#it was really good toast...

[blood-and-breath]

[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.

[nyxtickled]

anybody wanna come over and body double while i scream

[hurglewurm]

ah that holiday depression

[breadbut3d]

"Lord of the Frogs"

Probably won't get in but we ball.

Author name : BreadBut3D

Art title : Lord of the Frogs

size: 384 x 384 pixels

Lord of the Frogs © 2025 by BreadBut3D is licensed under CC BY 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I hope I did the legal stuff right?? Maybe? possibly?? idk. It's nearly midnight and my brain is VERY tired. Also hope I've done all the rules right. I hope I did but idk man.

Lord of the frogs is because it sounded like lord of the flies and my brain found that funny idk.

I'm actually so so proud of this omg!! I love it so much. Even tho I probably won't get in just having this art itself is worth it because OMG I LOVE IT!! :D :D I can't express how happy I am with it.

Probably my new favourite piece of fanart I've done. Idk just something about it. Istg if there is some minor detail I've missed because it's like 11:50pm for me rn I'm gonna riot (I'll just fix it and repost but still).

[symeraid-s]

Watched the new episode of Alien Stage. I'm in pain.

[achaotichuman]

I spent the last three hours making these paper flowers for my valentines, and wrote her a stupidly cheesy card, yall wish me luck for tomorrow.

[edenfire]

I forgot to post about it, but we went out for pancakes for akechi's bday🥰🥳🌈🌈

[analogboii]

listen, jeongins slutty solo makes sense to me BECAUSE he wanted to be a priest. like the pipeline of catholic kid to slut (whether personality/mindset/lifestyle) is real and im tired of people pretending its not.

my source? me. i was an alter server in middle school. went to every single mass, every single weekend. and now?? gay and slutty babeyyyyy

[keeps-ache]

it's so cool having my own phone now bc i Did realize i can take as many seemingly pointless videos and photos as i want :3 here's my lettuce from earlier cuz i thought she was pretty

[willgrahamscock]

AS SOMEONE WHO GREW UP IN AN EASTERN EUROPEAN VILLAGE, THE MOLD THING IS REAL. MY GRANDPA USED TO SCRAP OFF THE MOLD BUT IF HE WAS FEEDING IT TO THE KIDS HE'D ALSO TOAST IT OVER THE STOVE. I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A COMMON?????

You got toasted moldy bread??? You’re living the life 😔

This is the toaster in Hungary. I thought it was a heavy duty fly swatter when I came to visit my grandpa.

[therefugeofbooks]

trying new recipes, reading, journaling

[hidingoutbackstage]

Now THAT’S what I call brunch

[pianokantzart]

Before I just break down and google it...

Does anyone who has played Super Paper Mario 64 know of any really good Tayce T. recipes?

[the-unseelie-court-official]

Arent you that guy that burnt their grilled cheese?

So sad

Next time add some BUTTER to that PAN you FUCKING SAVAGE

Thank you, stranger, for helping me learn more about myself

[lis5664]

The Sunday afternoon experience of feeling inexplicably, existentially upset, and then realizing the fact that you forgot to eat lunch is probably 90% of it.