#(names in order from left to right)

[vigilskeep]

when you first start the cousland origin, you can have some conversations with arl howe, teyrn cousland, and duncan that shed some interesting light on the political situation in ferelden. it’s definitely the origin where you get the most context on the rebellion and on cailan and his father. while howe isn’t exactly the most trustworthy of sources, he is also one of the most openly critical of cailan that we have access to, which i think is worthy of interest

howe remembers maric with what the toolset describes as “genuine fondness”: “your father hasn’t spoken of our time with him? that man took care of his friends. as they say, he was large as life and twice as tall!” i think we should pay particular attention to that man took care of his friends.

what howe’s talking about is a really important aspect of kingship, where you win the consent and enthusiasm of the nobility for your rule by offering rewards like wealth, land, and prestige to the loyal. kingship is always less stable than it’s portrayed, and this is one of the ways that kings must essentially sell to the nobility that answering to them is worth their time, which would be especially important in ferelden given everything we know about its culture. fereldans believe someone only has power when it is given by the loyalty of those below them, who have the right to freely rescind that loyalty. the dao codex says that “the sight of [fereldan kings] asking for—and working to win—the support of ‘lesser’ men is a source of constant wonder to foreign ambassadors.”

i suspect howe is remembering a maric fresh from the victories of the rebellion, who was able to reward those who had followed him with the spoils of those victories. at the end of the stolen throne, we see that in the final days of the rebellion, maric was killing those who had betrayed his mother to the orlesians even when they arrived under truce to meet him on holy ground. in dao, we see no lingering orlesian nobility except for those who married in and continue to be met with marked hostility. i think we can safely surmise that maric elected to make no conciliatory measures and give everything to those who had followed him; with the orlesians on the run and his people out for blood, he was in a strong enough position to do so, and it certainly served to win the fond memories of men like howe.

by contrast, howe goes on to say, “it’s too bad cailan isn’t half that.” the toolset notes establish very clearly that it’s the same issue, elaborating on howe’s thoughts: “bitter turn, i don’t get as much from the current king”, and “disdainful, i have no use for him, he does me no favours”. this isn’t a minor character detail, if howe’s last words when killed by the player are anything to go by. “maker spit on you... i deserved... more...” whatever it is that howe feels he should have been given, by the crown or anyone else, it characterises his actions and his defining treachery.

it’s in these same conversations that we see another side of this demonstrated. there are two points where howe can openly criticise the king, and bryce immediately admonishes him for both. one even has the toolset note: “speaks sharply, as a lord to a lesser man, not a friend to an equal”. it definitely comes across that way; the way he tells howe “that’s enough” is not far off the voice he uses when the player, his child, displeases him. bryce can’t tolerate any criticism of cailan, as the couslands in dao are ardent supporters of the king. to venture some hc, i suspect that this is not merely royalist fervour, and that howe’s resentment for having been given less is matched by bryce’s awareness of the precariousness of having more.

over the centuries, the theirins have consolidated their power and eradicated almost all the teyrns (the noble rank that is second only to the king). with the only other lingering teyrn being loghain, who is essentially part and parcel of the royal family, the couslands stand alone as the only real rivals to theirin power within ferelden. there are rumours that bryce was once considered for king instead of the theirins; he too could have decided to believe he “deserved more”. but unlike howe, and perhaps understandably given his strong position and happy growing family, he is satisfied with what he has. he will not take the risk of even the slightest challenge being made within his hall

(i expect that bryce’s satisfaction with the current situation further spurred howe’s dissatisfaction to its heights, given the complicated cousland-howe history and the fact that he was expected to accept a friend he had fought beside as a superior for the rest of his life.)

i don’t think howe’s judgement on cailan is likely to be without basis. we don’t hear about any victories the young king has to his name, from which he could have passed around spoils. (to be fair, cailan had harder luck than maric in this regard. a king who raises a successful rebellion gets to bring glory and prestige to everyone who follows him, whereas a king trying to rebuild after that rebellion mostly gets to bring, uh, taxes probably. especially on wealthy centres of trade like howe’s amaranthine, one might assume.) cailan also takes a far more diplomatic approach to the question of orlais, which perhaps predictably did not win over many nobles of howe’s generation. it makes sense that cailan’s strongest supporters would instead be men like bryce who hope for things to simply continue, peacefully, as they are. perhaps in another world where cailan had won the battle of ostagar, he might have earned wider respect. (you could actually argue on this basis that there’s more sense and purpose to cailan’s glory-seeking than he usually gets credit for.) but howe already acts before ostagar, which can only demonstrate his certainty in cailan’s failings at this point: his belief that even if cailan could win, he would not be stable enough to pursue justice for the couslands

[sproutinoid]

AU where Narinder never looses his marbles and chops everyone’s limbs off :,)

I redesigned all their cloaks to be more personal than them all wearing the same thing. Maybe in the future I’ll draw them without the cloaks so you can see what their bodies look like.

[iceinherheart-kissonherlips]

“That old reflex never died; the little pang of Don't go, just stay. Settle over me like the tide, cover me like a blanket, wrap around me like the sun. 

Don't go, don't go, don't go.” [x]

[moonbells-draws]

put the chibi practice to use doing a last-minute mass attack to finish art fight 2024!

Gwyvinn - @meadow-roses

Evangeline - @p0tat0-g0ddess

Onix - @tzarina-alexandra

Adalice - @/m.k_breeze on instagram

Norway - @haoririzu

Haru - @masterfuldoodler

Ruby - @chrystallink

8.3.2024

[sidesteppostinghours]

cps doesnt know i have these children because ive been keeping them locked inside my basement. if any of you tattle im blowing them all up.

also have this thing that i made ages ago:

[arctic-mizikio]

Some oc icons I made since I reworked their lore recently for a text rpg, really proud of them

[littl3d0ll-art]

Lineup of all the fankid’s I’ve(currently) either redid from old ones or made from scratch <33

[foolscr0w]

some silly memes with some friend's ocs from a short story i wrote

[acy-art]

trying to motivate myself to draw my blorbos by finding random images on pintrest to insert them as clunkily as possible into

anyway enjoy these three :)

[hecksupremechips]

Okay mutuals let’s get real

[icewindandboringhorror]

misc. daily life photos again .. for the every once in a while that I collect enough over a few months to actually make a photo set out of them lol

[deus-ex-mona]

tmw you give someone concise instructions but they ✨just do not get it✨

[nomaishuttle]

aughhhhh i wish i had books 2 read i wanna read books so bad rn 🤓 <- i look like this. 2 pictures of me 👇

[transbeamrooikat]

some Lavenderclan doodles/design sketches and a sketch of my Fireheart design

[miqo-tia]

My WoL (red jacket) and his siblings. They all picked quite the different paths in life, but their bonds remain close. Whenever my WoL returns home to visit, he gets bullied for the baby of the family becoming the saviour of the world and forgetting all about his poor, poor family

[tahseenfamily]

Tahseen Starving Children Call for Your Support Amid Crises

Hello Dear

My name is Tahseen Khazendar from G@@7_@, P@1_e$tine . As you are reading my message, my wife, 3 little children, and I are sitting in the north of G@@7_@ City, starving with no food, water, or money. Specially my older son, Ibrahim, who suffers from the Celiac disease and needs a special food which I am not able to provide for him at this current time in G@@7_@. I struggle every single day to secure 1 single meal for my children. Every morning, My wife and I feel heart broken and disable, when our children wake up asking us for food which we don't have and unable to provide to them.

Once the aggression started on our city, we were forced to evacuate our house and left everything behind. Then we had to move at least five times since every new area we seek refuge to becomes not safe. Unfortunately everything I owned has been completely lost. My family and I are currently suffering slow death in the north of G@@7_@, sharing a small apartment with other families and living a devastating life.

I am raising funds in order to be able to pay the rising cost of basic necessities specially because the cost of survival became astronomical.  My campaign has been vetted by

@olagaza here,

@northgazaupdates here

@90-ghost here

@neptunerings here

Please donate and/or replog 🥺🙏🇵🇸

From where you are right now, you personally can help save our lives here. Please reblog and post the link to my campaign across all your social media, and follow me @TahseenFamily.

Your generosity has the power to make a significant difference, and will give me and my family hope that there will a better future waiting for us once this conflict stops.

We ask God to bless you and your families and to protect you all from all calamities and to never make you feel or go through what we are going through.

Thank you very much from Tahseen and family for standing by us ❤.

@timetravellingkitty @deathlonging @briarhips @mazzikah @mahoushojoe

@sar-soor @rhubarbspring @schoolhater @pcktknife @transmutationisms

@sawasawako @feluka @appsa @anneemay-blog @commissions4aid-international

@wellwaterhysteria@mangocheesecakes @kyra45-helping-others @7bittersweet @tortiefrancis

@ot3 @amygdalae @ankle-beez @communistchilchuck @dykesbat @aristotels @komsomolka

@neptunerings @riding-with-the-wild-hunt @heritageposts @watermotif

@stuckinapril @mavigator @lacecap @determinate-negation @deepspaceboytoy

@paper-mario-wiki @kibumkim @neechees @socalgal @chilewithcarnage

@sayruq @himejoshikaeya @rooh-afza @shesnake

@90-ghost @victormcdicktor @nabulsi

@northgazaupdates @magnus-rhymes-with-swagness