tamwritesstuff

[tamwritesstuff]

Y’all I want to throw massive kudos out to the Roger Williams Park Zoo for a choice they made today: rather than joining in on a GenAI trend all the zoos are doing right now, they chose to support and spotlight an artist on their staff!

The big thing right now is these GenAI “figurine toys” of zookeepers or zoo management. And instead they shared a version drawn by one of their staff!

Go give them some love, if you’re on FB. Too many zoos are really getting into GenAI and just whitewashing the climate change / copyright issues that come with it, so I want this zoo to get as much positive feedback as we can muster for making a better choice.

[tamwritesstuff]

Look, if you're having a bad day, here's a 6,000 year old pig-shaped pottery pot.

[tamwritesstuff]

it’s amazing the entire dashboard is just old things. shakespeare. arthuriana. gargantua. the epic of gilgamesh. the brothers karamazov. beowulf. wuthering heights. medieval mystics. dracula novel discourse. lawrence of arabia 1962. al pacino. die girlies auf tumblr are thriving and having a ball going about as if media stopped happening post 2010

[tamwritesstuff]

but we're more like brothers (even if it kills you)

[tamwritesstuff]

Rook Questionnaire

inspired by @cassieuncaged's BG3 Character Development Questions but for Rook instead!

1: Where in the Thedas is your Rook from?

2: What is your character's alignment?

3: Race and subclass?

4: If your Rook was a companion, where would they be found?

5: What emotion did they usually pick?

6: What companion are you platonically close with?

7: Romantically close with?

8: Who are they suspicious of?

9: Does your Rook get along with their chosen Faction?

10: Are they proficient in playing any instruments?

11: Weapon of choice?

12: What is their orientation?

13: What are their thoughts on killing? Is it a necessary evil or do they enjoy it?

14: What hobbies does your Rook have?

15: What NPCs do they like? Which one's do they dislike?

16: Do they have a favorite creature in the Thedas?

17: Do they enjoy life as an adventurer?

18: What would your Rook be doing if they weren't recruited by Varric?

19: How do you think they'll meet their end?

20: Would they side with Solas or fight him?

21: What is your Rook's favorite ability?

22: What languages is your character fluent in?

23: What do they do after an absolute crisis?

24: Does your character believe in the afterlife?

25: What specialization best represents your Rook?

26: What animal best represents your Rook?

27: What was their life like before the events of Veilguard?

28: Is your character the de facto leader of the party? Or do they consider someone else to be the leader?

29: If you could choose a different faction for your Rook, which one would they have joined and why?

30: What's your favorite thing about your Rook?

[tamwritesstuff]

caught a pretty bad cold a couple days ago so i haven't made much progress on the fade jail fic 😔

[tamwritesstuff]

[tamwritesstuff]

me replaying lucanis personal quest for the fourth time: this is for research purposes

[tamwritesstuff]

Hi! For Arlow and Viago: "Thank you for being here when I needed you"

thank you for the prompt!! here's me wondering WHERE my crow dad was when I drove that dragon out of treviso

Arlow de Riva & Viago | 517 words | @dadrunkwriting - da4 spoilers

-

Even though Teia had assured her Viago was simply elsewhere, the knot in Arlow’s gut did not unclench until she laid eyes on him, upright and whole, if smoke-streaked and harried.

“You came. Good.” His approval washed over her, but Arlow just nodded. As if she would have gone anywhere else. Treviso was her home. “The dragon, is it—?”

“Gone.”

“Gone? Not dead?”

Arlow scowled, clenching her fist. “I know. Ghilan’nain called it away, we’re not sure why. Next time I will end it, Viago, I swear—“

“I know you will.” Viago jerked his head and Arlow fell in step beside him, headed back to where Teia waited. She wondered, idly, if he had some sort of sense for where she was at all times. “Crows do not leave a job unfinished.”

“Did you even thank her before reminding her of our duty, Vi?”

“She does not need me feeding her ego.”

Teia rolled her eyes, squeezing Arlow’s shoulder with a tired smile. “It is thanks to her that Treviso has only the Antaam at our door tonight, and not the Blight as well.”

Arlow couldn’t help it: she preened at Teia’s praise. At least, until she saw Viago’s unimpressed expression.

“Do not let it go to your head,” he scowled. “You did not actually kill the dragon.”

He was right. Arlow pursed her lips; her quarry’s escape was a persistent itch beneath her skin. She might have saved Treviso a slow death from the Blight, but she had also seen the havoc wrecked before she arrived. It was not an out-and-out win—it was simply not a loss.

But with how things were going these days, she would take even that. And her blade had tasted the blighted dragon’s blood; she had looked into its sickly eyes and met it blow-for-blow—it had made an enemy of Treviso, and in doing so ensured that she would end it, one way or another.

But not today. Arlow sighed. “We should—“

“Rook!”

Davrin skidded up to the Crows, out of breath and favoring his ankle. Lucanis was hot on his heels and the storm in his expression made the bottom of Arlow’s stomach drop out.

“What is it? The dragon—?” she asked, pressing a healing tonic into Davrin’s hand. Less than a day on the team and she’d gotten him injured.

“Not the dragon,” Lucanis answered as Davrin knocked back the potion. “Well, not ours. Word from Minrathous.”

Cazza. “Neve?”

Lucanis shook his head. “Haven’t heard from her. But another messenger got word through. We need to go. Now.”

“Now? But—?”

“Go,” Viago said. Arlow’s protest died on her lips as she glanced over her shoulder. There were some looks you simply didn’t argue with, and Viago wore one of them most of the time. “You’ve done enough here for tonight. We can handle the rest.”

You’ve done enough. Arlow blinked, stalled out long enough at what was almost a compliment for Viago to raise a brow at her. “Go.”

“Right,” she spun away. Move now, process later. “Minrathous. Come on.”

Hold on, Neve. We’re coming. Hold on.

[tamwritesstuff]

« Contract accepted. » My favorite cutscene! I love Viago and his vibes with Teia and Rook de Riva. I squeal with delight every time I see him on screen or hear him mentioned (especially by Rook and Lucanis) <3

[tamwritesstuff]

illario 'am I my cousin's keeper' dellamorte. you bash your brother's head in with a rock and now he's sitting across from you at the family dinner table asking you to pass the bread basket like nothing happened, blood running from your hands and down his face as you hand it to him and between you the tablecloth is slowly going from white to arterial red. still everyone keeps eating their lamb stew and talking around you. you killed abel and he just got back up again with a glare of mild annoyance and reproach and the only real curse laid upon you at the end of it all, after everything you did, is of the despite everything it's still you (derogatory) variety. you committed the indelible sin of kinslaying and the furies didn't even check their fucking phones over it because no one has ever taken you seriously a day in their lives before and they're certainly never going to start now with the absolute clown show you just put on lmao. this guy is living a his face all red situation entirely of his own creation except it's somehow also an absurdist comedy at the same time. it's what he deserves (affectionate). but hey I guess in this life we don't get what we deserve we get what we get. you're sheltered and contained by your brother's love whether you want it or not: the guy. ("he's ours". yeah you are you little shit. you're not getting off that easy.) the horror of being forgiven, and with that forgiveness, once more completely drearily irrelevant. the maddening helplessness of mercy. he grew that beard you both joked about. it kind of suits him. you still don't know if it's really him, but the ghost speaks with his voice. hey cousin can you reach the olives from there. yeah. thanks.

[tamwritesstuff]

for anyone in need of a little bit of angst, here's a snippet of the conversation between lucanis and viago after crow!rook gets stuck in fade jail :)

Lucanis strides into the Cantori Diamond looking like death.

The casino is bustling with activity as usual. The movement of people, the clinking of glasses, the sound of coins exchanging hands. It almost makes it seem like any other day. Lucanis knows it’s not. He had never enjoyed places like this — not the way Illario did — and even being on the top floor of the casino, above all that noise didn’t make him any more comfortable. Still, he had always found the time to greet some of the other Crows wandering about the room, even if it was just a quick nod. Now, fledglings flinch away as he walks past them not paying them any mind.

Teia sees him approach from the other corner of the room, and something in her posture seems to relax. “Thank the Maker!” she exclaims, running to meet him. “What in Andraste’s name happened, Lucanis? You sent word you were all going to an island to stop some ritual and then we didn’t hear from you in days!” she frowns, “and after the things we’ve been hearing from Minrathous—”

Lucanis can feel her anxious gaze on him, waiting for a response but he has no words for her. He closes his eyes, chest roaring with pain. Joder. Caterina’s training hadn’t prepared him for this. All his life he had measured suffering in broken bones and stab wounds. Now his heart is faced with a loss so devastating it reverberates through his entire being.

“Lucanis?” Teia calls softly, almost startling him.

“Ghilan’nain’s been slain” he manages to say at last. The only good news he has to offer. She makes a sound of surprise, turns to look at Viago only to find him already looking at them. There’s a dangerous glint in his eyes as he stares at Lucanis.

“Where’s Rook?” he asks, voice deceptively calm.

Lucanis goes still, grief and pain wreaking havoc inside of him. He doesn’t know what expression is reflected on his face but it must be enough to convey what his words cannot because Viago takes a step back. “No,” he says and there’s a sharpness in his tone, a denial that Lucanis knows all too well. “No” he repeats, turning his back and leaning his hands on the table for support.

Teia stares at them, horrified, “How—”

Spite growls. He tricked her! He took her away from us!

Lucanis can feel the demon’s anger like a mirror to his own, a painful, angry thing wanting to be let out and ravage the entire room. And yet when he speaks the words are deadly soft. “The Dread Wolf betrayed us, betrayed her” The words are a new kind of pain. He pauses, hoping that if he doesn’t breathe too deeply he won’t feel the hollow echo of his empty chest. “He trapped her in the Fade”

Viago turns abruptly. He doesn’t make any move to strike, but there’s a cold violence to his gaze, like the silent swish of a blade right before it draws blood. They stare at each other for a moment, neither of them moving. Then Viago's face changes, hard blankness breaking for a moment to reveal the feelings beneath. Loathing.

[tamwritesstuff]

The problem w writing fiction is that you'll be like tee-hee I'm going to write a story about a fucked up little scenario that's got nothing to do with anything in real life, just some pure messed up nonsense, and then you finish it and take a step back and go aw rats I made a metaphor again

[tamwritesstuff]

[tamwritesstuff]

bare with me here about more fade prison stuff but i just thought about all the people a reluctant, guilt-ridden crow rook would see there. how it would mess them up to see all their past targets lined up in a row.

[tamwritesstuff]

stuff i drew pre-release and then was like hm maybe better wait to see if im way off about the dynamic and just insane about them, but i think these turned out accurate enough (im still insane about them)

[tamwritesstuff]

finally writing the scene where lucanis has to tell viago about rook getting trapped in the fade and it's coming alone very nicely! should be able to post a snippet tomorrow :)