#Depending on how big of an overhaul this becomes

[bonefall]

instead of asking what parts of wind you’ll be getting rid of, i’ll instead ask what parts you’re keeping. the list is shorter then haha

FROSTPAW AND WHISTLEPAW.

Best part of Wind is the bond between these two, in fact, the entire plot about WindClan felt like it dropped out of the alternate universe where the books are good. The sudden dream of catastrophe, the way StarClan gave Frostpaw this sign on purpose to make them know she's legitimate, Whistlepaw injuring herself to try and save her little sister... Even the little details, like Nightcloud and Hootwhisker trying to drag the tree by the trunk, were neat to see.

I Dont Rewrite Arcs Until They Are Done BUT I do know that I'm going to elevate and expand what's going on with Frost and Whistle. They're fantastic.

Another small thing I'm actually planning on keeping is this exchange between Squilf and Jayfeather, which you'll probably find surprising since I'm so open about how much I dislike the way they've made Squilfstar less proactive;

In a better book, I think this could have been a GREAT moment.

What I dislike about this exchange is that Squilf is able to rebuke it, because the writers DO feel that Bramblestar was a good leader. They're trying to show that Squilfstar is going to act more "mature" (read: boring) with her role now, probably to make a point about how Bramblestar wasn't being "indecisive" for the 10 years we were stuck with him but "responsible." Basically, she gets the power and finds out it isn't so easy-- I'll even bet at some point in the next arc or two she'll become frustrated by someone acting the way she used to.

I've seen some people praising this, and like, it's not illegal to have bad taste. But I think this is an AWFUL thing to do with a character who could have finally caused interesting things to happen, on top of just feeling like contempt of criticism on behalf of the writers.

"Ohhhh they thought she would be more decisive than our beloved baby boy, WELL, WE'LL SHOW THEM. You will sit through 10 paragraphs of debate no matter WHO is in charge!!!"

But like I said....... in a better book, this could have been great. If this was a wake-up call for her.

Suddenly experiencing the full weight of responsibility upon herself, she stops making bold decisions. The complicated political situation in front of her, individual opinions of her Clan around her, and the wounded glares of the furious Brambleclaw below her are all acting like briar vines, pulling her down.

Even StarClan itself seems to have placed a weight on her, cats who she's followed faithfully and been punished by.

So Jayfeather, with all of the changes he has in BB, brawling with angels, speaking defiance to the stars, and pulling spirits down from the heavens, is the perfect cat to be honest with her.

I'm still trying to find a good way to describe the electricity between them in this moment. BB!Jayfeather once reached up his paw through the veil between life and death to grab her ankle and fetch her from her own trial, knowing that she wanted to keep living. He's part of whatever motion she took to remove Bramblestar from power. Her son, her cleric, her ally. How do I put these emotions into words?

"Did you come this far just to become someone else?"

Just... what a moment it could be. For this to be the second that Squilfstar realizes in spite of everything, Bramblestar's thorns still jab at her. That she has to move forward, DAMN the uncertainty, by being herself.

[glamman]

Here is some information about the Hazbin Villianz AU!

❗️DISCLAIMER: THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR BOTH HAZBIN HOTEL AND THE BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA SERIES!❗️

The Logo

Story

The Hazbin Villianz AU is an AU that takes place after the events of Boku No Hero Academia within the afterlife. This will be focusing more on the big, bad villains who have died during the events of Boku No Hero Academia (however, there are a few exceptions for non canon deaths) and seeing how they would do within a more extreme setting such as the Hellaverse.

Author's Note

For those who are unaware, the concept of the Hellaverse was created by Vivziepop, the creator of Hazbin Hotel. This is not a crossover between characters from both fandoms but is instead a crossover between two very unique concepts and seeing how they mesh together. I'm literally throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks with this AU.

Main Characters

Shigaraki Tomura/Tenko Shimura

Toga Himiko

Dabi/Touya Todoroki

Magne/Kenji Hikiishi

Twice/Jin Bubaigawara

Spinner/Iguchi Shuichi

Mr. Compress/Atsuhiro Sako

Kurogiri/Oboro Shirakumo

Side Characters

Muscular/Goto Imasuji

Moonfish

All For One

Overhaul/Kai Chisaki

Endeavor/Enji Todoroki

The Shimura Family

The Todoroki Family

Background Characters/Minor Characters

The Creature Rejection Clan

Other Deceased Villains and Heroes

Random Civillians of Hell and Heaven

Episode Ideas

I'm not 100% certain with these episode ideas, so don't be surprised if I change some things. BTW, the episodes are not in order, and the titles are not the actual episode titles, just keywords!

20-25 Minute Episodes

Episode 1 : An Unexpected Reunion (Part 1)

Introduction to first group of main characters. This will reveal each of their goals, problems, family, and some new friends that they have made within Hell. It is unknown whether this is mere fate or just a big coincidence that they were able to reunite.

Episode 2 : An Unexpected Reunion (Part 2)

The second half of the main characters will be introduced and will reveal a bit more about Hell's society as the group tries to get comfortable in their new home for all of eternity.

Episode 3 : New Life, New Powers

The group comes to realize that their quirks are nonexistent within Hell. Instead, they develop new abilities depending on how long they've been in hell. There is not a set in stone moment where demons develop their new supernatural abilities, so they'll have to figure out how to activate them when they wish to use them.

Episode ??? : Family Matters

Another unexpected reunion between Touya and his father, Enji Todoroki, who ended up in hell due to the issues he created within their family. Will begin to introduce the societal standards between Heaven and Hell.

Episode ??? : Research Squad

While researching in the library for information about demon abilities, they can't seem to get any clues as to when or how to develop their abilities further. As the group splits up to find more information, Shigaraki finds a mysterious man who may know something about what they are looking for.

Episode ??? : Extermination

One day, the group is curious as to why demons are more frantic and even going as far as barricading themselves within their homes and buildings. After a bit of investigating, they come to realize that the yearly extermination is almost upon them.

(There are so many more ideas that I could list, but I'm too lazy to do so.)

Sooo... Will this become an actual series?

Well, since I started making this AU by doodling BNHA as Hellaverse characters, I'm not entirely sure what the overall plot would entail. But I will definitely be making fan art and doodles for this AU. So, I guess we'll have to wait and see!

[pikahlua]

The problem is that even if it's supposed to be bittersweet and the message is that they can't save everyone, there are other factors in this story that make it look weird. All of AFO's major victims end up dying. Tomura being saved spiritually but not physically, becoming a martyr and "inspiring" the future generation of heroes is Tomura becoming another Yoichi. The story doesn't need another Yoichi, we already have one. If we're supposedly breaking the cycle here, wouldn't it make more sense for this "Yoichi" to actually escape AFO in full?

I do want to combine these two, because the problem is you're saying I'm implying all this stuff that I am literally on the record disagreeing with.

1. I didn't say the message IS they can't save everyone, I said that Izuku and All Might both acknowledge they can't save everyone. That's a big distinction. This is about Izuku's and All Might's sense of dissatisfaction and the solutions they come up with for this problem. What do you do WHEN you can't save everyone? That doesn't mean Tomura won't be saved. Hell, the story already posited that his heart was saved. The question is whether or not his life will be saved, and as I've said, any answer to that question can lead to an interesting outcome depending on how it's handled.

2. It is not true all of AFO's major victims die. Touya and Overhaul are alive. Himiko Toga, Spinner, and Kurogiri's statuses are currently unknown. Depending on how you wanna define "major victim," Izuku and Katsuki and All Might and Endeavor and Aoyama all survive, too. You're just talking about the vestiges (who were always dead characters) and the Shimura family.

3. I disagree that Tomura is a martyr. Just because his life inspired people doesn't make his death martyrdom. If Tomura's death sticks, he didn't die for what he believes in or to make a point or to stay true to himself. He didn't kill himself. His body was already crumbling, and AFO was about to abandon it to turn to dust. Whether or not Tomura changed his beliefs or identity in some way would have had no impact on whether or not he still would have died. He just showed up at the end to exact vengeance on AFO for what was done to him, despite the fact that they were both on their way out anyway. The only control Tomura had over his death was whether or not he'd do anything before it happened, and he did. That's a testament to his character and how he would behave in the face of death, but it's not the same thing as being a martyr. I bring this up because you're throwing a lot of assumptions about the story around as if you and I are on the same page. If anything, I've noticed I disagree with so many people on what Tomura's death even entailed, let alone the meaning behind it.

4. You have to understand, your talk about "the story doesn't need another Yoichi" and "breaking the cycle" is your reading. I never talked about breaking any cycle here. You're assuming that's the point, but I don't know if that's the point. There are many cycles that are still quite preserved in the story. Why wouldn't we need another Yoichi if another Yoichi just refers to a person who pays it forward? A person who believes in others and entrusts their legacy and dreams to them without forcing that other person to BECOME them? The story has never criticized characters for being inspiring, not even All Might. This leads into my next point.

5. I am so vocally on the record even just recently as saying I do not believe the theme is simply "this generation is better than the old one." I do not agree with the implication that Izuku getting out of All Might's shadow means his admiration is bad or part of a cycle that needs to be broken. "You're next" was a detriment to Izuku because Izuku took it as a message meant only for him when in fact it really was a message for everyone. Izuku took away a message that he should separate himself from others, but the true message was that everyone should come together. Everyone includes the old generation. The new generation is taking what the old generation gave them and improving on it with their own ideas and feelings, but they're not breaking what the old generation made. They are continuing the struggle in trying to make things better with each generation knowing that they will never see the completion of the thing they strive for. This is the natural cycle of human social struggle, and it is a struggle that will continue forever.

I'm not saying the ending as we have it now is good--because it's not even complete. I'm saying that there are things Horikoshi is consistent about, and there is POTENTIAL for Tomura's death to work well. I'm not saying Tomura is going to stay dead. The point I'm really getting at is that we can receive messages from stories all we like, but that doesn't make them the intended ones, ESPECIALLY when the story in question is not yet finished. If the Japanese readership is getting an entirely different feeling out of what's happened, it stands to reason that there are some cultural context points the western fandom is missing. I am open to the messages I read being incorrect, and I have revised my criticisms each time it has happened. I am open to learning whatever message Horikoshi has in store, no matter the outcome. And I am interested in understanding it as best I can even if my understanding is limited by my not being the intended audience. There is a lot I could be missing that I still need to learn, and it would be arrogant of me to presume I understand everything about this story's presentation the first time through. That makes it worthwhile for me to see what has remained consistent with my reading and what has not.

[robotlesbianjavert]

What's the problem with Deku's writing?

well for one he's a main character. which is strike one.

technically that's a joke but also not. there's a lot angles i could take in order to complain about deku, so for now i want to take the angle that as a main character, there are things that are going to be taken for granted as endgame for the narrative, but it's so taken for granted that the story forgets about the actual material needed to reach the endgame.

i'm going to use ofmd s2 as an example of this, because it's another thing i like to point at and go :) bad writing. so for that, it's very evident that the writers are aiming for "ed and stede are together and are ready to embark on a new, more mature phase of their life together". you can tell this because the showrunner was constantly talking about it in interviews. and indeed, the season ends with ed and stede parting ways with their crew and pirate life to try their hands as innkeepers.

but to reach that endgame, the series has to a) get stede and ed back together as soon possible, meaning they have to lean heavily on coincidence rather than any real efforts on the part of the characters, b) resolve the very emotionally stark situations the characters had left s1/started s2 in a way that makes the happy innkeeper endgame possible, but this makes the segue from drama to resolution unbelievable because the series can't really dedicate the time to dealing with that fallout before hopping onto the next big issue, which c) means that the ways that the other characters have been hurt as a result ed and stede's relationship drama have their pain sidelined and shrugged off, and in turn d) the focus on ensuring that ed and stede are together and in love means that their relationships with other characters get de-emphasized and feel much less lived, which rebounds and makes ed and stede feel more one-dimensional without the magic that fleshed them out. and most dire of all e) the audience is expected to believe that "sorry i was a dick" "you're not a dick life's a dick" is meant to indicate a development of maturity that means they are able to go off and be innkeepers together. it is NOT there.

essentially, the focus on a specific endgame without care about how that endgame is achieved ends up undercutting the triumph and catharsis of that endgame, rendering it much more hollow. people still enjoyed ofmd s2, and they're allowed to! but they enjoy it because their otp ended the season standing next to each other. three feet part. not for any genuine critical acclaim.

it's a similar issue with deku, especially in this final arc. his obvious endgame is that he'll affirm shigaraki's humanity and pain, "save" him (what that looks like yet, we don't know), and in turn become the greatest hero. we've got all the bones of that - just recently in 411, deku did his whole "you ARE human" declaration. but the lead up to deku and shigaraki's confrontation is thematically shallow and heavily dependent on us knowing that deku is a great kid and a great hero.

deku starts the third act realizing that if he understood the villains that he's faced, things could have turned out differently - the set up is that deku has to understand shigaraki as a person in order to stop him. the lead up to this is. well he asks muscular "what's up with you" one time in the middle of battle. that didn't work out. and then he had his nagant confrontation, where he was more shocked about her killing the former commission president than he was about the commission ordering a lot of evil assassinations. and then never thought about what that meant for society at large. and he was just like "well i know the world has some greys in it now" and that fixed her i guess. overhaul was there and deku made no real effort there to get why he was so frantic about seeing his boss. and then he has that conversation with ochaco where they both go "isn't it crazy that we have empathy for villains".

so basically the most work that he actually put into "understanding villains" was with nagant, who is a completely new character who has the baggage of "hero commission assassin is ANYONE in series gonna talk about that", and the potential she possesses as a shigaraki foil and a stepping stone for deku towards his endgame gets muddled. she's also basically, while a significant confrontation, is one beat of many in the third act.

so the set up for "understanding villains" as a factor in deku's endgame, in seeing villains as human, is pretty weak. and deku was honestly really dependent on getting that build up and using other villains as a learning experience, bc his actual dynamic with shigaraki is sparse. compare it to uraraka and toga - the "understanding" thread fares a lot better there, because uraraka has had specific and charged interactions with toga that deeply affected her and made her think. deku's most constructive interaction with shigaraki was way back at the mall, before the training camp, but that's not enough to carry chemistry through their supposed arc as hero & villain.

but the story already knows that deku, one way or another, is meant to succeed, so it acts like he received the necessary development to be able to understand shigaraki as human in their confrontation.

there's a similar lack of meat for many other aspects of deku's characters - like his relationship with the vestiges, where yoichi could be 2nd and 3rd around on deku's behalf, and his mastering of the new ofa quirks, which we get TOLD has consequences or that he's struggling with, but it's never in a way that actually causes him substantial issues that he must overcome.

but actually, we can move all of that aside and ask one simple question about deku's character: what does he think about the floating death coffin the other heroes built for shigaraki?

deku gets confronted by the vestiges about having to possibly kill shigaraki, and his response to that is "yeah i guess but i gotta try saving him". which is very nice, but it just ends there. deku doesn't have to deal with how everyone else - people who are scared, or have been hurt by shigaraki and the villain's actions - might feel about this initiative. at no point does deku have to stand his ground against the other heroes after shigaraki's head, he doesn't have to convince anyone of his point of view, he doesn't have to look inward and understand why he wants to do this. it's just "well if i can!"

deku doesn't have to have any thoughts about the floating death coffin. he never has to be in scene with it before it started malfunctioning. he doesn't have to have any opinions about its construction, about the heroes deciding to take this path. he doesn't need to have feelings about it, he just has to save shigaraki.

and when that happens, the narrative will celebrate him, and the heroes will be like "wow deku really is the greatest hero, kids these days are so great". they don't need to have thoughts about deku wanting to do this in the first place, because it's going to happen and no one can stop it.

in a similar way that some ofmd fans can walk away happy with season 2 because they don't need anything more than their otp standing together three feet apart, a lot of fans would be happy with deku and shigaraki's likely endgame because what matters is that deku is the hero and that he saves shigaraki. but from where i'm standing, deku has so little substance and build up to this endgame (or at least the build up is THERE, but poorly done) that it's hard for me to be impressed.

also everything @codenamesazanka said here. everything she says i nod and go hell yeah.

[galactipunks]

Second evil homebrew D&D mechanic thing that I thought up because I wanted to make an entire sci-fi TTRPG before realizing that's too much for me: DICE ROLLS

This is likely going to feel like a pretty petty overhaul in comparison to alignment, and that's because it is! I don't like ability/skill checks in D&D for petty reasons. Specifically, I really dislike how the system is so heavily built around the d20 yet feels designed to make the d20 less impactful the stronger you get as modifiers completely overtake things. This wouldn't be enough to ruin it, but the existence of critical rolls (a genuinely great mechanic by itself) and the fact that roll outcomes in roleplay are dynamic rather than being binary completely messes the system up. In the worst case scenario, positive modifiers can become so ludicrous that anything but a 1 means success, the impact of seeing the big 20 number ceases to exist because characters are rolling numbers well above it and it becomes impossible to immediately understand what outcome you rolled because you have to go through every modifier that's active and also process what it looks like to roll a 26.

So, how about we make up a system where you calculate modifiers first, then roll? Well, it's time to mash two TTRPGs together. This is probably not the cleanest way of adding this, but it's the one I went with. Also, this is only for ability/skill checks because I have no idea how to translate this over to combat rolls or saving throws and I'm fine with how D&D handles those.

First of all, d20 is gone. We use a d100 now for these rolls. Secondly, modifiers are calculated prior to the roll and added together to form a "Modifier Value" which is restricted to the range of -10 to +20. Thirdly, outcomes are now pre-defined with 10 different possible outcomes that are split 50/50 between failure outcomes and success outcomes. These range in intensity from minor, medium, major, massive to cataclysmic/tremendous (this last intensity is very unique and I'll go over it later).

How this comes together is like this: You calculate your modifiers and add them together into a single value, roll the d100 and then see what outcome you get depending on the roll and your modifier. The value interval for each possible outcome depends entirely on the modifier value. Here's the full table of every interval for every modifier value:

It's horrible and I love it

Now, you can roll the dice first and calculate modifiers and see what outcome you get after. But this system is intentionally designed so you can have the roll be the last thing you do in determining your outcome. Would this system be better than the d20 and not make the game more cumbersome? No clue!!!

There is one BIG positive with this system though and that's how advantage/disadvantage is overhauled. Rather than having you roll twice and pick the higher/lower roll, they now "push" the outcome up or down in intensity respectively. So if you had a minor success with advantage, it'd become a medium success. If you had a medium success with disadvantage, it'd become a minor success. If you had a minor success with disadvantage, it'd become a minor failure. What's more important though is that they can now stack to become Major Advantage/Disadvantage. These do the same, but push the outcome twice as far. So a medium success with major advantage would become a massive success. Major advantage/disadvantage cannot stack with normal advantage/disadvantage, but it can stack with itself to become a guaranteed success/failure.

Lastly, let's talk about the very unique outcomes of Catastrophic Failure and Tremendous Success. These work differently from normal outcomes in that they are not achievable through normal means at all. The only way to get them is to either have a very high/low modifier value and roll very high/low, or push an outcome into them through advantage/disadvantage. Because of this, their effects are deliberately insane and unbalanced. Tremendous Success is not only a guaranteed success against literally anything (including actions that literally break reality) but also makes the character auto-succeed in every future roll related to that action for the rest of the scenario. While Catastrophic Failure produces not only an absolute worst possible outcome, but punishes the character in a way that's deliberately meant to infuriate either the DM or player controlling them (I'm talking really mean stuff like having the character's equipment literally break and be permanently removed from their inventory). While this may sound very extreme, there would be the caveat that players/DM must always know if they can roll these outcomes or not. This means that you're told beforehand that these outcomes are possible and it is an active choice by you to roll for them regardless.

So how exactly would all of this work in practice? I don't know! I haven't tried it in practice! This system was originally designed to work together with a setting-specific overhaul of abilities and skills, but you could definitely just add it into regular D&D without changing anything else and see if it works. I likely won't go over those change to abilities and skills, as they're pretty minor and just related to porting D&D stuff into a sci-fi setting. The only real interesting aspect was cybernetics, which acted as ability "limit breaks" that would let you get insanely high stats in them at the caveat of being super rare and expensive. They also carried unique resistances/vulnerabilities, had to be attuned to and had a soft limit that required you to become a full-on cyborg through a brain cybernetic if you wanted to get more of them. There'd also be no "loss of humanity" mechanic with cybernetics because that STINKS and their appearance is completely up the player/DM, with the only caveat being that very strong cybernetics had to be very blatantly visible for balancing reasons. If any of this sounds interesting, try it! It'd be really cool to actually see someone use these systems I've come up so they can discuss every way in which they're flawed. I really need some stress-testing for these ideas. I still have not played any D&D myself.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Here is the original mcmansion renovation post if you would like to see the urls and do your own searching. I dont know who the second censored url is, I saw a different reblog chain.

https://www.tumblr.com/kweza/719229017030541312

I suppose the censoring is to prevent dog piling or accusations of whatever it is drama blogs like to do, but it feels like a silly thing to then in the same post point out how obvious the trad wives are.

I personally find it more shocking that people apparently thought a landlord did that. In my experience, when I landlord buy an old victorian they dont intend to also live in, they MIGHT renovate enough to local legal regulation standards. But usually they just assume the previous owner had done enough modernizing and then proceed to slap some landlord paint on everything including radiators, door hinges, and light switches.

Thank you! One of my friends also found it for me.

And yeah, like I said, without the URl the takeaway becomes "look at this obvious tradwife [based on the views expressed in the post and nothing else]!" Which can lead to some Unfortunate Assumptions about anyone who agrees with that ONE SPECIFIC POST she made

(seriously my ex-girlfriend/current friend reblogged the original post, and she's a leftist queer law student presently in a polyamorous relationship)

as for landlords...it depends in my experience. they tended to do more back when the houses were truly untouched, usually in the 1930s-1980s. most of those apartments I mentioned having lived in, while not Victorian- but then, neither was the house in the original post -had been extensively renovated before my landlords ever entered the picture. it also depends on who they're trying to rent to. a landlord might overhaul a house more extensively if they're planning to rent to wealthy tenants, in some places

of course, flippers are a BIG part of the problem. there's a demographic with the "don't give a shit" attitude of landlords and the "want to give this the most generic/currently trendy appeal possible" and money of rich asshole private owners with popular Instagram accounts. make it look Hip and do it cheaply- the worst of both worlds

at least a private homeowner could be persuaded to just buy a new house. a flipper wants to get the cheapest house possible (often an old house) and pour their budget into hyper-modernizing it

now, I WILL blame landlords (or property management companies) for the soulless look of new buildings. they want the broadest possible appeal, with as many corners cut as possible. ergo, open-concept glass tower apartments with everything white and crap quality inside. fun.

[nutzgunray-lvt]

The Eri Problem

I'm going to get some flack for this, but I've never been a fan of Eri. Yeah, she's a cute kid who was dealt an awful hand in life, but I hate the way she's written/placed in the story. I think she could have been so much more if different things were done with her character, but as things stand right now, she's just a walking-talking plot device. I'll try and break down why I'm not a fan of how she's been written thus far and what it means for the story thus far:

(sidenote: this has some anti Bakugou and anti Aizawa elements, as well as some UA critical ranting, so it's also been tagged as such)

1. Her backstory

Her backstory sounds like something straight out of fanfiction, and while other people may like that (I'm not judging if you do), I'm just not a fan of it. You have characters with much more realistic backstories such as Izuku (absent father, mercilessly bullied due to being Quirkless), Shoto (hospitalized mother, has an extremely famous public figure for a father that happens to be abusive), and Kota (hero parents were killed in the line of duty when he was a toddler, raised by his aunt as a result of that).

Then you have Eri: she erased her father from existence on accident (she also has no birth certificate for whatever reason), causing her mother to hate/fear her to the point where she's put in the care of the Yakuza. The head of the Yakuza - who happens to be her maternal grandfather - becomes unable to care for her, leading Overhaul to experiment on her for his Quirk erasing bullets. She then gets taken in by Eraserhead and the staff of UA. In fanfiction (depending on how it's done), I wouldn't mind seeing this, but seeing this done in canon just doesn't sit with me.

2. Her Quirk

I'm not saying anything new here, given that this is by far the most debated thing about her, but her Quirk just lowers the stakes of the story to me. Why should I worry about Mirio being Quirkless when we all know that Eri's going to restore his Quirk? For that matter, why don't they have her restore Aizawa's leg and eye? Why don't they have her restore All Might back to his prime? If they have her do one of these things, why not have her do the other two?

3. Her Role

The above two points kind of converge into this one, and I think it's one of the biggest reasons why I have such a problem with her character: she HATES her Quirk (for totally valid reasons, I'd hate Rewind if I had it), yet is used by UA to restore Mirio's Quirk with no consideration for her own feelings on the matter. That doesn't sit right with me, and I've seen a few other people agree.

She's also used to rehabilitate Aizawa and Bakugou's images without giving them proper character development.

Aizawa is a mess of a man who has no business taking care of any child, regardless of their age. I understand that pragmatically, he's the best option until she gains control of her Quirk, but we don't even see him take care of her! Whenever she's trotted out in the story for her designated cute moments, he more often than not just leaves her in the care of his class. I will give him props for sacrificing his leg for her sake, but that's just about the only big "bonding" moment that they have. People often point to Aizawa's relationship with Eri as evidence that he's not just some asshole teacher, but that just raises a question for me: if he supposedly cares for his students as much as he does for Eri, why don't we see him loosening up on his assholery towards them? Why don't we see him reflecting on his frankly horrible treatment of them (Izuku in particular) and resolving to try and do better? In the light novels, we see how much Eri adores Izuku (wanting Santa to visit him as well, asking if Izuku was okay when he ran off to get the candy apples to surprise her with), which would have been a perfect set up for this.

*bonus complaint, but how can these teachers take such good care of Eri and then turn around and pretend to kidnap the parents of Class 1A for Parents Day? How can they just sit by and let Bakugou treat everyone around him the way he does? How can they say that they see these kids as their own children if they not only do nothing to help Izuku, Aoyama, and Kaminari control their Quirks, but they let Izuku drop out of UA to go fight All For One and Shigaraki? How can they ignore all of the child abuse red flags Todoroki throws up? How can Midnight make outright sexual comments that canonically make the students uncomfortable?

In the 6th light novel, she's also used to teach Bakugou to not be such an asshole 24/7. I don't even need to get into why leaving a traumatized 6 year with such a mean-spirited bully is a horrible idea... then again, Aizawa thought he could resolve the bad blood between Izuku and Bakugou by forcing them to work together, and we all know how well that turned out (Bakugou backhanding Izuku and outright stating he'd rather fail than work with Izuku), so what the hell do I know?

In my honest opinion, Eri would have been much happier if she had somehow gotten her Quirk erased and was taken in by Mirio and his family. She could still be in the story, but more along the lines of how Kota is in the story: very occasionally popping up to show their recovery and their love for Izuku.

Maybe they could even start an Izuku fanclub together.

[divineerdrick]

Warhammer 40,000 Balance Update for October 16, 2024: State of the Game and Warhammer Community Article

Warhammer 40,000 is in a great state!

Warhammer 40,000 is in an awful state!

Which of these statements you agree with might depend on what kind of player you are or what discussion we're having.

From the point of balance, 40K is in one of the best states it's ever been in. The balance is really tight right now with only three factions peeking above a 55% win rate and no factions, other than two important outliers, dropping below 45%. You can genuinely win a game of 40K, and even a competitive 40K event, with any army. And for armies with multiple detachments, there are usually multiple ways you can play and win. All of this is fantastic!

However not everyone is happy, and with good reason. Back when I did my reactions to Pariah Nexus I was genuinely impressed and excited by the level of obvious time and effort the 40K Team had put into the new season. And while there were problems, I still think that having a 40K Team that is willing to make those kind of overhauls to the game is a good thing. But not everyone agrees with that.

GW's determination to maintain expensive physical rule books, while pursuing digital updates, but while not properly maintaining a digital rule set, has become a sticking point with many fans. What's the point in buying expensive rule books when they'll be out of date in less than a month? Why buy unit cards if their stats can be out of date? You might think that this a grognard thing that only older players like me care about. But I played a game with a player less than half my age who had gotten what they thought they needed to play, and became frustrated when I tried to play with the most up to date rules. Despite being chronically online like most of their generation, they'd still bought physical products from a store and had the expectation they could be used to play the game with anyone.

But even if you're a digital only person, GW really isn't catering to you either. If you go to Warhammer Community and download the Core Rules, it's basically the same one they released when 10th Edition dropped last year. There's no reason for Core Rules changes to not be reflected in this document. If you want the most up to date rules, you need to use the 40K app. But there's no way to just use the app either, even if you pay for a subscription! If you want the rules for your army, you still have to go and buy a book. And those books have never been a worse value when it comes to content.

And even if all that is still fine for you, you might still be overwhelmed by just how fast things get updated. The plan for updates has always been for rules to get updated every 6 months and points to get updated every 3 months. But there have been two problems with this. The first is that the rules updates have been massive! With all the changes to the game in the first year, we're almost playing in a new edition. Second, they haven't stuck to that rules release schedule. There were multiple rules changes in the first three months of the game including rules drops at what was supposed to be the first points only changes. Of the four major balance passes that we've had before this one, only one of them was just points. And there are rumors that this one will be no different.

Now if you're a competitive player, this probably isn't a big deal for you. You're probably playing lots of games and getting to experiment with a lot with each new set of rules. But what if you only get one game a week? Even one game a month? Imagine getting to play three or so games and then everything changes. Even if you are a competitive player, there's a point that happens in a good meta where players will start to experiment. We've been seeing that a lot in recent competitive events. But just as the best players are starting to show up with new and exciting builds, we're now going to turn the meta on its head again.

I honestly think that points updates should be every six months and rules updates should be yearly. But there's still a problem, and that's why these updates happened in the first place. And if you've followed me for a while, you know what I'm about to say here.

Three years is just too short of a cycle for a game of this size. It was especially bad with the transition between 9th and 10th because of how massive of an overhaul the rules got. At least for 8th to 9th, you could still use your old Codex. In 10th Guard and World Eaters players got to use their books for less than five months. But even in 8th and 9th edition, people were stuck waiting for their books as the new Codexes just completely outclassed the older rules. But the big problem is game balance. We wouldn't need all these rules changes if GW had enough time to balance and release the books. And it's extremely obvious with all the balance changes 10th has needed that they just don't.

On the whole, I still think it's good that GW is paying attention and trying to make the game as good as it can be. No edition is going to be perfect, no matter how much play-testing GW does. So the fact they're willing to make needed changes is extremely important. We just need them to change how the cadence of how they release and fix editions.

With all that out of the way, I said that the balance is currently great. So what do I think needs to change?

Current Balance

Right now the top dogs are Space Wolves, Sisters, and Thousand Sons. Sisters we all saw coming. Their book had released too close to Pariah Nexus for any serious overhauls, and only got the lightest of love taps. I'd also predicted Space Wolves weren't going to go anywhere either. While they did get some changes, I didn't think they'd be enough. The good news is you can now totally take a Champions of Russ build and succeed. I was wrong about KSons though. That army and its players are just built different. I honestly don't know what you can change to drop them down to where they need to be without making them fall through the floor though.

I was also wrong about Orks. Boy oh boy did they just get hammered! The double nerf to Mega Nobz combined with the nerfs to Green Tide just crushed them. I'd said I thought they went to far with Mega Nobz, but even then I didn't predict them becoming the worst faction in the game.

Then there's Space Marines and Imperial Agents. I and so many other players have talked at length about Space Marines. The TL;DR there is that there's no point in skilled players taking Codex Marines while the other Chapters have so many more good options. And I think only rules can fix this.

As for Imperial Agents, they just aren't a real army. Their army rule is just the core rules for detachments. Imagine being told what makes your army special and unique is that you get to do what every other army already gets to do, and all while Blood Angels and Dark Angels get to do that and then some. Some brave players have decided to take them for a spin, but we just don't have enough data on them to actually say anything. As for Deathwatch, GW appears to have turned around on them and has promised new rules later this year. I wouldn't expect anything this time around though.

Let's see what the team thinks about balance and where they're trying to go!

Okay! According to the article this is a points update with some FAQ and Errata. That's good! That means we're back on schedule! Now some FAQ or Errata can create effective rules changes, but hopefully we won't see anything to massive.

Looks like Drukhari are taking some hits with the big dogs. Drukhari honestly aren't in such a bad state. They're a niche faction that has some dedicated specialists that are performing really well with them. So hopefully they didn't go too far here. Thunderwolves are called out specifically though, so it's clear the team is as tired of how efficient Wolf Jail is as we are.

They also mentioned internal balance passes, so I'm expecting some factions to see other changes. Hopefully they've gotten better at these, as sometimes GW accidentally nerfs factions that need their best units to survive.

Orks and GSC are called out for buffs. But they're honestly not the only ones that need them. Custodes could really use some love as well, and, as always, Chaos Knights need to have their big boys brought down in cost.

Surge moves such as Endless Swarm and Accursed Cultists have had their rules clarified, rewritten, and made more universal. I honestly wasn't aware of too many issues here, but they must have been receiving a lot of questions, complaints, or just saw some potential problems.

The next update will apparently be later this year in December, when the Deathwatch changes were slated, instead of January. They call out Sisters, GSC, and Codex Marines for rules changes. More specifically, Miracle Dice and Cult Ambush will be getting changes, but they haven't mentioned anything specific for Marines yet. Hopefully they'll get something like a mini army rule to help give them some love. They need more than just some changes to their Epic Heroes.

With that, I'm going to go to a separate post where I go through the MFM and errata. I don't think I'll need to do a whole post for any individual factions, but we'll see.

[hazbinsinners]

BIG IMPORTANT UPDATE! PLEASE READ <3

--- i am turning this blog into a multimuse! angel will still be the default muse/main muse, but . . . i am so sick of waiting for blogs to get unshadowbanned and i already can't stand having blitzø be a sideblog, i'm SO bad at remembering to check where reblogs get posted.

so this blog! as of today! is going to become a multi! i'll have a full muse list in a few hours, but here are the MAIN muses!:

--angel dust --blitzø --vox --molly ( extremely canon divergent and headcanon based ) --arackniss ( extremely canon divergent and headcanon based ) --lucifer --alastor --rosie

and more! from this point forward, PLEASE try to remember to specify muse in asks! if you leave it blank, i will assume you meant angel, but still please specify that you are talking to angel to avoid any possible confusion!!!

thank you!!! this blog will be HEAVILY under construction for the next few hours at the very least. and there was one more thing i wanted to mention--

EDIT 2/15/24: VALENTINO'S BLOG IS FINALLY UNSHADOWBANNED! @lustpolilla GO INTERACT THERE! <3

ALSOOO this blog is gonna get a massive aesthetic and tag overhaul haha. i want fancy tags and stuff too !!! so.

TLDR: this blog is becoming a hazbin hotel / helluva boss multimuse, and i'm going to have it HEAVILY under construction for at least the next few hours or at worst the next few days, depending on how focused i manage to be. this blog's @ will ALSO be being changed! not really sure to what yet, but . . . bear that in mind!

okay i think that covers everything. thanks for reading !! xx

[thotsforvillainrights]

Hi! Been a long time fan. 💕

Hope you & the baby are doing well!

May I possibly bother you of getting something with my favorite birb Setsuno finding out he’s having a baby? 🥺

(Baby should be doing just fine! Made exactly 11 weeks today! For about 4 days uninterrupted I've been fighting the most gnarly morning sickness ever. Everything I eat and drink makes me sick. I'm sick from not eating and sick from eating. The only that works is chewing peppermint gum. Anyway, let me get off my ramble and churn out some good old Setsuno content. It's been a while since I've been able to do so!)

(Also again this one is pretty specific so I apologize if some readers can't insert into it! I'm open to writing a Setsuno and his partner adopting alternative later upon request!)

~Setsuno Becoming a Dad~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

-The overflow of emotions he feels in that very moment of you showing him the two pink lines on that stick just overwhelm him all at once. He at a loss for words. He doesn't even care that you just peed on it either. He grabs it gently and doesn't say a word as tears begin streaming down his face. When he finally gathers himself enough to speak to you, he just barely utters out an 'I'm going to be a father?' before looking at your watery eyes for confirmation. As you shake your head he immediately smiles widely and repeats himself much louder this time. That question no longer a question but now an exclamation so loud the neighbors hear it. "I'm going to be a father!!!"

-He literally calls out of work the next day much to Overhaul's dismay. He just wants to spend the whole day with you planning things. I mean sure you've talked about kids in the past and planned some stuff here and there but never on this scale. It's totally different now that its real! He spends the day asking whether or not you want to reveal it now and if not then how will you two do it later on? Of courser a few small people like his parents and your parent need to know early. Maybe your boss possibly so you can plan out parent leave as well? It just depends on how you want to go about things. Don't even get him started on the registry and the baby shower! He's big on planning everything out so don't be afraid to tell him if he's being a little bit hectic on you with everything at the moment. Everyone needs a break here and there.

-Oh you two finally get to take a day out to go baby clothes shopping early. You insist on getting a few gender neutral items since it's still too early to know the baby just yet but Toya swears in his heart it's gonna be a little girl. He gravitates toward small dresses and overalls with matching sun hats. "Look! She'll be so cute when the summer rolls around in this! We can take her to the beach and collect seashells!!!" Way too excited for the surrounding parents who need to back away from the crazy shouting man lol

-His favorite part so far has been staying up late with you in bed and going off your list of baby names together. Although he feels in his heart this will be a girl, he has a much fuller list of baby boy names than traditional girl names. His argument is that some of them can be interchanged.

-Has already put a 'baby on board' sticker on the car and the kid isn't even born yet. "You have to do it so the EMT can know there's a baby in case of an accident to tend to first. What if we forget about the sticker and really need it one day?"

-Has never lapsed in taking care of you, not one day. He even changed his shifts at the hassaikai and worked overtime just so he can be home at the right times to help take care of you. That means for you he's bringing all your craving foods and rubbing your belly all night if he needs to. Morning sickness if no match for him. He's at your feet with medication, ginger ale, and chewing gum. Whatever helps you, he's getting his hands on it. The only downside to his intense care is that you have to go to the doctor a lot more than most people. Any slight cramp or off putting feeling has him going into a frenzy over you to make sure the baby and you are okay. You'll certainly need to put your foot down here or the two of you will be spending more time at the doctor's office than at home.

-Don't even get me started on when your water breaks. The delivery is a whole other story!

[quibbs126]

So I remembered this one concept I made some years ago and I just wanted to sketch and talk about it

I talked about how maybe I needed a design overhaul, but since I’m not really sure how to do that, I went back to @droolingdemon imitation for now. Or at least, semi that. I wouldn’t say it looks…anything like their work

I had a lot of fun with the rough sketching of this group (Callous was a bit difficult though with his demon form), but realized I need to also do sketches of them that were nicer, which I had less fun with. Don’t think it turned out too bad though, I just need to figure out how to do sketch lines in this style, since I instead just do straight line art. Though maybe it’s also because I’m always looking at the reference image (the smaller screen of the entire picture thing). I don’t think I used that back when I first did the imitation style

I definitely messed up Callous’s hands in the bottom left though. I wasn’t really thinking about them tbh

But anyways, how about I talk about the characters here?

You know, I think I’m gonna try and be more concise with my points on the plot. I feel like with these things I ramble too much and it starts to become a bit incoherent

Okay, so basically this takes place in a world where humans summon demons from their realm via magic scrolls as basically servants. Our main human character, Pawky, summons a demon from a newly appeared scroll, this being our main demon character Callous, to help her with a quest by being her bodyguard, and that’s pretty much how the plot gets going

I don’t think I ever actually decided what quest she’s actually going on or what they’re doing. I haven’t worked on this for a very long time and a lot of the plot points that might have been there are lost on me. The things I do remember are vaguely how the demon thing works and Callous’s backstory. Mostly since I think those are the things I actually thought about

But I do know the two become friends by the end

So I’ve drawn Callous before, a long time ago, but I’ve never drawn Pawky, which was basically what I was trying to do here

Here’s the original drawing

I like how their designs look in the end though, at least the final pic (bottom right). Need to work on Callous’s demon form though

Okay so first up, origins. Of the story I mean

So basically this thing was inspired by this one au I saw back in my Dragon Ball days (so junior year high school) of basically a monster au, in which witch Bulma summons demon Vegeta for reasons I don’t remember. I don’t remember if it was part of a larger au or this was its own thing, since they did have a full on monster au too. Basically I just took the concept and made it original. Though I did later take out the romance aspect as I changed Callous. But the inspiration may be seen somewhat in their hair

Anyways, so let’s start with the whole demon summoning thing and how it works

Basically how it works is that demons get summoned with scrolls that end up magically appearing in the human world, and with summoning, demons can enter it

There’s different “levels” of demons depending on their power, with the low level ones being your common enemies like slimes and skeletons, stuff like that. They’re generally summoned in groups for proper effectiveness. Then there’s the middle group, which are usually part of a species, but are more powerful than the common enemies, things like manticores and such, but aren’t powerful enough to stand on their own. Then there’s the high level demons, who are so powerful they get their own personal scrolls

Callous is a high level demon

Now granted, the levels are a spectrum, there’s a big difference between the weakest member of the middle level and the strongest, while there likely isn’t as much between that weakest member and the strongest member of the low level. But there is a separation somewhere. Callous technically lies somewhere on the lower end of his spectrum

Demon scrolls usually pop up in the human realm once a demon is old enough or powerful enough, with Callous being the former

Now as for demon summoning, you can’t just do it willy nilly, it takes practice and training, sort of like alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist. And the higher level a demon, the more difficult they are to summon. But when summoned correctly, a demon will appear and the two strike a bargain, the human asking for them to do something, and the demon having to carry that out so that they can return to the demon realm. Though technically speaking it’s not really a bargain, the demons don’t have much say in what they have to do. And while the demon is summoned, they basically have to cater to the summoner’s wishes

If the imbalance of power seems unfair, yeah. I think the lore is that demons and humans fought a war that the humans ultimately (somehow) won, and this is the demons’ punishment for it

One big thing with demon summoning is that if someone of too little experience and power tries to summon a far more powerful demon, they run a very high risk of dying in the process, if not certain risk. And if a summoner dies while summoning a demon, then demons are ultimately left in a loophole where they can go about the demon realm with no limitations, which generally isn’t good. There are people who hunt down those rogue demons, but generally speaking to prevent these sorts of things, there are strict regulations and laws when it comes to distributing demon scrolls, to minimize the risk of this happening. Pawky is someone of a high enough experience that she can summon someone like Callous no problem

Also I’m just remembering, I think there may have been a character who was a Goku stand-in in this story, who’s one of these demon hunters. He’s a very friendly guy, but he has an absolute hatred of demons for one reason or another, and this puts him in conflict with Callous, who is a demon. He might not know Callous’s true nature due to him using a human disguise

I don’t remember why he’s using a human disguise, just that he is

Anyways so I think I’ve just about covered the world building, let’s finally get in to the characters, starting with Pawky

So I don’t have much to say on Pawky, mostly because I don’t remember much about her, if I even wrote stuff about her. She’s spunky and sassy, and she’s good at summoning demons. Also she’s an adult at least in her 20s. I don’t…really have much, that’s about it

As for Callous, he has a lot more going on

So Callous is a manticore, which is a mid level demon class, but he was able to rise up to a high level status on his own. Not only that but he was originally to be of a relatively high ranking in his own race (which is why he has horns like he does). As such he’s very prideful of his abilities and doesn’t take too kindly to being stooped to something as demeaning as being some human’s bodyguard

Now I’m sure you may notice that he’s got something weird about his back, and also that he doesn’t have wings (I know not all manticores have wings, but plenty do, including here). Well he originally did have wings, and quite nice ones that that. But at a young age, the manticore group he was part of was basically exterminated by another, much more powerful demon, with him as the only survivor, and he had his wings ripped off by this other demon, who takes body parts of other demons and basically just attaches them to their own body, becoming this patchwork demon. The copious amount of scars on Callous’s back in the original are from him scratching his own back because of the pain he feels about what happened and to cover up that he ever had wings in the first place, as he sees him losing them as incredibly shameful

Yeah, don’t know why I have him a backstory like that. But that patchwork demon is still out there, with Callous’s old wings, and Callous has a chip on his shoulder from the incident. That demon would probably show up sometime later in the story

Another thing to note is how in his human form, I called out in the sketch that he’s supposed to be small and skinny, which is also supposed to be demonstrated in the bottom right pic, to which Pawky is confused by his non threatening appearance. He’s also supposed to look like a teenager in this form. This is because when a demon goes into a human form, it’s essentially them if they were humans. So what this amounts to for Callous is that despite his appearance in demon form, in comparison to other manticores, he is pretty tiny, and in manticore years only a teenager. His small size is because he was malnourished and had his growth stunted after the extermination of his people. However it might take Pawky some time to realize the reason why Callous looks the way he does in human form

So in reality Callous is actually a tiny 16 year old with a lot of trauma, and ego to compensate

Now let’s talk about Callous’s abilities. Generally he’s just got great strength and sharp fangs and claws, but he also has natural poison/acid that comes from his mouth and stinger.

…Thought I’d have more to say on that front but no. But one thing I have is that he’s a carnivore, and while he’d love to eat human flesh, they usually aren’t fighting enough people to do so, so he just settles for large animals he finds, and he uses the acid in his mouth to essentially melt his prey while tearing an eating it. He’s an incredibly messy and loud eater. Pawky finds his way of eating absolutely disgusting and so makes him eat somewhere where she can’t see and generally hear him

And I think that finally about covers it

I realize now I don’t actually have a title for this. Hmm, was there a name for it? …I don’t remember, nor can I really think of one, other than like, Summoners, but that’s lame. I’m not good with title

But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

#OnThisDay: Feb 17th, 2009

Title: Murumokirby360_ID

This is my first ever created dA ID. Nothing much to say except my old description albeit fixed. ↓ 😊

IMPORTANT NOTE: And on behalf of my main blog and "ONE AND ONLY, THE REAL", @murumokirby360.

Kirby has a new ability to make magic everything you want with his magical instrument snare drum, and he also use twin antennas to create the special ability called the "Antenna Beam". This special ability can strike all enemies and bosses (depending how big the boss is), just like Murumo does.

Thus, "MurumoKirby360" was born! 🔵⭐

MuruKir 🔵⭐: Yeah! And do I looked good, even 15 years later! 😁

Me 🇵🇭: Indeed. 🙂

MuruKir (Kirby OC) - created by ME!

[fastlanewithjeff]

Becoming a Technician

As my first entry into this automotive blog, I will provide some information about my experience becoming a technician. This post will answer questions for people who are considering becoming a technician. I went to technical school in 2015 and graduated from the T-Ten or Technician Training and Enhancement Network in 2017. T-Ten is a technical program specifically for Toyota and Lexus vehicles. My graduating class consisted of me and about 5 others. There were about 30 at the start of the program. It is a shame because graduating has put me in a position today to own a home a live comfortably. For the most part, the people who failed simply weren’t motivated to take the steps necessary to complete the program. The question is why spend the time going to class in the first place? Many of them never bothered searching for a job at a dealer which is a requirement for graduation. Halfway through the program, I landed a job at Lexus of Escondido. I was thrilled to land the job, but I’ll be honest it only paid a bit over minimum wage. My first job title was “Quick Service Technician.” This meant I would be doing light services and pre-delivery inspections. Quick Service was also responsible for taking out the trash and cleaning the shop at the time I was hired. Depending on which dealership you start at you may be asked to do menial tasks such as washing cars, working as a porter, or even shop cleaning duties. If the dealer provides a clear path for advancement, you are on the right track. If a dealer isn’t treating you right as a technician, then remember a saying I first heard from my T-Ten instructor; “Your toolbox has wheels for a reason.” I worked in quick service from June 2016 until about May 2017 when I was promoted to flat-rate technician. This is the big league. When you are working at a dealer like I do, you are a bumper-to-bumper technician, meaning they will expect you to do anything from seat upholstery to engine overhaul and everything in between. Flat rate means that you are paid for the work you complete rather than per hour. For instance, an alignment pays 2 hours, it won't matter if you finish in 1 or 3, you will be paid 2 hours. Both speed and efficiency are key to making a big salary. Flat-rate technicians can expect to make anywhere from $60-120K per year. A lot of that difference is in how many hours a technician flags. In my experience, technical school alone does not adequately prepare someone for Flat-rate. I had to work long hours in the beginning to make just 8 hours a day. It is important to make connections while you are an hourly employee and take advice from a friendly technician who wants to give it.

[authoralexharvey]

Happy WBW! 🧙 - If your world has magic users, can anyone use magic or is it something they are born with?

Happy WBW I've kind of touched on this question before, so I'll link those answers first.

One || Two

To summarize, definitely depends on "when" we are. Post-TWEfA, the Gods and magic get a massive overhaul. Magic has always been based in different "aspects", but access to all of these aspects becomes more wide-spread. So, in theory, anyone could use it with the proper training. However, as Big Daddy Government is wont to do, they saw this new system and decided to capitalize off it. Prospective Casters must undertake 7 years of Magic College (4 years learning the theory, 3 years earning a "masters" in their specific realm(s) of Casting) before being legally allowed to wield magic outside of an academic setting. Technically, they don't HAVE to do this, but then they're using magic illegally.

As an aside, I think everyone in general has a very mild influence on the world around them, which some people engage with via folk practices/folk magic. But these are very minute forms of magic.

Before the events of TWEfA, magic was a lot more exclusive. You needed to be born a Luricae (human phoenixes) or enter into contracts with the Gods themselves, powerful spirits, or Luricae. The folk magic I mentioned still existed, but that was the extent most people had. Furthermore, due to the sort of (unfair) reputation Luricae had, and how selective and intensive rituals with spirits or gods were otherwise, it wasn't a feasible option for most people to engage in.

[tiredgamergirl]

The Ukrainian developers Frogwares have a long-running series based in the world’s most famous detective since 2002 and through the years it has always enjoyed a number of titles and becoming respected in the adventure game genre. In Crimes and Punishments, the seventh game of the series, they overhauled the game engine and experimented with new ideas to make the gameplay even more engaging. Drawing inspiration from titles like L.A. Noire and even the Batman Arkham’s games detective mode, it presents a healthy blend of exploration, deduction and narration.

Like the original novels, the game is divided by individual cases that can be replayed or started over once unlocked via the main menu – similar to what one would expect from an episodic title. While every case is self-contained there is an underlining arc going beneath the surface that sometimes the game makes a point in mentioning it as some grand foreshadowing about to happen or big conspiracy afoot. Each case is its own narrative and are varied as they come: the opening chapter is about a retired whaler found dead in his shed, then the next entry have Watson and Holmes witnessing a train disappear in front of their eyes in the mist, followed by a murder in Roman baths with a murder weapon that can’t be located. There are plenty of mini-games scattered throughout, the most common one is the lockpick mechanic but it can vary from the scientific experiments and moments you can control Watson to assist Holmes in certain puzzles or even use their dog to track down clues. Most of the mini-games and puzzles can be skipped if the player is stuck, as some can be more frustrating than engaging and making it slightly more accessible.

Another common mechanics is to profile the suspects and witnesses by watching the small details in their appearance and behavior, a little dirt under the fingernails or a crooked collar can reveal many things about their character. Add this to quick time events that Holmes can point out when they are lying and show the contradictions, interrogating isn’t nearly as much as a guesswork or hunch-based like L.A. Noire, it is a matter of paying attention to what is being said and there is always a prompt so it can be a little hand-holding at times. Sometimes Sherlock will flat out say what should be the next course of action, like wearing an outfit to go somewhere to gather information or how to perform an experiment.

As mentioned beforehand, there is introduction to two gameplay aspects based in the Arkham titles: Sherlock Holmes’ talent consists in a black-and-white granular filter in which he focus his attention, with anything mildly out of place highlighted in yellow. By observing it for a moment, Holmes can deduce and eventually either find new items or commit to memory. The other mechanic is the imagination, in which Holmes re-creates the scene in his mind. Both would be later expanded in Chapter One, and how much it was an improvement or bloating depends on the opinion of who is playing.

Another change from the previous title was the Deduction Mode (also present in Chapter One), in which Sherlock can link some of the evidences and make conclusions, sometimes leading to experiments or the next mission objective. After gathering enough clues and proceeding in the story, a clear picture forms in his mind and the player can select the culprit and decide to condemn or absolve. Some victims are absolute horrible people, so it comes a moral dilemma: does the killer deserves the prison? It is also very possible to pick the wrong solution and the game will ask if the player wants to commit to their decision or keep going. In the subsequent cases it is possible to double-check to see if all clues have been collected and if the real culprit was selected. There is one case that being careless with the reasoning might lead to a false verdict, but most of the time it can be very straightforward. 

Speaking of dirt under the fingernails, the graphics are a highlight of this title: the facial animation and textures are incredible for a 2014 title, featuring detailed wrinkles, moles and blemishes in the skin, dirt in the clothes and so much that tells a lot about every character. This care also extends to the environments, Holmes’ apartment is incredibly detailed and full of life, the recreation of the Kew Gardens has so many beautiful plants and even the grimier streets are a feast for the eyes. It is possible to see some of the signs of dragged objects even without using Sherlock’s ability if the player is keen-eyed enough. There were a few flickering in certain shadows but it might have been the Unreal engine in the Playstation 4 hardware and might not be present in the Windows or the Switch version and it wasn’t enough to remove the immersion for too long. Even the loading screens are cleverly disguised in the carriage rides between locations and it is possible to access the deductions and the casebook to have a refresher or connect new evidence, or merely watch Sherlock and his companions.

This is a very solid title that can take around 9 to 15 hours of gameplay give or take and can carter to every individual player’s wishes: to play it all at once or one case per evening? It is very satisfying to arrive at a conclusion and none of the cases overstay their welcome. Some can be brain teasers, some can require attention but there is hardly a leap of logic like using a crowbar to remove a chewed gum from the floor. Everything is streamlined and elegant, with little fat. A highly recommended title for the fans of the genre.

Tʀɪɢɢᴇʀ Wᴀʀɴɪɴɢs

Gore (dead bodies)

Domestic violence

Drug use (cocaine)

Prejudice (a constable talking down to a street urchin, a questionable Oriental garden with a “guru”, the g slur talking about Romani people is mentioned)

[piscesseer]

Pluto Enters Aquarius

Pluto is entering Aquarius on March 23, 2023 and will remain there until March 8, 2043. When Pluto changes signs, it’s a big deal because it only happens every 12 to 30 years! We can expect some huge changes while the planet of transformation visits Aquarius.

Pluto can be a dark planet. It rules over death, transformation, renewal and taboos. When Pluto was discovered, it was named for the Roman god of the underworld. When this mysterious planet changes signs there is a huge cosmic shift.

March 23, 2023 - Pluto enters Aquarius

June 11, 2023 - Pluto Retrograde enters Capricorn

January 20, 2024 - Pluto enters Aquarius

September 1, 2024 - Pluto Retrograde enters Capricorn

November 19, 2024 - Pluto enters Aquarius

March 8, 2043 - Pluto enters Pisces

August 31, 2043 - Pluto Retrograde enters Aquarius

January 19, 2044 - Pluto enters Pisces

Why are there so many dates involved? Pluto is slow-moving and with retrograde activity, it only advances so far per year, depending on the sign. Pluto spends anywhere from 11.5 to 30.5 years in a single sign and is in retrograde half of the year. While Pluto is trying to enter Aquarius in 2023, it won’t be consistently there until late 2024. We’re truly getting a preview of what this transit has to offer.

Since 2008, Pluto has been in Capricorn, the sign of government, structure and the practical. As you might have noticed on the dates above, Pluto will be retrograding back to Capricorn as early as June. 

Aquarius is concerned with thought, intellect and reasoning as well as how we communicate information. Aquarius is the sign of progress, community and the collective. There is a unique rebellious vibe present with this sign.

The shift of bringing about transformation in the practical to bringing it about with progress will be sure to have an effect on all of us.

How could this Pluto in Aquarius transit affect us as a whole?

During this long transit, we may see some beliefs that were long held turned on their head. Aquarius challenges the status quo. It’s a time to seek change and overhaul in society through the mind. With Pluto in Aquarius, we take social structures and policies seriously. We seek major reform in those areas. There will be a transformation of rules and social norms.

Worldwide changes in technology, science and space travel wouldn’t be surprising while Pluto is in Aquarius, since Aquarius rules technology, including television and the internet. The internet is a communication that could become more powerful. It can create a place for deeper secrets, criminal operations, black market, drug dealing and human trafficking. There are risks of powerful cyberwar with powerful hackers. We must figure out where our ingenuity, creativity and humanity fit into our increasingly automated world.

We may see major realization about our phones, computers and things that sync, update, download, or feature like and follow buttons. We should expect to see the conflict between people and the technology they use, dissolutions in the industry, and power struggles between government and big tech. Government institutions will create a stricter regulatory device to protect against or eliminate online corruption. More surveillance of everyday life is to be expected.

Many jobs could become replaced by technology, which could hurt the labor market. Libraries, medical care, pharmacy, banking and travel are just a few things that could become completely digitized. Humans will likely make artificial intelligence advances. 

Aquarius sees the big picture and has a bird’s eye. We might see a much-needed change in airline travel. We’re moving into a new era of space travel. This could mean space’s long-term effects on the human body being studied. We’ve also heard a lot about aliens lately, so it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw even more about extraterrestrials during this transit. Aquarius is open to the unknown.

Back to Earth, we could learn new information about disease and treatment.

We will see a shift in civil rights and humanitarianism. Pluto in Aquarius is bound to be a revolutionary time. Only good things can come from taking action to make movements, whether the change is slight or major. We can hope that we will see as many of us as possible for the ideal of equality and community and working together to build a better, fairer society.

Pluto exposes and unearths things, like secrets and lies. During Pluto in Capricorn, we saw uncovering of government corruption and secrets thanks to data leaks, special interest groups and brave whistleblowers. With Pluto in Aquarius we might see secrets of big tech companies being exposed.

It’s interesting that in the US we’re looking at banning drag in some states. Society deems gender expression and queerness as a taboo subject. The truth about queer people is being skewed by conservatives with their own agendas. Secrets could be revealed with the authenticity that is reflected where the LGTBTQ+ community is honest, and those who are conservative are distorting their image.

We’re likely to confront issues of control and power related to individuality, equality, friendships and group associations. Unusual, intense or dramatic things may happen with friends or networks. On a higher level, we are destined to see a huge transformation in how we communicate with strangers, such as internet culture, and group identities. We could see a revolution of the working class.

Collective upheaval is rarely comfortable, but it reminds us of the resilience and power of our communities. 

What can we expect in our personal lives?

Pluto teaches us that life is an unstoppable force and growth can emerge from the dark night of the soul. This planet gives us lots of time to absorb its profound lessons. When you start to work with this planet, you will feel in tune with your innermost self. It asks you to trust the voice inside. 

It’s not possible to fully predict what humanity will look like during and after this transit. While some things may be out of your control, it’s important to stay grounded and present. It's very important to check in with your body and instincts.

Gather your networks, your fellow activists and group chat as changes unfold. Have people to connect with and lean on. Give back to communities. If you’re unsure of how to help, check your local online communities. Do your research before joining in on some mass movement. Use common sense and trust your gut.

Pluto can bring transformation, evolution and revelation. This can be the death of something in your life and the birth of something completely new, or bringing forward something that is long hidden. If you think back to a time in your life of irreversible change, it’s likely that Pluto was active in your chart. 

Look out for being more intense than usual. Pluto is deep, dark and mysterious. You may find intensity in unique areas of your life, in your friendships and networks or even in love. Pluto in Aquarius may lead to erratic behavior, thinking and emotions. 

Weird secrets might come forward. You might have weirder sex. Pluto draws us to the things that are deemed ‘taboo’, and sex is something we aren’t always comfortable talking about. Aquarius can make us feel like thinking outside the box in the bedroom. Be cautious though, because this is when our darker desires could surface.

Pluto in Capricorn reveals the truth about the societal structures that we live in, and this structure will die. We can look at this from a bigger picture and see activism make this happen on a large scale, yes. You can also look at your life. It is our responsibility to create a new world from our heart’s content - create art and music, invent, innovate and use personal healing powers. Create your own personal world with your heart’s desire by building a family or community from the ground up. Be responsible for yourself and your true desires without basing it on societal expectations. Explore your subconscious fears, blocks and shadows especially surrounding power, change, group dynamics and letting go. Imagine a life of freedom and collective fairness and watch it manifest in real time.

Authenticity might be a theme that comes forth in your life. Being your true self doesn’t always mean aligning with what society sees as ‘normal’. Thinking the way you don’t normally can lead to ideas and thoughts that can transform your life in a positive way.