#dillard 3

[fundiebabynamebible]

Frederick Michael Dillard Name Analysis

Jill and Derick Dillard announced they were expecting a rainbow baby on 28th February 2022. They announced the baby was a boy on 23rd March. Baby Frederick Michael was (sensibly) born via planned cesarean section on 7th July 2022, weighing 7lbs. 6oz and measuring 20 inches long. He spend some time in NICU but was home within a couple of weeks of birth. The reason for his stint in NICU has yet to be disclosed.

Frederick means 'peaceful ruler' and is of German origin. It is a royal name and featured as middle names for two British Kings in the 20th Century; George Frederick Albert Ernest (King George V) and Albert Frederick Arthur George (King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II). The name has generally always been very popular; for almost eight decades from 1880 to 1957 it was in the top 100 baby names in the US, with the most successful year being 1913 at #49 with 1996 Frederick births. Frederick remained in the top 200 baby names until 1986 before dropping to #213 in 1987. From that year on there was a much more rapid drop in popularity as the gene pool of potential baby names increased and naming trends changed. By 2000 Frederick was #395 in the statistics and had left the top 400 by the following year. The next 7 years saw a decline before a small comeback in the past decade and a half. 2021 saw it jump 10 positions from 2020 to #476.

Michael means 'gift from god'. It has proven to be a very popular name for the Dugs thus far, with 6 of them having some variation of it in their name (Michelle, Jill, Derick, Ben, Michael, and now Frederick). Another royal name, perhaps most notable for being the name of Prince Michael, Duke of Kent, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. There's not much of interest to say about Michael as the name has always been popular. At the beginning of the 20th Century it was already at #51. It remained in the 40s and 50s until 1936 when it jumped 8 positions on the previous year to #33. It rose quickly through the ranks in the late 30s and first years of the Second World War. In 1943 it hit the top 10. Michael nabbed the number 1 spot in 1954 and stayed there (with the exception of 1960) for 44 years until it fell to number 2 in 1998 and stayed there until 2008. The 2010s saw yet more stead decline and in 2017 it fell to 12th spot. In 2021 it was the 17th most popular baby name with 9041 baby boys taking the name.

Michael (Bates) Keilen is not alone in being a woman having Michael in her name. For 56 years between 1938 and 1994 it ranked in the top 1000 baby girl names. The name entered record in 1938 at #941 and jumped to #764 in 1939. By 1942 it was 594th position and it remained in the 5 and 600s 31 years until 1973, when it achieved #331 for the second consecutive year. 557 girls were named Michael in 1975, the name's most successful year at #374. Michael said goodbye to the top 500 in 1988 and the top 1000 altogether in 199 at #970 with 192 births that year.

[emiliosandozsequence]

3 body problem (2024-present) cr. david benioff, d.b. weiss, & alexander woo / teaching stone to talk, anne dillard

[reshaaaxsimmies]

Joi & Jai

The 'Rents

Juni & Jax

[sntg]

i've never seen a group of housewives despise each other so much... it's over for potomac

[bookoftheironfist]

Jennie: "W...what happened to me?" Mariah: "You went a little off the rails. That's all. We got you back, girl." Jennie: "I felt so much...hate. I wanted to destroy everything." Mariah: "Ain't no more hate here--just love. Don't make me bust out into my favorite jam from the Lion King." Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 3 #4 by David Walker, Sanford Greene, Lee Loughridge, and Clayton Cowles

One of the great joys of this series, and something that writer David Walker discussed quite a bit in interviews at the time it was being published, is the way that large numbers of under-used and forgotten characters (including some very goofy D-level villains from the 70s) were brought back into the spotlight and given a bit more depth, personality, and humanity. One character in particular is Mariah "Black Mariah" Dillard, who first appeared in Luke Cage: Hero For Hire #5 and made a mere handful of appearances in that series and in Power Man and Iron Fist volume 1 before largely disappearing from the Marvel Universe. Here, 40 years later, she reappears as a new friend to Heroes for Hire's former office manager Jennie Royce, who in this series is finally released from prison following the events of Power Man and Iron Fist volume 2.

When this new dynamic duo's quest for power goes awry and Jennie gets corrupted by a magical artifact, it's Mariah's love for her that saves the day. This scene encapsulates something this series does so well: melding heart and humor in a celebration of shared humanity and connection. Jennie and Mariah's friendship, while established solely for this series, ends up feeling very special, especially when placed alongside the love between Luke and Danny that anchors the comic.

[defira85]

Also absolutely no offence to all of my beloved pink haired queers in my life, but do you know how devastating it is to learn that we could have had silver-haired cougar MILF Liara Portyr in full plate armour in BG3 and instead got the perky pink haired young thing on the right

[lichensings]

🌲🐺🍁🌕 for dillard?

okay so the funny thing is that dillard is the name of the town that my yearlong motw campaing was set in. second funny thing is that this campaign had its finale session five hours before you sent this ask in.

original character? no. original CITY. its heavily inspired (directly lifted) from the town i live in so i'm gonna be vague as hell about some things on here, and might just go on tangents about npcs when applicable.

🌲 - Do they have a favorite location to hang out in? Given that Dillard is a location itself i'm just answering this for the party. they would visit one member's arcane library (grad student office) every session to research the monster that week. my favorite location as the game master was the deep cavern under the city where a great dragon slumbers <3

🐺 - How does this oc deal with solitude? choosing to answer this from some npc's perpectives. first off the npc The Coyote bc of the wolf emoji for this question: likes it fine but CAN work with people. i just think its funny how when they went evil for a bit they were just hanging out and living in a mad scientists lab. there was a sitcom there off-screen i know it. also answering for another npc, destiny sr.: she doesn't like it. she's a professor who's been monster hunting for decades, and knows that safety in numbers is tried and true. when her last monster hunting bud was hospitalized she immediately recruited the party to try and help her. despite this, she is bad at talking to people and drives away everyone who cared about her who WASN'T in on the monster hunting (including her ex husband and daughter). she really should've gotten into rock climbing. it wouldn't have saved her (she totally died) but it would have been funny.

🍁 - What is this oc’s favorite season? since it's literally just the town i live but with magic and an excuse to make up buildings, MY favorite season there would be winter. summer so hot it kills you spring so pollen it makes your head explode. fall alternating between stupid hot and stupid cold. yes winter also sucks but its the most tolerable

🌕 - If this oc was an animal, what kind would they be? (if my city was an animal there is a clear answer but its so clear its personally identifying. so i shan't say.) OKAY SO. a dragon. listen in the worldbuilding dragons existed, but went exinct in the permian 250mya, and are insanely magic due to other worldbuilding (magical diseases and symbiotic organisms). one crash landed into the ocean, and the impact formed a cave where the dragon has just been hibernating for millennia, and throughout tectonic activity that area is now the town of Dillard. to me the dragon is the soul of dillard - its why there is so much weird supernatural stuff going on in there. and also if it ever wakes up and emerges that WOULD trigger the apocalypse. shoutout to the great beast pendragon ig

(this also makes the question below that one, "Very serious question… are they more like a dragon, or a unicorn?" very funny.)

[eversnark]

I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. Then even death, where you're going no matter how you live, cannot you part. Seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop; let your musky flesh fall off in shreds, and let your very bones unhinge and scatter, loosened over fields, over fields and woods, lightly, thoughtless, from any height at all, from as high as eagles.

-Annie Dillard

"Living Like Weasels"

[louisegluckpdf]

labs that are also churches. to me

(1. annie dillard, teaching a stone to talk 2. the deep underground neutrino experiment, a.k.a. DUNE 3. the large hadron collider 4. the sudbury neutrino observatory)

[pilgrimjim]

"Stir up your power!"

When we pray "Stir up your power" on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, what are we asking? And what are we risking?

Mattia Preti, Saint Nicholas of Bari (1653) Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us … The Collect-Prayer for the 3rd Sunday of Advent is one of the most exciting petitions in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. I mean that literally, because the Latin term…

[spirirsstuff]

i did not heed the warning my friend gave me this book is so bad

[gabbypenhowe]

@gregory-dillard Look at this! Someone drew you! And did a wonderful job! Really skilled, honestly!

I have one mutual who I think SPECIFICALLY would enjoy this. You Know Who You Are.

[ursifors]

alright, since a lot of people are out of work/between jobs now, here are a lot of post team's/behind the scene employee's twitch channels. <3 (not all of them are super active on twitch but some of them are)

jarren martinez

larry matovina

tyler hazard

ash hildreth

jake

jacob mcduffee

perry johnson

ashley dillard

aaryn porter

sean houlihan

sarah weems

jillen

shelby

cameron hay

[reshaaaxsimmies]

I gave Joi & Jai a younger sister 🤗 bc shit wasn't hectic enough with them

Meet June Dillard, the youngest of the Dillard clan at 16 and the most chaotic, spoiled, entitled, wild child there is 😈

[salemoleander]

solving counting sheep webweave

MCYTblr AU Fest Summer 2023 // sources under readmore

Created as a treat for the absolutely stunning fic by @theminecraftbee!

What is a webweave? Previous art: Third Life | Void Falling | Attempt 33 | Martyn | Limited Life | Nightingale Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | singing songs to the secrets behind my eye | A Hundred Things We Had Not Dreamed Of

Pt. 1: The Specialist’s Hat, Stranger Things Happen p.63  / Kelly Link ◆ Requiem Angel / Daniele Valeriani via @satanasaeternus ◆ Maschera Venetian Joker Mask / Atelier Marega Mask ◆ Macbeth 1.5.57-61 / Shakespeare ◆ Watch / Carol Milne ◆ Excerpt from Salt Is For Curing / Sonia Vatomsky via @geryone ◆ Carved Damascus Steel Bird Knife / Robert Mayo ◆ Excerpt from STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE, Calling a Wolf a Wolf / Kaveh Akbar ◆ off to finish it at the source / @catcrumb ◆ Excerpt from The War of Vaslav Nijinsky / Frank Bidart ◆ Having a cat is great tweet / @premeesaurus ◆ Secrete / Kate MccGwire via @snailspng

Pt. 2: I am asking you to endure it. / @intactics (Deactivated 12.31.21) ◆ Hi! You have great eyes / @illness (Deactivated 3.25.18) ◆ Taste for Independence Cat / @alisonzai ◆ Support Mental Health pin / @snailspng ◆ A Barn at Kronetorp, Skåne / Gustaf Rydberg ◆ Living: There is a period when it is clear... / Jenny Holzer via @funeral ◆ Neighborhood Plague, Fjords I / Zachary Schomburg ◆ Ugly, Bitter, and True / Suzanne Rivecca ◆ It just keeps happening / @mothcub ◆ Shepherd with Flock of Sheep / Anton Mauve ◆ No Longer Evil cat / @b0nkcreat ◆ Excerpt from All Our Futures / Jody Chan via @geryone ◆ Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stitch / Carol Milne via @knithacker ◆ Deep Dark Fear (9.29.2013) / Fran Krause @deep-dark-fears

Pt. 3: Read more pop-up / @screenshotsofdespair ◆ Combination of Painter Javier Palacios and Enoch 18:14 /  @mountainqoats ◆ Wandering Albatross ◆ Diomedes ◆ Forgive dead players: OFF / @screenshotsofdespair ◆ Inktober52 Angel / @lastmousequeen-blog ◆ The Heavenly Host / Violet Oakley ◆ Excerpt from No Rush / Todd Dillard ◆ I will not go gentle magnets / @carpethedamndiem ◆ Excerpt from cain / José Saramago via @ilumark (Deactivated 2.5.22) ◆ Excerpt from Salt Is For Curing / Sonya Vatomsky via @geryone ◆ Purple / @ungfio via @sosuperawesome ◆ Excerpt from Lessons on Expulsion / Erika Sánchez via @geryone ◆ The Practical Companion to the Work-Table, Containing Directions for Knitting, Netting, & Crochet Work / Elizabeth Jackson via @knittinghistory

Pt. 4: Excerpt from A Ghost is a Memory / GennaRose Nethercott via @tolerateit ◆ What’s done is done / @thatsbelievable ◆ Excerpt from Ante body / Marwa Helal via @geryone ◆ Minor Resurrections / Elisa Gonzalez ◆ Mirror ◆ Coming back / @ungfio ◆ Candlestick ◆ Flame

[infiniteanalemma]

Nobility in Baldur's Gate

Edited to add: I never expected my silly, niche post to get as much attention as it has! I'm giving you all forehead smooches! 😚💋 I've gone through to clean up some things up as I've found new information. I also added a list of nobility that I've found in game and other sources to the end of the post. Thanks, y'all! I'm glad I'm not the only one to wonder about this stuff. Good stuff in the reblogs, too!

Baldur's Gate has dug itself deep in my brain, so I apologize to my poor mutuals who didn't follow me for BG3 content getting this onslaught of posts. Please bear with me until my hyperfixation wears off. 🙏

Now, I'll admit up front that I'm no expert in DnD lore*, so if I get things wrong, please feel free to correct me or just add in stuff I may have missed. I'm going off of what I've found in-game and my Google Fu skills.

That said, I do know enough about DnD to remember that Baldur's Gate nobility are called patriars, and that there are only a relative handful of actual patriar families. I was thinking about my "canon" Tav, Velassa, and her background in BG3. She's a modified OC that I plunked in-game during Early Access, so I made her a noble. It was just part of her existing character that I didn't think too deeply about. It was only after I starting playing that it occurred to me to wonder what exactly "a noble" is to a native Baldurian.

That got me digging a little more into the current state of the Baldurian nobility as of BG3. I don't know who--if anyone--needs or wants this, but I put this together for myself and decided to share it for anyone else who might be interested. I realize that this is probably pretty niche and it's rambly and long af, so I'll put it under a cut.

So, for starters, here's a list of all the patriar families, including "fallen" houses that are barely hanging on: Belt, Bormul, Caldwell, Dlusker, Durinbold, Eltan, Eomane, Exeltis, Gist, Guthmere, Hhune, Hlath, Hullhollyn, Irlentree, Jannath, Jhasso, Linnacker, Miyar, Nurthammas, Oathoon, Oberon, Portyr, Provoss, Ravenshade, Rillyn, Sashenstar, Shattershield, Silvershield, Tillerturn, Vammas, Vannath, Vanthampur, and Whitburn

From what I've gathered, Exeltis, Provoss and Ravenshade are all more-or-less destitute. Also, the Szarr family (Cazador's family) were patriars, but were believed to be entirely wiped out. No living descendants makes them a dead house, rather literally. 😏 (No, I'm not sorry.)

Now, we learn that Wyll's father is Ulder Ravengard, the Grand Duke. This brings us to the first point: There are four Dukes, known as the Council of Four, and the Grand Duke's job is to be the tie-breaker.

Traditionally, one of the Dukes is also the highest ranked officer of the Flaming Fist--that's Ravengard, who was a Fist promoted up through the ranks. Wyll tells us that his father was born lower class, and quite a few of the patriars seem to scorn him for that. The other Dukes are Belynne Stelmane, Dillard Portyr (more on him later) and Thalamra Vanthampur (more on her later, too). Of the four, two are patriars: Portyr and Vanthampur. We don't know much about Stelmane's past, except that she was a brilliant businesswoman, politician and--as we find out later--member of the Knights of the Shield. Apparently, you can't buy your way into the patriars, but maybe you can buy your way into being a Duke.

Skipping ahead a bit, when the player shows up to Gortash's coronation, there are a group of mostly patriars sitting in the boxes leading up to the front of the room. I'm listing them by seating arrangement, with box 1 and 2 being the left and right closest to Gortash, and 3 and 4 being farthest. (I don't know what, if anything, the seating arrangements imply. The second box has eight people, compared to four for all the rest.)

Lady Ailis Belt, Baron Callem Bormul, Lord Rugger Shattershield**, and Lady Alia Durinbold**

Lady Ruth Linnacker, Lord Sarken Eomane, Lady Freida Oberon, Lord Raylen Jannath, Lord Myer Ravenshade**, Lady Madeline Whitburn, Lady Beatrice Provoss, and Duke Dillard Portyr

Lady Winstra Hullhollyn, Admiral Peil Hullhollyn, Lord Randolph Vammas, and Lady Eshvelt Guthmere

Lord Milon Tillerturn, Lady Silifrey Sashenstar, Lord Petric Amber**, and Lady Haeril Birch**

Here's some pictures of the nobles sitting together. (Sorry for the terrible quality! I slapped it together for my own reference. 🙈)

The characters marked by ** aren't human, which is interesting because the information I found said all the patriar familes are human except the Shattershields. Myer Ravenshade is listed as human if you examine him, but he has a dwarf model. That might be a mistake, but I'm including him anyway. Alia Durinbold, from a presumably human patriar family, is a wood elf. Again, this could be a mistake, but unless Larian winds up changing it, it could mean that interracial marriages that once may have been looked down on are now becoming more acceptable. Petric Amber is also a wood elf, and Haeril Birch is a high elf.

Those last two are interesting because they are the only ones in the boxes who aren't patriars. If not for them, I'd have assumed the coronation was simply a demonstration for the patriars alone. Their inclusion means this is something else.

Digging around, my conclusion is that all the listed people are members of the Parliament of Peers--a 50 person advisory party to the Council of Four. However, what I found says that it's pretty rare for all 50 to attend meetings, and the usual group is between 20-30. There are exactly 20 named individuals listed, plus a group of unnamed "patriars" standing at the front.

Here they are, for what it's worth:

One thing I noticed here is that most of those listed here are Lord/Lady, but there are three other titles: Duke, Baron and Admiral. I've already talked about the Dukes. Looking into the patriars, the Hullhollyn family are notable for having a fleet of ships, so it makes sense that one of them would be an Admiral. That leaves the Baron.

I couldn't find anything about what it means to be a baron in Baldur's Gate. Going on real-world peerages, a baron/ess is generally the lowest "rank" of nobility. Basically, it's someone who was an official landowner (usually of an "important" bit of land) under the feudal system. Well and good, I suppose, but presumably all the Lords and Ladies of the patriars own land within the city. This particular Baron is also a patriar, but given that one doesn't need to be a patriar to become a Duke (normally a higher peer than a baron), that may not mean anything.

(Apparently, the term "Duke" was originally meant somewhat jokingly. That said, it still carries the weight of a title even if not the conventional one.) We don't see any other titles between Duke and Baron, so what does that mean?

This isn't canon, but my assumption is that it means the Baron owns important land outside of the city. This would make sense for Baron Bormul, given that the Bormul family apparently have investments in silver mines and vineyards. Assuming they own the mines/vineyards, that may make those lands "important" enough to the city for their owner to earn a title. Alternately, the Bormul family also has counterparts in Amn, so maybe baron is an Amnian title that got passed along. That's getting a bit far afield for me, though. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, among the group at the coronation, pretty much everyone supports Gortash becoming Archduke, with the exception of Lady Sashenstar (an old woman who really isn't too impressed with this commoner) and Duke Portyr, who expresses some hesitation at the whole thing.

Duke Portyr is interesting here. Except for Ravengard (who is thralled and conducting the ceremony), Portyr is the only Duke present. Now, Stelmane is already dead, so that explains her absence. Vanthampur is also missing, which is interesting. Portyr first, though: he was Grand Duke before Ravengard. He's the one who re-instituted (Edited: and originally created!) the Parliament of Peers to make the day-to-day decisions of running the city, and ceded the title of Grand Duke to Ravengard. He's described as being conflict-averse, so it makes sense that he'd go along with Gortash's coronation, even though he's clearly unhappy about it. Also, the current leader of the Fists is also a Portyr, likely still Liara Portyr, the Duke's niece and Ravengard's second-in-command.

Thalamra Vanthampur is an interesting character, too. She's the head of the Vanthampur family, and part of the Descent into Avernus story. Apparently, she's the one who got Ravengard to go to Elturel before it sank to the Hells, intending to take his place as Grand Duke. From what I read, she also conspired with the Dead Three's cults to murder people in a bid to discredit the Flaming Fist. (The murdery bits were undoubtedly left to Bhaal's cult.) We never do find out anything about Thalamra Vanthampur in this game (I assume that's probably cut content). (Edited: She is mentioned in one of the in-game texts as having been killed, which was one of the possible outcomes of Descent into Avernus. Larian chose that as their canon, just like the fate of Elturel and Zariel.)

The only Vanthampur we do meet is Carnelia Vanthampur, who is in the Guildhall and describes herself as "a peer of the Parliament". She's willing to work with either the Guild or the Zhentarim. Nervously of course. Also interesting is that, on the Bloodstained Parchment hit list, is a Varri Vanthampur, whose gravestone you can find in Candulhallow's Tombstones shop, reading: "Varri Vanthampur. Unwanted in life, welcomed in death."

Interesting, hm?

Also on that hit list is Fridrik Hhune. The Hhunes apparently have links to the Knights of the Shield, from what I looked up--the same group the Emperor led with Stelmane. The only Hhunes we meet in-game are Blaise and Gheris Hhune, two of the werewolves in Cazador's ballroom who are brothers according to the dev notes. With them is another werewolf of a different patriar family, Duver Rillyn. This suggests Cazador has been going after members of patriar families, which sort of fits with what we know about his plans. We really don't find anything else out about them except that they consider Cazador to be their master and Astarion says they're new.

We also can talk to a Flaming Fist who mentions that Hurlbut Hhune is the father of Henrietta Hhune, who used to be secretly engaged to the Fist in question, only for her father to decide to arrange her to marry fellow patriar Derque Rillyn, who the Fist describes as "a major arsehole."

That conversation is interesting for a few reasons. For one, it tells you that arranged marriages within the patriar are a thing. Also, this Fist is a Manip (essentially a Sergeant) who can't ask the other Fists for help because "the Fists don't mess with wealthy patriars, they've got the Watch to back them up." That's aligned with what Devella can also tell you: "There are patriars on the murder target list. I'm oathbound to secure them first, so I'll be heading to the Upper City next." If you say that the Fist should protect everyone: "Not from around here, are you? We're in Baldur's Gate - this is just how things work."

This brings me back to my original issue: what is a Baldurian noble? The patriars are canonically nobles, of course, and they're undoubtedly seen as the "most important" of the nobility. From there, it's not much of a stretch to say that anyone who has earned the title of Duke is now a noble, even if they aren't patriars. I'd go so far as to say anyone on the Parliament of Peers (and their family by association) is a noble^, given that non-patriars Petric Amber and Haeril Birch are considered Lord and Lady. The information I found about that is that there are approximately twelve non-patriar members. If Amber and Birch are two of them, that leaves another unnamed 10.

^Edited: Looking at the dates, I realized that the Parliament of Peers is a very recent change to Baldurian governance. Duke Portyr originally created it after the three other Dukes on the Council of Four were assassinated. It was clearly meant as a temporary measure, but my guess is that the patriars liked having more official say. Not to mention the non-patriars who managed to get a seat. This has all happened within even the youngest of Tav/Urges' lifetimes.

Personally, I'd also assume that branch families of the patriars probably also count as nobility. By branch family, I mean those that marry out of the main line but whose ancestry stems from a patriar family. From what I've seen by naming conventions, Baldur's Gate seems to use patronmyic lineage--ancestry is generally passed to the sons, and wives take their husband's surname. So, if a daughter marries out of the family, she'd no longer be a part of her father's family lineage, but still would be considered nobility. These branch families likely still maintain powerful influence and connections from marrying into wealth, which would make them a good political/financial choice of marriage alliance, despite no longer having the main branch patriar family name. These families are also probably the ones most likely to find a place on the Parliament, too, but likely have to jockey for position if their "representative" dies (or otherwise leaves) and a new opening in the Parliament is created.

If you've read this far, as a treat you can have some crappy close-up portraits of the nobles at Gortash's coronation, grouped together in their respective boxes. 😚

* For what it's worth, I'd count myself as a casual DnD player. I have some knowledge of DnD--I've played BG1 and 2, Planescape: Torment, along with some general cultural osmosis. I've had friends who played the tabletop version, but for one reason or another, I've never played it myself.