#but would love to be a fly on that wall

[svtskneecaps]

i keep hearing noise about a linked universe discord where is this. where can i find this. i wanna lurk.

[beauregardlionett]

let the record show that i can actually picture aabria sitting down across from matt and just putting a character sheet on the table, looking him in the eye, and going ‘i am playing chetney’s ex’

[freddie-77-ao3]

Nico in therapy with Mr. D for the first time

Nico: so, what do I do? complain about my problems and you tell me others have it worse? Mr. D, having read Nico's chart and knowing he's from another era, his sister died, he felt betrayed by his crush, the only person he knew in the time period, fought a war, went to hell, fought another war, and was dealing with internalized homophobia the entire time: see, the thing is, I'm pretty sure others... definitely don't have it worse

[iliveinarainbow]

was infodumping to my dad about the show, and as i tried to explain to him the dynamic between louis, armand and daniel he said “so he’s like their marriage counselor but they both want to fuck him”… and you know what sir, you might be onto something.

i mean look at them

this is a totally normal way to look at someone you totally don’t want to eat and/or fuck…

my god they’re going to fuck this poor man to death.

rip daniel molloy, you managed to outcunt two centuries old vampires, so iconic of you.

[sad-emo-dip-dye]

“Sorry. Rhetorical questions are rude. You are a moron.” I just know that was a conversation that fukuzawa and 15yr old ranpo had to have

[akkivee]

HAPPY 7 YEARS OF HYPMIC THEYRE CELEBRATING WITH A CAFE

[starscelly]

star boys 🌟

nhl media tour 2024 | (x)

[nalyra-dreaming]

The “we’re being filmed right now“ is… like…

… and Jacob “what are you afraid of“

💀

[meidui]

so confused when people hate miss agent margaret carter because what do you have against a woman with big beautiful brown eyes who pummels people with her entire body weight

[titsthedamnseason]

the video of taylor and gracie songwriting is amazing. it reminds me of the famous getaway car clip….its just so cool to see how her songwriting brain works in real time

[bedtimegiraffe]

Here's my little essay about King Arlan (and a little bit about Baldur) and their complicated relationship with ruling effectively.

Arlan, the (overall) very good king

King Arlan is keeping the kingdom running well

In the very first lore tablet, you learn that, "King Arlan Valleros VII currently sits on the throne. Known as the Gentle King, Arlan has reigned over a period of great peace and prosperity."

Periods of great peace and prosperity are not easy! It's a combination of luck, delegating effectively, and putting in a ton of administrative work to make sure the laws and policies work for the unique situation your nation is in at this moment. That stuff does not happen on accident.

Based on Aerin's statements that he never really saw his father, I'm assuming Arlan keeps busy with actually running the country. We never see Arlan show interest in hunting or any vices that would take similar amounts of time. I also don't get the sense that Arlan and Baldur are always like, hanging out. And we don't interact with many administrators, making him seem pretty hands-on.

King Arlan knows how to maintain an image

When you return from the Shadow Realm...

King Arlan is very savvy. Maybe he's sincere, who knows! But publicly honoring the heroes who saved your ass is a great way to get goodwill for yourself and make it so you no longer owe those heroes. Your party puts in quite a lot of work to save Morella and King Arlan just lets you take some weapons and armor no one was using anyway. Doesn't even send a single guard to help. Unlike Book 2...

Before the battle he does a great job making it seem like he's doing you a favor. Like you asked for his help and he's magnanimously granting it, even though the Ash Empire is very much coming to destroy his capital!

Which brings us to his take on Aerin being gone (assuming he was imprisoned previously)...

This is an awful thing to say about your son! But it's actually a pretty cunning move as a king. Arlan was absolutely right- his best move was to let Aerin go and hope he got killed. He gets to eliminate a problem making him look bad to the court (his son who committed murder and treason in a very public manner) and keep his reputation as a nice guy. He's the 'Gentle King,' not the 'Strong King' or 'Decisive King.'

And in the very unlikely (in his estimation) chance Aerin did come back alive and looking heroic, Arlan could keep him imprisoned indefinitely. Or (much less likely) he could say Aerin was corrupted before and use his success as an excuse to get one of his kids back in the line of succession. That's good for your ego and can help prevent a succession crisis if there isn't a super clear heir in place (which seems to be the case currently).

Overall, (and completely separate from him being a horrendous father) it seems to be like Arlan is actually a very good king. But there is one part of the job he sucks at...

Arlan's fatal flaw is that he is terrible at reading people.

'Baldur's great, no concerns!'

Obviously, we know that thinking that Baldur is going to be a good king is stupid.

But why didn't King Arlan know that? Aerin (who does seem to be pretty good at reading people) says he's, "handsome, bold, outgoing." Those things are all great for winning people over!

But not nearly enough to actually run a country. We know Baldur's not really even trying to have any of the practical, administrative skills that requires. And this system does not seem set up to function with a figurehead.

You know that tutor must have clocked that Baldur was asleep! It was probably common knowledge at the palace that Baldur never learned a damn thing. Either Arlan didn't realize his heir was not gaining any practical ruling skills (bad sign) or he didn't care (also a bad sign).

Even monarchs who aren't invested in their kids as people are usually very invested in their education. Because that's how you make sure the wheels don't fall off once you die, ending your glorious bloodline.

Aerin tells us that Baldur would never contradict their father. So Arlan absolutely could have forced him to read a damn book. But for some reason, he didn't.

'My second son sucks...

Arlan truly thinks that Aerin is useless. Which is a wild stance to take after you watched him kill big strong Baldur in a single blow and open a portal to the Shadow Realm.

Arlan got there a little late for Aerin's full villain monologue. But the second your party disappears through the portal, the smart thing would have been to determine if Aerin did any more damage. It didn't feel like it to Aerin, but he had tremendous access to people and resources. For all King Arlan knows, this could have been just one piece of a bigger plot.

And it was! Aerin admitted to corrupting dozens of people, usually very connected people. That's a ticking time bomb just waiting to cause more damage. One it doesn't seem like King Arlan ever looks into.

Arlan seems to just assume that Aerin can't cause damage because he's... not physically imposing? Because knowledge and connections are never a threat to power?

Pre-crisis, Aerin also talks about trying to smooth over Baldur's brash decisions. Having someone to soften the blow of harsh or unpopular decisions is absolutely crucial for any ruler, but especially one like Baldur. Yet Arlan doesn't seem to have any awareness of that either.

So Arlan at least picked up some vibes from Aerin that he was... something. Troubled could be 'miserable,' but this statement makes it feel more 'he creeps me out.'

-and I'm not worried about that.'

Even if Aerin was incompetent or messed up, King Arlan should have been concerned about that! Baldur is very strong and presumably good at not dying. But he throws himself into dangerous situations all the time for fun! There is a very good reason most monarchs don't stop at one kid if they can help it.

History is absolutely littered with examples of people who inherited a throne and ran things into the ground because they didn't have the ability to manage the amount of power they had effectively. If Arlan thought Aerin could fall into that category, he should have had people working around the clock to get him up to standard just in case.

Instead, King Arlan fully ignored Aerin, letting him just haunt the archives like a depressed ghost.

'The Heroes of Morella obviously agree with me, they're important!'

King Arlan makes the assumption, based on your party's status, that you'll agree with him on the 'complicated politics' of executing your own kid. Because you're not 'commoners.' Your party includes one elven noble, one orcish (until like 2 days ago) princess, and one human with a very prominent position in the Temple. Mal is more under the radar, but he was still proclaimed a hero. And your character is the most Hero of all.

So Arlan basically does that thing some people do where they trash talk a marginalized group, because everyone in the room looks like they belong to the majority group, so why would they object? (Never a good look.)

But Mal and Nia are both, at least to you, visibly angry with Arlan for being excited his son is (presumably) dead.

Still, no effort to backtrack or soften the blow from King Arlan. Just sails right over the dude's head that Mal looks pissed and Nia is using her damn customer service voice.

Seriously, King Arlan should probably keep an eye out for Mal... Not a big monarchist, that one.

Bonus Baldur, the tremendous idiot

The fact that Baldur thinks he's the first of his name, when "Baldur Valleros" literally founded his dynasty, is incredibly funny to me. Such ignorance. Such hubris.

I am not about to give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe Baldur I went straight to being king, so our dumbass is the first "Prince Baldur Valleros." His father is Arlan VII, there's no way no other king has named their heir after the founder of the dynasty. More evidence that he has never once learned a thing.

(Don't worry about Kade- he took a shadow lance to the face but he's fine. He's mostly fine. Feel free to look at my older posts if you're curious how that went down.)

Baldur seems to make the same assumptions about people based on their status as his father. I don't think it's an accident that when Baldur wants to tell gross stories (including the phrase "slum girls"), he immediately grabs Mal, the human man. Mal isn't all that subtle about his disdain for the nobility, but he still looks like the best one for Baldur to win over. Mal is also the one who steps up and negotiates for the group, making him look like the leader- even more Baldur catnip.

[dipplinduo]

I had a conversation with my cousin and I couldn't refrain myself from sharing this!

My cousin: Quick question, why do you have so many drawings of dresses of yellow and white and apples?

Me: Ribombees

My cousin: Like the pokemon? Why?

Me: *Hands her my phone with Sweet and Sour Dipplins*

*15 minutes later*

My cousin: *Crying over the amount of fluff and angst she just read*

Me: Now you know the reason I randomly cry when im reading something in the fic.

Us when DipplinDuo posts the most heartbreaking chapter and having theories that DipplinDuo is planning something:

Oh my god I can't wait for the magnum opus angst chapters to come out now LOOOOOOL. Stilllll got some ways to go to get to 'em, but one of them is on the horizon finally :))))))

(But first...two specific targets will be in danger in a few chapters...:D)

[frnkiebby]

a frimage you DO have and probably have seen multiple times

LEMME JUST ADD ONTO THIS RQ~🎃

[mashamorevvna]

kind of obsessed with the da:i options to learn more about topics such as chantry history and criminal organisations bc its like, welcome to college, inquisitor. leliana will hold a course on the etiquette of assassination for a handful of meagre credits; next up there's money laundering with master tethras

[ridleymocki]

What if instead of a sequel we get a film that dramatises the story of the making of Monkey Man. Hear me out.

Like Dev Patel plays Dev Patel, in the archetypal role of the tortured auteur, who makes and unmakes himself in the process of creating his magnum opus.

The resistant beats of Monkey Man are echoed in the Making of Monkey Man as we watch a fictionalised version of Dev Patel - writer/director - struggle against political and industrial blockades (westerncentrism, Hollywood) in order to triumph for the marginalised (make a film with unprecedented representation).

And as fictional Dev Patel - writer/director - battles to create this work, the world of Monkey Man and his world start to blend, Black Swan-style, and he finds himself inextricably collapsing into the Kid, into being the Monkey Man.

Suddenly the making of the film within this film is the making of himself, as well.

And the Making of Monkey Man replicates its source by itself being high genre. It's an homage and a love letter, but also a challenge to the 'Troubled Artist' and 'Brilliant Protege' genre. It transgresses the mould of some historically noteworthy white man being deified by cinema and replaces it with a brown man whose personal artistic goal becomes a shared point of justice through common struggle and triumph.

And in the end you find out that the Making of Monkey Man was written, directed, captained... by Dev Patel.

(and the only reason this won't happen is because he's literally too humble and nice for the egoism of such a venture)

[thehecklingmouse]

I think the more interesting thing about the watcher situation is that this desicion got approved at all. Someone in that office sat down and thought that launching a streaming service was a good idea. Did they even talk with a business consultant? Did they think it would go over well? Do they just not know their audience? Did no one in the office tell them it was a bad idea? What happened??