#i'm capable and smart

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

Anyone have advice for dealing with job application burnout?

[tethys-the-aquatic-sea-godness]

Sarevok's image in Baldur's Gate and how he uses it

Among the numerous misrepresentations of Sarevok's character in BG3, is how he came into power. Of course, properly showing that would also show that the new villain's great master plan is just a rip-off of his, but let's ignore that. Obviously, Sarevok's stunt in Baldur's Gate becomes infamous, and he, rightfully, doesn't have a good rep in the city. That being said, it wasn't always the case, yet all you'll see in BG 3 is a brutish villain that only knows violence and 'mURdEr'. Yes, spelled like that, yes.

More rambling under the cut.

The thing was that, prior to Charname exposing his plan, Sarevok had become truly popular in Baldur's Gate. Let's remember the set-up back then. The Iron Throne is a shady mercantile organisation from Sembia. A new western division is trying to take root in the Sword Coast, led by Rieltar Anchev.

Their plan goes as follow: they aim to create a misinformation campaign to blame the Zhentarim for all the troubles in the region. They worsen tensions between the governments of Baldur's Gate and Amn. With iron being the most important resource in a war, the Baldurian government has to go to them in order to get any. The Iron Throne has disrupted all the iron trade through the region using the Blacktalon mercenaries and the Chill. The only known iron mine in the region is at Nashkel, and the Iron Throne has effectively crippled it. They have their own mine operating in Cloakwood. When the Baldurian government comes to them for iron, they will be able to make exorbitant trading demands, and thus become the preeminent trading power in this region.

(Yes, this is copy-pasted from the dialogue you can get from the charmed Iron Throne leaders, what can I say, it's a good recap)

So, that's Rieltar's plan to settle the Iron Throne in the region, a plan Sarevok will hijack in several ways. He intends to kill Rieltar and the other two leaders, and while the Iron Throne didn't intend to actually start a war, only increase tensions, Sarevok thinks that a massacre on a godlike scale can ascend him to godhood. That plan of Sarevok also requires him being named Grand Duke, and thus becoming sole leader of Baldur's Gate once he's eliminated the others (yes, the more you know, the more it sounds like someone in BG3's act 3 copy-pasted this plan for his own takeover, hush). This part of his plan required Sarevok to build a positive public image in Baldur's Gate, so the nobles would want him to be grand duke (despite being a newcomer from a Sembian trade group). That wasn't an easy task. The Iron Throne has a bad reputation even before Rieltar's iron plot. It's a known fact they're more a criminal organization than a trading organisation, so people are less likely to deal with them, unless, as Rieltar's planned, they don't have a choice anymore. However, Sarevok doesn't wait for his father's plan to be completed before he starts building relations with the ruling class of the city.

When you first get to Baldur's Gate, various npc inform you of the, mostly, positive image Sarevok has built for himself. That's something even Gorion's ward points out in their own journal entries.

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1: "Nobleman: Those Iron Throne fellows are quite the secretive bunch. Sarevok, the foster son of their leader, is quite the charmer, though."

2: "Journal entry by Charname: Sarevok, son of one of the Iron Throne's leaders, has become increasingly popular in Baldur's Gate."

3: "Noblewoman: From what I've heard, the new man with the Iron Throne, Sarevok, is an unmarried man. I plan to change that."

Love the last one.

So, Sarevok is very popular in the city, even though there are some who disagree, they're not the majority. Most people who aren't as fond of Sarevok are among the commoners, and I would argue that's because they weren't the target audience of his PR campaign. Sarevok needs the nobles' vote to be Grand Duke, so they are the ones he wants on his side. The popular vote is only a bonus.

It's also important to notice he's improving his popularity, not the popularity of the Iron Throne.

He still has popularity among the lower class, and that only increases when you near the game's end.

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4: "Commoner: I think it's about time we took the fight to them [Amn], and Sarevok is the man to lead us."

5: "Commoner: I don't know what them nobles see in that Sarevok fella, but he's something darker, that's for certain."

6: "Commoner: That Sarevok is going to make everything all right again."

7: "Nobleman: An election of sorts has been called because we cannot be without a full governement in these dangerous times. I hear Sarevok is a frontrunner in this matter."

8: "Noblewoman: Entar Silvershield's death was a tragic blow, but with Sarevok stepping in I feel a true sense of hope."

9: "Journal entry by Charname: With the murder of Grand Duke Entar Silvershield, Sarevok is poised to gain control. The people love him."

10: "Noblewoman: Such people would not dare to show their faces in Baldur's Gate, not now that Sarevok and Angelo Dosan control the Flaming Fist. Order will be enforced, more so once Sarevok is appointed as a Grand Duke. I shall have little to fear of the streets once that comes to pass."

11: "Journal entry by Charname: The nobility is especially approving of Sarevok and Angelo Dosan being in control of the Flaming Fist."

12: "Nobleman: He's [Sarevok] making a lot of friends, and I bet he will be nominated to replace poor entar as Grand Duke."

13: "Noblewomen: It is a good time to be of the nobility. Sarevok has ensured us all that order will be restored in this region, whatever the cost."

14: "Journal entry by Charname: The nobility are especially welcoming of Sarevok and his hard stance against Amn."

15: "Nobleman: Sarevok seems like a man who gets things done."

16: "Sir Lothtyran: Personally, I think he'll [Sarevok] do wonderfully."

17: "Brennan Risling: That's why we need Sarevok as Grand Duke, for he'd take the resources from the Iron Throne and' assist us."

18: "Journal entry by Charname: It is good to know that not everyone in this city has fallen in love with the hardliner Sarevok."

Sarevok doesn't have everyone's approval, but he has more than enough to take over the city. Obviously, the mood changes once his plot to drag both governments into war is revealed.

But you know what? Even then, he still has some popularity.

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19: "Commoner: He was such a handsome one, such a shame he had ta go and do that."

random commoner woman: if evil, why hot?

In conclusion: Sarevok almost took over Baldur's Gate and the whole Sword Coast with covert force and was almost lawfully elected Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate thanks to the popularity he cultivated within the city. That was possible thanks to two things. One, it's safe to say that Sarevok can be charismatic and charming when he wishes to be, even though, according to Diarmid, another one of the mercenaries working for him, "[...] subtlety is something that doesn't quite comes naturally to him. He doesn't have the patience for it, though his mind is amazingly tactical".

In his BG2 banter, you also learn he's not overly fond of being around people. That means this entire schmooze fest he did to boost his popularity took serious effort on his part, and it paid off. It was a trial of patience for a man who isn't known to be patient, or at least, not patient for niceties. He can prove very patient for the sake of a plan. We're talking about a character who has had to wait years before he got the opportunity to take revenge on his father for his mother's murder, and a way to get away with it. Sarevok may not enjoy being patient, but is definitely familiar with the practice.

The second reason is that, well, he's hot. I'm not the one saying it, the women (and men, you know there had to be men too) thirsting over him are saying it. They're bound to be disappointed, because while he's not married, he's definitely not single. Anyway, being hot, not something to underestimate. He gets pretty privilege.

To be a bit more serious, while impatient, Sarevok is described as having an "amazingly tactical" mind. This is something you clearly see in his takeover of Rieltar's plan, and manipulation of public opinion. Yes, Sarevok's plan involves various murders, but it's a tool, not an end in itself. He's even careful to have specific murders look like 'robbery gone wrong' or 'mysterious disease strikes'. He has assassins do the killing for him so he can't be directly linked to it. Sarevok is a strategist, whose plans involve a lot more than just 'killing'.

It is a part of his characterization BG 3 abysmally fails to show.

[teh-nos]

u know what though... i don't think this facepalming is for the witnesses in the room, but i also don't think it's an "oh no, thor's so stupid" facepalm, i think it's a "why the fuck did i do that?" one. i don't think loki especially wants to invade jotunheim, he just thought it'd be a laugh to get thor to do it, but then oh shit thor is actually going to do that so now he needs to sabotage it somehow (telling the guard) but also:

"shit, i've fucked this up, haven't i?" it seemed like such a good idea two minutes ago. couldn't help himself. wouldn't it be funny if? but now they have to go to fucking jotunheim and he could so easily have just not done that. oops! facepalm time!

[mechatronophilia]

my sick and twisted fantasy: forcibly being taken care of. you see me working much later than i should be, so you take my wrists and push me to the ground and sit on top of me. you rub my shoulders and as the exhaustion creeps into view i start to resist, waffling about how much i appreciate the thought, and you don't have to do this, and that i really am busy. you push my face into the hard wood floor with one hand on the back of my head and explain calmly but sternly that i am not getting up until i fucking relax. then, once i've stopped fussing, you pet my hair and work the knots out of my back until i'm so zombified that you don't even need to hold me down anymore. i'm just your sleepy plaything.

[darkacademiaarchivist]

I GOT AN INTERNSHIP AT A MUSEUM BTW!!!! it's gonna be really cool but i also already have a little bit of imposter syndrome but it'll be FINE!!!!

[everyryuujisuguro]

[amburuthings]

Blog and blogger

Tagged by @galadrieljones on this interesting picrew

Wearing down my oversized sweaters attending dozens of protests and gatherings, brows uneven and hair unbrushed ? VERY accurate (*shade of brown may vary)

Tagging @lathbora-virann @gefionne @bucketsofmonsters @mickeysalamander @luna-teacup @midnight-enansal without any knowledge of who might have already done it !!

[differenteagletragedy]

The agony of having a story idea but you don't know who you want to write it for because on the inside the fictional men you like are all the same. How do you choose.

[swan2swan]

Yeah, you wouldn't, Bowman.

[suddencolds]

// personal

how strange it is to observe yourself changing

[bugoutreviewgirlie]

I don't like fics that make Marinette (not Ladybug) too level headed and jaded. That girl is silly goofy to the max and she shouldn't be watered down. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

[batsplat]

sometimes pecco pops his pussy so hard that i’m like wow you really are 3 time world champion! other times he decides to go play in the gravel when leading and i remember that he scored 0 points in his moto3 rookie season

when the commentary during the sprint was like 'you know, he could have been on five consecutive race wins now if he hadn't crashed out of the catalunya sprint on the last lap', I had to laugh because that's the pecco bagnaia experience right there isn't it. even when he's winning four races in a row, a part of your brain is still remembering the disaster that directly preceded it. when he got that track limit warning, I was convinced he was gonna mess it up. not because it's something he usually messes up, because it isn't - just because you're always waiting for something to go wrong and that seemed as good an opening as any. but no, apparently he's just in the bit of the season where he wins stuff. for whatever reason. or maybe he'll crash on sunday. who knows

[spoocys-glade-of-dreams]

Something I've noticed with Rayman is that he's one of those heroes that is often getting captured somehow and some of those times he NEEDS the help of his friends to free himself. He's a hero that tries his best to help others but is not immune to either needing help himself, or that help never comes and he has to work hard to try to free himself.

Times Rayman has been captured in order (at least to my knowledge):

1. Rayman 2. When the pirates destroyed the heart of the world, it robbed Rayman of all his powers which left him an easy target for them to capture him. Globox got himself captured so he could smuggle a silver lum from Ly to him. He was able to escape with his help.

2. Rayman vs Cullcut. This was a flash game you could play on your internet browser that released around the same time as Rayman M. It was a french exclusive typing game where Rayman was at risk of being eaten by one of the robots the pirates used to make canned food. The game ends and your score counted if Rayman's cage is lowered enough for cullcut to get him. He would also have to watch Razorwife usher crying baby globoxes to also be consumed by Cullcut. Pretty dark if you ask me.

3. Rayman 3. On Rayman's quest to purge Andre from Globox's stomach, his adventures take him to the desert of the knaarens. While trying to locate Globox after he was captured by the creatures, Rayman was soon captured by them as well. He was caged then sent to the arena where he was forced to fight Reflux. Rayman was released and was made a friend to the knaaren people when he defeated their champion.

4. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Original Console Version). Rayman was captured by Serguei and was locked in a cell. He was forced to perform at their arena and was rewarded with plungers and sometimes won the freedom of the captured baby globoxes. He had to collect enough plungers to reach a window in his cell and managed to escape with enough time, effort, and a whole lot of patience.

5. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Gameboy Advance Version). The Gameboy advance version was a completely unique experience to the raving rabbids series of games with a completely different storyline that was the most faithful to the old prototype. Rayman was captured by the rabbids, locked in a cell, and they took his hands so he couldn't fight back. He was completely helpless. Murfy was the one who went in and rescued him by busting through wooden planks on the bottom of Rayman's cell. He helped Rayman locate his hands and guided him out of the base to reunite with Ly after rescuing their friends.

6. Rayman Raving Rabbids (DS version). Once again captured by rabbids while he was just minding his own business. forced to run obstacle courses in a colosseum to win enough trophies that would allow him to fight "Rabble Droid" and earn his freedom. Rabble droid being a boss version of Serguei.

7. Rayman Origins. While enjoying a nice nap with his friends, little did Rayman know that their snores were being sent through a microphone to the land of the livid dead. The Grannies, fed up with all the noise, would retaliate and start to capture the electoons, Rayman, and his friends. This would also drive Polokus temporarily mad and the glade began to disintegrate. Rayman was caged, but managed to free himself rather quickly.

[leatherbookmark]

Every once in a while there will be a blogger I'm not following, but whose posts I know and whose blog I visit from time to time. They can either be a generally popular user, a fandom-popular user, a mutual-in-law, or simply someone whose posts I've seen reblogged by other blogs I visit. You know how it is on tumblr dot com.

Anyway, impressing me -- and at the same time making me take you for a Cool Person Who Knows Things, And Whose Opinions Are Important And I Should Defer To Them -- is only a little bit harder than biting into an overcooked noodle, or accidentally stepping on an ant. So, I'll often admire these people from afar and feel sad and inadequate if we disagree on something, or of they criticize something I think is fine (especially if they do it without giving a reason, like 'well, it goes without saying that X simply sucks').

However -- sudden salvation -- every once in a while this blogger will have an opinion that's so nonsensical, or they'll behave in a way that's so unnecessary hostile to someone who doesn't really deserve it, that it's honestly both sad and surprisingly relieving to me because ohhhh okay you're just a fucking asshole. You're not a special, sophisticated mini-god, you're just an asshole who's mean for no reason. Phew! Aaaaand block.

[side-b-bumblebi]

Men who view women as their intellectual equals 😍

[adore-gregor]

Ooof

Looking at old posts, sometimes you just ask yourself what was I thinking 😅