#durance critical

[herearedragons]

*taps mic* Durance is the Oghren of Pillars of Eternity

(unkempt bearded guy with abandonment issues and a compelling backstory that is difficult to enjoy because unfortunately he talks Like That)

[katistrophe]

@toooldforthisbutstill and @awordwasthebeginning tagged me in a 10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags meme - thanks! I’d been meaning to respond, but things kept happening. So let’s see…

Boromir (Lord of the Rings) - look, honorable, misguided and dead as a doornail is just my type in characters

Cheery Littlebottom (Discworld) - carving out a space to be herself, and being a science nerd on top of that

Pallegina mes Rèi (Pillars of Eternity) - badass, principled, tied with Sagani for Least Taking of Shit from Durance. And admittedly a bit of a projection surface for all the gender thoughts about godlikes.

Six (Heaven’s Vault) - so, so much Snark to Snark combat, and one of my favorite quotes in anything ever: „Hope is a mathematical certainty.“

K-2SO (Rogue One) - I’d put the whole group in here if I could but only one of them is a snarky robot and see above.

Odo (Deep Space Nine) - I could go on about the themes but also… his interactions with Quark.

Vax'ildan (Critical Role campaign 1) - I love Vax and Vex‘ sibling dynamics… and of course the tiebreaker between the two is TRAGEDY

DJ the DJ (Hi Nay) - once again one where I could go for EVERYONE, but DJ‘s segments play with the podcast medium so beautifully that breaks the tie in their favor. (Also, go listen to Hi Nay everyone.)

Stephen Maturin (Aubreyad) - so many terrible life choices in the name of SCIENCE, and also nobody can believe that this ratty nerd is a coldblooded spy.

Javert (Les Miserables) - „bastard, but poor bastard“ probably sums it up

Tagging, hm… @itscatconny @black-cat-aoife @thattalviel @tatzelwyrm @emotedllama @secretmellowblog @seaglassandeelgrass @mishidraws @ackerschnacker @nebty

[marzart98]

For this project I aimed to capture the negative impacts of internet culture, mostly to due with Consumerism, Mob Mentality, and just the stupid logic of social media.  These are just personal experiences that I've noticed but some of you might have witness this yourself. For each one I did a sketch first, then used SAI to trace and Photoshop to color and finalize.  Two for the most part took a lot of time, especially when balancing other courses that I've been doing the past week.  If I had a little extra time I would have definitely animated these images (not so much for 3) and give it a more alive take on my perspective on the negative aspects on internet culture.

1: CosumTube

This one is self explanatory as it goes to show the state that people are in when they just watch videos non-stop whether that be on laptop or on Iphone (because everyone has one now a days).  The people here are devoid of color as you can see from the fading color on the bottom of the image and the person in the middle staring at us is nothing more then a soulless/faceless husk of a human that has only one thing in my and that's to consume.  I wanted to do one influencer but see as there are many and trying to gather them in one photo I decided to go with the Youtube logo to just show that the site itself is just bait.

2: Restrictive Criticism

This image showcases the artist doing what they want while a crowd looms around him making it a more uncomfortable in this place that's suppose to be isolated.  This is in reference to the state of social media and how it treats its artist and how mentally durance these people can get.  Some will say you didn't draw what they want or draw what they like.  They might even tell you your anatomy is fake or unrealistic and then berate you with hateful messages and make judgments about you as a person.  In worse cases they might even threaten you, d-dos you, or go after a family member.  The point being that people like these shouldn't be taken seriously and you should be free to draw what you want, the artist is drawing away as if he's the only one there while the crowd feel as if they are just hallucinations.

3: Opinion Presentation

Much like how sites such as Twitter (now under the name X) thrive off of toxic behaviors from people who use there platform; it really shows how these social media sites can show a persons true colors, as you have seen the people that I've done are devoid  of color or have one color to represent a mob mentality.  Some people seem to think that social media is one big hug box so here is just a simple meme that highlights just how this type of situation is overlooked and nothing is really done about it.  Nothing too say, I used a meme templet to convey my message and an image of an empty auditorium.  It is a negative aspect yes, but I did wanna turn it into a meme just to poke fun of how stupid this kind of thing is.

[two-bit-socrates]

I feel bad for hati Xoti more than I do Durance. Like they each have traits I inherently like and dislike but at the end of the day MY weird trait regarding certain frequencies of sound kicks in that some sounds feel like someone is hammering nails into my head.

Sometimes I wonder if some small part of why hatred of specific genders takes place has something to do with a way a person's voice sounds aggravating a sensitive sensory issue the person isn't aware of and it contributes to a bias in said person's mind.

Like Laura's sultry voice isn't painful compared to the frequency of sound she has with Xoti.

Like many people who watch Critical Role I too fucking love Jester and I love how she speaks but the (im not sure im using the right word actually I think I mean decibel) frequency of her voice hurts like hell and it kicks up agitation cause I need it to stop.

Idk, it's weird and I don't fully understand it.

[dragonswithjetpacks]

Unpopular opinion: I like Durance. Both as a player and companion.

His personality is difficult because it was meant to be. You aren���t supposed to like Durance. You aren’t supposed to want to marry him or bang him or be his best friend. You are supposed dislike him. To get annoyed by him. The funny thing is the game doesn’t hide any of that. He’s such a crazy ass. And the others treat him that way. I’m sure at one point Edér asked the Watcher “Are you sure we have to bring him? Can’t you just tell him to fuck off?” And Durance stays. He knows everyone hates him. He doesn’t give a shit. He stays anyway.

I like that he’s an ass hole. It makes the game interesting. All these rpg’s where companions are running around holding hands... this adds a new dynamic. Like yeah there might be a person or two you just aren’t going to like. Grieving Mother is questionable at times but she’s likeable because she isn’t an outright dick like Durance is. Maybe I’m weird, but I think at times his outlandish behavior is funny. My Watcher most certainly gets a kick out of it. She likely made a game out of it. Something like “Let’s see who can make Durance rant the longest.” or “Let’s see how many dumb questions we can ask before he turns red.” or “Let’s see who can stay awake the longest while he talks about Magran.”

I hate that because he really is interesting. His past is fascinating. It almost makes you wonder what the others thought of him while doing all that work. Trying to avoid spoilers here for anyone, but man can you imagine? This intelligent man who was an absolute nut case and judgemental ass hole. Not to mention, he is hideous. The characters in this game are really great because it feels like they created actual people. It’s not like playing a game where everyone is hot. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate and Final Fantasy with every inch of my beating heart. But this game is all about story telling and writing. Characters like Durance really make that show.

One last thing is how people complain he dies too much. I didn’t have that problem. Sure, in the beginning I held onto his staff thinking okay this is a special staff. But it sucks. I ditched the staff. Gave him a gun. Which is just a crazy idea when you think about it. But he’s the best character to use a gun in the whole game. Then I gave him a... I think a flail and a shield? Or a sword? I don’t remember. BUT ANYWAY. He hardly ever dies. I often end up switching over to him and micro managing buffs and heals. I actually like playing a priest. Which is weird. Maybe my next character will be a priest. Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever said those words before... good job Obsidian. You made me want to play a priest.

[springacres]

The only thing I can appreciate about Durance, aside from his interesting views on religion, is that he's such a test of my Watcher's self-control.

That said, I'm already planning to play an orlan Eothasian priestess from Aedyr or Old Vailia for my next run, just to see how much I can get under his skin that way.

Grieving Mother definitely feels lazily written - they didn't even bother to give her a name! - but she also raises genuine questions about how far the Watcher is willing to go in pursuit of their goals. I feel, though, that some of those questions should be raised by other characters as well.

I like durance and grieving mother more than most people, I think, but I’d like them more if they felt like characters and not weird puzzles for the player to solve

[jesawyer]

Heya. From a game mechanics perspective, was there ever a conception of which class a player should use in Pillars of Eternity I/II? I understand that the game was built around viability, but it's interesting that a rogue companion was not included in the base releases. Curious about your thought process on companion class choices and how it influences the player's decisions.

No. I tried to design the systems and content such that a player could play any class and could ignore/avoid any companions/classes they didn't want. Priest still feels, if not integral, very valuable for a Pillars 1 playthrough, but I think it feels less critical for Deadfire.

Edér is the first companion you encounter to ensure you have an easily managed tank. Aloth is second so you get ranged/AoE offensive magic. Durance is third so you get a healer. I didn't want to have situations where people made wizards or rogues and didn't have access to a tank for hours and hours.

Rogues in Pillars and Deadfire are not "skill" classes like they are in 3E/Pathfinder. They're strikers whose class skills focus on traditionally "roguey" things, but other classes can cover those skills more easily in Pillars than in 3E. Durance is perfectly capable of disarming traps (as long as you can spot the trap) and picking locks through the whole game.

[the-army-brat-and-the-nerd]

Erica Durance or Amy Adams?

Is that a trick question?

Categorization in order, please forgive me.

Erica Durance: as an actress. I fell head over heels for her role as Lois Lane in Smallville. And then I started watching Saving hope, and Alex Reid happens to be one of my top inspirational characters of all time. (I mean, honestly- I would wanna recommend all Smallville Lois Lane fans to watch that show, just for Erica's performance- she's absolutely gorgeous!) I consider her to be extremely committed to her job. She perfectly nails whatever role is given to her, she's totally flexible, she's amazingly talented, she's fun and she would always remain to be my top favorite actor.

Amy Adams: as a person- she's kinda like my role model. She's too fantastic for words- and I'm not gonna start coz, there definitely won't be an end to my rant. I haven't seen much of her work, actually(yeah-shame on me!). I have just seen the DCEU (and I don't give a damn about what critics say about her being the worst version of Lois Lane-for me, it was incredible!), and her short role in Smallville. I've watched her interviews a lot. She's literally stunning- from stepping up from selling licorice to the Golden Globes. She's a hard worker, she's genuine, she's simple, down-to-earth and a LEGEND (Go watch one of her interviews, if you haven't yet- or even DCEU ones. You'll fall very, very hard. She has this extremely bright personality, it draws nearly everyone to her). I love her accent, her sense of humor- anything and everything about her. So there's that!

BONUS:

Alright....And dear anon, this is a gentle diversion technique I use to actually avoid answering the real question- I love both lol. Please don't take it personally! Thankyou so much for the question.

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

Hallmark Channel - New Year New Movies

The Perfect Pairing

Air date: Saturday, January 1, 9/8c Stars: Nazneen Contractor, Brennan Elliott

Influential and anonymous food and wine critic Christina finds herself at a winery she panned in the past. She hopes to leave before anyone finds out who she is, but she instead slips on ice and hits her head. The Hollingbrook family, led by single father Michael graciously takes Christina in while she recovers and tries to jog her memory. In the process, Christina helps the Hollingbrooks prepare for their annual wine tapping party, which includes Michael’s risky passion project, ice wine.

Wedding Veil (working title)

Air date: Saturday, January 8, 9/8c Stars: Lacey Chabert, Kevin McGarry, Autumn Reeser, Alison Sweeney

The first installment of an enchanting new trilogy starring three of Hallmark’s most beloved leading ladies as longtime college friends who discover a mysterious, antique veil fabled to unite its bearer with her true love. After discovering a long-lost painting, museum curator Avery and successful, new board member Peter investigate the artwork’s origins as they plan a charity fundraiser to unveil its restoration.

Love Is Trending

Air date: Saturday, January 15, 9/8c Stars: Jen Lilley, Christopher Russell

Mackenzie Sullivan is a New York-based marketing executive struggling to keep her clients. When she returns home to a rural maple farm to help her best friend plan her wedding in just two weeks, Mackenzie learns the hard way that the love and support of family and true friends means more than she’d imagined.

Butlers in Love

Air date: Saturday, January 22, 9/8c Stars: Stacey Farber, Corey Cott, Maxwell Caulfield

In a prestigious butler academy, passionate Emma and rebellious Henry train to become royal butlers where the competition is fierce and sparks fly.

Romancing the Birthday Girl

Air date: Saturday, January 29, 9/8c Stars: Emilie Ullerup, Clayton James

On her birthday, Taylor opens a time capsule left by her deceased mother, which contains six envelopes. In each one is a challenge to complete, challenges that her mother – aware of Taylor’s many anxieties that hold her back – knew would expand her horizons and give her the push she needs in life and to help open her mind, and heart, to the possibility of love.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

North to Home (working title)

Air date: Sunday, January 9, 10/9c Stars: Lyndsy Fonseca, Kimberley Sustad, Erica Durance, Barbara Niven

Suzanne McBride is excited to spend her birthday with her family. It will be the first time that her three adopted daughters will be together in years. This seems like a great time for a family reunion, but the sisters are each wrestling with unique challenges that threaten to derail this special occasion. Will their bond be strong enough to survive this time together?

Plus a new Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted by Murder coming in February.

[svgurl410]

Hi, what is your opinion about Chloe Sullivan? it seems that some fans. especially Clark/Chloe shippers wanted Chloe to “become” Lois. That's insane!!!!

Thanks for the ask! As far as Chloe goes, my opinion on her has changed over the years. I had to put this under a cut because I got rambly- get ready for the essay you didn't ask for. Where I stand now is that I actually don't hate her but I also don't like her. I am just critical of her and her behavior.

I didn't watch Smallville when it first aired but I got into it during the first few seasons, and at first, I never had strong feelings on her one way or the other because I was mostly invested in Clark & Lex. And of course, Lois immediately after she appeared. I did start liking her in s5, because she had some sort of balance (fans refuse to acknowledge that she legit did nothing journalism wise in s6 and Grant was right to call out her lack of investment in s7) and used to really love her back in the day. I was very invested in the Chloe-Lois familial relationship and ended up shipping Chlollie a lot too. I am still not that heated about them ending up together, whatever my feelings are on her. It was rushed and Ollie's pining in s10 was annoying, but I preferred Ollie and Tess as friends and they didn't do a good enough job of getting me invested in SV Dinah unfortunately. And I liked her friendship with Clark, even if reflecting back, it wasn't all that healthy. I got caught up in the narrative though and I really wanted him to have a friend, since he was so lonely otherwise, and I wasn't a fan of Lana at all.

When I got getting active in fandom in early s6, I was actually surprised at how popular that ship was because as someone who read fic but was outside of it, just a viewer, it just never had an appeal. Mostly because even after the kiss in the s5 finale, I never thought it'd go anywhere and the feelings always felt unbalanced and stronger on her side. I did read fic for them because I read fic for anyone when I liked both characters involved but it wasn't my fave.

I think I got tired of her behavior around mid s8, though even when I liked her I was surprised at how annoying she could be in the early seasons when I rewatched. Her acting like she knew what was best for everyone and the way they dumbed down Clark a little to prop her up before that was frustrating and how she handled Davis/Doomsday was ridiculous. Also her demanding that she gets to use the Fortress to go back in time to save Jimmy and legit guilted him over it when she was there when Clark did the same thing and knew he lost his dad and probably was aware of how bad he felt over it? Awful. Her fans used to try to claim Clark was a bad friend who didn't deserve her, which was funny considering that if Clark hadn't been so forgiving, they wouldn't have been friends by that point in the first place. She literally hacked into his adoption records and worked with Lionel because he dared get together with the girl he actually liked. Plus some of her actions were grey and if she had been anyone else, she would have been on some sort of villain path. She put cameras in his house. You know who else did that? Lex. Honestly the only thing Clark did that was really questionable was erase her memory of his secret and that should've had more reaching consequences than it did- it would be one thing if he did it after s4 but after her life was tied up to his secret in many ways, I'm actually surprised she was able to be so happy go lucky and Oliver just brushed it off, since it would've affected her work with the League. Alas, not worth dwelling over, I guess.

Also the theory was batshit. Journalism and that one throwaway line which was clearly intended to show that Lois Lane did exist in the universe really spawned some nonsense. Especially after they cast Lois. Everyone said that it wasn't happening (even Gough had interviews in the early seasons where they talked about bringing Lois in so it was literally never in the plan) and they clung on to their theory and actually acted betrayed when it didn't happen. Just really gross behavior, especially how they treated Lois and more importantly, Erica Durance.

I don't care if they have their faves and ship what you want- not my problem- but the theory existing will always piss me off and those theorists especially definitely acted like the characters = actors, and propped up AM as a feminist icon while bashing ED, and her looks, and insisting that the rest of the cast definitely hated her, etc. It was really gross behavior. Considering what happened with AM, and who she turned out to be, it didn't age well either.

Anyway, she had plenty of good moments but also really bad ones and it's a shame that AM's actions also colored my perception of this character, but if she had been held responsible for some of them rather than being made out to be the hero of the show, even over Clark at times, I think I would look back on it more kindly.

I hope that answered your question!

[her-serendipity]

what would y’all like to be the focus of next season other than like the big bad guy conflict? Like the seasonal struggle that isn’t with the villain?

personally i would love if they would focus on Kara’s mental state & show that all the shit that she has been through in her life is starting to get to her in a way that was never as evident before. Maybe have her hit a rock bottom for a few episodes. I wanna see her be the Kara that she tends to become when shit just is getting to be a little too much. Like 3x01/3x02. focus on this season being about the super friends having to save her for once on a large scale. I don’t know maybe this season’s big bad gets in her head more than others because their effort to make it more personal than any other villain ever has (yes including lex).

having this be the central theme it would make a lot of sense to have some special kryptonite episodes in this. Mainly I want red, blue, and silver kryptonite. Red because we’ve already seen how bomb it was, arguably the best episode of the show season one. Plus i can’t wait for lena to meet that ever so kryptonian side of kara, that tends to be a bit of a bitch. One beacause i wanna see lena’s reaction (hopefully it isn’t to cry) because she’s never seen that side of kara. And also red k kara would likely be brutally honest about any dispute that have had in the past four years, not that we need that after the amount of angst we got from season 5. but hey i’m a sucker for my ships arguing, those are the best scenes. Even just arguments in general.

In smallville, blue k takes away clark’s (as long as he’s in proximity to it) kryptonian side including the weakness to kryptonite. I would love if they did a similar take on supergirl. Same goes for silver kryptonite and how it made Clark ridiculously paranoid towards everyone, even those closest to him.

I just really want this season to revolve around kara like never before. Like focus on Kara’s true self, which is not Supergirl or Kara Danvers, but Kara Zor-El. Because that’s who she is at her core, and despite that fact that’s also the side of her that we know/see the least. If we do have a moment this season where Kara doesn’t have or can’t use her powers, I would much prefer the people around her reassure her that they’re going to figure it out and she’ll get her powers back eventually rather than saying Kara Danvers is the real hero or they’ll love her even if she never gets her powers back blah blah blah. (Because it’s very much understandable for Kara to be upset about critical part of her identity being missing)

side note: and maybe have Erica Durance guest star a couple eps I miss Alura

I want this season to be about Kara struggling with and eventually embracing her kryptonian side and ALL of the baggage that comes with it!!

[adozentothedawn]

First Playthrough Log Pathfinder: Kingmaker Part 23

This game is stupidly unbalanced. The idea to juts slap normal table top rules onto evreything was the dumbest idea of the all. Why the fuck can I only try skill checks one time? There is no reason for this. At all. I have to replay this whole fucking level, because you though retrying a climb is for pussys. Not gonna lie, sometimes I have to fight to get through this.

Welp, fuck me. Turns out, I didn’t need to replay this thing, because Tristian already did his job. Goddamnit.

And thus, Varnhold be part of my realm!

I really appreciate Pillars just stuffing the Watcher in a hood and just generally making them a vague figure in any pictures they have to show up in. And not like in this game just shove a generic male character into foreground of the illustrations. I think Linzi needs some glasses.

Kanerah just had a new pillotalk dialogue and it’s so cute!

I am now missing Amiri, Tristian, Ekun, and Lander. My god, everybody’s fucking off.

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t think I would finish this without mods. The fact that you basically have to sacrifice Amiri for a romance with Tristian is just… dumb. When I’m done with this game I’ll do a comfort play through of Pillars again.

Armag looks like a young Durance and I don’t like it.

Nok-Nok knoks the shit out of everybody!

Jubilost, I will uild a shrine in your honour. “Do you think Linzi should have a chapter in her book titled ‘Idiots and How to Convert them into Dead Idiots’? Just look at how much material she has!” I’m not even sure if that was an insult against me or Lander, but goddamnit, I love it!

“If only you knew, young Lander, how much I’ll miss you when you unexpectedly lose your head in this stupid prank. In all the barony, you were the only person who drew more irritation than I did!” I love him. Thank you, Jubilost. You Kaessi, you are the stars of my eyes.

And Lander actually goes directly for me! And critically misses. 

Oh wow, Jamand is really smearing honey around my muzzle here.

You can gladly have the Dead Idiot back, Jamandi, but you’re gonna have some scrapping to do, because all that’s left of him is, once again, a rib cage and a pool of blood.

[ilmapatsas]

hello i am a Video Games Scientist and i’ve developed a scientific taxonomy of video game companions. it’s very good but not very exhaustive.

1. Big

a tank. big, tall, and super not scary. kind-natured, loves dogs and food. probably portrayed as a little simple.

examples: alistair (DAO), carver (DA2), edér (POE), minsc (BG), Farkas (Skyrim)

2. Sexy

their opening lines to you are probably some sort of pick-up line. very open about their sexuality. also has a very healthy self-esteem, particularly about their looks. will sometimes switch it up by talking about their love of violence. makes you and your party members incredibly uncomfortable. probably bisexual and/or an ethnic minority, because that trope’s still cool in 2020, right?

examples: zevran (DAO), isabela (DA2), iron bull and dorian, to a degree (DAI), marcurio (Skyrim)

3. Angry

the one who fucking hates your guts. will probably threaten you with death when first encountered. also probably plot-essential, so you will be forced to listen to them antagonize you the entire game. you will at some point say the words “you could just say thank you” to them. a good demonstration of how much mediocre male writers hate “strong women”, though male examples also exist.

examples: cassandra (DAI), sebille (DOS2), fenris (DA2), sten and velanna (DAO), Njada and Uthgerd (Skyrim)

4. Better

probably rich. sneers at you and belittles you - and probably most other characters they meet - at every opportunity. asserts that they are only using you to their own ends, although they are actually stuck in your company due to unfortunate circumstances. bizarrely, will take a minute toward the end of the game to talk about how important you are to them as a friend, and then resume spitting in your general direction again.

examples: vivienne (DAI), red prince (DOS2), pallegina (POE), maia rua (POE2), shale and morrigan (DAO)

5. Liar

and not a good one. will say incredibly bizarre things hinting at their awful, horrible, terrible past, which you will catch, but will get no opportunity to interrogate further until it’s too late. full of self-loathing. a bit of a hermit.

examples: blackwall and solas (DAI), ifan ben-medz (DOS2)

6. Sage

a wizard. their every other line is a generic aphorism. fond of philosophical monologues and an enthusiastic user of the thesaurus. presents you with the “deepest” moral quandaries that intern chris could come up with, and then infers your entire personality and moral philosophy from your answer.

examples: also solas (DAI), gale (BG3)

7. Dwarf

...a dwarf. probably the only dwarf. a very chill person. cool, friendly, with a refreshingly positive outlook on life. happily shares tales of the strange, foreign ways of their dwarven homeland. a weird stereotype, but at least they’re nice to you.

examples: sigrun (DAO), varric (DA2 & DAI), sagani (POE), beast (DOS2)

8. Gross

somebody’s dad. an alcoholic. has the unique ability to find more and more unsettling things to talk about. will mention every single female character’s “tits” and has a 5-minute party banter listing every place they’ve ever peed. should probably just skip recruiting him next time.

examples: oghren (DAO), durance (POE), serafen (POE2)

9. Ghost

not of this realm. speaks in riddles, but is also very literal. kind of has their own stuff going on, which you barely understand. creepy, but probably well-intentioned. expresses their good intentions by killing in cold blood, because the writers wanted to make a point about moral relativity.

examples: grieving mother (POE), justice (DAO), cole (DAI), fane kinda (DOS2)

10. Actually Two People

probably a sage or liar type, with an extra ghost inside them. constantly engaged in a profound struggle with their dual nature.

examples: anders (DA2), wynne (DAO), lohse (DOS2), aloth (POE)

11. Mom

a female character with common sense and practical clothes. the straight man to your group of chaotic dolts. intelligent, responsible, caring, and unforgivingly critical. someone in the writer’s room has baggage.

examples: wynne (DAO), aveline (DA2)

12. Naive

a female character who either is young or comes across young. happy, sweet-natured and impractical. if you ask them about their interests, their answer is “you know... girly stuff”. you will be stuck listening to people mansplain things to them, but at least they are genuinely nice to be around.

examples: leliana (DAO), bethany and merrill (DA2), lohse (DOS2)

13. Funny

drastically devoid of any emotional processing skills. always sarcastic, except when delivering snappy punchlines, even in serious and potentially lethal situations. probably more than a little rude and exhausting to be around.

examples: sera (DAI), fane (DOS2), cicero is this to the very extreme (Skyrim)

[thattrashcanofthrownoutscripts]

Well, the post asking about this got way more likes than I thought, So here is the first of a serious of vocabulary lists for The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo. This is for the first preliminary Chapter : Ursus  A warning that this is based off of my specific novel, and notes so I may have missed some things. If anyone wants to be tagged in any future lists, just let me know (: I will try and post for the next chapter tomorrow.

* Note, Phrases marked w/ a *  are Latin translations and should be taken w/ a grain of salt, as I do not speak nor understand Latin, and it was all translated through digital means which can be less than reliable*

Part I

Tallied - Correspond or match

Fêtes - Festival

Misanthrope -  Person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society

Engastrimythos -  (Literally belly-talker)  ventriloquists who disguised their           

                              voices and made mantic utterances

Buffon - French Naturalist

Menagerie - - Place where animals are kepts

Sagacious - Having keen mental discernment and good judgment (Clever)

Impudence - Being Cheeky

Avow - Declare Assuredly

Simples -  Medicinal Herb, or made from them

Phthisis - Progressively wasting or consumptive condition

Purgative - Purging Medicine

Emetic - Agent which induces vomiting

Excrescence - An outgrowth, usually unwanted

Rush - Specific variety of tufted marsh plant

Retort - Vessel or chamber in which substances are distilled by heat

Panaceas - Cure-Alls

Savent - Third person plural present of Savior

Hippocratized - Pertaining to Hippocrates 

Pindarized -  In the Pindaric style - Imitative of Pindar

Vied - Wager/Hazard

Bombast - Pretentious or inflated speech

Rapin - Paul de Rapin - French Historian, wrote History of England

Vida - Marco Girolamo Vida - Poet, Wrote a lot of latin poetry

Father Bouhours - Dominique Bohours, French-Jesuit priest, essayist, 

                              grammarian and  neo-classical critic

Gammarrian- Study of linguistics

Dactyl - A metric foot consisting of one long, and two short syllables 

                (Ex. Tenderly)

Anapast - Two short syllables and one long ( A dactyl Reversed)

Amphimacer - Pattern of A long syllable, then a shot one, then another long

Expectoration - Act of ejecting phlegm or mucus from the lungs

Epiphonema - A sentence that is an exclamation, a striking comment or 

                      succinct summary

Eclogue - A poem in which shepherds converse

Harangue -  Speech addressed to public assembly

Declaimed - Speak Rhetorically

Allocutions - An authoritative or hortatary (sermon) address

Sepal - One of the modified leaves comprising a calyx (Green outer circle of 

             a flower)

Stamen - A spore bearing leaf that develops microspore of a seed plant

Carpal -  an ovale bearing structure in a type of angiosperm ( a type of 

                vascular plant)

Ovule - Outgrowth of an ovary of a seed plant, that develops megaspores

Theca - An enveloping sheath

Apothecium - Spore bearing structure in many lichens (Algee) and fungi

Fatuous - inanely foolish

Mountebank - Person who sells quack medicines from a platform

Infirmity - Physical or mental weakness

Galen - Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus,  a physician, surgeon and 

                  philosopher in the roman empire

Cardan - Gerolamo Cardano, a mathematician, physician, biologist,

                       physicist, chemist, astrologer, astronomer, philosopher, writer,

                        and gambler during the renaissance

Sumptuous - Extremely Costly and luxurious

Violoncello - Just the fancy word for Cello

Amicably - Characterized by friendly goodwill

Palliative - easing the symptoms without curing the problem

Loquacity - State of being very talkative

Charlatan - Quack, fraud

Irascibility - Hot tempered, easily provoked

Part II

Lycaon - Greek Myth, king who tried to trick zeus into eating human flesh, and 

                  was turned into a wolf

Askance - Look of suspicion or disapproval

Koupara - Crab-dog, a crab eating raccoon 

 (Canus ferus - Which just means wild dog??)

{This was a bit of a google search hole, tho not as bad as when I was trying to   find ‘Dog of chili’}

Repugnance - Being contradictory or inconsistent

Frontispiece - Decorated front of a building (think those intricate triangles at 

                        the front of ancient greek temples)

Assize - Judges of civil and criminal cases in the superior courts of england

Part III

Coronet - smaller crown, signifies rank lower than sovereign

Circlet - little circle, or circular ornament

Puissant - Powerful

*Concilium et Curia - Council and the court

*Cæteris Filibus aliundé satisfactis - The other daughter shall suffice ( Literally 

                     other daughter source of fulfillment, but that doesn't make sense…)

*De minuto Vario - With little complicated

Ermine - White fur, usually weasel

Inviolable - secure from violation or profanation

Durance - Restraint by physical force

Supplicavit -  A writ issued by the King's Bench or Chancery for taking the surety

                        of the peace against a person.

Amerced - To punish by fine whose amount is fixed by the court

Assay - Test of Purity

Motley - Variety of colour

Matchless - Unable to be equaled, incomparable

Stannaries - Tin mines, usually in cornwall or devon

Surmounted - To prevail, or surpass in quality

*Honi soit qui mal y pense - May he be shamed who thinks badley

Cupolas - Small structure built on top of a roof

Pepper-boxes - a type of two barreled gun ( Couldn't find any building 

                       references)

Lozenge - A figure with four equal sides, two acute angles, and two obtuse 

                   angles (Diamond) 

Embattled - Ready to fight

Sweep - Broad unbroken area

Belfried - Having a belltower/Belfry

Bastion - projecting part of a fortification

*Virtus ariete fortior - Virtue is stronger than a battering ram

Chattels - an item of tangible movable or immovable property except real-estate

Part IV

Approbation - Commendation, praise

Philtres - Potions created with magic

Phials - Vials

Mummaries

 - Ridiculous, hypocritical or pretentious ceremony or performance

-Performance by Mummers (A performer in pantomime, or one who goes merry making in disguise)

*Tête-a-Tête - literally Head to head - A private conversation between two people

Caribbee- Designating the islands of the Caribbean

Bluster - To be windy or boisterous

Superposition - placement of one thing on top of another

Chastisement - censure severely, or inflict punishment

Cordials - Stimulating Medicine or Drink

Penal - Pf or relating to Punishment

Ok and that is it, feel free to ask if you have any questions, I did the best I could, but it is not going to be perfect 

[whyyesiamtooinvestedindccomics]

Erica Durance and Michael Rosenbaum are the best version of Lois and Lex and are definitely best part of Smallville. And no I’m not taking criticism.

[haledamage]

9, 37, 64 for Kira 54, 58, 75 for Kai from the OC asks

9.What does your OC’s bedroom look like?  His/her living area?

cluttered. not messy, Kira tries to keep things clean, but she collects keepsakes and mementos and art and after a while, it’s hard to keep it looking neat no matter how often you clean. in game, I chose the “cosy” because I think it fit best, though she’d lean a little more toward darker/cooler colors instead of earth tones.

she never makes her bed, though. what’s the point? it’s just gonna get messed up again the next night, and it’s not like she has anyone to impress.

most of her furniture is mismatched, bought with comfort in mind rather than style. she has one of those couches that if you sit on it for too long, you just have to move in with her because you don’t want to ever get up again. has one painfully ugly plaid recliner but she can’t bring herself to reupholster it because it has character. 

She has at least three guitars strewn about, but I haven’t decided yet if she hangs them on hooks on the walls or if she has floor stands she puts them on. She also has one poor, overflowing bookshelf that is either IKEA or is some secondhand antique find; either way it has way more books than it was designed to hold.

37.What is your OC’s biggest dream?

I don’t think she has one? she’s not an especially ambitious person. all she really wants is a place she feels like she belongs.

I guess with that, her biggest dream these days would be to become a full Agent. An actual, real member of Unit Bravo. I don’t think she recognizes that part of “real member of UB” also probably means “vampire” but I think she’ll realize that before too long…

64.What are some habits your OC has picked up?

One thing she’s been doing since she was a teenager that she still doesn’t realize she does, is that when she wants people to listen to her or follow her lead, she imitates her mother. She does a frighteningly good job of it - mannerisms, tone of voice, accent, everything.

She’s a tapper. Any song she has stuck in her head, she’s tapping it on her desk, on her thigh, with her fork when she’s eating.

Since meeting Unit Bravo, she crosses her arms a lot. I don’t know if it’s because she’s picked up the habit from Adam or she’s unconsciously doing it to mock him or if it’s a defensive posture thing, but she definitely didn’t used to.

54.Does your OC think with his/her head or heart?

Her heart. Kai loves to think she’s this intellectual and thinks rationally and always lets her head guide her, but she is lying to herself. Every decision she’s ever made, she did it just because “it felt right” and then tried to rationalize after the fact.

58.How does your OC take criticism?

that depends mostly on who’s doing the criticizing. Mostly, not well. Probably a carry over from her childhood, where failure wasn’t tolerated and anything less than absolute perfection was considered failure. so she equates any criticism with her mother trying to make her feel worthless and she tends to push back with anger and defiance. She’s getting better about it, especially with friends, but it’s a slow process.

With things like this, having friends like Hiravias and Fassina have actually been a very big help, since criticism is one of the ways they show they care :) Durance was probably pretty helpful too, but it’ll be a warm, sunny day in the Void before she’d ever admit that.

75.What is your OC’s favorite scent?

Answered here :D