#also I'm pretty sure I spell root's name wrong

[lordjackalope]

Flint Dogwood & the Mages but they're a band Who plays what?

I definitely didn't forget about this, you forgot about this

Flint - Yip goes *wild* on the drums. I will not elaborate.

Rowan - I feel like Rowan has bass guitar vibes? Like I could def see them jamming it out in the background

Hemlock - Vocals and maybe acoustic guitar bc 1. she's definitely had singing lessons and 2. she's absolutely a taylor swift fan

Root - All I can think is that they probably do fuckin accordion or something. I cannot see this raccoon playing a normal instrument. Outside of that, probably back up vocals. I feel like they would enjoy doing choreography/onstage stunts

[empire-of-the-words]

I'm 10 and a half episodes into Young Justice (the TV show), and I feel like I should record my feelings for posterity's sake, so here we go (under the cut because it got too long 😅)

(Also I will be using superhero names for the most part since I don't want to look up how to spell Miss Martian or Aqualad's name)

Spoilers: I already know the Red Arrow thing. I'm also pretty confident I know Artemis's backstory. This doesn't bug me, because I love storytelling. A lot. So I keep looking at it from the writers' POV and it's honestly very fun. I also know a piece of Miss Martian's backstop, and the same as above applies

Investment in the characters: Honestly the show is doing a great job at this. So far it's had an episode focusing mainly on every character except Robin (who I'll talk about in a sec). The show is doing a lot of one episode character arcs (which is a great way to get you invested in the characters). Superboy and Superman both have obvious season character arcs going on, but the others have enough stuff that I'm confident they can do stuff with them

Robin: He is so competent in this, and I love it. Him being too competent to lead the team is both funny and adds another layer to both him and Aqualad. He actually hasn't had an episode really focused on him yet, just side plots. But this kind of works, since everyone knows Robin and there's less of a need to make sure people like him. (And this works. I didn't need to get as invested in Dick and Roy (and Bruce and Clark) since I'm already invested in their comic versions)

I also love that he hasn't revealed his identity yet. The little things about it (like in that episode the League of Shadows was trying to hack Wayne Enterprises). Especially with Artemis heading to Gotham Academy, I'm really hoping she has some fun interactions with Dick

Ships: Miss Martian/Superboy is pretty cute. I passively ship it. Just hoping they have real relationships with other members of the team. Kid Flash/Artemis (does she have a hero name?) is a bit more interesting. The amnesia episode did a good job selling it to me, as it shows they don’t necessarily hate each other at a basic level. Also I hate Kid Flash's crush on Miss Martian (or at least how he acts because of it), and rooting for another ship is the same as rooting for it to die. No real love triangle stuff for now, and hoping it stays that way. There's also the ship getting its own category:

JadeRoy: Starting very different from the comics (where they basically started as Enemy Lovers), but, uh, I Don't Care. I love this ship, both in comics and here. They're entirely enemies right now, but they've started to attach extra emotions to each other (not good ones, don't get me wrong, but they're singling each other out). And I know Lian will exist in this universe (thanks dc wiki), so I'm happily excited for Slow Burn (with the back of my mind preparing for disappointment, just in case). Not sure if this is going Enemies to Enemy Lovers or just straight up Enemies to Lovers (since it's a kids show they might give them a happy ending) but either way I'm down for it

(I'm actually horrible at watching shows in their entirety (instead of dropping them after a few episodes) , and the way I actually got myself to push forward and get invested was the knowledge that Cheshire appears in episode 6, and I really wanted to see her)

I'm super invested in the Superman/Superboy plotline. Also, Martian Manhunter giving Connor the last name Kent was just hilarious. The whole League is just like, "you will parent this kid, clark" and I love it. It's also got me thinking about how comic writers indirectly said Bruce wouldn't be great in this situation despite this version of him pushing for it, but that's an essay for another time (possibly never since it might involve reading Morrison!Talia which I desperately do not want to do 😭)

Speaking of Talia. I am dreading it. I know Damian’s just a cameo and it's a kids show, so it can't get as bad as the DCAU (knock on wood), but this is 2011. This is peak Morrison!Talia, and I do not want to see my favorite character's characterization get spit on

Moving on the nicer things, Batman is Peak Batman. He is a dad, and he’s trying his best, and they better not ruin him

The Light: I guess it makes sense that all these secret organizations are secretly all 1 secret organization, but I'm not quite invested yet. Also finding it hard to believe Ra's al Ghul would join an organization where he's not in charge

Also! I have figured out the usual formula. They start the episode with both a mission usually, and give one character a personal conflict. Things get to their worst at about the 16 minute mark, resolve at about 20/21 minutes, have a final scene with the team and a final final scene reveal the bad guys were actually part of the Light conspiracy thing. Honestly it's kind of comforting having a formula

Overall, pretty good. Can't say how quickly I'll watch it, or how often I'll post about it, but I'm going to keep watching it, which is pretty good, particularly for a kids show

Also if someone's reading this and really curious about what I think about something specific, feel free to send an ask, it'll be fun :)

[the-white-soul]

*Flowey just watches at the anon and Kara’s interaction, mostly uninterested. Then when Chara returns, his boredom seems to fade.* Chara, you’re back! Great. We’ll take a walk too. Or at least the closest to walking a flower can manage.

*Making sure Chara is coming along, Flowey moves across the floor using his little roots as spider-like legs.*

And remember! This is a secret. You can’t tell anyone because then they might tell other people and then they’ll tell other people and then everyone will know! If that happens, the news might even spread to them and they wouldn’t even like me back… Oh jeez, and if my enemies found out they’d find weaknesses! At least my Frisk is back in my world.

Oh… I already said it. I like Frisk. Just a little bit.

(Chara) "Yeah, I can get the appeal. They are very nice just like you. I've been to my fair share of AU's and you seem either fascinated with Chara or Frisk. Though mostly Chara. Honestly, I'm not even sure why Frisk hasn't returned yet. Well, I know why. They wanted to have an alliance with eastern Asia for some weird reason and something about Japan wanting Mettaton to perform for them. Bizarre I know. I'm not into Anime but apparently, someone named Hatsune Michu (Spelled wrong on purpose) is trying to collaborate with him. Frisk is a great ambassador I'll give you that. They told Monsterkind not to decide between Communism and Capitalism to keep the other two countries from invading or trying to destroy our town. Some monsters were mad that Frisk wouldn't pick a side but one of Frisk's greatest strengths is never picking a side. They know that if they can't please everyone they'll do everything in their power to stop them from being mean to us. It's pretty smart for someone their age. Even when I was a genocidal maniac I still respected it. I totally get you having a crush on Frisk. Also, I won't tell a soul. They already are sent more death threats than any US president in history we don't need more eyes on them."

[utilitycaster]

So, to keep dunking on Pathfinder/3.5e and also for lack of a better term...indie, looser systems, I do have a handful of reasons why the systems themselves don't sound like things I'm into but more generally the reason I keep making cheap jokes is because the way people sell these systems is so antithetical to what I want out of TTRPGs. Which doesn't mean they're not good, or that they're not right for other people! But god...you are not superior for liking something other than D&D 5e, you are just a person who isn't into that particular experience and if you want to get people to play other games...learn to fucking sell it.

The crunch of pathfinder has some appeal, because I do love math and rules, but it always feels like the arguments go like this.

"I can't figure out how DCs in 5e get set!"

"well, the DM sets it based on a rough estimate of difficulty, using their brain; the DM's Guide gives a scale broken down by 5-point increments that you can use."

"What? You mean I, an inveterate metagamer cannot find it by adding up 8 numbers based on the weather, my class, my feats, active spells, and the migration patterns of nearby birds in a process that brings the narrative to a screeching halt?"

Or else it goes like this (this is a literal screenshot from a reply on a shitpost I made about paladin archetypes):

Well, in 5e you are allowed to ride things without being good at dex on the grounds that the average normal person in a pre-industrial society would probably be able to sit on a horse (animal handling is also an option). You can play a halfling paladin by playing a halfling whose class is paladin, and if you cast summon steed a reasonable DM will allow you to flavor said steed as a celestial wardog. You do not need special abilities to...turn around? in 5e? damn you lived like this? and sure, you can have a spear or lance as your weapon. I guess charging doesn't do much in 5e (the charger feat exists but isn't amazing) but like, you could do it.

Like, seriously, so many posts are like "I don't see a ruleset for how I can confirm I was able to drink my coffee without dropping it on the floor? 5e seems bad" and in general 3.5e/Pathfinder appear to treat your character as a Sim or something, where if the ladder disappears from the pool you're just like "guess I'll die" [note: I haven't played either 3.5e, Pathfinder, nor the Sims but like. I'm right.] And if you want to play this that's fine! Crunch can be very fun! but god it's unnecessary and it seems like there are too many rules for the sake of just like, having rules.

Moving on to the looser systems, the "just a d100" or "just a d6" ones that "foster more RP": so many of these "foster more RP" by having systems that actively corral the conversation, or PC emotions, instead of just...letting people talk. I actually find things like Monsterhearts "turn someone on" mechanic or the sanity mechanics in Call of Cthulhu really off-putting! I'd rather be allowed to respond to things genuinely, in character.

"But M," you say "that's kind of the point of Call of Cthulhu, the sanity slippage." And you know what? You're absolutely right! Because that is where my point is leading:

The TTRPG game you pick should be mostly based on the kind of story you want to tell, and anyone who ignores that in their considerations can themselves be ignored.

I happen to enjoy Dungeons & Dragons because I enjoy that particular form of fantasy in a quasi-early renaissance* setting, and I would, perchance, like to explore a dungeon and maybe even fight a dragon. I do not want to be dealing with horrors beyond comprehension**, except in the sense that I'd like to smite/disintegrate/viciously mock them. I do not want to pretend I am in high school again, under literally any circumstances, even if I can hex people. I like fantasy combat because I am both simmering with incandescent range basically always and yet I cannot typically act on it*** and I'd like to be able to save the world through hitting things with a sweet-ass sword or casting. Hyping up a system because it lacks combat is absolutely the wrong tack with me.

And if you don't like that it's fine! But I have yet to see someone actually make an argument, to me specifically, for a different system, that actually accounted for even a whiff of my own personal preference and honestly at this point the damage, while not irreversible, is pretty severe; my attitude towards anyone trying to steer me from D&D 5e is pretty cynical.****

*look I will pick many battles on any hills wagering that ultimately I will only die on one and this is on the list. Anyway if printed books are available and gunpowder has reached your vaguely European-in-flavor society? It's Renaissance.

**always thought this quote was from Lovecraft but it's from Tesla, objectively a much better dude despite a shitty dude using his name to sell cars.

***Yes. I am an eldest daughter. Why do you ask.

****This is also the root cause of why I adamantly refuse to watch either Titanic or Finding Nemo.

[june2734]

The Short Lived Golden Age of Nerdy Web Shows

There was a time between the years of, let's say, 2007 to 2015 that I like to call the golden age of nerdy web shows. It consisted of a lot of small low to no budget productions that had a lot of heart, the kind you just don't see very often anymore for some reason. Many of these show have found a dedicated home on streaming services like The Fantasy Network, some have even gained enough steam to be featured on big name services like Netflix and Amazon like The Guild and LARPs The series respectively. I'm not exactly sure why the web show trend died out so hard, maybe the crowds just aren't there for them anymore like they use to be with some many pieces of high budget productions on streaming services vying for their attention. Every once and a while I'll jump onto Google to try and find new web shows that have that same heart and feel but rarely if ever do I come up with anything. As far as I can tell the only place new nerdy low to mid budget web shows or films gets any attention is at GenCon or small streaming services like The Fantasy Network. Who knows if there will ever be another nerdy heartfelt web show created that captures the spirit of those old series I hold so dear to my heart, but regardless if it happens or not I'd like to bring some attention to a few of my favorites. They may be old by the standards of the internet and maybe even cheesy by today's standards, but I really think they were something special and if you give them a shot maybe you'll think so too. If you have any others that you think would fit in with shows like this feel free to let me know.

The Gamers: Hands Of Fate

Zombie Orpheus Entertainment use to be one of my favorite channels for nerdy fantasy related content back in the day. You could always see the quality and passion that they put into every piece of content they out out on their channel. They're still around today but they've shifted their focus to other ventures such as the ever popular trend of live streaming table top games rather then making scripted content. That being said their old stuff is still well worth a watch and The Gamers series, particularly The Gamers: Hands of Fate, is some of their best work they’ve ever put out. The series centers around a group of table top gamers(the same that can be found in most of the other The Gamers creations by ZOE), particularly the character by the name of Cass, as he steps into the world of one extremely popular card game hopes of impressing a woman who's a huge fan of it. But this is seemingly simple premise is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this series. The show also features a secondary narrative that involves the characters that actually exist in the card game as as the players decisions in the real world effect their lives and leads one character, Buckstahue(not sure if I’m spelling that right), in particular to start questioning what mysterious forces are controlling their lives. The show is a real treat filled with twists and turns I never saw coming, it's fascinating seeing how the real world actions of this card game effects the card characters lives as well as question if and when Buckstahue will figure out what strings control her actions. The stories surrounding the other characters in the party might not be as engaging but they are by no means a weak point of the series either, many of their subplots are engaging in their own rights and pay off certain character moments established in proper The Gamers creations. If this peaks your interest then the series can still be found on Zombie Orpheus's Youtube channel or as a movie on The Fantasy Network. ZOE had pivoted more towards live streaming as opposed to the scripted content of their past but I'd love to see more content from The Gamers one day. Source

LARPs The Series

LARPs The Series first premiered at GenCon 2014 and took home the award for Best Independent Series. The year after it was picked up by Geek and Sundry as a part of a push for more scripted content on the channel which was where I and many others first got a chance to watch it. When the short trailer for popped up on the G&S channel everything about it screamed that I was absolutely going to love it, and I wasn’t wrong. The series centers around a 4 man party of larpers (AKA Live Action Role Players) by the names of Will, Brittany, Arthur and Sam and their DM (Dungeon Master) Evan as we follow their lives in and out of the game. The show is surprisingly heartfelt and sympathetic towards the characters involved in this often misunderstood and mocked hobby as it shows how larping enriches their often turbulent lives and connects them all as friends on a deep and meaningful level. These characters felt real and you really rooted for them as they deal with, work, relationships and the many other hurtles of adult life as they wait eagerly to gear up for whatever peril might befall them in their next campaign session. The show was also pretty hilarious, seeing them play out classic predicaments that any party, whether they be larpers or table top roleplayers, have experienced such as one player trying to roll to kill a tavern owner or romances between PCs were always a joy to watch unfold.  Another thing that most will notice right away is how the production value and direction are surprisingly astounding as well, especially in season 2. I was shocked by just how much quality was put into the show from the costumes and sets as well as from a writing standpoint. If you're interested in checking out the show then it can be found on Amazon Prime but they can also still be viewed for free on YouTube or in The Fantasy Network. Beanduck, the production company behind LARPs The series, is working towards a funding campaign in hopes of earning enough to produce a third season so if you have any spare change you might want to toss it their way in support. Regardless if you decide to help or not, LARPs The Series is a show that I think any nerdy individual will enjoy. Source

Glitch

Glitch was another show produced by the team over at Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, but it never seemed to get the same kind of love as many of their other productions. The concept was brilliant: What if one day you woke up and found out your life operated on the logic of video games? Well this is the predicament that a programing temp nicknamed Glitch finds himself in. Most episodes of the show centered around particular game mechanics causing problems in his and his friends lives and how he tries to figure out ways to work around or fix problems they've created. Glitch, Wyatt and Samus were all fantastic characters and it was always fun seeing Glitch trying to work through some real world problem with game logic like trying to flirt with a woman he likes using a conversation wheel like in Mass Effect or figuring out how to "defeat" his boss at work who he see's as an actual game boss. Another thing I liked about the show was how the characters really felt like real people I knew, they played games on the couch, debated about which Sci-Fi starship captains were the best, and they grilled each other in nerdy ways while working in slang from their favorite bits of nerd culture into their daily vocabulary. I always hoped that ZOE would eventually put out a second season but unfortunately for whatever reason that never became a reality. Now days the channel that originally hosted Glitch has changed their name to Burger Orchard and rarely if ever uploads anything, but luckily those original episodes of Glitch can still be found on their. Give it a watch, it's short but sweet and if you really enjoyed the show a lot there are little companion shorts that can also be found on the channel. Source

The Street Fighter

The Game Station was an early find for me back in my early college days, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I shaved away many hours watching all kinds of gaming related content on that channel instead of studying for exams. One production, created by one of the channels founders Layne Pavoggi, which came out in late 2011 and was a cut above much their already fantastic content was a short lived series was called The Street Fighter. The series centered around a single dad by the name of Phil who has just lost his job and decides to take up a short career as a professional Street Fighter player to provide for his son as well as keep his mind off of the stressful and highly competitive job market. This a real underdog story that’s extremely reminiscent of old sports 80s films where the protagonist has everything working against them, with that being said you might think that such a trope filled narrative would make things a little predictable and you wouldn’t be wrong but there’s still plenty to love since this concept has really never been explored with videogame to my knowledge. Phil is a guy you’d be hard pressed not to warm up to, especially when you see him interacting with his preteen son Ryan or his best friend/semi love interest Camile (played by former All That star and all around spectacular person Lisa Foiles). Seeing him trying to make his way into the job market, taking odd jobs here and there just to try and get by while also playing Street Fighter to destress and become better for the sake of winning a competition for money to support his son really makes to root for him through all of it. One aspect of the show that I really this is fantastic is how it feels truly authentic to the FGC (Fighting Game Community) when it comes to talking about all of the technical aspects of play Street Fighter on a competitive level. There are moments when Phil goes into detail about his “bread and butter” combos or talks about different strategies when it comes to taking on different characters compared to his main. The show was short lived but it can still be found on The Game Stations channel, if you’re looking for a heartfelt underdog story then I highly recommend giving The Street Fighter a shot. Source

Versus Valerie

Versus Valerie is a bit of series finale for a fictional character created by Hannah Spear for the character more commonly known as the Sexy Nerd Girl on her YouTube channel. Even if you didn't watch the characters vlogs over the years leading up to the web series I still think you'll find something to enjoy in this extremely charming show. It centers around Valerie Lapomme, the titular Sexy Nerd Girl, as she lives life hanging out with with her best friend Guy, shopping for comic books, going on dates, vlogging, and trying to make something of herself as a mid 20 something living in Toronto. The brilliant thing about this series is how each episode is structured like or makes homage to popular shows, films and games such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, Memento, and The Matrix just to name a few. On top of that the show is surprisingly well produced and written for something that spawned from a fictional vlog series, Valarie and Guy are much more fleshed out and all the characters including them have some really fantastic character arcs and moments in the show. Valerie’s awkwardness and extremely nerdy imagination felt embracingly relatable to me personally since I often imagine different situations in my life in relation to my own nerdy fandoms. What I was often taken aback by when I first watched the show years ago was just how enjoyable all of the episodes were in their own special way, and the pay off of it all really feels like a proper satisfying ending to the strange and imaginative journey we’ve been on with Valerie. If it peaks your interest at all then you can still find the full series on the Veruse Valerie YouTube channel as well as some of the vlogs prior to the series on the Sexy Nerd Girl channel as well. It’s well worth a viewing and aside from the fantastic lead characters of Guy and Valerie the show also managed to grab Mark Meer as a supporting character, aka the voice of COMMANDER MOTHER F^*$(^% SHEPARD BABY!!!  Source

[thehollowprince]

The Mountain of Ghosts

Another week, another episode. This one dealt with a topic that I know has been on the fandom's mind since the end of season four, so let's just dive into this.

Alice and Eliot - obviously the big part of the episode. This has been on everyone's mind since season one and the possibility of Queliot was a thing. It's been a constant back and forth, one or the other, situation since, and sadly, we all know where most of the fandom landed on that issue. This was a good episode that got to the crux of the issue here, that being Quentin. Not Alice's or Eliot's feelings toward Quentin but rather his feelings toward them.

For years I've stood here and watched the constant screeching of "Quentin loved Eliot more!" or more rarely, (seriously, very rarely), "Quentin loved Alice more!" It got to the point where I firmly believed, and still believe, that it wasn't a matter of actually caring about Quentin at all. I'm not saying that no one actually liked Q, but that was secondary to the main issue of which ship would win in the end. Shipping is a big thing in fandom, but what no one really ever wants to admit is that it's also a big problem in fandom, in that ship wars happen and all some people seem to care about is the validation that comes with watching their ship set sail or another ship sink. That's all I'm going to say about that right now, because honestly the problem with shipping in fandom is a whole other topic waiting to be made, but its relevant to this issue, so let's move on.

Alice and Eliot both loved Quentin, and whether anyone wants to admit it or not, he loved both of them back. It isn't a matter of saying he loved either one of them more, or which one was more valid because no one loves two different people in the same way. Some of the things that Quentin loved about Alice aren't the same things he would have loved about Eliot. And this episode really highlighted that. Eliot and Alice are about as different as you can get, especially when it comes to romance. They both had different approaches to their relationship with Q, and I'm so glad we got to see them resolve their differences. We finally got to see Eliot say to someone else that he and Q loved each other, and have Alice not only acknowledge it but embrace it. She said it best, "what was I going to do? Demand he be less complicated? That he only love one person?" Too often Alice is reduced to this one-dimensional girl who is only defined by her relationship with Quentin, especially by fandom, and this really broke that mold. This was a nice episode for the two of them, to work through their anger and to work together to let go of Quentin... to acknowledge that they couldn't save him. I hope this bond between the two of them keeps building through the rest of the season.

PS: please let Alice wear jeans and pants more often. She looked so much more comfortable than she does in those fetish school girl dresses.

Moving on...

Margo - I'm not sure how I feel about this whole "reclaiming the throne" thing she's got going on. I loved Margo winning the throne by her own merit back in season three, because it worked in that moment. And then last year we had her abandon the throne to save Eliot. When push came to shove, she valued one person over the duty she had as a king to her people. I'm not faulting her for that, because I understand where she was coming from, but she still gave up the throne and it paved the way for Fen to assume the throne.

I can only speak for me, but I thought that was beautiful. Having a Fillorian finally sit on the throne of Fillory felt like a major milestone, and now we're just supposed to believe that Margo gets to be the king because she said so? I didn't like that. That's one of Margo's negative character traits, her entitlement, which brings us to...

Fen - I do not like what they're doing with her so far this season. Who is the sycophantic woman? She admired Margo, of course, but not to the extent of idol worship. This is a woman who was part of the F.U. Fighters, fighting for Fillorian rights in a kingdom always ruled by outsiders. But then the moment Margo's not there, she turns into this incompetent moron, so much so that she and Josh were overthrown because they were waiting for someone else to save them, and I don't like that. That is a complete disservice to the character and the journey she's been on for the previous three seasons.

Also, this whole Josh thing that's going to come between these two women, who have had such respect for each other, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I was one of those (probably the only) who was rooting for Josh and Margo. Were there things I would have changed about it? Of course, but I thought they worked well together and off of one another, and now we have this bullshit. I liked Josh, not just because we shared the same name, but because he was an interesting character that people, especially women, seemed to like, not because of his appearance but because of his personality. And now they've turned him into a quintessential Nice Guy™ who sleeps with his girlfriend's friend instead of figuring out a way to save themselves and Fillory.

I will say that it'll be interesting to see how Fen and Margo repair their friendship after that revelation that Margo legitimately tried to kill her, if they repair it at all.

As for everyone else...

Julia - I know we're working up to something with her and the big catastrophe, so I'm gonna let her lack of a role these past two episodes aside from support slide.

Penny - I really would like to see more of Professor Adoyodi, aside from just him doing research for class. Also, it's sad that they had him mention that "best case scenario for Travelers" is that they just become an Uber for their friends, only to have Julia ask him for a lift...

Like, y'all wrote it, maybe you should pay more attention to it!

And then there's Kady and Fogg. The Magicians is so different then other ensemble shows in that they actually use the ensemble! That being said, characters like Fogg and Kady often end up on the side because, while they're deemed primary characters, they feel more like secondary or tertiary ones. I know I'm not the only one interested in what's going on with the Hedge Witches, but we don't see Kady and what's going on with them unless one of the other "mains" needs something, usually some secret Hedge spell or Kady's fist. Same with Fogg. Brakebills was such a cornerstone for this show, and while the mains left the school (didn't graduate, just left) the institution plays a major role still, as a location if nothing else. Add to that the fact that Penny is a professor there now, and I'd espect to see more of it.

Lastly... the Dark King.

Not to toot my horn or anything, but I'm pretty damn good at predicting turns and plot twists. I can usually spot a villain or antagonist the moment I see them, but that wasn't the case here. Granted, in hindsight I should have seen in with how he was introduced, but I was so stuck on the idea that I "knew" who the Dark King was that I couldn't entertain the possibility that I would be wrong. Though, to be fair, he did have a line about illusion magic, so there's a chance I might still be right. All of that being said, it did feel a little like a cop out. All of our other villains and antagonists have been hinted long before their big reveal, and just having a completely new character shown up and go "Surprise, bitch! I'm the dark king" feels a little off to me. We'll just have to wait and see.

All in all, I'd give this episode a rating of 7.5 out of 10. I know I complained a lot, and that's because, aside from Eliot and Alice's arc, the rest of the episode felt kind of lackluster to me. Here's hoping we pick up the pace the rest of the season.

[blueshipstealstars]

YOOO how about some headcanons abt ur Bleach SI?? Like their relationship w other characters, their general personality, how strong are they compared to the main cast, their bankai?? (Btw I'm LIVING for ur SI design she's very cute😳)

SOBS I’M GLAD YOU LIKE HER I’ve using her to live my dream to have pinkish hair tbh (prove to myself it would be a cute choice for to me to make one day)And OH Boi do I have a lot of stuff for her so I hope you’re ready for a wall of text!Personality

Is there anywhere term for a lil shit?

Some tropes that relate to her:

Sour outside, sad inside - Literally her goal is to be rude and distant to get people to leave her alone, especially other shinigamis who want her to fight with them

Training the gift of magic - Her focus on Kido and the spells you can learn is something she hasn’t truly dropped over the years

Sincerity mode - Shockingly sincere and kind to those she knows needs it in the moment or when she’s more willing to be honest. But often it just comes off…not sincere at all based on who she is.

No lie, she’s made of majority of sass and blunt commentary. She can be considered a negative optimist in most pleasant cases. Often coming off as an angry mother hen, she refuses to fight for the longest time, or even exit her gigai. Preferring to seal away her power and zanpakuto but not discarding it as she can still be seen using her Kido skills while in her gigai and always carrying her sword in a tiny toy looking keychain. But she will let you think what you will of her if you make assumptions of why she’s hiding even then danger arises. “It’s not my problem, think what you will of me.”

A lot of her base behavior is rooted into her past and to understand that you have to understand what happened to her 40+ years prior to the start of the series. she caused the death of someone she trusted and blamed her bankai since it was the literal cause. Cursing her powers and herself for hurting people dear to her she fled to the living world to try and clear her head. Eventually meeting Urahara and literally just losing track of time being happier there with him and his shop doing small things and painting her emotions into the canvas.

This obviously changes over the series and she becomes more “helpful” to the causes that pop up but she never truly drops her rough attitude towards most people.

Relationships

Urahara & co - Her employer of sorts

Urahara is the one who helped her when she was down and lost with herself. She’s been working for him for a long time and it shows based on their relationship. It’s both one where she threatens to beat him for acting unfavorably or slacking but also she highly respects and trusts him. One of the rare people she would stick her neck out for. She’s also learned a thing or two from him as well.

Ururu & Jinta are both troublesome and charming to her. She’s not above scolding them for acting up (Jinta especially) but tries to make sure they don’t get into troublesome/dangerous situations if she can help it. Jinta likes to act as if he’s her boss which results in a broom to the head most times.

Tsukabishi is probably the easiest for her to get along with mostly because he respects her space and she respects him. Especially considering he was the former Captain of the Kido Corps which has resulted in her pestering for input on her own Kido skills and work.

Ichigo & co - Bunch of crazy kids she sometimes associates with

Ichigo is problematic and overworks himself and his position in the universe. She’s not a fan of the hero types but really over time it just becomes concern and motherly worry for him.

Orihime is both a doll but also troublesome. She’s a sweet girl but also somewhat of a naive person and that can rub her the wrong way.

Ishida is the one she knows the least and instinctually the one she will avoid the most.

Chad is the only normal and least annoying one to her.

Majority of other shinigami - Part memories of foolish people

Rukia & Toshiro are two she finds amusing since are both small, work orientated, and ice powered, she holds some respect for them over time.

Renji is one of the more interesting people she can butt heads with in a more friendly way. She does better with people she can push a bit but knows which buttons to not press.

Yumichika & Ikkaku are sometimes paired in her mind because they are usually found together. She likes to give Ikkaku a hard time and call him names but in reality she knows he’s stronger than her and actually likes the look of his bankai. Yumichika has style that she admires but wishes he could expand that and make Ikkaku wear better things.

Hisagi & Rangiku are just more in her age bracket. While she is familiar with Hisagi thanks to the academy and didn’t mind his company they obviously lost touch. Rangiku is…a mixed bag, she prefers when the woman is more serious but it up for drinking anytime with her.

Kyoraku is her former captain and can explain why she acts how she does with Urahara when he gets a little perverted. She admires the man though, and does feel sorry for leaving as she did but wouldn’t dear admit that.

Visored - Fascinating but partly tragic group of people

Shinji is partly still a mystery and she doesn’t know much about him but he stands out to her and there is an air of curiosity. But that tends to happen when she encounters more flippant and casual people.

Hachi is the one she would aim for first due to his skill set. A hunger for more knowledge is what she desires but I’m sure she isn’t against a kinder soul in comparison to her own edge.

Arrancar - Interesting and different from what she’s used to seeing

Nel sometimes can be in the same realm of how she feels about Orihime but with more power. Her kid form isn’t something she can sometimes stand though but the adult form is also somewhat of a handful to her.

Grimmjow is a hot mess to her, or rather he makes her feel like one. He fascinates her at first but also is very aware of his immense power. She can’t tell is she’s afraid of him or not and after he “helps” get her to put up a fight she makes sure to explain she’s no where near his level and isn’t someone worth trying to first again.

Quincies - Stuck up gremlins

Fullbringers - They’re confusing to her at most and the group she never really interacted with personally too much

If you REALLY want to know about anyone specifically just ask I’m not making this a mile long kjdsfjhkdf I will most likely have an opinion in mind for them. Bleach has a lot of interesting characters but I tried to stick to ones she has interacted with.

Strength (or lack of in a lot of ways)

Strength & Health, she’s as average as you come for a shinigami (if you wanna get fandom technical her Hakuda (hand to hand) & Zanjutsu (swordsmanship) are decent but can be a bit average and nothing fancy)

But while its average, she seems far more comfortable with using staff based movements and techniques rather than a sword. This can be seen with her Shikai and other similar items such as a broom

Speed she’s pretty quick naturally so her Hoho are fairly strong (she’s more of the type to want to block and evade then straight on fight you)

Kido/Spells is where she shines though, in the academy and after she prided herself in how proficient she quickly became. And she does like testing out different combos and mixes of spells to see what she can create with that. Also her has learned to use her Kido in par with her Bankai for a higher success rate.

Zanpakuto Info (aka something that���s still being roughed out with a friendo)

Aoi Mizu (is the current name I’m leaning towards)

Normally for most of the series run, its hidden in this little toy, keychain form that she carries around. But normally its just a normal katana when its not crammed small.

The Shikai becomes a blue Halberd and released with the word “Cleanse”. She can alter the length of the staff to some degree, and there is a refreshing, watery scent to it when she swings it. To her touch the blue blades feel cool and wet.

The Bankai part is still under development but for the moment when released a certain radius around her is engulfed into an orb like space that is always raining. The purpose of the rain is to continue until the entire space is filled, effectively aiming for a timed race of air. While she’s typically fine if the water raises to a point where there’s no air you can easily escape by knocking her out as it only stays active if she is conscious or she chooses to end it. This is why she has trained to hard in Kido, she uses the different spells to try and trap to delay her opponent to get them to the point of submersion to knock them out or worse.

Basically she thinks her bankai is rather pointless thanks to her average strength and fighting skill. 

BUT YEAH I hope this covers everything you wanted to know (and wasnt too much I know its really REALLY long jkdjhdgh)

[watches-and-windchimes]

Gonna try and answer as many of these as possible because linguistics is fun:

Kansas and Arkansas share etymology, but were colonised by different people - the English colonised Kansas, giving it a very English sounding pronunciation, and the French took Arkansas, hence the silent s. I imagine both names have evolved a bit more since then, making them even further form the original.

"Ough" is likely due to a mixture of anglicism and invasions from various places. With the advent of the printing press, certain letters got dropped and multiple sounds got squished into one letter/couple letters in order to save money. Britain has been invaded many times by people with a variety of different pronunciation rules, which is why our pronunciation is so confusing. We're trying to pronounce our words like the Normans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings etc all in one go, plus stuff like the Great Vowel Shift.

The C is silent. Roots of the word like Old French "sentir" didn't contain a C and the reasoning behind our 17th century addition is unknown.

Because "frig" and "frige" look wrong in English. Often the sounds of words come before they are written down. Again, this is down to complicated phonotactics/pronunciation rules due to several influencing languages.

Zoe is pronounced as two syllables because it is traditionally spelled Zoë. The diaeresis (you may know it as an umlaut, but they do different things) denotes that the vowels be pronounced separately, like in naïve and Chloë. In English, diacritics tend to get dropped as they do not naturally occur in our language. Joe has a completely different origin and is pronounced as one syllable accordingly. In English, a Y on the end usually gets pronounced as a separate vowel, hence Joe-y. Zoey was probably a later version of Zoë which followed the "adding a Y as a diminutive" thing, even if it doesn't affect the pronunciation.

No, but in German you can do both. "Ich trinke Trinken" (I drink drinks) and "ich esse Essen" (I eat food) are both correct. We kept "Trinken" in the form of "drink" but "food" was taken from the Old English (and therefore Germanic) "fōda" which is where we got our word "fodder" which is a type of livestock feed.

"Queue" comes from late 16th century French, and therefore follows their phonotactic rules.

Many European languages do call W "double v". Originally, V and U were written as the same letter (V) which made an "u" sound. However, much like our Y, it could also be used as a consonant, making a "w" sound. It wasn't uncommon for two Vs to be written together, making a "wuh" sound, and they eventually became one letter. I guess we just chose U over V in terms of names. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I've seen archaic Ws written as two Us not two Vs so that might have something to do with the name.

Any linguists out there, feel free to correct me/add stuff to this. Basically, the main thing to remember is that we got invaded by a lot of people, all of whom tried to force us to speak their languages, so we became an amalgamation of all of them on top of our own linguistic evolution with stuff like the invention of the printing press and the Great Vowel Shift changing how our sounds are translated into text.

My sister just sent me this and I'm wheezing.🤣🤣🤣

English is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

[ladytabletop]

Hello!! I was the one who asked about where to find a group! I have a new question now, apologies if you've answered anything similar. So my friend and I haven't had any luck finding a grouo to join, so we've decided to start our own! I'm the one most interested in DMing out of our group, but here's the problem; I'm inexperienced. This would be my first *actual* game as a DM and I played one short session as a player once. That said: Any advice/tips/resources? ♡ Thank you!!

Hi there, so sorry about taking so long to answer this!

For your first game, there’s a couple important questions to ask yourself before you start. I will give advice under the assumption that you’ve already chosen the system you want to play.

First, how long of a game do you want to run? 

This is important mainly if you’re running something you’ve written on your own. It won’t necessarily be neat and easy, like saying ‘We will play exactly ten sessions.’ But knowing whether you’re looking to run a very long running game vs. a self-contained short can help you the DM when writing plot points and the like.

Second, pre-written adventure or homebrew? 

There are tons and tons of pre-written adventures for pretty much every system out there, whether they are published by the company that made the game or by enthusiastic players and GMs who put their own adventures out there in a published format. It’s worth noting that if you like something like Rise of the Runelords for Pathfinder but want to run it in DnD5, it isn’t too tough to adapt something from one system to another.

On the other hand, a homebrew plot can be really fulfilling! It requires a bit more work on your part, but it can be worth it. Keep in mind that you can start with a published adventure and veer into homebrew territory as you get more comfortable running things.

NOTE: a homebrew setting is a whole other beast, and here’s a post about that.

Also another beast: allowing homebrew in your games. If you’re going to do this, please please please talk with your players beforehand and make sure they know that balancing during the game may happen. Nobody likes to be nerfed, but if there’s homebrew that’s just outclassing everyone else, it has to be scaled back. Use your resources online, ask people to look over things you think might be over or underpowered.

Third, what style of game will this be?

Is it going to be political intrigue and espionage? A classic dungeon delving guild style? A Lord of the Rings-esque sweeping fantasy epic? A more modern fantasy fast-paced mystery? Seafarers and ship combat? A really dark game where things are serious, or a funny goofy romp?

All of these are great options, but be sure your players know a little bit about what type of game it will be so they can get on board! No one wants to bring a hardened vigilante elf barbarian with no stealth to a game that’s primarily social challenges and shadowy murders (actually now that I’ve said it, I do. but he would be thematically appropriate and not useless).

Now that those questions are answered, here’s a few more suggestions.

As a GM, it’s important to root for your player characters. If you’re the type of group that likes to play as GM vs. players, this campaign is deadly, that’s fine as long as that’s what everybody wants. But if not, you the GM need to challenge the characters without decimating them. Find out what their goals are and root for them in achieving them, but don’t make it easy! Help them have fulfilling character arcs and try to be familiar with their characters wants, flaws, past, etc. It’ll help you make things more personal in the plot, whether that be by making them run into an old foe or by helping them eventually trust people again, etc. Being familiar with the characters and what the players want for them will help you make the most satisfying game for everyone.

Remember that you’re a storyteller, but it’s not your story you’re telling. You can have plot points you’re attached to, NPCs you love, but ultimately, the story should be about the players. Let them shape it! Try to get them as involved in the heart of things as possible. Don’t make it seem like things can happen with just the NPCs, as though your characters are the bystanders. Let them be in the thick of the plot. This isn’t to say things won’t happen without them - they have to! But when things start really cooking, the PCs should be there, they should care about what’s happening, and they should be able to affect it to some degree.

Be flexible. Improv is a key skill for DMs. Not everyone is great at it, and that’s okay. That’s what online resources and prep time are for! But regardless of how good or not you are at making things up on the spot, you need to be flexible. Your players are going to change the way you think the plot will go. They’re going to surprise you. They’re going to (hopefully) have character arcs that change, and you need to adapt with them. You need to be ready for these things to happen, which honestly means being ready to throw out your prep and throw out the things you’ve worked on sometimes.

That being said, it’s important to do at least a little prep, especially if you’re running a plot heavy game and not a smash and grab dungeon crawl. This can be as simple as using index cards with bullet point NPCs, treasure, and monsters/encounters, or it can be as involved as writing out details about the setting and plot that you can read when it comes to the appropriate time and making huge complex maps and encounters.

Be consistent in your rulings. Sometimes the rules get debated, or you want a house rule at your table, or a spell is worded vaguely and there’s multiple interpretations, etc. In these instances, you get to say, ‘Hey, GM rules this.’ (I only recommend doing this after having heard arguments for why it could be ruled multiple ways). After you say that, stick to your guns! The rule stands, and it stands for everybody. Unless you really really think you were wrong later, in which case you should talk to your players and rectify things, you need to be consistent in the way you adhere to the rules so that no one feels cheated.

My last piece of advice for you is to always have open dialogue with your players. Get feedback on how they think the game is going. Get their predictions about the plot. Touch base about how their characters are feeling, what their goals are. Make it clear that if any players aren’t having fun/are having issues, they can come to you and you’ll do what you can to help. Just be open in your communication. And remember, everybody at the table should be having fun, including you.

Now that I’ve gotten through all that, here’s some resources I like to use for my games.

Donjon RPG Tools - this is my favorite of all time. Tons of random generators, from names to encounters to maps to treasure. There’s an initiative tracker, an xp calculator if you use experience points, and a dice roller. It’s really an all in one tool.

My resource tag has everything from inspirational art to interesting dungeon builds to how to incorporate linguistics into your games to answers to the question ‘How do I start a game?’ answered by other people. It’s really just an amalgam of collected resources.

I enjoy the Obsidian Portal campaign manager, and there are tons of others out there.

A lot of folks use the Same Page Tool to make sure all players and GM understand exactly what’s happening and what’s expected at the table.

I use the DnD5e Spellbook app (which of course is system specific, but super useful).

And other than that, I mainly just have pdfs of the system I’m using, a piece of scrap paper so I can note NPCs, locations, and plot points that the PCs encounter that may be relevant in coming sessions, notecards with stat blocks for enemies, a sheet to track PC ac, initiative, goals, and flaws. You’ll figure out the setup that works for you the longer you GM.

Good luck!!