabyte]

We were once so close to heaven, Peter came out and gave us medals, Declaring us the nicest of the damned.

[necrotic-nephilim]

Tim's unternet suit really is the most glaringly obvious hero worship/crush for Dick thing he ever has. in the unternet, where Tim's subconscious creates what he is. that's the suit his brain comes up with? something so clearly derivative of Nightwing? down to the *finger stripes*?

red robin #19

this is gay as hell. the reason Tim can't wear this soul irl is bc the first thing he would do is jerk off in it. and he couldn't handle the embarrassment of Dick seeing how similar it is. if DC ever made this Tim's official suit the first thing they would have to do is make Tim and Dick fuck in it. i'm so close to writing that fic i won't lie.

[anonomi]

French toast and pyro maw business

[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.

[freyholland]

it’s funny going to the same venue for two shows back to back bc the crowd can really make it feel so different. Armor For Sleep was a bunch of burned-out former emo kids who kept chain smoking illegally inside the building and at one point a girl two-hand open-palm Shoved me into some guys in front of us so she could get to the bar. Meanwhile at The Birthday Massacre people parted the crowd to let a couple of tiny goth girls to a spot where they could see, and at one point apparently my phone had fallen out of my bag to the floor (!!!) and I wouldn’t have even known except some guy started a chain of getting people’s attention until someone close enough to actually tap me could alert me to it before someone stepped on it!

[twilightthefoxicorn]

In honor of P.I.E. Day, here is an assortment of memes I had posted on my former fandom Instagram!

[sweatytoast]

after soccer practice isagi :^)

[johnnyshrine]

★ 024 // “How About A Toast?”

[backfliips]

Someone totaled my car today and I do not like being in insurance limbo

[estrangedandwayward]

Lying on deaths door, surrounded by vultures, with only the rats for company

[cybilbennettgf]

guys we are not surviving act three of arcane

[bloomfish]

I'm not against washing rice universally myself but I do think the pro-rice washing contingent has got to recognise at some point that certain types of rice and certain rice dishes do not require rice-washing. But what especially irritates me is that people act like its wholly disgusting and unsanitary to not wash rice when this is not a thing in many many traditional dishes/cuisines. I'm sure it's necessary to wash certain types of rice (i'm guessing basmati or sushi rice, which I typically don't use) it's probably necessary if you use a rice cooker (which i do not) but for instance it would be absolute insanity for someone to plop washed rice into a paella. That would actively ruin the paella. There are dishes that have been eaten for centuries in which the rice is not and should not be rinsed. That's never been a universal thing. Idk, I make perfect 10/10 rice and I never rinse my beloved arroz bomba lmao

like 'gloopy mess' what are you even talking about, i won't be told how I should be cooking rice by someone who just presses buttons on the rice robot

[if-mirrormine]

i miss my brother so much it feels more like mourning.

[notasapleasure]

Well we knew that epilogue was coming. Just gonna pretend it wasn't there tbh. Not least as I have complaints about sending her back to Mina Rau.

Didn't even get a brasso memorial smh

[foxyfexyll]

wyd when college responsibilities are rapidly closing in but your old crush is alive again somehow

“HEROO!!” kel recognized that merry brown hair as his brother’s. his brother, evidenced by the lack of a purple fever dream-ish haze that characterized the imposters and creatures showing up

kel sprinted at him, basil jogging behind, to a familiar checkered picnic blanket. mari was there too, indistinguishable from their memory of her. next to her, hero was cooking, ingredients organized around the blanket.

“herooo,” kel said, whiny this time, “is this where you’ve been disappearing off to the whole time? we thought you were studying or something but mum said she hasn’t even talked to you in ages!”

“ages? i’ve only been here for a couple hours this time. check out this frying pan! i dont even need a stove, it’s like magic!” hero said without giving them even a glance

”whatever man, that’s cool but can’t you hang out with us a lil more? summer’s ending and we have to spend it all together, like we promised, right? that we’d stick together?”

at this, hero looked off in the distance, still avoiding their gaze. “just give me a little more time. it’s so nice here, right mari?”

she smiled, her perfect mari smile made more perfect under a soft purple haze. “yeah! i love hanging out with each of you, though i know the friends from my side are a little intimidated by you since you’re older. you’re free to join us, you know, we have plenty of hero’s delicious food to go around.”

“but,” muttered basil this time, “didn’t you say you knew where a key was?”

now, hero gave them a stern look. maybe he saw a dark Something lurking inside basil. maybe he didnt like that his picnic time was being interrupted. or, maybe the thought of keys or college or his family, things he’s been avoiding, left a bitter taste in his mouth. but he exhaled and his vision became a little brighter. “i dont… i don’t care about that right now, it can wait. can’t we just dream for a little longer?”

[phanyu]

i feel really bad now for how much i mocked dan and phil for their butter on toast phase both online and in my head because i cant believe im admitting this publicly but im having one now .