#he just wanted to say goodbye to him

[wikitpowers]

shit shit shit no don’t cry don’t cry don’t don’t

[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

[arthursfuckinghat]

Say what you want about Mary, but nothing makes my heart ache for Arthur more than how fucking much they loved eachother and how much they knew it would never work.

Meeting Mary the second time, she absolutely lit up seeing that Arthur actually came to help her again. Even despite the rough circumstances with her father, they both went and had a wonderful evening at the theatre.

Mary had no idea that would be the last time she'd ever see Arthur alive again.

[doctor-cunt-phd]

Currently considering how the first time Daniel is presumed dead Jack broke a window because of how helpless he felt. The way he remembered Daniel screaming for his help, not being able to do anything before it was too late. That really got to him. I think being helpless to the death in his life is a constant theme for Jack that he's always had to accept and sit with and try not to break windows over every day.

So I think it's really fitting and touching that when Daniel really died (ascended, but for all intents and purposes, was dying), when he was dying painfully, hopelessly, in front of all his loved ones- He asked Jack for help, he gave Jack the honor of helping him pass on, trusted him, gave him the opportunity to say goodbye that Jack never, Never seems to be allowed.

[electric-plants]

cyno: we’ll set out immediately after i have a quick meeting with the scribe

aarav: oh did he need more of our records?

cyno: no?? i just have to go and kiss him goodbye

[dekariosclan]

Hear me out.

I 1000% agree that non-godhood, orb-free, romanced professor Gale is the best ending. He and Tav are SO happy and in love, Tara approves, Gale’s mom isn’t sad, it’s nothing but good things and I absolutely adore it and it will have a place in my heart forever.

I also agree that in the Godhood ending, while Gale retains aspects of his former self, he has changed. His most precious human qualities have been replaced with ambition and pride. And you can’t ignore the fact that Tara is now unhappy, Gale’s mother misses her son, Elminster is distraught and feels responsible for Gale having chosen this path, and there’s the possibility of looming disaster in the future as described by Raphael.

…and yet…

…seeing how much God Gale still loves Tav—and knowing they’ll get to spend an eternity together—is pretty damn wonderful, too.

(Note, playthrough not mine, I captured these screenshots from a public YouTube video posted by user MUNMOMUU)

[agentark]

in the span of maybe an hour, clara oswald goes from, "I already know - don't say it." to, "people like you and me should say things to each other" and I'll never get over it

she literally gets pulled out of time the moment before her death and learns he's been clawing his way back to her for 4.5 BILLION years?? Just to save her??? I would also suddenly and urgently have words

[merry-fagoland]

hi. church texas orpheus and eurydice. anyway.

[elenadoeslife]

🖤

[pansyfemme]

smiles. grins even

[tetheredbysin]

currently making literal blood sacrifices to do my part in trying to secure that the rest of kev's formula 1 career would look like the sprint quali today.

[izloveshorses]

bellamy is barely holding it together 😭

[monstermoviedean]

if you have a good vibe/kind thought to spare and could send it my way. i'd really appreciate it.

[muchmossymess]

Like they just did that and moved on

[loupettes]

thinking about how these two conversations happened only hours apart :(

[talesoftheesun]

I refuse to acknowledge anything that happened in this volume. none of this happened. must've just been a heat induced fever dream. nope. no way.