all our heroes fading...

Rev. (She/Her. 31. AroAce.) SW, Trek, Leverage, MXTX, PJO, DC, FE3H, BioWare. Currently in the Veilguard Timeloop. (Neve x Mage!Crow!Rook x Lucanis)

[thesummerstorms]

— about thesummerstorms

"Rev" (she/her/hers)

Grey-Aromantic/Quioromantic + Asexual

Texas, USA (GMT-6)

Same username on AO3 & Discord (semiactive), as well as Pillowfort, Dreamwidth, Bluesky (rarely active).

I teach English Language Arts + Reading to 11-12 year olds for a living. You will see me talk (and sometimes complain) about work semifrequently. This year is currently kicking my ass; I apologize.

— blog content

Mixed personal + fandom blog. Occasional NA political content.

Currently only semi-active on tumblr due to real life hellscape.

Occasionally mild NSFW. Not guaranteed to be spoiler free.

Current Hyperfixation: Dragon Age: The Veilguard

— main ocs and ship tags

DATV: Arsinoë "Rook" de Riva

Antivan Crow Spellblade. Good + Stoic. Saved Treviso. Davrin alive. Canon Ship: Neve x Arsinoë x Lucanis , Arsinoë x Neve , Arsinoë x Lucanis; AU Ships: Teia x Arsinoë x Viago , Teia x Viago x Arsinoë x Lucanis, Arsinoë x Viago,

DAI: Inquisitor Evaine Trevelyan (former name tag)

Rift mage. Gentle + Good. Divine Leliana. Pro-Mage. Disbanded the Inquisition. Redeem Solas. Canon Ship: none; AU Ships: Evaine x Josephine; Evaine Trevelyan x Nikoletta Mercar

DA2: Rowan Hawke

Pro-Mage apostate refugee. Blue + a little red. Spared Anders. Canon Endgame Ship: None; Other Ships: Isabela x Rowan (situationship) Varric x Rowan (quiromantic qpr mess)

DAO: Warden Commander Niamh Amell

Spirit Healer + Battlemage. Strategic + Stoic. Quietly Anti-Chantry. Canon Ship: Niamh x Zevran; AU or Side Ships: Zevran x Niamh x Isabela, Niamh x Leliana, Zevran x Niamh x Anders , Zevran x Niamh Amell x Therasenn Mahariel (qpr), Niamh Amell x Therasenn Mahariel (qpr)

A longer list of my Dragon Age OCs can be found here.

General Dragon Age Ship Tags: neverook, nevelucanis, neverookanis, rookanis, zevranamell, zevranwarden

[merrinla]

When you first arrive at the Cantori Diamond, there are no banners hanging. But as you progress through the crows questline, they appear. Moreover, the cut conversations with Fletcher reflected each state.

Before A Slow Poison quest is completed, there's no banner hanging there.

If A Slow Poison quest is completed, Fletcher's banner can be seen next to their store. If the player saved Minrathous, it'll disappear later, along with Fletcher themselves.

After completing For the Love of Treviso quest, three banners of de Acutis (Neri and Noa's house) appear in the casino. I think it's because they were actively involved in that quest earlier.

And after completing A Time to Kill quest, the final two banners of Egrativi (Jacobus' new house) are hung.

Unlike Fletcher's banner, the city choice doesn't affect the others.

There's still some space left in the hub, but I don't know if that means there was supposed to be another banner here, or if it's just to make the crow statue at the entrance visible.

In the game, conversations with Fletcher are disabled, although there's still a change in the environment.

[reynard61]

Let's ambush mama! 😼

[dvandom]

"Why do Pallas cats always look grumpy?"

"Pallas kittens."

[waywardmartian]

The sheer roundness of this kitten must be admired.

[elkattacks]

I got some great screenshots from the sequence Solas joins Rook in Minrathous. Look at this smirk!

I can't help but think- oh darkspawn aren't scary to you anymore, eh? You *never* went down like a chump in the Hinterlands.. not you 🙄 I remember, Solas. I remember everything.

The power is hot of course, but I miss that crunchy little level 2 mage.

[thesummerstorms]

It amuses me to think about how Spite is relatively new to the mortal world and Lucanis is having to teach him how the basic laws of existence work.

Except then they keep running into things Lucanis has either said or believed completely impossible (the Eluvians in general, giant Ghilan'nain cloud face, actually basically Weisshaupt in general, the formless one, Mythal, griffons, Harding doing Titan magic, the Titan's shade, giant evil skeleton Jaeger, etc etc) and like.

Do you think Spite ever starts considering Lucanis a small minded/unreliable source?

[thesummerstorms]

Okay. I am now fairly set on Arsinoë, newly reawakening her Spirit Mage abilities, freeing a little tiny wisp that has only recently begun manifesting as Persistence from some sort of Venatori scheme.

She tries to free it and send it on its way, but the whole reason Persistence got caught was because it had begun to manifest physically around Docktown anyway. Less like Cole, more like how we see Compassion/Eulogy, Keepsake and Curio, or Pluck manifest visibly without too much concern for the Veil or physics.

So it follows her. Disappears from her sight for a while but it's still following her.

Maybe follows her to the cat cafe to meet Neve. Maybe meets the Spirit Cat in Treviso.

Is seen by and approves of Spite, because Determination and Persistence are close concepts. (And Lucanis and Spite certainly persisted. So did Neve, for that matter.)

And then one day Neve and Lucanis and Arsinoë are casually on a date in Treviso, except Arsinoë now has a tiny cat shaped Spirit of Persistence she's calling Persie (or Persi, or Persistenzina, or eventually even Zina). Neve keeps giving the spirit cat scritches when she thinks no one is looking. Lucanis is uncertain whether he should buy the cat fish. Spite likes Persistence in the same way he likes Curiosity.

Illario and Viago are for once fully united in bafflement and horror that Rook is being followed around by a literal spirit that has escaped containment and the First Talon is debating whether or not it eats tuna.

Arsinoë finally gets a cat that she doesn't have to worry about another Crow harming to get at her, and the spirit cat is now her baby.

[smallpwbbles]

Happy pride month my peeps!! (Why the fuck are we half way thru the year already?)

[mohntilyet]

imagine being illario and finally finding the resolve to kill your cousin right. you seduce and fuck a blood mage venatori magister to get her to do this for you. you figure you’ll eventually kill her once you are first talon, tie up the loose end and make it look good for you. a vengeance story! except when your cousin’s body shows up your grandma retreats into herself presumably out of grief and you’re like jesus christ he’s a corpse and still the favorite. at this point you start feeling some regret and at the wake you’re beside yourself. it helps to be really feeling some of that to fool everyone else. but months pass and your grandma still isn’t even discussing the inheritance and you have to be normal because you don’t want to incriminate yourself. and then a year later some random guy (worse if its a de riva tbh) shows up saying they need your cousin to kill an elven god (what.) and he’s the only one who could (insulting). and its at this point your grandma is like “lucanis died… but he is not dead!”. record scratch freezeframe. while you juggle with the fact that the freak woman you fucked specifically to get her to kill your cousin didn’t even kill your cousin AND your grandma didn’t bother telling you (for good reason ofc but she doesn’t know that), you have to lead these assholes to go save him and unravel your hard work. so plan b. you kidnap your grandma and push your (now possessed) cousin away (and then get mad when he actually walks away. because you’re like this). and when your cousin comes dangerously close to figuring out what’s happened with you and the magister, you kill the magister. you ally with those elven gods and venatori (you aren’t sure how you’re going to get out of this one but it’s fine. that’s a hill for future illario) to make sure you have enough backing to stand up against the other houses if they challenge you becoming first talon. you continue to gaslight your cousin into staying away, because if there is one thing you can count on, it’s his literal inner demons and total lack of a support group, you’re certain he’ll fuck it up by himself. you know this because his support group used to be your grandma (dubious) and yourself (lol). you’re almost home free. and caterina will definitely acknowledge you as a player on the board. which isn’t important but it would be nice, right. BUT THEN IT TURNS OUT. YOUR COUSIN HAS RECENTLY MADE 7 FRIENDS. one of whom can speak to the fucking dead because of course he can. and then some of those friends show up to publicly humiliate you at the dinner party that should have been YOUR crowning moment. your grandma ALSO shows up to tell everyone you have gathered that your cousin is first talon. your cousin gapes at her because he doesn’t actually even want it so it’s kind of awkward for everyone. and then when you’re sure he’s about to ask viago de riva to poison you to death, he actually tells him just to take you away. because OF COURSE he’s being the bigger person. anyways the point is i’m surprised illario just lets himself be taken away because if i were him i would have started biting people and then bombed the villa

[im-out-of-the-blues]

my ancient mama

[thesummerstorms]

Tiny spirit of Persistence that takes on a cat form that Arsinoë probably calls something silly like "Persie" and makes Viago want to tear his hair out.

But hey, if Cole can manifest as a whole child.

[thesummerstorms]

Okay so I've never given Arsinoë a pet cat except in the modern au because it made me too sad to think about what Crows might do to a cat.

But!

There's a spirit cat in Treviso.

I have been playing around with her being a repressed spirit mage who comes into that side of her magic through exposure to the Crossroads and Spite and Manfred.

...what if I gave her a spirit cat.

[flowersforthemachines]

Bellara and Davrin giving money to a poor elven man in Treviso

Visit Original Link

Davrin: Uncle. I think I saw you drop a few coins back there. Here you go. Elven man: I... Yes. Thank you, young warrior. Thank you very much.

Visit Original Link

Bellara: Sorry. My clan has been hungry a few times, and... well, here. For your family. Elven man: Thank you, child. Thank you very much.

My DAVG Extracted Audio Masterlist

[flowersforthemachines]

Companions reacting to pretending to be Spirits of Disruption during Solas's memory

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Rook: If we're Spirits of Disruption, let's act like it. Taash: (Evil chuckle) Yessss. Emmrich: Spirits shouldn't be encouraged to… (Sighs) But I suppose it's all past. Neve: I've been called "disruptive" a time or two! Bellara: Oh! I think I'll be good at that. Lucanis: I already have one demon. I'm not pretending to be another! Harding: Fight for Solas? I guess as long as it gets us to the truth. Davrin: Can do.

My DAVG Extracted Audio Masterlist

[flowersforthemachines]

Venatori taunting companions (and Rook) in the final mission

Note: only Lucanis, Neve, Bellara and Emmrich have lines in this part of the quest, which is why they are the only ones included.

Visit Original Link

Venatori: You will serve us, Demon of Vyrantium! Lucanis: You talk too much. [if Bloodbath has been completed] Venatori: This is for Zara! Lucanis: She's dead. Get over it.

Venatori: Your Grand Necropolis will soon be ours! Emmrich: Better cults than yours have tried!

[if Neve became Dock Town's protector] Venatori: Aelia will be avenged! Neve: Try it! You've angered the Shadow Dragons and the Threads. Bad move! [if Neve became Dock Town's inspiration] Venatori: Soon Aelia will be free again! Neve: Not today! I'm here for Dock Town. And they'll know I stopped you, too!

Venatori: Kneel before your god, Elgar'nan! Bellara: Not really a god!

Venatori: Stop the Dread Wolf's minions! Rook: We're not his minions!

My DAVG Extracted Audio Masterlist

[flowersforthemachines]

Companions cheering Rook on and dunking on Illario during his boss fight

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Bellara: Yeah! Hit him again, Rook! Bellara: Nice one, Rook! Emmrich: Well done! Emmrich: A solid blow! Neve: He's not putting up much of a fight, is he? Neve: Oh, nice shot! Davrin: Is that all he's got? Davrin: This'll be easy! Taash: Hey! Nice one! Taash: Hit him again! Harding: Ha, nice! He deserved that! Harding: Ooh, that was a good thwack!

Check out my DAVG Extracted Audio Masterlist

[malewifesband]

the setting is also a character. many do not know this but its true. it has a history and a future and often an arc of its own, and the other characters all have personal relationships with it

[bowditch]

this is why college, modern, bakery, flower shop, fantasy, post apoc, etc etc AU is either boring af to me or one of the best stories in a fandom. the thing that makes or breaks the story is whether or not the setting change is treated with the weight of a Character-- how does it impact characters and still keep them recognizable? it's like you've given everyone a new bestie or enemy and they all have to live with it. how does it shape them and change them? what parts survive? what parts of them impact the setting?

[emergency-philosophical-hologram]

One of my favourite Garak moments, actually I love this entire episode its hilarious.

[goingonanadventuremaybe]

Garak: OH MY GOD, DUKAT, SHE’S NEVER GOING TO FUCK YOU

[unicorn-and-bluebells]

Their faces in this exchange are such a journey lmfao

[pyllora9]

Dukat: I set up this program and I assure you major, I will find a way to defeat it. There’s no dilemma that cannot be solved by a disciplined cardassian mind.

Garak: it’s not going to work, you know?

Dukat: what are you babbling on about now?

Garak: I’m talking about Major Kira!

Kira: what about her?

Garak: she’s much too busy trying to save the station to be impressed with your incessant posturing.

Dukat: Garak!

Garak: and even if she weren’t, she has much better taste than to be attracted to you! You, a married man.

Dukat: I should have executed you years ago!

Garak: ooh you tried, remember?