#putting this here for future reference...

[pomrania]

Here's my official guide on how to make this a (potentially holiday-themed) minigame for the game you're already playing, using your extant characters.

If your gaming system allows for spending character-build resources on things you can reasonably argue are equivalent to ART, SKILL, or CRAFT, and your character has that, then you assign the modifiers as normal, PLUS an additional +1 to each category that your character has stuff for.

So if you were already playing as an interior decorator (ART) who trained as a handyman (SKILL) and is good at coming up with arguments for why X counts as Y (CRAFT) -- and more importantly, either the build for your character reflects that, or you're playing with a system that lets certain things establish future proficiency -- then your modifier spread would basically be 0, +1, +2, since that's the normal modifiers, with +1 to each of them because you're good with all those things. And if your character has zero artistic ability and no experience in putting up decorations, but you've put as many ranks into social skills as possible, then arrange the base modifiers as desired, and then add one to your modifier for CRAFT.

You will note that this can lead to "imbalanced" characters in a single group, because not everybody will have chosen to spec into "building stuff" or "designing stuff" or "convincing people of stuff". This is intentional. A minigame will by its nature reward characters who had already specialized into things relevant to that minigame. Plus there's only a minor mechanical difference here between "character who was made for this" and "character who was made for fighting dragons".

Now, if your game DOESN'T allow for spending character-build resources on things that would apply to here, or if simply nobody in your group has done that, then there's no conversion needed (or possible, for that matter). Everyone just decides on their own which of those three things their character would be better at and which they'd be worse at, for assigning modifiers.

For reference, CRAFT here is used as in "crafty", not "handicrafts".

200 Word RPGs 2024

Each November, some people try to write a novel. Others would prefer to do as little writing as possible. For those who wish to challenge their ability to not write, we offer this alternative: producing a complete, playable roleplaying game in two hundred words or fewer.

This is the submission thread for the 2024 event, running from November 1st, 2024 through November 30th, 2024. Submission guidelines can be found in this blog's pinned post, here.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Do you think Gabriel's writing flaws were meant to be intentional character flaws?

It really depends on which flaw you're referring to. Some seem accidental, some seem intentional, and some are the result of the show's formulaic nature (and arguably the writers' skills) holding him back.

Let's start with an example of that last point: Gabriel squanders opportunities left and right while creating the most asinine plans you can think of and only wins in the season four and five finals because of sheer dumb luck. In spite of this, I think that he is genuinely supposed to be seen as clever and creative. That's why you get Nathalie spouting lines like this one from Catalyst:

Nathalie: As predicted, [Lila's] anger will reach devastating heights. Your plan is perfect, sir.

And this one from Risk:

Gabriel: Ladybug never makes a mistake! Nathalie: Neither do you.

And a whole host of other moments from seasons three and four where Nathalie just straight up fawns over Gabriel's brilliance. Even in season five, she still seems to think that he's a genius, she just wants him to give up on winning to spend his final days with Adrien.

You don't write that kind of dialogue unless Gabriel is supposed to be smart or Nathalie is supposed to be a bit of a fool (or, at the very least, someone blinded by love). I think it's pretty clear that Nathalie is not supposed to come across as lacking in the intelligence department and her admiration continues after her "redemption", so the most logical conclusion here is that Gabriel is supposed to be a smart villain. We're supposed to think that he makes really cool and intelligent plans.

The problem is that, if Gabriel was smart, then he'd have won ages ago. The butterfly is simply too powerful for him to lose. If you want to play him as a genuine threat, but also keep his losses believable, then - at the very least - you have to majorly nerf the butterfly. You also need to let him actually plan and scheme, setting up future akuma victims over multiple episodes before they come to fruition. Due to the show's format, we rarely get this. I think that Scarlet Moth and Miracle Queen are the only real exceptions. While they're the rare exceptions, I will note that their existence also backs this "Gabriel is supposed to be smart" read, the formula just doesn't allow him to come across that way.

This issue is why formula shows favor serious one-off villains that get defeated by the episode's end or non-threatening over-the-top comedic villains that return time and time again. For an example of the first, think the antagonists in crime serials like NICS or Sherlock Holmes stories and for the later think of pretty much every villain in Kim Possible or Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb.

The reason why formula shows take these paths is that it's genuinely difficult to have a villain that shows up every week and never wins, but who also feels like a true threat. At some point, the villain starts feeling incompetent because they're the ones making the plans. The puzzle masters. That puts them at a strong advantage. For a smart Gabriel to work, the show would need to be way less formulaic and/or his story would need to be much shorter. The butterfly nerf is also a must in my book.

In my intro, I also mentioned unintentional flaws. When I said that, I was primarily referring to the child abuse and Gabriel's general attitude toward his son. The writers seem to be genuinely oblivious to how badly Gabriel came across as the show went on. In the first season or two, I could have given the writers some grace on this topic as Gabriel's behavior could be argued as the cartoonish exaggeration of an overprotective-but-not-abusive parent just like Marinette's parents get to be cartoonishly loving at times and Marinette's crush is cartoonishly over-the-top.

We also had moments like the end of Gorizilla and Style Queen which gave Gabriel a chance to show off his love for Adrien and give it some real narrative weight. After Chat Blanc, that grace was gone and the show would continue to paint Gabriel as worse and worse right up until the season five final where all that terrible behavior culminated in Gabriel... getting a happy ending?

While it's always possible that later seasons will actually address Gabriel's abuse, it's pretty hard to come back from an ending that let him ascend into the light with his wife while smiling and perfectly at peace. That's not the ending that you give to a black-hearted villain who views his son as nothing more than a tool. The only logical read here is that Gabriel was supposed to be sympathetic and he was supposed to love Adrien, just not enough to pick Adrien over Emilie. Why heal yourself and be with your son when you can just die so that you don't have to live without your wife? What a positive and uplifting message for children!

To finish this up, let's quickly touch on the intentional flaws. There are mostly the things that even a five-year-old could pick up on because that is the show's target audience. Gabriel's arrogance, his unwillingness to give up, and his inability to see other points of view are very clearly meant to be his true flaws. He's also apparently supposed to be a creative contrast to Marinette with him being cold mass-production and her being individualism, but the writers kind of forgot to put that into the show. I think Marinette gets five designs and Gabriel gets two, making it somewhat difficult to see one as a font of individuality and one as an evil, mass-market fast-fashion producer. I'm not even sure what kind of fashion Gabriel creates!

In conclusion, Gabriel is as much of an inconsistent mess as Marinette is, which is unsurprising since they're arguably the two main characters. The ones with key roles in basically every episode. That meant that they had to warp and twist Gabriel to make the akuma of the day work even if that akuma made Gabriel look like a monster by doing things like attacking Adrien. It's just a variant of the way they had to warp Marinette into being wrong even if she really wasn't or if it went against her established character. This makes it hard to pick up on the "true" Gabriel, but I've always been of the opinion that he's supposed to read as a smart, sympathetic villain who loves his family, but is driven to evil by grief and an unwillingness to move on. The ending just sealed that read for me even though I 100% agree that this is not the character that they actually wrote. It's just who they clearly wanted to write.

[talonabraxas]

Seven Dimensions of the Mind

Awareness and the Seven Dimensions

Awareness itself functions differently from one dimension to another. When we look at life from the fourth dimension, we see more in depth than we can from the third or the second. Remember when we studied the second dimension, we found no depth at all? Then we created the third. We put depth and life, vigor and vitality to the second dimension of things that was just sitting there. Next we became tangled in this vigor and vitality, in the relationships between people and people and people and things, and the subconscious was created. The sense of ego, of personality, evolved out of the third dimension, for it is composed strictly of odic, magnetic force. The intellect and emotions dominated us.

When we released awareness to travel freely in the mind by managing positively the second and third dimensions, we entered another perspective. We gained the overview, a mountaintop consciousness from which we could see a nine-day scope of time and look into and through all of the intricacies of the third dimension and how it is created. In a sense, we put more light into the third dimension, the dark area of the mind. [Here, the term awareness refers to: Individual consciousness; perception; knowing; the witness of perception, “the inner eye of the soul.”]

When we are in inner darkness and confusion, that is the third dimension totally. But as we brought more light into the third dimension and saw how it was constructed, we were in the fourth dimension and could also look into the deeper dimensions. From the fifth dimension, we became aware of the intricacies and the inner workings of the fourth dimension, seeing what psychic nerves look like, seeing how psychic nerve currents draw their energy from the central source of energy. In the fifth dimension, we became aware of a bright light that filled the cranium. In a flash we intuited vast knowledge and saw the creation, preservation and destruction of objects over seemingly great spans of time simultaneously in the now. A deep love, a universal and all-embracing love, unfolded. Compassion burst forth as we came to understand the predicament of our fellow man.

Awareness, too, changed. Instead of traveling or flowing through the mind, now it could focus and look into any area without seeming to move. Experiences came before our inner vision, and we could even bring past and future into the now. Later we evolved into the sixth dimension, where all form is reduced to sound and color. The devonic or heavenly realm of forces as represented by Gods, Deities and devas became manifest. From the sixth dimension, which corresponds to the ajna chakra or third eye, inner worlds opened and light flooded through the entire body.

The seventh dimension, or sahasrara chakra, brought us into pure consciousness or pure space void of form—awareness aware only of itself. Here awareness finally withdraws even from the magnificent visions of superconsciousness, and with no objects is able to contemplate itself as kaif». Finally, the snake swallows its own tail, awareness dissolves and only That remains, the Self God beyond all dimensions of the mind.

Of course, it is one thing to hear about the dimensions, to be intellectually fascinated by the vastness of this perspective, and quite another to make them an experiential part of our lives. That is what must be done next. Identify the dimensions within the context of your own personal experience. Ask yourself, “Which dimension does this kind of happening belong to? How does one dimension relate to and exist within another inside of me?” Mark off the various areas of the mind. Map them out carefully and you will identify and enjoy aspects of yourself you never knew existed before.

You will observe that man is a whole, the totality of all existence residing within him in various layers of subtle and gross vibration, evolving ever more subtle as the continuum penetrates deeper into his being, reaching ultimately the timeless, spaceless Reality of himself which he then identifies as the one Reality in all of existence.

[chibishortdeath]

Don’t u hate it when you draw something and then ur like “wow uh no one follows me for this fandom” haha lol anyway

Undertale is a pretty cool game, I may have a favorite character from it uh—

[w1ckedwh1msy]

Just putting this here for future reference

Neji Headcanons Masterlist (updated 11th Jan 2021)

Falling for s/o hcs

Ideal s/o hcs

Ideal s/o nsfw hcs

Sex/Foreplay/Positions (NSFW)

Masturbation hcs (NSFW)

Civilian s/o hcs

Neji x Anon oc (naruto’s sister) hcs

First Kiss & First Time hcs (NSFW)

Pregnant s/o & Parenting hcs

AU Neji (road to ninja pervy neji) s/o hcs (NSFW)

Neji dealing with drunk s/o (three types) hcs

Uncle Neji hcs

Neji x OC Hidden Cloud hcs

Training Daughter and Niece hcs

Father!Neji and child jealous of sibling

Type of Kisser Neji is

With S/O not a Hyuga/Clan disapproves

Dealing with drunk Neji in public/private (mini NSFW at end)

Injured s/o

Same love interest as Deidara w/jealousy pt 1

Same love interest as Deidara w/jealousy pt 2

Saved by s/o and team on mission

Witty s/o who teases him

Positive s/o victim of abuse  (TW on Post)

Sex with chakra control

Shy s/o doesn’t like physical contact

Falling for witty/sarcastic/tough s/o

Cuddling hcs

hospitalised s/o (TW on post)

Missing his s/o

Steamy with s/o in rain (NSFW)

Kiba flirting with love interest w/jealousy (NSFW)

s/o growing distant (NSFW)

finding medic s/o in the war (NSFW)

first time doing lotus position with s/o (NSFW)

insecure Neji

first time for both him and s/o (NSFW)

Flirty Neji

Valentines day

Jealous Neji w/ sand s/o

Crush suddenly confesses

Wedding

Hair pulling during sex (NSFW)

“Cheating” (not really cheating)

Academy Neji

s/o watching Neji train

broken up with s/o because wasn’t working

cuddling neji after he has a nightmare

Serious fight with s/o

Smol Neji with first crush

Crush kicking Might Guy’s ass in training

Watching crush train and getting turned on (NSFW)

Dealing with a stalker

Showing curse mark to s/o for the first time

Meeting a blind Hyuga

Reacts to the boys calling his s/o hot

New girl in town where everyone has a crush but choses Neji

Neji loves ruining S/Os lipstick (some NSFW)

Loves S/O wearing an anklet

Overhearing crush standing up for him/saying he is cute etc

S/O who plays violin/what instrument would Neji play?

S/O having a seizure

OC branch member of hyuga clan with reactions to dating Neji

Neji being comforted by his s/o (TWs on post)

Sharing sleeping bag with s/o (NSFW toward end)

Finding dirty comic in Neji’s room

Comforting children after wife dies (ANGST)

Names for S/O & Names for Neji (pet names)

Catching sons fighting

Breaking up with S/O over misunderstanding (ANGST)

S/O suffers from depression/anxiety (ANGST/TW on post)

Wounded in war/Fines s/o a medic hq

S/O with ninken but tiger

In secret relationship but team 10 finds out

Crush behaves rudely on first date

Taking care of blind s/o

More Drunk Neji

S/O who leaves notes/writes thoughts in books

Catching children fighting to kill <ANGST>

Rivals->Friends->Lovers

pre-Chunin Neji and his appearance

Moles/ S/O reaction w/ lil nsfw

Finding out civilian s/o is spy from another village <ANGST>

S/O surprising Neji with tiddy/blowjob (SMUT)

Tough/direct S/O with others but submissive with Neji

S/O with bad cramps/period

Neji’s child asking about his scars and the war

Teaching his daughter how to swim

Someone hitting on him in front of s/o

With an insecure s/o

Noble s/o who doesn’t like/agree w/ hiashi/hyuga way

body type preference

Neji get’s pegged by s/o (SMUT)

s/o Mindless gestures makes Neji heart flutter

Gently teasing Neji in public while in secret relationship

Neji leaves pregnant reader after says baby isn’t his then finds out later it is

Reader fangirling over weapons and Neji watching in awe

Reader dying in his arms and last words (ANGST)

Male Reader (sfw+nsfw)

Pretending to spar with reader but playing around 

Curvy!reader who puts themselves down (sfw+nsfw)

C*ckwarming headcanons (nsfw)

Babysitting neices and nephews (uncle Neji)

Reader telling him he is handsome

Riled up Neji enough to take you (nsfw)

Empathetic reader who wears heart on sleeve s/o

Announced he is dating and Lee hardcore ships them

Admitting they really like someone

With s/o who is blunt and honest as him

s/o cheats on him (angst)

Teasing him in public (sfw)

s/o from another village with jutsu about dance 

s/o wants a bunch of children

s/o giving him silent treatment

Licking cream of each other (nsfw)

Neji to return blowjob (cunnilingus) nsfw

waking up with a boner (nsfw)

s/o is Uchiha!Reader and Itachi/Sasuke’s sister

If they played video games

s/o showing baby bump

As a husband

denying romantic crush until he can’t anymore

s/o with high sex drive (nsfw)

fluffy morning waking him up with kisses

[lazycranberrydoodles]

MAILMAN - SOUNDGARDEN

BABYGIRL WHAT IF THE SINGLE PLANK PATH TURNED MY YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE INTO A TOXIC COCKTAIL OF HUBRIS AND MORBID RESIGNATION

yeah. follow for more of the character of all time XO

[andrew-dwyer]

if they actually have buck move out of the loft to move in with tommy it will confirm what i know in my heart of hearts, they’re endgame.

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

EVERYONE

LOOK WHAT I GOT

[wingedspirit]

The books Gabriel sorts in the bookshop

In episode 2.

First lines cited:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens)

"It was the day my grandmother exploded." (Crow Road, Ian Banks - notably this is a hardcover and the one Crowley gives Muriel later is a paperback, so Aziraphale has at least two copies)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - because of fucking course)

"It was a nice day." (Good Omens)

Also, shown in the shelf:

I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)

No Woman, No Cry (Rita Marley)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)

The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler)

The Bible

The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket)

Herzog (Saul Bellow)

[quietwingsinthesky]

i do love canon amy & rory but god, does some part of me wish they really had gone with the idea of the doctor picking up a child as a companion (and then later, that child’s best friend with a huge crush on her.) with the rest of the season really not changing at all, except now it’s amelia pond with an angel in her head killing her and lost alone in the woods. it’s little rory who dies and is forgotten and becomes a toy soldier. if this is going to be a fairy tale, then let it be one. children have never been safe in fairy tales.

[itissadbutitsmy-artblog]

OH DONT WORRY!!!

ANY TIME THERE IS A LEMON KID IS FAMOUS IN MY HEART I KNOW THEM <333

[goldkirk]

I opened Pinterest for the first time in months.

That made me realize a lot about how bad I was actually doing and how much of a Waffle House Index use of Pinterest is for adult me, apparently.

I hadn’t realized it had grown that foundational to me in a healthy-brain-exercise-and-hobby-joy way. Nice to know moving forward! It’s another sign I can keep track of and use to spot correlation/indicator patterns earlier my behavior.

I love this kind of thing, it makes me so excited!

[snobgoblin]

oh yeah in no particular order here are some transparents I've made for my discord profile pictures lol you're free to use them (sorry they're crusty I didn't bother cleaning them up since you see em super tiny anyway)

here's the background I usually use but it's very specific lmao

[batataaurdoodh]

shitpost time. i don't usually do ships but I needed to do this.

[monoxidecahedron]

him. trant cremm

[lime1991]

more!