for those of you unaware, this is the official D&D art for the black spider:
thank god for griffin mcelroy for bringing us magic brian and his wonderful cadence
OH NO oh no I spit coffee into a napkin this is so fucking funny
I think my favorite thing is that if you read the provided official material about how to roleplay the black spider, Griffin actually… pretty much followed it? but just made it really fucking funny instead?
One day a journalist is going to tell Izuku that people think he’s going to be the next All Might and Izuku starts tearing up and another journalist is going to chime in with “No way, he’s going to be the first Deku!” and Izuku is going to start sobbing on live television while a building he just rescued people from continues to burn down in the background.
frodo and sam’s love for each other is literally the only thing keeping middle earth from just spontaneously combusting
No, but like, that’s literally it. Gandalf straight-up says to Elrond this Quest can’t succeed by force or wisdom, but by friendship. If Frodo and Sam hate each other even a little, Middle-Earth is doomed.
And it gets more terrifying when you realize that one of the strongest powers of the Ring is to turn people against each other, and that even if it didn’t, the Ring and the Quest still put Frodo in a psychological state where he can barely keep himself sane, let alone love anyone or anything other than the Ring. In fact, I’m fairly sure the Ring tried to persuade Frodo to kill Sam far more often than the books shows – the Ring tends to encourage murder, from what we see. Instead of listening to the Ring, Frodo somehow manages to keep in the back of his mind that he can trust Sam more than he can trust himself, and I have no idea how Frodo can resist the temptation to think his trust is misplaced.
And sure, one could say, “Oh, but Sam has to understand it, so it’s not all that bad” but you have to remember Sam is a plain, non-Tookish hobbit with no inclination or skills for adventuring around and yet he has to become the entire Fellowship. Name one thing the Fellowship did for Frodo that Sam doesn’t also do. He has to advise, guide and protect him as well as keep his hope alive and remind him of who he is. The amount of pressure he’s under is incredible, and unlike, say, Aragorn, he has no experience to draw from. Plus, Merry and Pippin tend to rely on each other, while Frodo relies on Sam, but Sam himself hardly seems to have anyone to turn to for strength. I’m not saying Frodo doesn’t support him as well as he’s able – actually, Frodo is remarkably consistent about taking care of Sam from Book I to Book VI. But what Frodo is capable to offer (see the paragraph above) is far from being all that Sam needs. And actually, in the last stages of the Quest, Sam is basically living a one-sided relationship under the worst possible conditions, and that his devotion doesn’t even waver despite that just blows my mind.
That the Quest was successful is one of the most incredible and beautiful things that Tolkien wrote. Frodo and Sam walked straight into the Land where no love can exist and managed to become closer to each other than they had been. It’s the biggest fuck you Sauron probably ever got. No, seriously. Frodo and Sam beat a Maia basically by cuddling a lot and talking about food. Like, what the fuck??? I mean, if I told you someone could write a 1000 pages novel in which a pacifist and his gardener beat a minor god via supporting each other emotionally, would you believe me?
It’s classic Tolkien: the surprise element (i.e. flawed creatures can be incredibly noble even under unspeakable distress) might overcome even the most carefully thought out plots devised by powerful evil lords. (See also: the entire Silmarillion, pretty much.)
“A pacifist and his gardener beat a minor god via supporting each other emotionally”
I would read 50 books with this premise. I don’t love all 1,000 pages, but this is the heart that keeps me rereading
Teenage alcoholism is so important to recognise. It is not healthy to be getting absolutely wasted a few times a week and sometimes young adults become alcoholic without realising it. If you are unable to have a fun time without drinking or you feel like you need to drink when others are in an overwhelming way then consider getting help.
No really. Get help. It starts with parties, and then it’s “lol im just sad all the time” and before you know it everything is awful and you’re spiralling out of control. Don’t get sucked in and don’t let tumblr Depression Culture make you think it’s normal.
Fun fact: in the official manga translation, Bradley is given the title “Fuhrer President”. This is redundant, as Fuhrer already means leader, but I assume they did this because they thought the typical English-speaker might not realize what the title Fuhrer means.
Except this is absolutely hysterical because the asshole’s name is literally Fuhrer President King Bradley.
“What should we call our leader?” “I say Fuhrer!” “Too harsh, President!” “You fools. His first name’s already King! Just go with that!” And these idiots probably sat in a stalemate for three days until Bradley broke it up by saying “Fine I’m Fuhrer President King Bradley. All of them! Happy?! Please just let me go home to my wife.”
Counter headcanon that Ling starts going by “Emporer King Monarch Ling Yao” when he realizes Amestris is a leg-up in their ridiculous redundant ruler-naming game.
