as fun as it is to talk about the sillay crow family dynamics, i'm soo interested in what this means for the crow familia going forward in a darker lens.
im mostly speaking from the perspective of a rook de riva who romanced lucanis btw <3
illario brought the axe down on his own head after failing to take first talon. he's imprisoned except to play house whenever caterina wants to see him around for family dinners before tensions inevitably shove him back into the cage he's been left to like some house pet lmfao. it's actually kinda fucked up and as a certified sicko i love it. especially considering the casualness in which lucanis describes all of this. crows gotta be a little unhinged<3
But!!! while lucanis was right that illario's reputation is ruined forever as a traitor crow beaten to his knees before every house that doesn't exactly free house dellamorte either. Talon houses will want their pound of flesh of illario for nearly trying to put antiva under venatori control. and yet lucanis refused. house dellamorte showed mercy. they are breaking the rules, making exceptions. this is not how the crows operate and there should--WILL be retaliations for it. illario left this house bleeding in his attempt to claim first talon and their blood is in the water now with house dellamorte having a sole heir who blatantly exposed a weakness and seemingly has no lineage to take after him.
and nevermind that we know murmurs amongst the crows will linger about a first talon being an abomination. i know lucanis kind of handwaves it off as at the coffee date like 'there could be worst first talons' but baby boy, you have avoidance and denial issues this WILL become worse of a problem the longer it goes on. <3
more under the cut bc i didn't realize this was getting so long lol
but in comes fifth talon viago de riva. a bastard to the king of antiva who wants to strengthen the crown. a man who has been ruthlessly exacting and meticulous to get where he is now. and the scariest part is that he has ambition, always has, and knows he has more power than the king himself to make plays if he needs to. this makes for a dangerous (and sexy) combination. in comes his protege rook. casting silly family dynamics aside, viago knows this union between house dellamorte and de riva is extremely beneficial for both houses but also very dangerous. even he knows his ties to teia show a weakness in him that other crows may seek to exploit. and while i do think he may be sincere about wanting rook to find their happiness with lucanis as he has with teia - i truly think he will not shy from showing the importance of a 'political alliance/union' especially with first talon house dellamorte struggling from the blow after all is said and done.
and of course, by extension to de riva, house cantori and the beautiful lovely miss teia, will be extending her support to strengthen their houses but also herself from any opposition. as much as i love that she's kind of the heart that brings this fucked up lil familia together, i know she is just as cunning and clever to recognize what this alliance does for her too.
and caterina.. well, without going into a whole thought piece on her, she has built her (and her grandson's reputation) entirely to instill fear in others, even command enough respect to know she's the one running things while lucanis is just a stand-in as first talon. but what happens when caterina is gone? another dellamorte dead just like all the others. all lucanis has left is himself and his traitor brother. how does he handle illario? how does he fair being a leader to the crows when he didn't want any of this in the first place and no longer has caterina to guide him? how does he wish to pursue carrying the dellamorte legacy (if at all)? does he seek a protege of his own to take on after him? i can't remember who says it (viago or lucanis) but there's a line about how saving thedas will make their houses immortal (hot and very sexy) but also how far can that reputation protect house dellamorte, really?
i don't really have a point to all of this, this is all just stuff im simply chewing on and letting out into the ether because the ripple effect of repercussions with what illario did and what lucanis now has to deal with fascinates me SO MUCH.
I can't stop thinking about how much Spite would've loved Zevran. Take Spite's "Want to? Fly like a dragon?" commentary at Taash to Zevran's "Knives can kill. Even small children, when launched at very fast speeds, can kill." and Spite would've been like:
the fact that bioware wrote in a line from harding mentioning sera by name about her being part of the inquisition despite the fact that you can choose to not recruit her which effectively overwrites a player's canon and establishes a bioware canon that sera joins the inquisition????? meanwhile zevran cannot even be mentioned by name at all !?!?!?
I feel like a boomer but all the modern lingo in da:v has gotta goooo. Bellara saying "full stop" and Taash saying "'sup" I don't care if it's been 20 years in game since Origins or that Ferelden is practically backwater compared to the rest of Thedas. Bitches gotta go back to saying shit like t'was and whence!!
Milana TABRIS !!! EVERYONE CLAP !!!! 👏👏👏 I'm playing Mila as Rook in her early 40s because honestly the idea of the HoF running into Weisshaupt drama with the First Warden while she's chasing for the cure before it all goes astray and leads to saving the world AGAIN sounds accurate.
SHUT UPPPPPPPPPP!!!!
I can't I CAN'TTT . I love him!!!! I love them!!!! Juleic has turned that man into a romantic SAP!!!! He's has always worn his heart on his sleeve but I love SO MUCH that in their years together Dorian has found his heart cradled so safely in Juleic's hands that he can find it in himself to express that same vulnerability with him.
WELCOME BACK MILANA TABRIS. my beautiful daughter who is all grown up facing world ending threats once again and is so angy about it
genuinely SO HAPPY to see Milana how I've always imagined her in DA4's beautiful engine. Plus the vibe of being an older woman who has seen shit and playing as the badass warrior she always was? Feels SO good 👌 Really excited for this playthrough!
