#looking every bit the experienced veteran hero/adventurer?

[invinciblerodent]

i decided to play just a tiny bit of my Inquisitor-as-Tav game I had lined up, and I just.... god, i love this old man

he looks so tired, and kindly, and he's a good head taller than everyone

Lae'zel is so damn tiny next to him, I think he needs to pat her head very sweetly (and then succeed a DC18 dex save to avoid getting his fingers bitten off) (it'll be worth it though, maybe it'll calm her down)

[fandoms-uniteds-blog]

My Top 10 Favorite Cartoons!

Number 10 Octonauts

What attracted me to this show when I was ten was the lessons on animals since most shows for little kids are about shapes, numbers, letter, and other boring stuff. But not the Octonauts! They talk about two of my favorite things: science and animals. And sea creatures no less. When was the last time you’ve seen a show meant for young children that educated them on the ocean and everything in it? Maybe that one show on PBS with the Cat in the Hat? But I like Octonauts better. Just look at those designs. Absolutely adorable!

It’s simple, it’s cute, and it’s surprisingly interesting sometimes.

I used to be super embarrassed for watching a show meant for toddlers since I’m in my twenties, but then I found out that their are grown adults that enjoy wholesome shows too, like Paw Patrol and PJ Masks! It was a nice relief to know that I wasn’t the only one.

Number 9 Wander over Yonder

This has got to be the sweetest show to every be put on Television. Most main characters have to be strong and cool and have an internal struggle to be impressing, but Wander doesn’t. He’s the cinnamon roll of all cinnamon rolls!

All he does is travel the universe with his bestie Sylvia (in a bubble!) and goes sightseeing. And if he happens to help people along the way, even better!

What gets me about this show is that Wonder’s optimistic and naivety doesn’t always lead to everything being hunky dory. Sometimes being nice gets him in trouble or makes even the simplest tasks harder than necessary. Heck, if Sylvia wasn’t there to have his back, his kindness would be a lot easier to take advantage of.

And I love that because it’s true that sometime being nice doesn’t feel as accomplishing as is should and can even backfire on us. But even though Wander’s experienced betrayal and hardships in his life, he still has enough hope in his heart to keep helping people.

Number 8 LEGO Ninjago

I remember when this show came out all those years ago. Back when TV’s were these big, chunky machines and you had to prop them up on tables instead of mounting them on walls.

This show is full of so much creativity and lore. From the elemental powers, to Ninjago City’s history, to the characters, and even the ideas that were dropped, it’s no wonder why the show’s still going. It’s great watching Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane make friends, battle enemies, learn life lessons, discover secrets about themselves, and go on the craziest adventures.

I ended up being too busy because of middle school after season 3 ended and missed out of the rest of it up until Sea Bound was announced. Thanks to the birthday specials LEGO did for Ninjago’s anniversary, I learned that the show was still running and on Netflix. So me and my sister binge watched the series from the start and we fell right back in love with it.

Number 7 Transformers Animated

Out of all the Transformers series, this one is my personal favorite. Yes the other shows are pretty good too, but this one is different from all the other shows, comics, games, and movies. And I like different!

Optimus Prime has been depicted as a lot of things. A war hero that keeps his men’s spirits up with good humor and cheesy quips (G1). A powerful warrior who has become jaded after a millennia of war (Bay). A stoic leader and friend who won’t give up hope for a better future (Prime). But TFA Optimus isn’t any of that. If anything, he’s a little bit of everything but still his own thing.

And Optimus’s not the only one who’s different. Prowl is a nature loving ninja, Ratchet is a grouchy war veteran who cares about his team, Bulkhead is full of knowledge and creativity, and Bumblebee is the kid of the group with a lot to learn. The Decepticons are just as entertaining too with their own unique abilities and personalities.

All in all, there isn’t any other version of Transformers like this one and I wish more long time franchises would try something new from time to time.

Number 6 LEGO Monkie Kid

Based on one of the four classic Chinese literatures, Monkie Kid is a wonderful adaptation of a four hundred year old book that’s had a crap ton of movies, shows, and even an upcoming video game inspired by it.

I’m very picky about shows and movies based on history, mythology, or folklore. I like it when it’s accurate, but understand when things have to be changed around. It’s why I’m not the biggest Disney’s Hercules fan since they got the mythology completely and utterly wrong.

But Monkie Kid is freaking amazing. The amination is so colorful and lively and exhilarating! MK, the Monkey King, and all of their friends are so much fun to watch and I love all of them. The story is wild and mystical, which is fitting since Chinese folklore makes little to no sense but is still entertaining as heck. Don’t believe me? Read the original Journey to the West novels and just try to make logical sense out of it. Like why the dragon stays a horse for 95% of the book when he can be a huge fire breathing dragon!

I used to bug my little sister to watch this show with me all the time. And her being the little sh*t that she is always said “no” just because she has this weird habit of turning me down. But I was finally able to tie her down and force her to watch the first season! And guess what? She liked it! All this talk about NoT bEiNg InTeReStEd and now she’s getting ready to go cosplay as MK for a convention!

Number 5 Gargoyles

This has got to be Disney’s coolest show of all time. Disney usually sticks with cutey family friendly stuff like Duck Tales and Goof Troop, but they decided to take a risk and try to gain an older audience with Gargoyles. And they succeeded!

The show’s based on some of Shakespeare's books and has a good mix of fantasy and sci-fi. Especially when it takes places in 90′s New York. It also teaches a lot of mature life lessons like the importance of taking responsibility for your actions, the dangers of being stubborn and in denial, prejudice, gun safety, death, and so much more.

The characters are all lovable tropes of the 90′s, including the smart one (Lexington), the big eater (Broadway), the guy who wants to look cool but is actually a dork (Brooklyn), the dog (Bronx), the wise mentor (Hutson), the badass leader (goliath), and the girl of the group (Elisa). But their personalities and arcs are expanded on after the first few episodes. And the people they met also get a chance to shine in their own way and I appreciate that.

I’d recommend this to anyone who’s into Shakespeare or anyone who needs something to push their interest towards those kinds of stories.

Number 4 Arcane

I’m not a gamer, so I have little to no information on League of Legends. I don’t know the characters, the landscapes, the items, the history, or the lore of this world. But you don’t need to be a LoL fan to watch Arcane.

The animation? Gorgeous. The music? Amazing. The action? Thrilling! The characters? Complex. The voice acting? Impressive. And the story in general? Captivating.

I like how this show demonstrates how everyone’s actions have consequences and that there’s more to people than meets the eyes. Humans (and whatever other creatures exist in this world) are complex being and the choices we make don’t just affect our own life, but the lives of others too. Seeing the domino effect of everyone’s actions is as entertaining as it is nerve wracking since no one knows what the end results will be until it’s too late.

Another thing I love about this show is that it’s a Netflix original so it’s translated in Spanish. I was able to watch Arcane with my parents and they loved it. It was so much fun watching their reactions to the action, the conflict, and the sisters’ relationship because the two of them are very vocal and expressive. When the season one finale ended with that jaw dropper of a cliffhanger, they were both waiting for me to put on the next episode. They were devastated when I told them that that was it and had to wait for season two.

Number 3 Final Space

Like most animated series nowadays, Final Space is a mix of goofy, angsty, and lore heavy. But then, as the series progresses, the angst is doubled, if not tripled, and the side characters are given a chance to be fleshed out.

Everyone in the show has a story to tell. Gary, Mooncake, Avocato, Little Cato, Quinn, HUE, and everyone else have a past that ends with them being brought together to help each other reach their goals. Each with their own strength, weaknesses, and arcs to go through that make us love or hate them.

The first season is easily a fun space adventure with a few mysterious for us to look forward to and heart felt moments that have us sobbing. Then season two ups the stakes with the universe needing saving and more trauma for the characters to endure. And then there’s season three, which hits us in the feels in every episode and leaves us with an ending like no other.

If you're going to watch this show, then I’d advise you to prepare yourself emotionally.

Number 2 Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

If you haven’t guessed one of my guilty pleasures from my favorite Transformers shows, I like it when the usual formula is shaken up a bit.

The TMNT franchise has had dozens of shows, movies, comics, and video games dedicated to these guys. All of them about four mutant turtles in their teens being raised as ninjas by their rat father and using their skills to fight all kinds of evil lurking in New York City.

But Rise turns the sci-fi into fantasy and use that to give us something brand new. Not just rebooted, but reimagined! Each turtle is a different species, they have their own unique powers, they have different personalities from their previous incarnations, and the adventures they go on feel a lot more fun and sometimes grander than before.

And it’s not just the TMNT part that I love. The animation is jaw dropping. The voice acting is very fitting. The humor leaves me laughing every time. The action scenes are so fast and creative. The characters are likable and memorable. And the brotherly relationship of Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are put front and center for us to gush over.

I know some people have a thing about changes, but if you give this show a chance, I swear you’ll love it.

Number 1 Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

I have never related to a fictional character before, much less three, yet here they are in the form of a grumpy cat with big dreams, a cybernetic badger with a big imagination, and a chaotic bat with a big heart.

And if you’ve watched even one episode of the show and know what I mean when I say that I relate to them, then yes, you should be very concern for my mental health.

This show is truly a treasure. It has everything I love in a cartoon and more. It has fluff, angst, mystery, comedy, friendship, bromance, humor, hurt/comfort, sci-fi, fantasy, anthro animals, and the classic found family trope all rolled into one! What else is there to say other than this show is nothing less than amazing. The characters are charming, the world is interesting, the adventures are entertaining, the visual humor is hilarious, and the main trio have their own tragic backstories that make them easy to sympathize with.

Funny story: me and my little sister were watching it together and she started laughing her butt off when Badgerclops was complaining to Mao Mao and Adorabat about having too many chores. I was glad she was enjoying herself until it got to the part where Badgerclops was says something along the lines of “It’s always Badgerclops, fix the arocycle. Badgerclops, go get groceries. It’s overwhelming dude!” Then my b*tch of a sister turns to me with a sh*t eating grin and goes “Rose, do the dishes. Rose, clean the bathroom,” and laughed in my face!

It’s not my fault I live with a bunch of gluttons who can’t put their dirty dishes in the kitchen or wipe the bathroom sink after they splash water everywhere!

...

Wait a minute, why do a lot of of my favorite shows end in tragedy?! And I don’t mean the final episode or whatever, I mean the program as a whole! Final Space was canceled after giving us a depressing season three finale, Gargoyles had a terrible season three because Disney switched their writers with people who knew nothing about the show and had to wing it, Transformers Animated was cancelled when a season four was planned, ROTTMNT was “put on hold” for years until the movie came out with hopes of bringing it back, Wander over Yonder was going to have a season three with an ever bigger baddy but was shot down, and Mao Mao was promised a season two until a certain company that will burn in hell took that away from us!

Hopefully Ninjago, Arcane, Octonauts, and Monkie Kid aren’t hit with the same bad luck.

Just how many more amazing shows were screwed over and why are they always the ones I love?!

[ordonianhero]

Dawn of a new Adventure

A Linked Universe fan fiction. No real warnings needed other then a bit of language. its 2,408 words. Angst/fluff. Little bit of everyone involved. 

Synopsis: The weather get really bad and they just need to find shelter. However the more they journey the worst their moral and mood get. Things get testy. will they find shelter?

Authors note: this came about with our own stormy winter weather blasting through where I live. I hope you enjoy. feel free to create art from any of this or any of my other writings. I would love to see what stuck out to all you creators out there. I love the whole family platonic like bond like thing...so for the life of me don’t go turning this in to LINKCEST or anything NSFW.  The Creator Jojo has requested so and I am with them on that. thank you. Now enjoy. 

*******************************************************************

Wind: dang we missed the before the story stuff.

Hyrule: well someone had to take their time.

War: excuse me?! I can’t just go walking out in plublic in nothing but lounge wear.

Legend: SHHHHH shut up you three. the story is about the begin.

-silence-

loud popcorn crunching comes in the direction of Wild. Everyone angrily looks at him. Twilight take the bowl away.

story begins- loud sounds of Hyrule entertainment played by kudzus, by fairies. Time having to swat them away. “Enough!”

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "It's raining sideways!" grumbled the Veteran. The rain blasting at them all as they trudged through a storm. The hair dripping and sticking to their faces. "Surprised its you who is complaining and not our Captain." The smith stated, his hood over his head. The heroes all had experienced unwelcoming weather. However it never makes for an easy journey. The leader of the group was equally not in a pleasant mood with such weather. The cold temperature and soaked clothing seeped into his sore joints from old injuries. He kept his mood to himself, however I knew they best find some sort of shelter. Cloaks did nothing to protect them with the wind blowing harshly, and Rain blinding them with every step they took. Their boots muddy and soggy. If they didn't find shelter soon, they were bound to catch a cold from it.

 They all halted under some Trees for some cover after some time. The rancher blew into his hands attempting warm part of himself up. The wind picked up again, the Trees creaked and moaned. The rain pounding ever hard. This was some storm that had happened. It being winter, that'd be expected. The leader of their group rubbed his sore joints. "So do any of you know which Hyrule we are in?" asked the captain, attempting to ring out his royal blue scarf. Pointless really. They all looked at each other. None of them knew. The young sailor seem to cling to Sky, as he shivered. "only if we had a map or something to show us a place for shelter." The smith stated shaking out his boot. Wild has been quiet, he had done on his warm doublet and his hood, however now even those were failing him.  The rancher shook out, rain water getting ever, a useless thing to do. however it helped him at least be able to see things better. The water droplets had started to form on his eye lashes. "I am sure if we keep moving we will find something." He then suggested. Standing around getting more soaked wasn't going to fix their situation. They all nodded. "so would you like to take the lead then?" suggest the Leader. Rancher looked over at them and then over the rest. "I can take over." He replies, adjusting his sword and pelt. The leader came over and placed his hand on his shoulder. The rancher could tell the Old man was hurting bad. The rain was starting to slow down enough. "Okay, let's get going then." he states as he turned to lead them down the path more. He wasn't very comfortable taking lead. The captain stuck closer to the old leader then, while the wild one and traveler joined the rancher in the front. ********  They had wonder for hours it seemed, as the rancher lead them through the dense woods. It only provide them with some protection from the raging storm going on. The mood in the group had started to get very unpleasant. Some grumbled under their breaths, some whined, and some just stayed quiet. Their mind filled with images how much a warm bath would be nice or a warm fire, with a warm drink. A bed for comfort. It's amazing how weather can make one romanticize little things other's take for granted. Even Wild, who enjoyed the outdoors was thinking about the comfort of a good shelter. His Hyrule always being unpredictable with the weather. The rancher even was thinking how much he would give anything to have a bowl of warm soup. That also reminded him of the time he visited the yetis. Dunking warm baked bread in to a bowl of soup. All their minds were swimming with wishes and images of comforts. So much so that they were all so lost in thought. As the rain once more came down hard. Big, hard, Fat rain drops. "Okay, Could Hylia please let up on us for once." Grumbled the Veteran and in a what would of been comical moment, they all seem to slip and fall like dominoes in the mud. The young sailor sat up and slammed his fists into the puddle he fell in and sob, "I can't do this. This is fucking miserable. I would take being flung out of a canon then this." Sky came over and helped the young sailor up and held him. The captain helped the Older leader up. "probably best we find a cave or something." he tried gently suggesting. "too bad the wild child's stupid slate cant bother work or we wouldn't be this stuck." the veteran angrily says trying to get some of the mud off his tunic.  

 Wild looked down, his wet hair covering his face. Rancher turned and snapped, "Hey, that aint his fault. We're all in this. Sorry we don't have some 'magical' tool that will just go 'hey, there's a good shelter over there!' " his finger pointing out in some random spot. He bore a face which the veteran has never seen. the rancher rarely snaps and is often more comforting or stern. However never snippy or angry. If he was, he never let it on or turn on other. The veteran now felt guilty for lashing out. The rancher was often protective for sure. he knew he picked the wrong person to go after. "Okay let all take it easy." said the Older leader, rubbing his side he fell on. "Getting snappy won't get us anywhere. we got to just got to keep a look out."  They all stood quiet for a bit, the young sailor was still buried into sky, softly sobbing and shivering.

 The rancher turned and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. His breath could be seen in the cold that was creeping in more. He placed his hand on the back of wild and rubbed it gently before moving forward. The other's then followed in step. It was only when they walked a few more miles, they all saw in the distance, illuminated by light among the dark woods. "A CABIN!"  Squealed the Traveler. "wonder if anyone live there?" questioned sky as they all made their way towards it. "who'd want to live way out in the middle of nowhere in thick forest?" stated the Captain. The older leader stayed quiet. "some just do." replied the rancher. The veteran snored, "right." As they approached there was a sign that sated, "Traveling camp cabin."

 "oh! it like the cabin's I came across in my hyrule. It's a place for travelers of all sorts to take shelter in." wild explain. "Is that so?" said the smith. "Yeah. see- they have a place where you can even house your horses." they all looked. "well that mighty nice." the rancher said with a smile. They opened the cabin door. The room was semi large. a single bed, a old wooden table where a leather book laid open. A fire place with cooking pot and kettle hung. Wood off to the side of it. It looked unvisited for some time. the room floors creaked and the building smelt of smoke from previous visitors. A few spiders had made their home there in the odd corner of the building. Rancher tended to making sure Epona was set up in the side horse stall with fresh water and food. Dry bedding and a warm blanket over her back. After he dried her off. He then brought in everyone's packs. Wild had gotten a fire started.

 The group respectfully left their muddy boots by the door. Then they each shed their soaked clothing and put on dry ones. Placing the soaked ones to hang on a well placed wire. One of them brought in some water from the nearby stream, placing some off for cooking and the rest was to wash the mud and grime. it wasn't a warm bath, but it would do in the mean time. They had all agreed the Older leader could take the bed. The rest placed their bedding off to the side for when they would go to sleep. Wild made work on making some hearty soup and Traveler went about making tea. They stayed quiet for some time. some took to doing a bit of work on their items. Such as patching up hole in their clothing, placing new chainmail links and removing damaged ones. Traveler came around handing them a nice herbal tea. To sip on while food was still being work on. The Moment the warm liquid touched their lips, there a unison sigh from everyone. The tea hit the spot in helping in warming their cold bodies up and the warm fire heating up the space.

 The smell of the food wild was preparing was also welcomed. Just a simple soup of creamy meat soup. which consisted of whatever meat wild had on hand, milk, herbs and vegetables. There was a little rack above it for warming bread, which he did. The Rancher had his blanket over his head as he stared down at his chainmail and made work with getting all the broken rings off and putting in new one. The young sailor looked over his shoulder and watched in awe. The Veteran also doing so. The Captain, Old leader and Smith worked on their weapons. Sky stuck with Traveler and Wild, helping where he could. When the rancher spotted the little Sailor watching him, he motioned them to sit beside him. He asked if they wanted to learn how to work on chainmail. The sailor nodded. There was a soft chuckle that came from the Veteran. Rancher paid no attention be then gently started teaching the young one the trick. then hand his chainmail over to them. The nervously looked up at the rancher, who placed a hand on their shoulder. The sailor then fidgeted be felt unsuccessful, so the rancher shifted his sitting spot and placed his hand over the sailors and helped them till they finally were able to do it on their own. in which the rancher praised them. The room filled with warm laughter when the sailor enthusiastically whooped that he did it. The fact they were out of the rain, warm shelter, and food on the way improved everyone's moral.

  Once food was ready, they each got a bowl with some honey wheat bread. "MMM. I am so going to food coma after this." Moaned the Veteran. "Oh please do. Think we had enough salt for the day." the Captain joked, with a mouth semi full of soup and bread. "Zing. One point for Captain. what you going to do about it Vet?" laughed Rancher. with a dead pan look at Captain and replied. "Throw salt at them."

"Oi, no thro-" The Old leader was about to say.

 The Veteran placed his bowl of food down and leaped across to tackle the Captain, who had to quickly put his own food down before he was toppled over. "OOF." Everyone in the room chuckled. "Ah now I get it." said Sky, softly chuckling. "wait- were you like the old man and thought he was going to literally toss salt?" questioned Traveler. "well you never know in this group. Sometimes it takes a bit to realize things- like the Old man's horrible dad joke." chuckled the Smith. The room erupted in laughter. "I think my jokes are rather dadtastic." the old leader said with a gently laugh. "okay, say that when you're around your wife next time." The Vet teases as he was getting off the caption and returning to his own food. There was another roar of laughter from the group. Once after several helpings of soup and all of them had finished their food, a few helped with clean up.

 Bed rolls were laid out ready for sleep. The old leader took to reading a few letter his wife sent. The more younger members took to watch as Captain was once again losing to Rancher in a game of poker. "I for the life of me have no idea how you do it." captain said smiling back at the Rancher. There was a smirk on the rancher's face as he shuffled the deck. "He just that good. You maybe a strategist in this group, but he is the one to read through you bullshit talk and look." Sky chuckled. "Oh is that so, country? predicting my moves are you?" the Captain smirked with a flashy smile. The Rancher didn't reply but handed out the cards again. Then he just smirked once more up at the Captain. The played at least one last round. Which resulted in the Captain fling his cards at Rancher and everyone chuckling.

 Wild made some warm honey and cinnamon milk to help the younger ones to fall asleep easily. Which they drank and fell in to warm milk drunk sleep stage. Everyone else crawled into their bed roll and laid down to sleep. a few snuggled up with certain members. The rancher was last one up. He tossed in two more logs to keep the fire going a bit more before heading to his bed roll. He then caught the eye of the Older leader, who quietly motioned him over. He quietly made his way over. The old leader shifted and motioned for him to sleep beside him. Rancher joined him and curled up in their arms. Soon falling asleep in their arms. "I am so proud of you." whispered the old leader as looked over his blood. Then softly fell asleep himself. The only sound left, was the sound of the heavy rain falling, soft breathing of nine sleeping heroes and the crackling of the fire. Safe and Sound, snug and warm, and forgotten memory how the day first was. *****  When they woke, the warm sun streamed through the window. The fire was out, but the ambers still smoldering, and could be seen dancing in the light. The resident birds chirped. Only a few still not woke. Not shockingly sky being one, but the Old leader and Rancher. Who were known to be early birds in the group. by habit. The Captain suggested to let them sleep in a little more, while getting sky to wake, but grudgingly not ready to get up. Wild set to work making some breakfast. Veteran and Wind went about feeding Epona and giving her some attention. The Traveler Stretched and lout a yawn. "A Dawn of a new day. New adventure awaits us." -Fin.

[maneaterwithtail]

Episode Appreciation- Duck of Always

Really when you get right down to it there's a lot of positives about this episode and it also shows the series stepping up its game and promising what I think is its best qualities.

I've said before that I think fangbone being an episodic series that focuses on just being really good at action adventure means that it doesn't hit the highs of some of the animation nerd Darlings such as Adventure Time, Steven Universe, or Gravity Falls or what have you. But it also avoids a lot of their pitfalls in particular where there's this sense of nothing happening with character or normie Focus episodes. Basically this happens because you need to be able to put out General episodes were the characters just play off of each other and setting. But if you have radical changes then we want to see those changes even if that runs the risk of undermining the initial setup of the series

well the collective internet criticisms circle were scarred forever due to some long-term hiatuses such as I think it's called the three years summer I Harry Potter fandom and then there was the ridiculous filler Arc that happened in Naruto.[can skip next paragraph]

*When you get to Naruto it's not so much that the series is bad so much as it was such a radical departure for anime consumption as a whole. This was the rise of digital fansubs so we were getting the equivalent of one episode a week when before we were getting maybe two or three episodes every two months and having to pay nearly $50 for them. Add and what we thought we wanted for actual translation and it was an enormous departure. Especially because instead of getting a series completed we were following it along with no real understanding of what went on behind it. It really did change the overall perspective and how we experienced it. So when we hit the enormous filler Arc after sasuke defects... especially considering all that happened before there's a real sense of failure and disappointment for the enjoyment that the audience could get. We work constantly getting more on a developing and expanding world we were sort of stuck on a treadmill period and not a very fun one either*

Really when you get right down to it a lot of it is the sudden change from expectation. And just remember these were high-end professional Productions that had lots of money behind them with teams of people. And they built up a ridiculous amount of bad will just for not even being absent in Naruto's case but the sudden quality shift or overall flow of progression changing.

this is very important for the up-and-coming or amateur Tumblr artist. I completely understand that real life gets in the way but just a reminder in real life if your product isn't regularly available you will lose customer loyalty and just simple attention.

people will forget about you. Sometimes this is necessary many musical artists choose to take a step back behind the scenes or not pop out big billboard topping sort of work so that they can just sort of focus on the craft or just do something else.

And then they pop up again

All this rambling is leading to a point.

Here's the thing when lapis lazuli gets out of the mirror in Steven universe that hints at a large and enormous change that unfortunately the show often feels the need to walk back or not actually follow through on. Which is so frustrating. we just learned that there are now aliens and life forms in space and that there are captured gems that can eat up entire oceans and or heroes are behind and involved in it?. And now we want to go back to who's going to get the next slushy?

After those highs going back to regular can feel really out of place. To be fair this is kind of the point of the series how the day-to-day General Life and how the magical meets the mundane and the ideal perfect has to deal with regular reality and how they relate to each other has been something that Rebecca sugar has pointed out from the beginning. Hence why super goddess rose quartz Falls for what could look no more Mortal and disappointing Then Greg universe.

However that still doesn't mean that it's not a really difficult thing to deal with when effectively the results and consequences of these big events are constantly kicked down the line or ignored so that that way we can keep focusing on what feels like a completely divorced normal. I mean after jailbreak there is no reason why everything should be the same again next episode

I mean these people just experienced the equivalent of Hurricane Katrina tearing down their town in the form of an alien invasion. But don't worry the only person who cares is obviously a self-obsessed nerd so the problem is him

Getting this to actually Fangbone the series The Duck of always represents one of those changes, first two part episode, but it's not that radical one even if there's a lot of new and big stuff thrown in. First we establish the city of minkwater then we established the secret society of the Shadowsteppers then we have to establish Sid herself as well as her Mission and relationship to one-eye.

In fact what's interesting is that arguably the biggest changes are the stuff that's on the margins. When you get right down to it the duck of always it's just another new monster of the week. one that's giving a lot more character and they definitely take advantage of both the humor and strategic potential of an immortal waterfowl. But for the most part we spend a lot of it just examining the characters and what they want to do. How they do it. Why and their attitudes.

It's not an entirely radical change of the setting so much as it is a change in our perspective of the setting and characters that when we inevitably step down after the events it won't feel as if we're ignoring anything that's happened. Sure the duck of always isn't going to be a regular, but it's been established why. he's going to travel the world in order to enjoy new life with A New Perspective.

Moreover the ending and implications of this isn't much different than in the first episode or at least the first double episode that I can buy squeak of Might and lies of Truth. There it is established that bill has a spirit companion that's going to come to his rescue in a time of great need and that there is a vagabond clan of skullbanians on Earth. With the implication that there may be new connections that will appear on Earth that aren't related to drool directly and Fangbone and bill influencing each other

The result is without a necessarily intense serial ongoing story we can then go back to relatively episodic adventures and they acquire a sense of depth while at the same time not feeling like we're ignoring any of the big events.

The character growth and change in perspective is something that you can integrate and examine with the characters and story elements that are staying. And it's actually going to be followed up on. Maybe not immediately but in ways that will be established further. Fangbone suddenly takes a love of knitting? Well guess what happens a few episodes later? it turns out that Ms. Gillian sees his talent as being a very creative artist! Or even earlier than that, this helps establish more of the characters of the class 3-g and Fangbones relationship with them.

Of course they will use the character of Sid to good effect off and on as a pretty good guest star in order to spice things up. Particularly as she comes from Skullbania but comes from a different perspective on everything. Which also does a good job of fleshing out the entire fantasy world and the conflicts that are going on there. In fact it establishes a nice third faction which keeps things just a little bit more interesting. by tapping into the implications of the Shadow steppers fangbone's homeland becomes a richer world

also it feels we really get to expand the character Arc for Bill dealing with well his uncertainty about being able to keep the mission. This replaces the giant cave ape with horns and a helmet from birthday party of dread but it is a similar plot with a waterfowl but that's good because, as I established in the adaptation project, it gives us more motion and set pieces to integrate with. Since the real focus is in fact on bills changing perspective and understanding of what the hell's going on it also means it doesn't feel like we're keeping everything locked behind doors after we've had a peek inside of it. No person who can give us a non crystal gem perspective flying off into literal outer space only to be hinted at knowing things and then turn out to know nothing later. or no desperate science experiment that's on a Doomsday Clock that will create evil monsters more powerful than any that have been faced suddenly having to be interrupted because we've run out of manga to adapt so let's have I don't know let's say vampires.

We don't necessarily hit quite the same Highs but the overall average is very solid because the focus stays on the main characters and the main characters get to understand or do whatever is happening in are the main focus. also on a more appreciative note of what the show does when running through the cliche o matic. Fangbone keeps on saying Bill shouldn't fear failure and he shouldn't give up and all this stuff. But it's not just enough to say The Virtue we get to see Bill work it out and understand what it means to him personally. So it feels as if we're not just getting a moral platitude but we're getting to see someone, to a certain Journey.

@cordset pointed out that arguably Bill actually coaxes the equivalent of a world-weary war veteran out of suicide. I hadn't considered that perspective and for again a relatively simple tail that ultimately is centered around a conflict such as Monster of the week plus an additional interloper it's pretty interesting. And the shadow steppers are used to good effect as well because it actually makes us wonder if this is a good plan having the toe kept with Fang bone

This is a very complete story that feels like it goes through so much and it's just a basic 22-minute piece. And again the focus is aside from the interruption of Sid a standard monster-of-the-week sort of plot. All of which is used to give time to characterize everyone going forward. This will be how fangbone would use its big events. When things are over we will go back to normal. But that's true for even the animated Darlings which will reveal big amazing things and then after the break will be back to episodes like who wants to go on a date or something. Because it doesn't promise to do something so radically different it can actually focus on the changes that it can do or the effects that it will use

At least to me

@ericriverava @wkdart @wedgekun @cartoonemotion @sunder-the-gold @g-00lden @pame-chan-xx @chikachika6

@redlydoom

Basically like I always I want to get some discussion going what are your thoughts on the episode The Duck of always? What did you like about it who did you like about it? How do you think it compares to other series or just in general

@pirateshenani

[tenleaguesbeneath]

A bunch of the notes on my post had comments about being bad at Darkest Dungeon, so here’s what worked for me.

Persist. This is the core of Darkest Dungeon and all you really need. Even if you lose 90% of the time you will make progress, because anything you lose, you can regain, and you’ll be in a better place to regain it than you were to gain it in the first place if you’ve made good choices with your town upgrades. No matter how badly an adventure goes, you can’t lose the game, you can only be set back and need to re-level new heroes (and you can lose trinkets, but most of those are replaceable). Also, if you persist, you’ll learn the game.

If you made bad choices with your town upgrades, it’s not too late to turn around and make better ones (I spent my first, like, hundred crests on upgrades to the Abbey and Tavern; those should be among your lowest priorities). The stagecoach upgrade that lets it drop more experienced heroes is highest priority (it saves gold too, since any hero who comes in above level 0 starts out with all abilities maxed for their level and appropriately geared), with the hero barracks and stagecoach network upgrades being secondary.

Take an easy-come-easy-go attitude toward gold. It’s easy to gather, but its primary use is upgrading your heroes and returning them to the battlefield, and every hero, even if you’ve sunk tens of thousands of gold into upgrading their equipment and purging bad traits and locking in good ones, is expendable.

It’s tempting to put your stressed heroes directly into stress recovery activities right after coming back from the dungeon; that is the trope, after all; adventurers go out, come back, and spend the loot on booze or gamble it all away. Resist the temptation. A hero at 30-40 stress will probably be fine for a short excursion into the dungeon, and the gold might be better spent on upgrades.

Take an easy-come-easy-go approach to low-level heroes. A bit of advice I received was that before you give a newly-level-1 hero skill and gear upgrades and stress and disease recovery and stuff, figure out the amount of gold that’ll cost, figure how soon you can expect someone just as good to hop off the stagecoach, and decide if it’s better to spend the gold or send them packing.

Each new tier of adventures is harder than the last; enemy stats grow faster than yours do. Make sure you have heroes upgraded to the appropriate weapon, armor, and skill tiers before trying them, and also tactics that worked in the previous tier will get people killed in the higher tiers. Expect that your first several adventures in each tier will be a culling of your roster (but it’s not like you could use those heroes for the adventures you were doing). The best way to cut your losses on losing a hero is to win the battle they’re in (so you get their trinkets back) and then abandon the quest; only rarely can you finish a quest with a less-than-full party.

Because of this, I’m a lot stricter about my party composition in Champion adventures than Veteran or Apprentice ones. Going into a Veteran dungeon with nobody who can stun the enemy is a challenge. Going into a Champion dungeon with nobody who can stun the enemy is a waste of a week.

Some good party compositions: For the ruins, I like Crusader, Bounty Hunter, Vestal, Plague Doctor. All four of them bring stuns; the Bounty Hunter brings abilities to disrupt the enemy formation (both stuns do this, and also Come Hither). The Vestal brings Divine Comfort (party heal) and Judgement (damage and self-heal) in addition to Dazzling Light, the Plague Doctor brings a multi-stun for the enemy’s back rank, and also blights, meaning that you can lock your enemies down or a turn and still do something, and the Crusader has good damage against Unholy enemies. The Crusader and Plague Doctor can also both be equipped with minor heals to accompany the Vestal’s healing; my Legend Crusader also has ruins-favorable traits locked in (Ruins Explorer, Ruins Tactician, and Slugger), making him a solid specialist in Ruins runs. Another good combo is Hellion, Houndmaster, Occultist, Arbalest. You only have the two stuns (Hellion and Houndmaster), but the Hellion has an area stun, albeit one that debuffs her damage for 3 rounds. The Occultist in this group is the healer, with Wyrd Reconstruction, and also paints targets with Vulnerability Hex. His other two abilities can vary; I generally pick them out of Abyssal Artillery, Sacrificial Stab, and Demon’s Pull. Vulnerability Hex marks targets, and also drops their Dodge, opening them up to substantial bonus damage from the Houndmaster and Arbalest. On enemies with high PROT, you can use Target Whistle on the Houndmaster (I think? I might be mixing that up, but someone in this group has a PROT-reducer) to mark them instead. A Hellion in first position is also especially good against bosses that hang out in position 4, since a Hellion can do full damage to an enemy in the 4th position while holding the front rank (contrast: Lepers can’t hit position 4 at all, Crusaders can hit position 4 with an ability they can only use from the back two positions that brings them forward one, Men-at-arms are reduced to bellowing). While it’s somewhat less ideal, a Bounty Hunter can also take the front rank here, with Collect Bounty to contribute to dogpiling marked targets (although second position is the only one that can be hit by both the Bounty Hunter and Arbalest’s attacks against marked targets, so a bit niche). Occultists and Plague Doctors also play well together, both in both being very strong multi-hitters from the back two positions (Blinding Gas/Plague Grenade and Abyssal Artillery), and because Battlefield Medicine can clean up accidents let by Wyrd Reconstruction. I’ve also theorycrafted a formation with a Grave Robber and Jester, probably with an Occultist and a front-liner of some kind. The idea is that the mage stays in one of the back two lots and the front-liner in the front two, and the others dance throughout the formation (the biggest problem being the lack of stuns, aside from Shadow Fade; maybe a Hellion and Vestal bringing the formation up can bring those, and the reliance on both Blight and Bleed damage)

A complete party needs a supply of stuns (if you have two stuns and can switch up targets to alternate which enemies you stun, you’re good, but more stuns is better. If you can take advantage of surprise to stun everything and set them up for a beating next round, that’s great), a healer, and someone who can deal with traps, in addition to having everyone be at home in their place in the marching order. For trappers, look to classes that have to do with the law (lawmen or criminals); the Jester also handles traps reasonably. An incomplete party will struggle, but if a role is missing, you can still send a party out. I’d advise against doing that at the Champion level though unless you want your shortage of heroes to get worse. In general, for Apprentice adventures, the only roles you need concern yourself with are marching order positions (as long as everyone is at home in their place in the marching order, your party is capable of handling the adventure)

[hermanwatts]

The Avenger and Awaken Online: Ember

“In the roaring heart of the crucible, steel is made. In the raging flame of tragedy, men are forged into something more than human. 

“Crime’s greed turned the retired adventurer, Richard Henry Benson, into—

“The Avenger.”

Some men are, like Doc Savage, raised from birth to fight crime. Others, like the Shadow, just want to watch the underworld burn. Benson, however, was made at the very moment when his wife and daughter vanished mid-flight from the seats next to his. Everyone thinks Benson is insane, with a brain flu that tells him he has family not his own. But cracks form in that gaslighting when a cabbie tells Benson that he remembers Benson together with his family. Suddenly, Benson, now a man of steel and gray, leaps into action.

During his treatment in the sanitorium, Benson’s face was paralyzed and his complexion reduced to a ghostly pallor. Clad in gray, he looks more like a gun waiting to fire than a man. And his first taste of vengeance is three toughs trying to silence his investigations. Benson subdues the men for the police, who release the criminals hours later. But the encounter was worthwhile, for it leads him to Fergus MacMurdie, who wants to help Benson.

MacMurdie has a special hate for mobsters, who killed his family in an insurance-racket bombing. MacMurdie recognizes a kindred spirit, and, even better for Benson, he knows that more people have vanished during similar routine flights on the same flight path. The two men decide to work together to investigate. There’s just one rule:

No Police.

Their first investigation reveals the plane and the trapdoor used to get Benson’s wife and daughter off the plane. But the mechanics capture Benson. Thanks to a disguise, the crooks think Benson is a detective, and not himself. Benson escapes after they attempt to murder him. He discovers another scheme by the same gang against a millionaire. The rich man is disappeared, but not before Benson picks up another ally: Smitty, an MIT engineer fallen on hard times. With that, the core for what will become Justice, Inc. is assembled.

Benson and companions finally trace the operation to an island in the Great Lakes in a bit of a running rollercoaster of action sequences. While there, they break up the gang, rescue the millionaire, and discover the motive and method for the sky disappearances. But Benson’s family is nowhere to be found. Fueled by the faintest of hopes and a burning desire to stamp out the kinds of men who robbed him of his family, Benson sets up shop with his companions in New York and becomes–

The Avenger!

The Avenger succeeds at being the third of a power trio of heroes where The Whisperer failed in that, while both are inspired by Doc and The Shadow, The Avenger is not copying either the way the Whisperer did. The personal stakes are also higher and relatable in The Avenger, and, while Benson does take a few lumps in the course of learning his new trade, he isn’t getting jobbed out to every henchman, so he stays strong in the readers’ eyes, unlike Wildcat Gordon. And, those few lumps Benson gets, he immediately gets payback for, as well.

The difference comes down to relatability, and what fosters it. The Avenger shows that common experience, that of the sorrow of losing a loved one, matters more than looking like the audience, the way The Whisperer’s Wildcat Gordon and his folksiness attempted to.

The Avenger was born out of a need to fill the demand for more Doc Savage and Shadow stories. Try as Dent and Gibson might, two stories a month was about the limit of the production pipeline. So a third hero pulp was created, with significant input from Dent and Gibson. The two-fisted action and the aversion to murder are straight from Doc Savage, while the imposing visage and penchant for misdirection and disguise are from the Shadow. But it’s pulp veteran Paul Ernst that makes Benson’s quest for his family a real page-turner.

Successful in weird fiction, detective fiction, science fiction and more, Ernst concentrates on telling a compelling story without feeling the need to copy Dent or Gibson’s word choice and style. The familiar tag waving of Dent and Gibson’s refrain of…The Shadow! aren’t here. As such, The Avenger is a solid introduction to the hero pulps, especially for those current-day readers unused to the thcker styles of the Man of Bronze or the Knight of Darkness.

Ever since his wife died in an accident, elder programmer Finn Harris has been a sullen hermit. But when his daughter browbeats him into trying the new Awaken Online game, he finds himself in a new world, with new challenges, and the favor of an elemental god. What started as a simple quest to get his online passwords back from his well-meaning but mischievous daughter turned into a quest to win a brutal mages’ tournament and a kingdom. For Finn’s connection to Awaken Online runs deeper that he knows, and the elemental god’s quest reward is something he cannot ignore—the return of his wife.

Awaken Online: Ember, by Travis Bagwell, is the first in a side series to Awaken Online, a futuristic litRPG power fantasy that delves into the reasons why people pursue power. While the main series concerns itself more with evil—true evil, not edgy heroes in black or mustache twirling villains—Ember instead examines curiosity, challenge, and obsession. This is a relief, as the main AO series is a little too good at giving agency to evil. Finn is driven by the need to tinker with and improve upon puzzles, and his puzzle is the linguistic key to Awaken Online’s magic system. And he needs to master it quickly, as he has been thrown into a meatgrinder of an Arena PvP tournament.

Finn is yet another retiree in a recent line of older, more mature, and more experienced litRPG and progression fantasy protagonists. Much of progression fantasy deals with min/maxing a set of existing rules into overwhelming advantages instead of relying on strength. While young power gamers have the drive, age and treachery have their benefits, too. A lifetime of experience offers the ability to perceive more opportunities as well as understand more ways to seize the moment than just force. However, moody widower moving heaven and earth to be reunited with his lost wife is starting to become cliché.

Bagwell manages the delicate balance between game system mechanics and story, minimizing the exposition needed to cover the myriad little progressions Finn makes as he levels up in game. This allows more focus to be spent on the action in the duels and the various challenges that chivy Finn towards victory. That Finn will win is not in doubt—especially for those who have read the main series—but the journey is where the fun is.

The Avenger and Awaken Online: Ember published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/