#3:1 elf human ratio

[watcher1ngellvar]

Davrin has beef with everyone because a) zevran is a crow, b) anders is an abomination, and c) solas

I expect nothing but chaos from this entire situation I have put myself into

[room-surprise]

Addendum to Dungeon Meshi Age Calculations, and Thistle's age estimate...

This is sort of a sequel to two posts of mine, How to Calculate Comparative Ages of DM Characters and How Old Is Thistle?

I've seen some people claim that the age scale between elves and tall-men where elves age 5 times slower than tall-men can't be used accurately for elves that are very young or very old. I've also seen people claim that the half-foot age modifier is wrong.

I'm not a mathematician, but so far I have not seen any actual evidence that the 5:1 scale doesn't work, and a good amount of proof that it does, and I think the confusion about half-foot aging is a translation issue.

Please keep in mind, information about Marcille's age does not apply to any of this, because [SPOILERS].

WHAT ABOUT VERY YOUNG ELVES?

Here's something we know about the babies from the different races, which comes from Ryoko Kui's blog:

1 year old elven, dwarven and gnomish babies can only lay on their backs. Tall-man and half-foot 1 year olds can both stand, though the tall-man is not as good at it as the half-foot.

This lines up with real-world development milestones, human children can usually stand on their own somewhere between 9 to 12 months. Half-foots age faster than tall-men, so it makes sense that the half-foot would look more balanced and steady while standing.

A 2 year old elven baby has just gained the ability to sit up, while the babies of other races are walking or running. Normal human babies can sit up with help at around 5 months.

2 divided by 5 equals 0.4, that's 40%, and 40% of one year equals 4.8666666 months. That's 5 months.

I think it's very likely Kui herself is using the 5:1 ratio in order to calculate her elven ages in order to get this very specific 5 month developmental milestone to line up this way. So we can confirm that any elf over the age of 2 years old should have an age that is calculable with the 5:1 ratio. I also think it's not crazy to assume Kui may be using the numbers I calculated in my age post to work out other character's ages as well, since she's clearly doing it for the elves.

LET'S TEST IT WITH HALF-FOOTS

Human children learn to run between 18 and 24 months, so around 2 years old, like the chart shows us. 2 years divided by the half-foot age ratio (1.1428571429) equals 175% because they grow faster than tall-men.

175% of 2 years is 1277.5 days... Which is 3.5 years. So a 2 year old half-foot has the maturity of a 3.5 years old human child. 3 years old is when human children are expected to run and jump easily, and climb stairs without help.

That sounds about right to me, since the half-foot child in the drawing looks like they can confidently run around without balance issues. One foot is off the ground, and their arms are pulled in closer to the body than the tall-man child's arms.

Meanwhile the tall-man child is more unsteady, both feet firmly planted, standing with their arms held out as far as they can go to help with balance.

DOESN'T 29=50 FOR HALF-FOOTS?

Kui says that Chilchuck would be about 50 if he were a modern day human (which he isn't, he's a medieval half-foot), and then she says that half-foots in the time of Dungeon Meshi only live to be about 50 years old on average.

I'm pretty sure she's telling us that if Chilchuck were a human in our world, he'd be past middle-aged, and then for contrast, she tells us that most half-foots in Chilchuck's world die by age 50. Not that Chilchuck's 29 years is equivalent to a 50 year old modern human.

Chilchuck is 29 years old, and he had his first child at age 13. The average age of death for half-foots is 50, then that means middle-aged for a half-foot is 25.

Chilchuck is 4 years older than that, which makes Chilchuck past middle-aged. It does not make him developmentally the same as a 50 year old modern human though.

Using the numbers I've worked out, a half-foot would be developmentally 50 years old when they're 44.

Kui says that although Chilchuck wants to retire from going into the dungeons, if he did, it would be premature... Just like it would be premature for a 33 year old to retire.

In the real world retirement ages are connected to the average age of death. As that number goes up, so does retirement age. Because modern humans live until around 72, as a global average, retirement age is somewhere in their 60s.

So since half-foots average lifespan is 50, a normal age for Chilchuck to retire would be in his 40s.

WHAT ABOUT OLD ELVES?

The average age of death for tall-men is 60, however we know that tall-men can live into their 80s because Marcille's father did.

The average age of death for elves is 400, but they can live up to 500 years.

There's no reason to think that DM tall-men aren't like real world humans, and can't live into their 100's if they are lucky and wealthy enough. Even in the real medieval period, some people lived into their early 100's.

The thing that makes average death ages low in real life is usually issues like high infant mortality, starvation, war, lack of medical care, and lack of sanitation.

In the real medieval period, the average age of death was 30 not because people dropped dead at 30, but because SO MANY children died young that it pulled down the average. In medieval times, if you managed to live to 25, you had an average of 23 more years of life ahead of you, which is 48 years old.

I think Kui raised the average death age to 60 for tall-men to account for the fact that even tall-men have access to more advanced medicine and healing magic in DM, so infant mortality isn't as high and the adults live more than a decade longer.

The elves naturally have a longer lifespan since they live 5 times slower than tall-men. However they also probably have a far more advanced society than any of the other races in Dungeon Meshi. Fleki calls the Eastern Continent a "primitive land", and it's mostly populated by dwarves, gnomes and tall-men.

If elven culture was developmentally the same as tall-man culture, I bet elves would only live to about 300, which would be 60 for them, maturity wise.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

80x5 is 400. That seems correct to me, a 400 year old elf would be considered elderly and getting close to the end of their life. An 80 year old tall-man would be considered VERY old, having lived past average expectations... But those expectations, as I said before, are based on poor living conditions, not biological certainty. 100x5 is 500, so the two maximum ages (100 and 500) also line up when you use the 5:1 ratio.

POSSIBLE MAXIMUM AGES FOR OTHER RACES

Using the same math, if gnomes and dwarves had the same culture as tall-men, they'd only live to be 150-ish instead of 240/200...

This is only a theory, but dwarvish and gnomish maximum possible ages should probably be around 250, if you multiply their age modifier (2.5) x100 like I did with the elves.

The current difference between their average age of death is probably attributable to lifestyle and cultural differences (gnomes use a lot more magic, and so they live longer).

Then, just to do the rest of the races:

Half-foots and orcs theoretical maximum age is 88. Ogres theoretical maximum age is 94. Kobold theoretical maximum age is 81.

Keep in mind, these numbers are based on the idea that "around 100 years old" is the oldest a human being can get. The oldest human to ever live survived until they were 122 years old... But obviously that is rare, and happened in the modern era.

Point is, there's wiggle room at the top end of the age limit, for some of the races that may be a matter of extra days or months, for others it could be an extra decade or two. But I'm using 100 for simplicity's sake.

Sorry for the long post! I hope this answers people's questions, and if I messed something up let me know!

[sorcerous-caress]

Do you think Cazador could have a human kink?

In a character analysis way or fun au way? Because if it's the latter then yeah! We can give anyone a human kink if we want to.

But if it's the first, then let's find out! There are some characters that already seem to have a clear human kink ex: Mystra and Arnell Hallowleaf.

I'm using this analysis post on Cazador as a frame of reference because the wiki is lacking.

Cazador was a high elf before becoming a vampire. According to the post. The scroll below has a list of the dates when each vampire became a vampire lord and not when they were turned to spawns.

So, it is safe to assume that Cazador was turned anytime during Vellioth's region. But with the way he mirrors his favourite spawn, I'm guessing he too was one of the first spawns.

It is unlikely that Vellioth turned him right away, it took Cazador around 20ish years to get his first spawn so let's meet halfway and go with 10.

His whole years as a vampire add up to 278, with 62 years as a spawn and 216 years as a lord. The game events are set to happen during 1492.

So he was turned around 1214, give or take.

What was happening during that time In Baldur's Gate? Well...not much.

Ketheric doesn't build moonrise tower until 1365. The first ever Baldur's game 1 story takes place around 300 years after the establishment of the city by Baldurian in 1068.

Cazador seems pretty old tho, even for an elf. He probably was alive as a high elf during the time Baldurian established the city.

So it is safe to guess that Cazador has been Baldur's Gate vampire lord since the first ever game. The treatments of humans back then is...well...uh.

You can wear an armour made out of human flesh in that game. It is also the only race who can romance all the other characters with no restrictions while picking half-orc, elf, or dwarf can lock you out of romances.

In 1st and second dnd editions, humans were the most versatile, literally. While other races were very very limited to the classes they got to choose. Hell being a druid was a human thing back then and elves couldn't do it, they had to be cleric of nature and larp as druids.

Cazador still talks in plural too, it makes sense to assume he came from elven nobility back in the 900 or 800. His name isn't an elven baby name either. Hunter isn't a name you'd give to a baby elf below his 100 years.

He probably had human servants, the Szarr family are merchants. And humans control most of the world trade, he had to learn how to deal with them. Although I feel like he still saw humans as cattle even back then.

But being a vampire brings out the worst in someone so who knows. Maybe a once gentleman noble elf Cazador existed somewhere in the world.

There is also the possibility that his previous master as a human? Humans tend to be very military oriented, and Vellioth was a disciplinarian in the army.

Off note, the master of Vellioth is a Szarr. Are they related to Cazador?

And Cazador's spawns imply he favours elves. 3 elves, 2 humans, 1 tiefling and 1 halfling.

-

So after all of this information, what is the conclusion?

He is from a time when humans almost ruled faerun but also showed a lot of discrimination against other races. He was surrounded by elf nobility and could only watch humanity from a safe distance except for the few merchants his family traded with.

He seems more comfortable with elves, judging by his past and his elf spawns ratio. He has probably never had many brushes with humans during his time as an elf.

But as a vampire? With the amount of human nobles in Baldur's Gate? He was suddenly thrown in the world of humans and had to learn how to deal with them quickly.

So, to him, humans are prey. And look at the two human spaws he has. One is a sorcerer and his most talented hunter, and the other is the village idiot.

He could only view humans in two ways, too dumb to function on their own, or too dangerous to be left on their own. They're a wildcard, rightfully so.

To him, we are new, unfamiliar and unmapped territory. No matter how much he thinks he has humanity figured out, one or two suddenly get thrown his way and completely shatter his perception. Much like how we keep discovering new aquatic species every other week that are starting to sound made up.

He'd feel frustrated by humanity and more so the fact he can't escape them or opt out of them. They are literally everywhere, even at the lines tethering the heavens and the hells, they somehow established cities there.

Humans are a constant thorn on his side, each generation that keeps meddling and getting overly curious about his gothic mansion. But they are also the main source of his food. They reproduce faster than all vampires can ever drain them all.

Cazador doesn't seem like the curios or fascinated type, more like the old-fashioned and stick with the familiar type. He probably has an elf kink, if anything, sucking his own dick figuratively.

But he would hatefuck a human like no other. How dare a cattle ever see themselves as something better? Even before he was a vampire he thought of them as the lesser race who can't keep their legs closed to save their life. Pretty little dumb humans who constantly get brought into his home and handed to him.

[jynxeddraca]

Tiefling head canons

Because I'm in a mood and thinking about tieflings makes me happy. Some of these I've thought up independently, some I've seen elsewhere online and can't recall where but I've just folded into my head canons.

Totally got this idea from another person's post but I fully embrace that some tieflings can purr. In those that can it ranges from a noise that's high in the throat or very deep in the chest. I like the idea some can do it at almost a subsonic frequency so there's not any noise but their whole chest/body still vibrates.

Tieflings have dark-vision - therefore they have that cat eye glow in low light/the dark. No I will not accept feedback at this time.

I am always a fan of them having other senses sharper than humans. Not like 'I can smell your blood through your skin from across the room and hear a cricket fart' kind of thing - but definitely pick up on things a human is nearly sure to miss.

Not a fan of tieflings going into a true heat/rut where they go totally 'must fuck now' but them getting a random heightened burst of pheromones now and then after they've been with a partner for a while - especially if there's been a lot of biting involved. Basically it's the tiefling equivalent of women who get really super frisky right around the time they ovulate.

A very common home remedy among tieflings is a mixture of broth, oil, and sulfur - and every family has it's own ratios. In that same vein a common hangover cure is broth, charcoal, and oil.

Diets are the epitome of 'opportunistic'. They prefer meat heavy diets, especially rare/raw red meats, while also enjoy the gristle, bone marrow, and blood. They can eat anything a human could, and quite a bit humans can't. This includes rocks, bones, some things that are mildly toxic/poisonous, and foods that have have gone off with minimal to no ill effects.

Because of previous point - food poisoning is extremely rare for them to get.

Tail body language is just as much apart of conversations as hand gestures and while much of it is similar to cats - meanings can get complicated.

I see horn grabbing/pulling a lot in posts but I don't feel a lot of tieflings as being super comfortable with it if the other person isn't also a tiefling.

Honestly, I see a lot of tieflings being wary about non-tieflings trying to get with them because it seems to me a lot of people in world would either demonize or fetishize their "infernal traits".

That being said, they're also not opposed to relationships outside of other tieflings and some tieflings will happily use people's curiosity/fetishization to their advantage and work at brothels.

If a tiefling has one or both parents who aren't tieflings, then they can take on traits from the non-tiefling parent (ex. one parent is an elf, tiefling kid has a lifespan more akin to a half-elf). They, and their kids, are also more likely to have a kid that does not look like tiefling if they have a baby with another non-teifling.

I fully think that a solid 1/3 of all "surprise" tiefling babies are not because a parent made an infernal pact, but because both parents somewhere in their lineage have a tiefling ancestor and they just don't know.

You've heard of tieflings being raised by humans? Well I think, because of the last two points, the reverse happens as well and you can get what appears to be a fully human/elf child birthed and raised by a tiefling.

Tieflings totally have a higher normal body temp. Probably around the 100F-105F range.

Regardless of how big or small their horns are, their skulls are still thicker for weight distribution. Many tieflings can, and will, headbutt someone in a fight. Even if a horn doesn't hit you - the blow is likely to break a bone in your face and they will not even be fazed.

Headaches and neck/shoulder tension is really, really common both because of the added weight of the horns when they're adults and when the horn itself is first growing in as a kid.

I imagine most tieflings have horns that are primarily made up of a keratin sheath around a much smaller horn bone (like how cow or goat horn are). Because of this they don't have lots of feeling in their horns and some tieflings might pierce their horns in places for decoration.

Some tieflings that have antlers also shed their antlers just like deer do. I will not be taking feedback at this time.

The pattern and shape of ridges on their skin is unique to every tiefling - but most of them tend to appear and follow bones closer to the surface (ribs, hips, knees, elbows, etc)

[scjacka]

This will probably just end up being a draft because no one wants to hear me ramble. But tumblr is the only place where I can go full hyperfixation on the SC franchise specifically and I really need to get this crap out of my head because I’m an idiot.

It took me like 90 minutes to get through the first two episodes because I kept pausing to scream at thing. Bless my husband for dealing with me

My first pause/scream happened at the Sara scene because I called it from the trailer which I yelled several times. Also Sara’s deal, relatable.

Actually that’s a lie, I paused after the friggin 20 minute pointless donut scene.

Why when there are flashbacks does the aspect ratio change?

Noel confused me and I don’t get his deal. Idk the try hard thing felt like an even more annoying Curtis to me.

Also, I’m confused on the hierarchy of the Pole now. Like I’m under the assumption Betty is the head elf. But then there’s also that other elf that’s there to greet Scott when he arrives (I think her name is Edie but idk cause we didn’t stay with anyone long enough to understand their roles and names) and idk who she is except another hyper exuberant werido, lol

I like that there is an elf named Crouton. Idk why but I like it

Speaking of Crouton, the scenes in the comm center felt very Prep and Landing to me. Like even down to the revised machines and the way Betty feels like Magee.

The elves danced... there was a cake... that is not every what I pictured the end of the season at the pole like but you do you

All the stuff with Carol not remembering her name really freaked me out. Like, literally between 2 and 3 they said that they weren’t going to make Carol the traditional Mrs Claus because they wanted her to be herself and the old makeup and stuff looked weird.

IDK something about all the elves and the way they portrayed the Claus family really weirded me out. the part where they were all like “MUST MAKE TOYS NOW” felt like a cult and just like a little too far. Give them a sec to breathe. The kids are a mess, especially Buddy (which again, why you callin him Cal especially Cal Calvin). But I think the daughter bugs me most cause I can’t get over the nepotism of it all. Also just like the  “there hasn’t been a human kid here in 84 years” warning was also ominous and weird.

Obviously there was the “you can’t even say Merry Christmas” line which like, ok boomer. I’m real scared for how the Christ in Christmas shit he was spouting is gonna factor in.

So is Cider actually alcoholic in this universe now, cause they were acting much more like it was booze than they ever did with cocoa.

Shocked they mentioned Jack at all. Assume that will be it and we won’t see any of the Council at all

Also in one of the those dumb Allen interviews he said one version had lots of other mythical creatures but he thought that was weird and not in the spirit of the movies which like, ok fine if you’re only acting like 1 happened, but clearly you picked and chose what you wanted from 2 & 3 and then everyone is screaming about Gnomes! like what?

Jumping back I guess cause none of this is in order but when he went to the doctor I was like “where is Dr. Histmas” because idgaf about that character but that name is always funny to say. I like the new doctor elf though. Her name is Doc Martin though which is dumb

Except that she basically was referring to his magic going like it was ED and I was like, nope, no thanks!

idk how I feel about all the Kal Penn stuff. Like you’re sorta setting his story as a parallel to Scott’s but he seems to actually care about his kid and when you get to the Charlie scene (I’ll get there next) the line is that the pole is a bad place to raise kids so what does that do to his daughter if he becomes Santa

Charlie... oh Charlie Charlie Charlie. I like in theory what they did with him. Like he’s a good dad now and doesn’t need to learn the lesson his dad did so he’s like, no thanks. But the way they made his wife seem overbearing and crazy felt like it was more of that boomer crap and just kind of ruined the whole scene.

I think I have other things to say but they’re not coming to me now. I will say that my current prediction is, much like Daredevil in She-Hulk, Bernard won’t show up until the second to last or the last episode despite being in all of the ads. Like they’re teasing us cause they know we want to see him so they’ll save him for the very end. I’ve also joked that much like Daredevil in She-Hulk, Jenn’s gonna “smash” him 

[fanartfunart]

did you ever end up doing the thing with drawing the hybrid hyrule children?

also, at what point of division over generations do you think would be enough for a hybrid descendant to become so similar to one of their bloodlines that the other traits are unnoticable? because i’m super curious. it doensn’t have to be scientific, because fiction logic. what’s your headcanons? ^u^ (clarifying-by division over generations i mean like 1/4th hylian 3/4ths rito (grandkid of the origonal pair), or maybe 1/8th zora 7/8ths hylian (great-grandkid) for instance. i know there would be more complicated ratios like 3/8ths, but...less math go brr)

[Image description: Lineart of three sets of hybridized individuals, two for each parent pair: The first is Human/Zora: One, girl with zora fins and patterns, but with hair in a fishtail braid. She has short elf ears, shorter legs and longer torso like breath of the wild Zora. Second, a boy with a thin hylian bodyshape with a more zora-like head, with a very small looking nose. Second is Human/Rito. The first is a boy with a short beak, long ear covered in feathers, and long hair. He has bird feet and tail, and human hands covered in feathers. The second is a girl in a wheelchair, with a human face with a crest of feathers, and wings, with human legs. The third set is Zora/Rito, the first has more Zora features, with a crest of feathers and braids instead of the fish-tail head, with zora legs and fins, with a feathered tail. The second has a beak and zora fish-tail head, with long wings and bird-like legs. End ID]

I hadn't but now I have! lol. I imagine some hybrids are more prone to disability others- unless we go with the semi-crack hc that hylians are actually hollow-boned, rito-humans who end up with bird bones might have comparatively fragile bones to either of their parents, ect.

In terms of generations wise: It'd depend on where they live and who they keep mixing with but- if we go by the assumption that they just happen to keep mixing with hybrids of the same two pairs, I imagine Human features would win out the most often since my hc is that humans are the most genetically flexible. In hybrids without humans involved, since they're basically sub-species, I think it Purely depends on location: if a zora/rito hybrid lives near the sea, they're gonna go mostly zora. But!! These mixes would probably stand the test of time for a while, and might show back up every few generations, like genetics are wont to do.

[merlin-made-me-bi]

Hello hello! Heard you were lonely in quarantine, so I have a question for you: How do you think the giant eagles in lotr actually fly? Like, they're big enough to carry people, and the biggest bird I know of struggles to get off the ground without a sizable canyon nearby they can yeet themselves off of.

Ooh this is a great question. So the simple, obvious answer is that it’s middle earth and the rules of science don’t apply here and it’s just Manwe with his magic. But that’s also quite boring.

Instead, I’ll show you the rabbit hole that I went down thinking about it scientifically. Also, quick disclaimer that while I do own the science and middle earth book, I haven’t read it yet, so this is all my own conjecturing.

To start, let’s put perspective on how big the eagles are weight wise and how they compare to our own birds. To figure this out, I started with looking at the average ratio of eagle weight:prey in talon weight. While most eagles carry approx 1/3 of their weight, the extreme example is the harpy eagle which can carry up to 2x its own weight depending on conditions and if you’re looking at male v female harpies since the males are much smaller (from forestwildlife.org). I’m going to stick with 1/3 for this scenario, but also keep in mind that they have capability for more if the situation demands/they have ideal conditions like open space/high speed/full extended wingspan/not needing to land to pick up whatever it’s picking up.

Now turning to The Hobbit when the eagles rescue the company. Tolkien never specifies how many eagles there are nor does he specify the number of dwarves per eagle. Meaning we have a lot of wiggle room. Since we know for a fact that one eagle carried Dori and Bilbo without seeming issue, I feel that it’s reasonable to assume that each eagle could carry one dwarf feasibly or one human/elf/maiar, and up to 2 dwarves in extenuating circumstances like in the Hobbit. So if we calculate about how much a dwarf would have weighed, we can then calculate the weight of these birds.

Which then gives the tricky question of how much do dwarves weigh. Despite being shorter (~4ft), we know that the generalization of them is that they are rather stocky and strong which would preclude them to having a heavier denser weight, and therefore I am going to assume between 150 - 230 lbs give or take based on the individual. Let’s assume that one dwarf is 200 lbs (215 with gear). That means that an eagle would be about 630 lbs, one hefty bird and twice the weight of a large ostrich).

Given what you said about larger birds benefitting from a canyon to successfully launch, I’d say that the Carrocks they eagles nested at would have suited for this need. Additionally, we can assume that the fell beasts were probably very similar in weight and they are able to lift themselves from the ground (I believe), but I do think we need to bring suspension of belief back at this point.

I hope this answered your question! I quite enjoyed spending like 2 hours on this ask poking around the internet and digging into various parts of the books.

[puwumats]

okay, it’s been about a week - so it’s time for the first update to the campaign 3 prediction draft! (if you don’t know what i’m talking about, see this post here for more info!! and if you want, please pop in your predictions as well - i love to see what other people are thinking)

it’s gonna be a long post, so continue to the read more to see an in-depth look at the responses so far. BUT if you don’t have time for that, here’s the top race(s) & class(es) for each player (AS OF JULY 16):

marisha: tiefling paladin/barbarian

travis: human rogue/sorcerer/blood hunter

laura: genasi/tabaxi monk/bard

taliesin: dwarf/hexblood/tabaxi rogue

ashley: half-elf/elf paladin/wizard/bard/monk

sam: warforged/kenku/minotaur wizard

liam: tiefling cleric

as you can see from the 4 & 3-way ties above, everybody’s responses are still pretty varied - with only liam currently having a single class and race as definite favorites.

~stats gathered from 14 responses so far~

marisha

class:

y’all really love the idea of beau playing another martial class again - paladin & barbarian are coming in at first, with a respectable 3 votes each, followed closely by rogue at 2 votes.

(classes currently at 1 vote: artificer, bard, sorcerer, bloodhunter, ranger, fighter)

race:

Tiefling is currently ahead with 3 votes, but a 3-way tie is happening between elf, genasi, and half-orc (currently at 2 votes). the consensus currently seems to be that marisha can have a non-human race. you know, as a treat.

(races currently at 1 vote: aarakocra, triton, kalashtar, changeling, goliath)

travis

class:

a SOLID 3-way tie is happening right now for first place, with rogue, sorcerer, and blood hunter all currently residing at first place with 3 votes. a resounding lead ahead of the rest of the classes, none of which has surpassed 1 vote yet.

(classes at 1 vote: ranger, cleric, bard, monk, druid)

race:

the votes for travis’ character’s race are incredibly spread out right now, with only human and aasimar standing out amongst the sea of ‘1 votes’. interestingly, both of these races are human/human-adjacent. (what do you guys know that i don’t? lmao)

(races at 1 vote: tortle, tiefling, shifter, halfling, genasi, elf, dragonborn, changeling)

laura

class:

REALLY interesting spread - everyone seems to have focused on a lot smaller ratio of classes here. monk and bard are tied for 1st with 3 votes each, followed closely by another 3-way tie - this time between wizard, warlock, and barbarian, each coming in at 2 votes. excited to see how this develops, and if we’ll get an outstanding lead here.

(classes with 1 vote: artificer, sorcerer)

race:

another large spread with no real favorite here. genasi and tabaxi are tied for 1st with 2 votes each, but the rest of the responses are spread across the board.

(races with 1 vote: elf, fairy, firbolg, gnome, halfling, hobgoblin, hollow one, leonin, tortle, yuan-ti)

taliesin

class:

love this for him (and me). a nice, clean favorite. we’ve got the zesty rogue coming in at 1st place with a staggering 5 votes, followed by paladin at 3 votes, and at 2 votes each: a tie between warlock and druid.

(classes at 1 vote: sorcerer, bard)

race:

a lot more muddy here, but currently we have dwarf, hexblood, and tabaxi coming in at 1st place with 2 votes each.

(races with 1 vote: changeling, dwarf, elf, hollow one, owlfolk, reborn, warforged, yuan-ti)

ashley

class:

we got some wildly different responses for this one. so currently in 1st place we have our first ranked 4-way tie, between paladin, wizard, bard, monk. each received 2 votes.

(classes with 1 vote: artificer, cleric, fighter, rogue, sorcerer, warlock)

race:

we got our classics in here at the top. half-elf and elf are tied for 1st with 3 votes each, followed closely by genasi and human with 2 votes each.

(races with 1 vote: aarakocra, changeling, tabaxi, tiefling)

sam

class:

now onto what people think that liam has chosen for sam. wizard is the current lead, with 4 votes. paladin and cleric are tied for 2nd with 3 votes each, and druid is bringing up the rear of the rankings, with 2 votes.

(classes with 1 vote: sorcerer, monk)

race:

@ the people who voted minotaur: you’re the only people i respect in this house.

anyway, we have a 3-way tie for 1st between warforged, kenku, and minotaur - each totaling 2 votes.

(races with 1 vote: goliath, dwarf, half-orc, half-elf, dragonborn, human, loxodon, tabaxi)

liam

class:

we got a nice spread here, with cleric coming in 1st at 4 votes, followed by artificer at 3 notes. druid is currently in 3rd, with 2 votes.

(classes with 1 vote: bard, blood hunter, fighter, monk, paladin)

race:

an overwhelming lead for tiefling right now, coming in 1st with 5 votes. elf trails behind with 2 votes, however it’s pretty clear which race is the prediction favorite.

(races with 1 vote: dhampir, gnome, hollow one, leonin, warforged, reborn, tabaxi)

so TL;DR, it’s still looking pretty spread out - especially since we’re so early on in the draw. if you’ve reached the end of this and you’re still reading: thanks!! this was mainly for me and my a couple of friends, but i love seeing what other fans are thinking.

i’m definitely going to update this as i get more responses, so stay tuned for further developments!

[markrosewater]

Half the Planeswalkers aren't non-human. As it stands we have 37 humans, 20 non-human, 2 that are both (Freyalise is half human, half elf and Arlinn I'd count as both as she is a werewolf), and 1 I'm not sure about (Ashiok). I think the ratio is fine, but you've really been introducing a LOT of human planeswalkers of late with 17 being add over the past 3 years vs. only 4 non-human.

That’s because we’ve been working on adding (human) diversity to our Planeswalker lineup.

[z-to-s]

language learning tip: an interpreter’s guide to learning vocabulary

If I had a penny for every time someone told me they had trouble memorizing words, I’d probably had hundreds of pennies, which is not very helpful in terms of paying rent but hey, could just possibly lure a tiny dragon under my couch, so.

Anyway, if you’re one of those people and feel like you don’t have a good head for words, here are a few tips.

1) Sounds silly, but stop focusing on how bad you are at this. Vocabulary is most of what you need in any language - if you’re serious about speaking that language, you’ll need to find a learning technique that works for you, and if you keep convincing your brain you just can’t do it, you’ll end up believing it. Not helpful.

2) Learning anything gets much harder with age, and also when you’re stressed. Be patient with yourself, and manage your mental health. if you’re learning for school or for some important test, give yourself time to get there and plan ahead, because vocabulary learning is not the kind of studying you can get done by pulling an all-nighter. And if you’re an older learner, just remember what you’re doing is extremely healthy for your brain, so however long it takes you to achieve some results, you’re doing something really good for yourself: kudos!

3) Whether you’re writing your own material or studying with online apps, keep vocabulary lists short. You’re not going to learn 100 words in one go. It’s much better to work with groups of 20, or even 10, so if you’ve been given a list from a teacher, or are compiling one from your textbook, remember to chop it down in smaller units.

4) The sad thing is: many people learn better by writing things down, especially by hand*. Personally, there are still words I write down fifty times, but thanks to the current magic of technology I mostly go on websites like Memrise or Quizlet and use the ‘write’ function. As a warning: it’s going to be difficult and irritating, especially at first, because obviously these programs won’t forgive you spelling mistakes, but in the long run, I find writing things forges a direct path to your brain that’s not easily undone.

(*This is also why you shouldn’t use a computer when taking notes in class.)

5) Another good way of learning is creating context. You can simply associate a word to another (for instance, noun + adjective, which also helps you memorizing gender if gender is a thing in your target language), or you can write lists centered around specific themes (animals, family, the nuclear winter we’re all headed towards). One thing I find helpful are lists based on clusters of similar words - think stuff like sun, sunrise, sunny, sunglass and so on.

6) Speak as often as you can - not necessarily with people. A conversation with a potted plant can be just as helpful, and placing a new word you’re learning in the context of a sentence is a very good way to give life to it.

7) If you have access to an etymological dictionary, use it. Remembering words is much easier if you understand how a specific word was born, and the logic behind it. 

8) Use post-its or change your computer’s wallpaper to difficult words. Seeing stuff all the time is an excellent way of making it seep into your subconscious. I used to write on my arms, which is Quirky and Interesting, but also not very kind to your skin, so maybe stick to the bathroom mirror.

9) Remember there’s a difference between active and passive knowledge, and that both are normal and good. Active knowledge are those words you’d use in conversation; passive knowledge are words you recognize and understand, but wouldn’t use yourself. Depending on your level, education, linguistic curiosity and reading habits, the number of words in each category and the ratio between them will vary, but your passive knowledge is always going to be much deeper than your active one. Don’t be stressed about that.

10) Finally, some good news: you need fewer words than you think. Many native speakers around the world function on as little as 500 words of active knowledge; 2000 words is considered a good base for reading most texts. If you find it helps you, keep track of how many words you’re learning, but don’t let it obsess you. Human brains are built to fill in blanks with reasonable solutions, and the more familiar you become with grammar and basic words, the more you’ll find that you’re able to guess the meaning of new words simply by their context or what they look like.   

Oh, and since this is tumblr -

11) Don’t learn an excessive number of ‘weird’ or ‘cute’ words, especially if you’re a beginner. Writing lists of elf-related words can be fun, and a way to keep yourself motivated, but ultimately what you need are normal words - stuff you can use in conversation, in a restaurant, and to read the news. I met people who stubbornly fill their notebooks with absurd lists, and it’s all very nice and instagrammable, but what tends to happen is that sooner or later, they feel they’re not making any progress and get discouraged. So please remember - whatever language you’re learning, it’s most probably a human language human people use to speak to each other, which means you’ll need all sort of boring words to understand them and make yourself understood. Embrace the boring, the average and the mundane - they’re never as boring, average and mundane as you fear.

[shrikeseams]

As a thought exercise to demonstrate why we shouldn't do this analysis with only the finwion family: If we disqualify Caranthir as a case: (3/5) / (3/9)=1.8. If we leave Caranthir's category alone but include Celebrian as both exposed (strong EOE ancestry) and a case (very likely she befriended humans. I can't see Elrond marrying an elf who didn't!): (4/6)/(3/8)=1.7778 With Celebrian in AND Caranthir disqualified as a friendship case: (4/5) / (3/9)=2.4

So between adding one (1) case and re-categorizing one (1) other case, our odds ratio goes from "Arafinweans have 1.3 times the odds of befriending one or more Men" to "Arafinweans have 2.4 times the odds of befriending one or more Men."

Elf Math

@tolkien-feels / @inactivemainblog has released a bee into my bonnet! So, as a person with 2/3 of a MS in public health ( in neither epi nor biostats! do not do this math often!), here is how I would statistically assess the two following proposed relationships (with minimal thought and effort):

1. Beorions Are particularly attractive to elves. In this case we're supposing that the exposure is Beorion ancestry and/or upbringing, and the outcome is friendships with elves. I would need a database of all humans who interacted with elves in the First Age, or a meaningful subset thereof, with information about:

+The outcome (Whether those humans befriended one or more elves)

+The exposure (Whether those humans have Beorion ancestry. Realistically you'd need a cutoff, so maybe Beorion ancestry in the last 4? Generations.)

+I guess to account for cultural impact, I'd want to do the math once for human with Beorion ancestry and once for Beorion upbringing upbringing.

2. Elves of Elwe-Olwe-Elmo ancestry are particularly attracted to humans. For this one we assume the relationship goes in the other direction,, and the friendship is related to the elves' family instead of the humans'. I would need a database of all elves who interacted with humans (Beorian ancestry isn't part of the question, so we don't need the First Age cutoff), with information about:

+ The outcome (whether those elves befriended one or more humans)

+The exposure (whether those elves have EOE ancestry)

I guess you could also look at possible cultural impact here, too? But unless the Arafinweans are adopting a bunch of elves and we've not heard about it, this equation wouldn't benefit from comparing biological descent to cultural upbringing.

I can run this one quick and dirty with just the Finwions, as an example.

(I'm giving Caranthir 'you tried' points.) So the table looks like:

And the math is (3/6) / (3/8) = 1.3333. So at least among the Finwions, the Arafinwions have .33 higher odds of befriending humans. But with this sample size it probably isn't statistically significant and I'm not calculating the confidence interval. And if I've miscategorized anyone it'll Ihave throw the numbers significantly.

[pixelproductions]

DIY Marketing On A Dime: 7 Low-Budget Marketing Hacks To Attract New Customers

No budget for a marketing agency? Check out these 7 Low-budget DIY marketing hacks to bring in new customers starting today.

DIY marketing hacks that you can implement today if you don’t have the budget to hire that website marketing agency.

Launching a business startup requires time, money, and resources.

Without them, how will new customers find your business?

Looking at the big picture, it’s crucial to build a recognizable brand people value and trust. Fortunately, you won’t need a huge budget to do that. Here are seven low-budget DIY marketing hacks that’ll chime the lovely cha-ching of success without purging your wallet.

1. Join Conversations On Social Media

Social media is kind of like a nightclub for consumers with no entry fee. They can effortlessly scroll Instagram or Facebook and engage with their favorite accounts and businesses. That’s likely why 66% of consumers follow or like their favorite brands on Facebook.

And Twitter? There’s no better place to jump in on second-to-second dialogue than hopping on a popular Twitter hashtag or thread. You can also pop over to the “Trending” section to see what hot topics are flaring up.

Engaging with online communities centered around your niche is a cheap DIY marketing hack that requires zero output. There are a few cardinal rules for joining conversations on social media. The ultimate goal is to be real and transparent with your audience and impress them with your helpfulness and industry expertise.

If you’re starting out and don’t have an audience yet, here’s some social media etiquette 101 as a springboard:

Respond to all DMs and comments you receive to show that you’re active and relevant.

Find related Facebook groups, join, and start engaging with the community.

Find out which hashtags thread into your niche and start engaging. Say you own a craft business; follow hashtags like #DIY and #MakersMovement and leave genuine comments on posts, offer advice, and get involved.

When it comes to DIY marketing hacks, joining the conversation is a great way to build exposure, form genuine connections, and grow your network!

As a bonus, check out these 10 social media tools to help juice up your DIY marketing hack campaign.

2. Curate Content On Pinterest

What is Pinterest, and why is it one of the best low-budget DIY marketing hacks on our list?

Think about it: When you don’t know something, you Google it. Well… when you want something, you Pin it!

What is it?

Pinterest is an inspirational, visual search platform people use to discover recipes, DIY projects, shop for clothing and accessories, and find information.

Why should you use it?

First of all, Pinterest is completely free. There are 300 million global users, and 98% of users actively “try” pins. Trying a pin means someone followed the pin to a website’s product page, blog post, video, or website.

Pinterest is a notoriously active visual search platform. Plus, it has a sustainable, compounding effect. When you actively pin, people repin your content, and there’s no expiration date or limit to the amount of engagement a pin can get.

Long story short: Pinterest is effective, and if you follow a strategy, you can see results quickly.

Use these Pinterest tips to create content, drive traffic, and get sales without spending a dime:

Make 3-6 original pins for each of your products, services, how-tos, recipe cards, blog posts, and videos.

Create rich pins by fleshing out the pin’s title and description, and don’t forget to link to your product!

Use free graphic design software like PosterMyWall to create unique, branded pins easily. You’ll find hundreds of Pinterest templates to customize, or you can build your own from scratch, just be sure they’re formatted to the standard 2:3 aspect ratio or

Create Boards for your pin categories like blog posts or recipes. For example, devote one board to “Highlights” and pin best-selling products or in-depth blog guides there.

Actively pin original content and shared content every day. Use the popular “Original-Repin-Ratio,” by posting about 80% original pins and 20% repins.

3. Repurpose Content For Multiple Mediums

Do you want to save time and produce more content? Then it’s time to get savvy on repurposing and recycling existing content into new, fresh media.

It’s one of the best affordable DIY marketing hacks because you’re squeezing more life out of the content you already created. In other words: you’re just repackaging it.

Source: PosterMyWall

Here are some concepts to help you dive through the archives and throw a fresh spin on existing content:

First, go through your blog or social media content and think about how you can throw a new spin on it.

Find informational guides and transition them to a new medium. For example, if you wrote a blog post about the best techniques for planting succulents, why not convert it into a quick video for social media?

Take the same blog post and turn the highlights into a visually compelling infographic.

Now fire out that infographic out to your newsletter and post it to your social accounts.

The key here is to take comprehensive, informational content and section it into bite-sized, digestible pieces that help your audience.

Better yet? Put content into motion with engaging videos!

4. Create Engaging Video Content On The Cheap

Video marketing in 2020 is vital. The stakes are increasingly higher as people batten down the hatches and tune into their devices.

What do they want to see? Video content from their go-to brands, of course!

Think about it: Do you think a consumer would rather read a vivid description of a new product or see an unboxing video?

Chances are they’re going to watch the video.

The truth is that people are visual. If you have the choice to include product or service videos for your business, why pass it up? Especially considering what you have to gain — a 64-85% boost in conversion rates!

Videos are compelling, engaging, helpful, and interactive. A video pulls us in far more than an image because it crystallizes a product into a tangible thing — not just some over-edited, glossy picture.

But isn’t video production expensive? Not today!

You’ve got a smartphone and WiFi, right? Then all you need is free video editing software and professionally designed templates from PosterMyWall make the perfect DIY marketing hack to get you started.

Here are some easy-to-create video marketing ideas:

Instructional videos or how-to content: For example, food industry brands can craft 60-second recipes like this Best-Ever Guacamole video. It’s interactive, it’s delicious, and it’s tied in with a blog post — a great example of repurposing content!

Product videos for each item in your collection, like this gallery from organic clothing brand, Pact.

Behind the scenes of your business operations or production process: Peel the curtain back and show your audience exactly what goes on day-to-day, like this behind the scenes look at Starbucks.

Q&A/interview with owners or team members: Humanize your brand by putting its story in front of the camera. Ask your followers to chime in with their questions and answer them in a Facebook Live or Instagram Stories segment, like this “Ask Canon” Q&A sequence from Canon USA.

Tease an upcoming launch: Tease new products by posting short video snippets highlighting the product features, like this sequence of the new GoPro Hero8. If this doesn’t make consumers want to buy the GoPro, skateboard down a mountain, or take a selfie with a tiger, I don’t know what will.

5. Host A Contest or Giveaway

Want to get people pumped about your brand? There isn’t a more effective DIY marketing hack to get people excited than giving away free stuff.

The appeal of a giveaway is that you don’t technically have to cough up any major expenses. Sure, you’ll need to offer something worth playing for, but you likely already have it in your product collection.

Check out this giveaway from Elf Cosmetics. The brand offers a $100 gift card to two participants who like the post, follow the page, and tag their friends in the comments.

Source: Elf Cosmetics

You’ll gain an influx of new followers for minimal funds, drive people to your website, and build excitement about your brand.

6. Cross-Promote With Other Small Businesses

Partnering with other small businesses is a potentially great low-budget DIY marketing hack because all you have to do is join forces to tap into a broader audience.

Start by finding small businesses in your niche that align with your mission and values. For example, an ocean conservancy nonprofit could join forces with a local swimwear brand. The goal is to access audiences that fit your target demographic.

Incentivize buyers to shop by offering discounts at each store. Both parties can cross-promote to their collective audience.

Taking this tactic requires zero funds, and the gains are sizable.

Need proof? Leave it to Apple and MasterCard’s genius conception of Apple Pay, the pay from your phone partnership brilliance that literally changed the way we make purchases.

7. Implement A Customer Referral Program

Did you know that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from reviews or their peers over advertisements? That’s because referrals offer buyer assurance that your offerings have been tried, tested, and trusted.

An affordable way to bring in new customers and endorse your brand is to implement a customer referral program.

The process is straightforward and boils down to a few easy steps:

Offer existing customers discounts once they reach a specific amount of referrals

Once their referrals make a purchase, reward the referrer with a free product, major discount, or complimentary gift on their next purchase

Enroll the new customers into the program as well to capitalize on your momentum

Encourage referrals by offering giveaways or free products to those who refer the most amount of new customers

A referral program is a low-budget DIY marketing that that will bring in more leads, build trust with your existing clientele, and skillfully persuade your customers to promote your brand.

DIY Marketing Hacks Made Easy

You don’t need a massive budget to market effectively. Chances are, you already have content and products to work with, and now you have some great affordable DIY marketing hacks to attract new customers on a dime.

Here are 10 more must have tools to help your DIY marketing hack progress.

Follow the steps in this guide to build hype, bring in new customers, increase sales conversions, and grow your business!

[heresjeonny]

EXO 101: A Crash Course

Park Chanyeol 

Soft baby by day, sexy mofo by night. Can do everything?? Sing, rap, dance, cook, act, write and produce music, play the guitar (classical, spanish, lead, and rhythm omg) and the piano and the drums, has the body of an elf king. He’s also AMAZING with children as shown [here - skip to 12:17 and WATCH you won’t regret it] and dogs too! All animals really. He’s Korean Snow White. With abs. And if Snow White was extra. 

Also the kindest soul ever. He’s always smiling, even when he’s down. He literally said, and I quote; “No matter how difficult something is, I will always be positive and smile like an idiot.” His then-girlfriend nicknamed him “Happy Virus.” Constantly buys his members gifts, is very tall (well over six feet), and he’s the most extroverted and sociable person - actually friends with everyone. 10/10 amazing human.  

Byun Baekhyun

Don’t let him fool you!!! He looks soft but he will fuck you up with his cheeky lil smile and pelvic sorcery and unearthly vocals and uGH. His wit is unparalleled like omg, so sassy and hilarious and sharp. Also a huge nerd when it comes to anime, manga, and video games. Once gave a picture of himself to another member as a gift, the lil shit.  

He’s incredibly passionate about his career and his members, and I think it was Kyungsoo who said that it’s Baek who keeps them all together at times. In summary: Byun Baekhyun is what happens when a demon and an angel do the do. 

D.O./Do Kyungsoo:

Do Kyungsoo? More like Do Me, Kyungsoo. I’m sorry I’m so thirsty Ksoo...I don’t even know where to begin with this one. First of all, he single-handedly saved the human race from extinction with his voice. He’s savage af, so much so that he’s affectionately nicknamed “Satansoo” and he will smack a bitch. He’s also so soft and squishy at the same time, you’ll get whiplash. And his acTING. Lord in heaven. And I believe he didn’t even have acting lessons?? The nerve of him. He, too, is sex on legs, and he might be quieter than the others, but y’all best listen when he talks cause boy bout to spill the tea. 

He’s also very paternal in that he takes care of the other members a lot, like when Kai, his roommate, isn’t feeling well, he’ll care for him or go out to get food for him. And he can cook really well. I’m gonna stop now before I end up writing an entire dissertation ;’)

Lay/Zhang Yixing

ALSO NOT PURE ABORT ABORT THIS IS NOT A DRILL. 

Oh my god. Anyway. Zhang Yixing is the perfect contradiction. On the one hand, he’s an actual baby lamb - laugh and all. On the other hand, he’s the human embodiment of the NC-17 rating. Like, hide yo kids. Yixing is also one of the Chinese members of EXO, so he often leaves to promote his solo music which is in Chinese, and he works so incredibly hard and deserves all the success. He also writes the lyrics, and composes and arranges the music! 

And...his dancing. Proof that god exists. There is literally no part of his body that Yixing does not have absolute command over - and you can see it because he is so precise, confident, and sexy. :’) 

Suho/Kim Junmyeon

I actually had to cover his face while writing this because holy--

Yup. Moving on. 

Actually, back to his face (and the rest of him): Remember when Da Vinci was conceptualizing the Vitruvian Man (lol only 90′s kids will remember...1490′s kids, that is). You know that picture of the guy with another pair of arms and legs superimposed on him, inside a circle? The drawing theorizing the ideal proportions of the human body? Yup, true story: Junmyeon was Da Vinci’s muse. Suho’s face is so symmetrical, it inspired mathematicians to write the golden ratio. He is a genetic miracle, a statistical outlier, a national treasure--

Anyway *sweats*. ALSO. Let’s talk about his personality. Myeon is the mom of EXO, the leader, so he’s naturally very parental. He actually chose the stage name “Suho” because it means guardian. He always does his best to keep his kids the members together and doing what they need to be doing. Always pays for things ($Junmoney$), and is the person a lot of them confide in and go to for comfort or advice, especially Sehun. 

He’s such a dad too - like his dad joke ratings are off the charts. 10/10 would build you a tree house and tuck you in at night. 

Oh Sehun

Maknae. Icon. Legend. Used to have a lisp. 

People sometimes think he’s cold or reserved because of his face, but as you can see in the gif, he’s literal sunshine. He once cried on stage because he was knocked on the head by a camera - but he wasn’t crying because the injury hurt, he was crying because he wasn’t allowed to perform because of it, and he felt like he was disappointing his fans. He also cried during a radio show when asked about his other members - he said every night before he falls asleep, he prays for them and he prays that they all stay together and are successful and happy. And now I’m crying. 

Everyone is in love with him. 

His dancing resurrected me from the dead, put my children through college, and ended world hunger because damn we are fed when that boy moves. 

Sehun was once invited to Paris for a Louis Vuitton fashion show and became king of France. I’m not kidding. All he did was show up, and there was a huge crowd already there to greet him as if he were royalty, and he was voted best dressed at the show by Vogue. He went to the Louvre, and people were studying and appreciating him, the actual art.  

Chen/Kim Jongdae

Ah, little dino bby. He’s iconic for many reasons: 

1) His smile. It curls up at the corners like this :}

2) When he laughs, he literally goes HAHAHAHAHA like wow, amazing, I want this as my ringtone

3) He screams a lot. Nickelodeon once made a show about him called Jongdae: The Last Pterodactyl. 

4) HIS VOCALS. Un-freaking-believable. He’s the male version of Mariah Carey. 

5) Speaks really good Chinese! (He’s Korean) 

6) An amazing human?? He donates to charity so often and he doesn’t do it for publicity either. He takes good care of the other members too. 

Jongdae, let me put a ring on it. 

Xiumin/Kim Minseok

HERE WE GO. My precious boy :’)

Minseok. The eldest. Also known as the best person to ever exist. Like Kyungsoo, he doesn’t talk much because he’s a shy lil bean, but once he warms up to you, the things that come out of his mouth are so deep and cute and funny and wowow I want ten of him

Is the least likely to cry

Was chubby (and so adorable!!) as a little kid, and now he has a six pack. Because of his weight as a kid though, he has spoken many times about the issue of body shaming and how people’s perceptions of a person shift based on how they look. He once said these words that made my cold, dead heart beat again: “I don’t have an ideal type. If our hearts match well, then she will look pretty to me.” 

Has the strongest arms in EXO. They all arm wrestled and he won and it was the funniest thing ever. 

Is not only an idol, he’s also getting his Ph.D. Dr. Kim. I can’t believe....

Wants to open his own coffee shop, and I don’t drink coffee, but I would chug any dish-water-coffee-grinds-filth that he would serve me because damn I love him. 

Kai/Kim Jongin

R00D MOTHERF*CKER. 

The Bias Wrecker. Or just your bias, plain and simple 

Kim Jongin is one of nature’s greatest accomplishments. His gams are the eighth wonder of the world - and he puts them to use when he dances, like please kick me in the face with those omfg 

His laugh. Astounding. Also don’t stand too close when he laughs because he will hit you. It’s just what he does lmao

He’s basically a hip young old man - so hot but so sleepy. He’ll sleep at any given opportunity. 

Very fond of fried chicken. And dogs. But not in terms of eating, for the latter

Learned ballet for ten years and it shows, and I just wANT TO SEE HIM IN A LEOTARD DAMMIT

He has darker skin than the other members which people used to make fun of him for and still do comment on, but he says he loves it and he is proud of his body :’) we are too bby!!

Other random facts: 

-  EXO originally had 12 members but 3 left and we’re not going to talk about it okay? okay

- Chen and Xiumin are married best friends. Xiumin actually said in an interview that Chen is “like my wife” 

- Sehun is now officially Lord Oh Sehun of Glencoe, Scotland because his fans are the most Extra and purchased the estate for his birthday :’) 

- Chanyeol once folded one hundred paper cranes for his girlfriend as a gift, but in the middle of doing this, she called him and broke up with him

- Baekhyun can’t cook for shit but at least he’s pretty 

- Kai dated F(X)’s Krystal 

- Kyungsoo once said to the camera that he is “not pure” 

- Yixing starred in a gay sci-fi movie where he and this other dude have a baby

- Suho is a health nut. Just like how girls always have pads and tampons on them, Suho has multivitamins 

For @the-porcelain-doll-xo because I’m the friend that wants to drag you into hell with me, and I can’t wait for you to get into EXO ahhhhh ily <33

[askkrenko]

Let’s talk about White Aligned Races

Art by Matt Stewart

Mark Rosewater recently said that the dwarven experiment in Kaladesh was not a big success. This comes from a long line of Wizards trying and failing to find a White characteristic race. Now, it’s certainly possible that Wizards of the Coast just happens to be repeatedly finding races that people don’t particularly resonate with, but I honestly think they’re missing an important part of what makes the other characteristic races characteristic races. If you’ll bear with me, I’d like to explain why goblins, merfolk, elves, and zombies are great, and why kor, kithkin, leonin, dwarves, and aven fail to get sufficient love.

Art by Jason Rainville

What Even Is a Kor Anyway?

One of the prime reasons Wizards tried Dwarves again is because people are familiar with Dwarves as a race. Like Merfolk, Zombies, Elves, and Goblins, they represent a frequently occurring fantasy race that needs no introduction. Contrariwise, Kor, Leonin, Aven, and Kithkin all represent major unknowns.  While Leonin are pretty clearly lion people and Aven are bird people, it’s not clear at all what a Kor or Kithkin is. Further, ‘lion people’ doesn’t really tell us anything. It shows us physiological differences, but not only do we not know how far that goes, (Are Leonin strict carnivores? Do they clean themselves with their tongues?) we don’t know anything about the culture except for what the cards show us. This means a player cannot look at a card and instantly understand a Leonin in the way that matters to them. Kor are even worse. I would bet you that the significant majority of players does not know the difference between a Kor and a Human outside of the Kor having white skin.

Wizards seems to believe this is one of the major problems with getting a characteristic race to be popular, and they thought that using Dwarves instead would solve this problem. This is an understandable theory, but it fails to understand why the characteristic races that already exist are so popular. Having Dwarves makes someone more willing to engage, I will agree, but it’s then a question of what one does with the Dwarves that matter. Kaladesh failed to use its Dwarves in the same way that Wizards has consistently been failing to use Kor and Leonin.

Art by Thomas M. Baxa

You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.

Zombies, Elves, and Goblins are the commonly used characteristic races of their associated colors. In this sense, they are called Characteristic because those creature types are common Characteristics of cards of that color. I believe this to be backwards. I instead believe Zombies, Elves and Goblins are characteristic races because they have characteristics that show off their color, something the white races continually fail at.

Did you know that Goblins have one of the highest ratios of creatures with Haste among all creature types, even surpassing dragons? A better question would be, are you surprised? Haste is the most red ability in the game, so of course the red race is going to have a larger than average percentage of it. Similarly, a significant portion of Elves grant mana, and a full third of all Zombie cards reference the graveyard. The ratio itself isn’t wholly important, but what is important is that these races have traits that people associate with them and also associate with playing a deck of their color. If I was to tell you that the future set “Kamigawa Cross” had the makings of a Goblin deck, you would not need to ask any further questions to know that I meant an aggressive red deck involving a lot of cheap and fast creatures. If I told you that “Zendikar: We promise this one’s better” had an elf deck, you’d expect creatures that rapidly accelerate your mana, followed by some sort of reward for going wide.

Where do the white races stand on this? They have a few false starts, most of which made worse by the fact that there’s so many white races. Certainly, Leonin and Kor both have a larger percentage of cards referencing Equipment than anyone else, Leonin are rather high on the life gain, and all Aven fly, but until Wizards provides the tools to make a deck using that creature type and their strategy, it’s not going to work. I’m not claiming this deck has to be good. That’d be silly. I’m merely saying they need to have some sort of consistent strategy. This isn’t an unreasonable request. While Dwarves were split between two mechanics intrinsically tied to the plane, another race showed up and made it clear what they were about.

Art by Luis Lasahido

They’re Elementals, Damnit! Elementals!

In sixteen cards, the Aetherborn have three dies triggers, two revolt triggers, and four sacrifice outlets, plus Weaponcraft Enthusiast to feed them. It’s very clear that the purpose of Aetherborn is to lose your stuff all the time. It’s unique, it’s inherently black, and it’s communicated clearly through just a small number of cards. Even better, Aetherborn manage to be uniquely black in a way that black’s preexisting characteristic races aren’t. While zombies regularly return from the dead, Aetherborn instead reward you for killing them. Vampires, meanwhile, are getting +1/+1 counters and gaining life. While Aetherborn use +1/+1 counters, only the Aetherborn Vampire does so in a way consistent with other vampires. Certainly, this doesn’t apply to every last Aetherborn, but looking at the entire sampling of Aetherborn makes it clear not just what they do as a strategy but also how they differ from the other black races.

None of the attempts at white races have been afforded this. Leonin and Kor have both had equipment focuses, but so have other white creatures in the same set. While five of Mirrodin’s thirteen Leonin cared about equipment, so did four white Humans and one Loxodon. Kaladesh had four Dwarf Pilots, but also four Human Pilots.

People seem to like Aetherborn, and while that’s certainly in no small part thanks to the writings of Alison Luhrs, it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’ve got a clear enough mechanical identity that people want to build Aetherborn decks. Few have ever built Leonin or Kor decks, and those who want to build dwarf decks, in standard at least, have to rely on vehicles or revolt. Dwarves focusing on vehicles isn’t inherently a bad thing in a vacuum, but it does make them less interesting in Kaladesh. Dwarves focusing on getting bonuses for your other Dwarves dying is a much weirder issue. It honestly makes no sense and would be an odd choice for Dwarves going forward. Of course, vehicles can’t be a choice for Dwarves going forward at all if they’re not made evergreen.

Art by Chris Rahn

Lost In Your Element

Wizards decided that due to the focus on artificing, Kaladesh would be a great world to bring back Dwarves. My personal belief is that due to the focus on artificing, Kaladesh was one of the worst possible worlds to bring back dwarves. Even if every dwarf in Kaladesh had somehow referenced artifacts, so does basically everything in Kaladesh. Dwarves are lost in the crowd. Contrariwise, imagine a few Dwarves on Tarkir. The Dwarves in question might give artifact creatures +1/+1 or pump out 1/1 artifact creatures. Either way, they’d suddenly be interesting. Further, on a more diverse world like Tarkir, the dwarves would be able to dress and style themselves differently than the humans, allowing them to be visually distinct. Consider this: If one were to have a group of birds that also included a bat, it would be a weird hairy thing. If one were to have a group of small mammals that also included a bat, it would be the thing that flies. On Kaladesh, Dwarves are just weird and hairy. On any other plane, they could be the artificers.

Similarly, any White characteristic race that wants to make its mark needs to do so by showing how it’s different from the humans around it. Leonin have never done this. Kor have never done this. Dwarves certainly didn’t do this. Aven are alright. Good job, Aven. A shame the fact that all Aven fly mean that they make a poor characteristic race.

Art by Svetlin Velinov

Carving a Niche

Ultimately, for a characteristic race to be interesting, it needs to carve out its own niche. It may be very difficult to do this going forward with pre-existing races, but assigning each of the white races to a certain playstyle would go a long way. Further, this would allow multiple races of the same color to appear on the same world while acting differently, much in the way that vampires and zombies have done for years. This would mean deciding what race went on a future world would be as much a question of what’s mechanically desirable as what’s aesthetically desirable, but as much as my fellow Vorthoses will object, Magic’s worldbuilding needs to be subservient to making a good game. What follows is a simple thought experiment.

Dwarves, traditionally, are miners and artificers. Dwarf cards could, at a rate of about 1:4, care about artifact cards, including vehicles and equipment. Some might make artifact creature tokens, some might search for equipment, some might reward crewing vehicles. Further, they could have a higher than average rate of Vigilance and tend toward higher toughness than power.

Kor are nimble and fast, and their designs should reward this. The Kor cards in the past have cared about equipment, and they could have a sharper focus on this then dwarves (who’d care about all artifacts.) First Strike could be their primary keyword, and their ropes and hooks could be used to tap down enemy creatures. Kor could be aggressive and fast, with various forms of evasion (can’t be blocked by colorless creatures, flying until end of turn, etc.) Unlike dwarves, they could often have higher power than toughness (though not so high as to get into red territory. 3/1s are fine. 5/2 is too much.)

Leonin seem big and scary, but they’re basically all nice people. Leonin could have a focus on defensive powers (not just high toughness like dwarves) and life gain. They might have slow growth like Ajani’s Pridemate or merely try and prevent your opponent from doing things like Leonin Arbiter.

Obviously, this is not a fully explored idea, but the goal is simple: define the races. Only by defining races will people be able to properly care about them. After all, there is no love without understanding, so none can love the Dwarves without understanding what these Dwarves are. After all, it’s not the word Dwarf that fans desire, but the specifics of what a Dwarf is and, most importantly, what makes them unique.

In summation: a white characteristic race will never catch on until it has a clear mechanical identity that makes a creature being that type more interesting, or at least differently interesting, than having the creature type ‘human.’

[musicprincess655]

Get to Know Me Tag

Rules: • Answer all the questions • Add one of your own • Tag as many people as you want

Tagged by: @sugamama-koshi let’s do this shit

1. Coke or Pepsi?

Unpopular opinion here but y’all. They taste the same. That placebo effect has fucked y’all up real bad. I don’t really like cola though so neither

2. Disney or DreamWorks?

Never doubt that Disney owns my ass but honestly? I’ve loved the creativity and art coming out of Dreamworks lately. So them. 

3. Coffee or tea?

Tea, but I’m also addicted to coffee

4. Books or movies?

Books. 100% books. 

5. Windows or Mac?

Macs can eat my entire ass windows all the way

6. D.C. or Marvel?

Marvel

7. Xbox or PlayStation?

Can’t play either but I guess PlayStation because I can actually use a PSP

8. Dragon age or mass effect?

Not a gamer but I think? Dragon age looks cool?

9. Night owl or early riser?

Night Owl. Do not disturb my day slumber

10. Cards or chess?

Chess

11. Chocolate or vanilla?

Vanilla

12. Vans or converse?

Converse

13. Lavellan (Elf), Trevelyan (Human), Cadash (Dwarf), or Adaar (Qunari/Giants)? [Dragon Age]

Lavellan

14. Fluff or angst?

I like to consider myself good at balancing both but I’m not my group chat’s resident angst queen for no reason

15. Beach or forest?

beach because that’s where I grew up

16. Dogs or cats?

All. I literally do not have a clear preference here I own one of each and I love my fur babies. 

17. Clear skies or rain?

Rain

18. Cooking or eating out?

Cooking

19. Spicy or mild food?

Fun story time I ate a Carolina Reaper this weekend and it was glorious. So. Spice

20. Halloween/Samhain or solstice/yule/Christmas?

Halloween/Samhain

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot?

Cold for fucking sure save me from the south

22. If you could have a superpower what would it be?

manipulation of subatomic particles

23. Animation or live action?

animation

24. Paragon or renegade?

The fuck?

25. Bath or shower?

Shower

26. Team Cap or team Ironman?

Team Cap

27. Fantasy or sci-fi?

Fantasy

28. Do you have 3 or 4 favorite quotes if so what are they?

Plus ratio quam vis (let reason prevail over force)

We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us

But to help folks along with a hand and a song/why there’s the real sunshine of living! 

Carry on, carry on/ fight the good fight and true/ believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer/ there’s big work to do, and that’s why you’re here  (seriously read “Carry On” by Robert Service it’s full of beauty like this)

29. YouTube or Netflix?

Youtube I guess

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson?

HP FOR LIFE

31. When do you feel accomplished?

I survived this week dead tired? I feel pretty accomplished right now

32. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Star Trek

33. Paperback books or hardcover books?

Hardcover

34. Fantastic beasts or Cursed child?

Fantastic Beasts is a beautiful addition to the world of Harry Potter and Cursed Child can leave

35. Rock or pop music?

Rock

36. What is the most important thing in your life?

The relationships I have with those around me

37. Mountains or sea/ocean?

Ocean but at the same time I want both

38. How do you express yourself?

I’ve been vomiting emotions into poetry that will never see the light of day lately

39. What’s the first book/film that really counted to you?

Harry Potter

40. What’s your element (air, water, etc.)?

Earth

41. What was the last thing that made you super happy?

A friend might be visiting me this summer and I made ungodly squeaking noises of happiness

I Tag: whoever wants to I’m too tired to tag rn

[livefreeshop]

Marrow:  Today a 51S crewmember collected breath and ambient air samples for the Marrow investigation which looks at the effect of microgravity on bone marrow. It is believed that microgravity, like long-duration bed rest on Earth, has a negative effect on the bone marrow and the blood cells that are produced in the bone marrow. Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) Configuration for Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME): The crew configured the CIR optics bench that will be used to support the ACME investigation. Due to the amount of hardware requiring installation, configuration activities took a couple of days this week to complete. The ACME investigation is a set of five independent studies of gaseous flames to be conducted in the CIR. ACME’s primary goal is to improved fuel efficiency and reduced pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth. Its secondary goal is to improve spacecraft fire prevention through innovative research focused on materials flammability. Sarcolab-3: Today a USOS subject ingressed the Muscle Atrophy Research & Exercise System (MARES) chair, located in the Columbus module, while a Russian operator collected ultrasound images of the subject’s right leg during exercise activities. This completed the third and final day of the ankle configuration exercises, which were performed by three different USOS and Russian crewmembers. Later today, the MARES hardware was re-configured to support tomorrow’s knee configuration exercises. The data collected for Sarcolab-3 will be compared to pre and post-flight measurements to assess the impact of hypothesized microgravity induced muscle loss. Myotendinous and Neuromuscular Adaptation to Long-term Spaceflight (Sarcolab) investigates the adaptation and deterioration of the soleus (calf muscle) where it joins the Achilles tendon, which links it to the heel and carries loads from the entire body. Muscle fiber samples are taken from crew members before and after flight, and analyzed for changes in structural and chemical properties. MRI and ultrasound tests and electrode stimulation are conducted to help assess muscle and tendon changes caused by microgravity exposure. Multi-Omics-Mouse Consolidation:  Following the successful completion and return of the Multi-Omics investigation last week, the crew completed item consolidation tasks and returned the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) back to its nominal configuration.  EVA Preparation:  In preparation for the upcoming EVAs, the crew completed Enhanced Caution and Warning System (EWCS) training and EMU battery charging.  S-Band String 2 Troubleshooting: Yesterday, the ground team swapped S-Band string 1 to string 2 to gain confidence in its performance. On August 6, 2017, String 2 S-Band/UHF Audio Interface (AUAI)-1P showed intermittent functionality after an AUAI Passive Built-In Test (PBIT) fault indication. Space to Ground (S/G) audio on channels 1 and 2 became unusable. Functionality was recovered by switching to S-band string 1. Since the event, multiple attempts to duplicate the signature have been unsuccessful. The plan is to remain on string 2 until the schedule USOS EVAs in early October. Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. ESA-PAO-RAI PRIX ASI Biomission script recording In Situ message recording PERSEO message recording ESA-PAO-CORRIERE Virtual Reality Training (VRT) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) Extravehicular Activity Mobility Unit (EMU) Enhanced Caution and Warning System (ECWS) On-Board Training ESA-PAO-GUGGENHEIM IMS Delta file prep Handover of Increment 53 Crew Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos web site and social media Vacuum cleaning ventilation grille on FGB interior panels (201, 301, 401) ECON-M. Observation and photography Multi-Omics-Mouse Item Consolidation ISS Crew Orientation Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Backup Power Retrieve Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config JEM Setup Crew Prep for PAO Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis Combustion Integrated Rack Hardware Gather TV conference with the participants of the Space Lesson Environmental Health System (EHS) Grab Sample Container (GSC) Sampling Operations MARES Ankle Shaving Preparation COSMOCARD. Closeout Ops Marrow Breath And Ambient Air Sample Setup – Subject SARCOLAB (MARES) Ultrasound 2 Powerup MARES Ultrasound session FGB Gas Analyzer Vacuum Cleaning XF305 Camcorder Setup СОЖ maintenance Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) Power Cable Connection Ultrasound 2 Guided Data Export Columbus Video Camera Assembly 2 Adjustment MARES subject electrodes equipment Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain Verification of ИП-1 Flow Sensor Position CALCIUM. Experiment Session 4 Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain Part 2 Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) – Lab Adjustment of БД-2 passive mode SW ratio Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill [ABORTED] Environmental Health System (EHS) – Coliform Water Sample Analysis 44 +/- 4 hours post processing Crew Medical Officer (CMO) On Board Training (OBT) Combustion Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open Combustion Integrated Rack Optics Bench Configuration 2 for ACME Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation Human Research Facility Ultrasound 2 power off and stowage MARES Power On and Battery Charge MARES knee configuration installation Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3 Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Terminate Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Initiation MARES Battery Charge control Combustion Integrated Rack Optics Bench Translation In On-board Training (OBT) ISS Emergency Hardware Familiarization Combustion Integrated Rack Rack Doors Close MARES Knee configuration fit check Integrated Emergency Procedure Review EPM Laptop relocation for files downlink preparation CONTENT. Experiment Ops Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record EPM Laptop relocation to MARES Completed Task List Activities HMS CCPK Cleanup 52S Unpack Activities Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Standard commanding Three-Day Look Ahead: Thursday, 09/21: Sarcolab, Mouse Habitat Closeout, Rodent Research 9 Audit, EVA Prep, BEAM Ops, Node 3 IMV Fan Cleaning Friday, 09/22: Sarcolab, ELF Sample Refill, Advanced NanoStep, FIR Troubleshooting Saturday, 09/23: Housekeeping, Crew Off-Duty  QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:   Component Status Elektron On Vozdukh Manual [СКВ] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) Off           [СКВ] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 […] September 20, 2017 at 10:00AM from NASA https://go.nasa.gov/2jLISBo via IFTTT