#wonderings

[ephemeralinstance]

Arlathan timeline stuff

Mulling over some questions about the timeline of events in ancient Arlathan and how that changes the interpretation of some of Solas' memories.

One question is about the lyrium dagger. When Solas criticizes Elgar'nan for seeking godhood, Elgar'nan refers to him as Mythal's 'annoying lapdog.' Which is quite a strange response if you consider that Solas must have fairly recently crafted the weapon which won the war against the Titans; you'd think that would make Elgar'nan realise that Solas is very valuable and should be placated.

So I wonder if Elgar'nan maybe didn't know that Solas was the one who made the dagger, at that point? After all, we only see Solas making it; there's no indication that he was the one to wield it. And given how ashamed he was about it, I doubt that he would be particularly keen for it to be public knowledge. This whole episode makes much more sense to me if we imagine that Mythal pretended she had made the dagger, or that she didn't tell Elgar'nan at this point who had made it. If so, I'm curious about when Elgar'nan and the others found out (perhaps even not until after they had killed Mythal with it?)

Another question is about the beginning of the Titan war. Mythal's conversation with spirit-Solas is interesting because it seems clear that Solas at least does not know at this point that lyrium is the blood of the Titans: he says 'When you took the glowing stone to build your body, did the earth not shake?' which seems to imply that he thinks it's just a stone and he doesn't understand why this resulted in the earth shaking.

This seems important in terms of the overall moral weight of what the elves/spirits did. If they knew, then they deliberately stole the blood of living creatures and then made them all Tranquil when they tried to defend themselves, so they're indubitably the aggressors. But if they didn't know, then in many ways the whole thing seems more like a tragedy of misunderstanding - the spirits/elves took what they thought was just a stone, and the Titans were afraid and tried to destroy the threat, and the elves had to defend themselves, and the elves and Titans probably had no way of efficiently communicating to get past the original misunderstanding (as Harding puts it in one conversation, they were just too different - in size, language, mode of existence etc) so with horrible inevitability, it was always the case that one group would have to finish by wiping out the other.

This conversation also seems to indicate that the Titans must have taken a significant time to respond; they evidently didn't strike back immediately after the first elves took lyrium, since Mythal seems to have had a body for some time at this point and yet Solas doesn't yet know the origin of the danger. This makes me wonder a lot about the Titans' sense of time: maybe being so big, they also process or experience time on a different scale to the elves? Which of course would contribute to the impossibility of reaching mutual understanding.

Though I also wonder if Mythal knows more than she's letting on at this point, and deliberately isn't telling Solas because she knows he wouldn't consent to make a body out of the blood of another creature. Which, if true, would make this conversation even more upsetting; she's pushing him into doing this knowing full well that it would be morally repugnant to him.

I also have a lot of questions about the timescale on which Solas decided to rebel and the amount of time that passed between the death of Mythal and him making the Veil. I guess we'll never know, but anyway, interesting to think about!

[yet-another-clown]

how long is breaking news breaking before its considered broken news

[chaoortu]

see sometimes im like yeah role reversal where nick is the one bullied in his year ten is kinda hard to pull of because like a) nick is bigger than shit he could, in theory, punch the fuck out of his bullies and that would be that. but he wouldn't because he's nick. but i think the webcomic is actually setting up something interesting bc it feels like nick has been the butt of these smaller jokes that are starting to slowly stack up that i could definitely see nick in the situation (as I'm want to do...) where if he's neurodivergent, he fully wouldn't realize he's being bullied in the first place and oh that would sting so much worse, wouldn't it?

[atiltedexistence]

...'Hello. An-..anyone there?'

What would you do if this were truth? Separate. Detached. The world and others melded together. People and places wholly one.

Is it due to sitting still? Perhaps a run through quckened panorama will immerse you. Turn the reel up a few clicks. Even blurred, it is better still.

What's this? You've stopped. Half bent, ragged. You glimpse your digits. Flexing, flickering before you... which world do they belong to?

So odd the way we're meshed with it. Netted and kept - bound into flesh.

[sparrowsarus]

BG3:Aquarium AU

In which the author looks at the roles of assorted BG3 characters in an aquarium setting.

Wyll would be a conservation tech, I think. Not just responsible for animal care and exhibit maintenance, but also the education and guest talk components; he's great at sci com, is always willing to answer questions, and is pretty much That One Guy At the Zoo. Everybody's favourite. Got into the gig after his parents started getting twitchy about his involvement with Mizora (alleged eco-terrorist; actually involved with way worse things) and suggested he volunteer at the aquarium; he enjoyed it so much he stuck with it.

Shadowheart/Jenevelle is the vet. She's not allowed to talk to guests unless they are asking for directions, but she's great at her job otherwise. Started at the aquarium after her parents extricated her out of the cult she was being lured into when her mum was sick and no one seemed to have any answers.

Lae'zel? Security guard. Got a job at the aquarium after the illegal MMA gym she worked at was closed down for child endangerment and tax fraud, but since she was under 18 she escaped getting a criminal record. She wanted to join the Githyankian Irregulars, but the newly elected leader decided to restructure the Gith government, including the military, in the middle of her application; and a girl's gotta eat.

Karlach is also a security guard. She started at the aquarium as part of her community service, following the arrest of her employer; she was given a lighter sentence and no criminal record. Neither of her parents can work due to health issues, and so Karlach being the sole breadwinner was considered an extenuating circumstance; it was also proven that she had no real idea of the criminal aspect of her employment.

Gale is the main scicom guy. He writes all the exhibit info boards, scripts the educational talks, and leads tour groups.

He used to be a big name in biology and ichthyology, teaching at a university; but suffered massive burnout and severe depression after a severe fuck up. He disappeared entirely for two years, decided academia was not for him, retired early and did a career respec.

Halsin is the aquarium director. A former conservation tech, he's been at the aquarium since he was fifty and simply kept getting promoted; now he's an institution, and cannot escape even if he wanted to.

He was instrumental in the creation of an owlbear exhibit at the aquarium when an orphan owlbear cub was found, and the adoption of a service dog for that owlbear. Hoot and Scratch are the best of friends.

His adopted daughter Orin works in theatre, and he goes to every play she's in no matter what.

[rabblerowser]

Do any of y'all ever just see a string of posts from someone you follow and go "damn you're really on fire today jeffknowsstuff"

[jcpostsobsessions]

I watch enough crimes shows to know a few things:

1) never say “over my dead body” to someone who has a weapon pointing at you

2) refrain from saying something that will continue to trigger an unstable suspect

3) police shoots the suspect when they sees a change in course (e.g. when Eun sang moved the gun to point at Hae In), they should take down the suspect before the suspect pulls their trigger.

4) why did it take several seconds for the police to shoot Eun sang when Hyun woo has already been shot and falls to the ground? They literally shot him several moments later at which point Eun Sang has enough time to shoot Hae In again.

[introvertedlass]

I wonder...

how many actors truly hate the award show circuit? I'm talking about the actors that are truly serious about their craft and know that it is an necessary evil yet they dread the whole experience.

I suspect there are a lot of them. Seems exhausting.

[sol-poppy]

Do fae need/drink water???

[sardonic-sprite]

What Bruce and the Robins and all the other bat-people and even GCPD have a stack of excuse slips so that when they resuce someone who doesn't need/want hospitals they can still have a record for their school/work that they were recently threatened, drugged, kidnapped, or otherwise traumatized and may be absent for the next several days?

[dhia-dreaming]

I wonder if vampires tried sunscreen to avoid Sun damage.

[thatseventiesbitch]

Gads, what I would pay to be a fly-on-the-wall of the That '70s Show cast group chat/text thread today... 😅

[abstractiish]

actually I hope dying is like waking up from a dream that you’re already forgetting, but you have the vibe it was pretty good. I hope it’s like waking up in your bed and you’re not tired just a bit sleepy, and everyone is home and the sun is not too bright. I hope it feels like the aftermath of a fuzzy dream that leaves you bittersweet but content. I hope dying is like waking up to a world that loves you

[savetheupholstery]

I’m in the library studying, it’s too early or too late to be awake but here I am

And then suddenly (for no reason at all) I am 12 again and in my grandparents spare bedroom

It’s the first time I’m not in the attic with my sister, she’s in the room down the hall, and I’m scared to sleep alone

My Granny hands me a tiny iPod with all the stories she’s given me, the ones I used to sleep to when I was 8 and 9 before we lost them in the move.

And I haven’t been here in years (2 years and 8) and I don’t know why my brain has brought me to this memory but just for a moment, my Granny is next to me, and she doesn’t understand technology that well but she has these stories for me and she’s sitting with me, helping me be not afraid.

And I don’t know yet that I’ll miss her forever. Like a hole in my heart. That years in the future, I’ll start crying and search up those lost CD’s to have some piece of her back.

And it’s just this moment that my brains latched on to. Seemingly insignificant. But of all the little moments my brain forgets, I’m glad it brings me back to this one. A reminder of comfort and love.

[applesandpavenders]

So, theoretically, if Gregor had killed the bane, and the ‘gnawers [got] their key to power’ would that mean that Gregor would have switched sides? Like, would Gregor have ended up working for the rats. Or would he have just been so destructive that he brought down regalia by himself?

Or would him losing the integral good part of him made him useless as ‘the warrior’ and therefore been unable to protect the underlanders. Or is it just that if Gregor killed the Bane, he would have made such an unbreakable hatred between both species that he would a, wiped out all humans in a mass war, and b, never become the peacemaker which is the most effective part of him.