#rant tag

[tx0r1a]

MURDER DRONES FINALE/EP8 SPOILERS

Not to rant on main but I know I did NOT just see several people being like "omg Uzi and Cyn are the same person,he's dating his sister ehehe xDD"

YA'LL

IT'S SOLVER

CYN HAS BEEN DEAD D E A D FOR A WHILE NOW (Solver was using Cyn as vessel/host for god knows how long) , THEY WERE NEVER THE SAME PERSON

HOW DOES ONE COME THIS CONCLUSION WHEN IT'S EVEN IN SUBTITLES RIGHT IN FRONT YA'LL EYES

I honestly wouldn't say anything but the amount of rancid takes I saw from MD fans (on twt mostly) is crazy

media literacy save me,,,media literacy,,,save me media literacy

[machineheraldbabe]

on arcane and the sin of naivety

ripped this from a twitter rant i had:

another arcane observation bc i'm watching ep7: obv we have to prepare for some both side-isms come season 2, but i think a way that the writers can (and have) circumvented this problem is thru how/why arcane characters are punished: their naivety.

everybody (save for ambessa and silco, and maybe mel too) operates from their own place of well-intentioned ignorance. jayce is the most obv example of this, but the contrast between cait and ekko is even better, i think re: their meeting in ep7.

cait sincerely thinks that there can be healing between piltover/zaun bc of her inexperience, whereas ekko is sure it's impossible bc he's bore the brunt of the enforcers' abuse - he's the least naïve character in the whole show. how the writers dealt with this is Crucial.

if the both side-isms were implicit in the writers' ethos, we wouldn't see the enforcers stand idly by while marcus *almost* kills 2 innocents in cold blood. it goes Beyond the bad apple cop and into a full anti-establishment ethos. thru violence, cait's naivety is broken just like ekko had insisted! and THEN they have a showdown between the 2 most jaded/hurt characters, ekko and jinx, to contrast the cait/vi relationship that is still underscored by blind hope. jinx and ekko don't have that luxury, and it foreshadows vi's s2 alliance with piltover.

and this theme is everywhere, beyond ep7. jayce's entire arc hinges on his insistence that he is still naive, so he can't be blamed for his very consequential choices. viktor insists that knowledge for knowledge's sake still exists and that's why he's destroying himself. and mel falls back onto her childhood self to explain away her own penchant for manipulation/bad choices. she's fascinating though because she's the closest of the bunch to undoing her role in this dynamic when ambessa returns (which is why i hope sm that she isn't dead in s2).

also, this transition from ignorance to jaded understanding is done SO WELL via the timeskip, and that's why i'm fairly certain that they'll have another in ep4 of s2. it makes so much sense. there is a lot of painful learning to be done post missile attack.

TLDR: arcane punishes characters for their ignorance and naivety, and their unique realizations of this fact will lead to their undoing in season 2! i love this show so much.

[teatitty]

Looking back on the early Naruto arcs really does make it obvious that Iruka was supposed to be a far more consistent character and role throughout the series. Not only did Kishimoto confirm he was the second character he ever made for the series, but he shows up a lot during those early arcs, the first betrayal we get is from his childhood friend, he's close enough to Hiruzen to have some kind of assistant role to his duties, the first databook put him and Kakashi as only a year apart in age, his stats have always been consistently on par with the jounin instructors' [especially the tokubetsu], Kishimoto said in one such databook that Iruka was hiding what he could really do because he didn't want to stop being a teacher [implying his skillset would've forced him into a different position which is very 👀👀👀] and it was stated that he could've become either jounin or ANBU himself if not for him wanting to be a teacher

It's just fascinating to look back at all of that subtle setup and then see Iruka just get completely forgotten about after a while and reduced to a super minor role by the time we hit part 2/shippuden. Part of that is definitely because of how hard it is to juggle a large cast of characters [a flaw in a lot of manga and novels, where inevitably some characters will just get left behind or completely forgotten about] and part of it is probably just Kishimoto himself changing his ideas as he wrote things out [with the help of his editors of course] but it does make me SO SO SOOOOO curious to know what the hell was going on with Iruka back then

Was he supposed to have a more active role in helping out Team 7? Was it a politics thing, hence his close assistant nature to Hiruzen? Why would he have to stop being a teacher if he revealed what he could really do? Drives me up the wall sometimes whenever I think of all the possibilities

[tategaminu]

Seriously it pisses me off so much some saying Rayla is ruined or OOC in arc 2‚ mostly because two reasons:

1- her character core was never about her physical strenght or being a badass. It was about self worth issues‚ love and opening about emotions. Seriously how do you watch the series and come to the conclusion that her being a "slay queen" is her biggest personality trait? She has always been an awkard disaster‚ just more open about it now. Also her strenght hasn't disappeared you know?

2- if you get angry at this kind of character development don't go around saying you want complex female characters. Just admit you want girlbosses that like breaking men's skulls‚ being sincere is not that hard.

Arc 2 Rayla is a blessing and some people don't deserve her (inside and outside of the show) and If I see more slandering comments in her next bday post I'm gonna get rabid btw

[devildarlindumbass]

(Tw fatass rant on my personal opinion on batdr and biggest annoyance with it that I think about forever)

Forever thinking about how the bendy games were meant to convey a theme of how seeking perfection and trying to erase mistakes always resulted in the worst

Alice going mad seeking a 'perfect' cartoon face, Sammy spiralling and leading himself down terrible places in search of returning back to his 'perfect' human body, Overall Joey creating monsters and harming the entire studio trying to create 'perfect' cartoons, Wilson trying to make his perfect cartoon character and attempting to harm Audrey in the process and ending up dead himself, ect. (Even in smaller cases like Jane wanting her character getting into the butcher gang to go 'perfectly' and presumably killing herself to get her way somehow)

And batdr seemed to have an excellent setup to follow this theme, with exploration of the ink demons abuse, In the studio despite being nonhostile being rejected for not being 'perfect', and growing aggressive when rejected and hurt- and then batdr follows off of this, how hes experimented on and tortured into being 'perfect', how despite the cartoon form is visually appealing and the desired perfection, it is quite literally achieved through torture and subduing.

The ink demons speech towards Audrey is very clearly projecting, and is explicitly with the line "You're a mistake, a monster, like me." He's ashamed of himself, but only because that's what he's been taught. Regardless, he feels powerful and truest in that form, and the cartoon form just isn't him, even if it's what was desired or expected of him, it causes harm.

And then after they team up and use the end reel, starting everything over after defeating Wilson (and his torture machinery), prepared to do the cycle right, what form of the demon do we see?

... Ah.

Gotta love being marketable (internal screams of agony)

Anyways I just find it interesting how after all the themes stressing how seeking perfection no matter the cost is BAD and HURTS they switched it around at the end. I think it was purely for the omg cartoon so cute hype because there doesn't seem to be much else reasoning to just do that as the ending to wrap up a story trying to follow this theming.

Anyways I have probably ranted about this before.

Tldr: personally (personally) I want to kick the child

[thehomelybrewster]

How Much Do Systems Matter?

This post is directly inspired by the video "You shouldn't use DnD for narrative campaigns." by Questing Beast (aka Ben Milton) about the Polygon article "Worlds Beyond Number is teaching me things that no D&D book can" by Charlie Hall.

The video and article basically posit the following:

TTRPGs can use concretely designed procedures for certain types of challenges and scenarios while having much looser procedures for other types of challenges or scenarios

Just because a TTPRG has less thorough rules on a type of challenge or scenario than a different RPG tackling the same subject matter doesn't automatically make the former worse at being used for these scenarios than the latter

Depending on the preferences of the table, having a robust mechanical framework for one element of gameplay while lacking that for other types of gameplay may be preferrable than having robust mechanical frameworks for both

Having distinct game mechanics for narrative progression and character interactions is uncommon in D&D and derived games, but is very common in story games, e.g. most Powered by the Apocalypse games.

The Polygon article includes this quote by Worlds Beyond Number's Brennan Lee Mulligan: "[People say that] because D&D has so many combat mechanics, you are destined to tell combat stories. I fundamentally disagree. Combat is the part I’m the least interested in simulating through improvisational storytelling. So I need a game to do that for me, while I take care of emotions, relationships, character progression, because that shit is intuitive and I understand it well. I don’t intuitively understand how an arrow moves through a fictional airspace."

This intuitive knowledge on handling emotional beats, narrative, and characters of course stems from years of experience Brennan has as a writer, actor, improv teacher, comedian, camp counsellor, and professional TTRPG GM and player.

Using Ron Edwards design language (s. his 1999 essay "System Does Matter"), Brennan wants to run primarily narrativist games, while 5e would fit Edwards' idea of a Gamist system, i.e. one which involves the pursuit of "winning" against NPCs.

Now let's look at 5e: it's generally agreed upon that 5e is opinionated on combat, while also being vocal that exploration and social encounters, while less fleshed-out, are still part of its pillars alongside combat, meaning the game is still encouraging you to pursue these types of play.

Combat is a very fleshed-out series of systems. The action system is centered on combat, both in terms of time and types. Spellcasting is very distinct and allows for casting mostly offensive or defensive spells. Class progression usually focuses on improving one's combat capabilities.

Exploration and social interactions are much more bare-bones.

On the social side, a few more recent supplements have reintroduced the classic Attitude table present in earlier editions and which are a mainstay of the OSR community. Additionally the DMG spends merely three pages on how to run NPCs, mostly using fairly general advice instead of concrete game mechanics. Interaction between player characters is also barely discussed in 5e rules.

Exploration is similarly simple, mostly related to the omnipresent but simple skill system, as well as some relatively simple rules on weather, hazards, overland travel speed, and tracking rations.

5e's shift towards simplified rules for these two pillars, including simplifying the skill system into a mostly binary failure-success affair is a shift away from earlier D&D editions and some of its direct competitors, e.g. Pathfinder, Rolemaster, GURPS, and The Dark Eye, which often would involve subsystems for various aspects of social or exploratory encounters, s. Edwards' "System does Matter" essay and his point on simulationist games.

So if Brennan wants to run a narrative game where we can realiably use his knowledge of narratives and character writing to create a compelling story while having a set system as his backup to run situations where violence becomes a factor... Using a game like 5e is a decent choice.

Of course other systems might be even better for that. Shadowdark for example may just be the perfect fit for someone wanting to run a narrative game with occasional combat. The combat rules are thorough enough to cover the fundamentals. Sure, you may just need to get rid of real-time torches, the key mechanic which sets Shadowdark apart from other OSR games, but subtracting a mechanic, instead of modifying it, is a relatively uninvasive procedure.

Personally I too like it when my TTRPG, especially stuff intended for medium- or long-term play, doesn't touch social and narrative elements much mechanically.

Meanwhile games like Ironsworn and Heart - The City Below, which are much more narrative-focused, do have issues where their resolution mechanics clash with the fiction in ways that would pull be out of the story we're trying to tell. Heart has the issue with the Supplies resistance not being shared within the group, and Ironsworn's fulfillment of vows can be glacially slow (s. A. A. Voigt's "Ironsworn: A Narrative Dilemma" video essay).

Ultimately, it all comes down to preference. Personally, if I wanted to run a fantasy game with magic and a strong narrative (like Worlds Beyond Number), with the clear goal of not getting bogged down in combat or minis, I'd legit use Shadowdark as described above. If I knew I wanted to tell a specific type of story and knew of a game that was designed for these types of stories, I'd definitely give it a read and talk about it with my players before we adopt it.

However, I do implore folks to not Ship of Theseus a game with tons of homebrew and houserules so that it's no longer recognizable as its original game. If you ever feel compelled to do that, ask other players what systems might be a better fit for your needs.

[im-dripping-in-finesse]

GANG IM NOT DEAD‼️‼️ BUT I DO LOVE A GOOD RANT SO LETS GO

Ok so ik we all have watched Deadpool and Wolverine and we ALL know it changed all of our lives. The soundtrack was great, I love how Deadpool talks to us through the screen and the little "the proposal" scene, very smart. BUT. THE INE THING IM STILL ON ABT IS HOW EVERYONE WAS DEAD SILENT ABT HUGH BEFORE THIS MOVIE AND NOW PPL WONT STOP TALKING ABT HIM. Please... My dad showed me the first X-Men and I SAW that fine ass man in the fighting arena thingy in the bar and I went:😦😦😦. I've loved that man since I was 7 years old and then FORGET IT WHEN HE WAS ON THE GREATEST SHOWMAN???? ARE YOU JOKING?? I may not have watched all of his movies but from the ones I have watched I have been crazy for him for such a long time and I know there are ppl who have made edits of him before Deadpool came out and I may have not just been seeing it but for it to be like none on my fyp, like no edits or nothing to ALL I SEE EVERY 3 TIMES I SCROLL IS CRAZY. I didn't even lay that big of a brick on my ftp for it to do that that's the thingggg😥😥😥. BUT yeah I think Hugh Jackman deserved more hipe before this movie and thank you to the ppl who was making those SCRUMPTIOUS EDITS of that man bc I will forever love you. BUT for now I will keep adding edits and slideshows of him in my Hugh Jackman folder shared with my friend on Instagram 😘😘

I saw him right here btw and I wanted to ride without even knowing what that meant- WHO SAID THAT THAT WAS CRAZY.

Ok bye😘😘

[jamesunderwater]

my coworker found out my dead name and then said it out loud in front of another coworker to confirm it was referring to me and now I'm sick to my stomach and I want to go home and also kill someone

[freebagels]

In case you needed something depressing to think about, think about how if they went through with making Hater a skinny skeleton twink, he'd be popular in the fandom. But alas he is not.

[shiutsu]

People who say "revenge is for the weak" are the same type of people who defend horrible people, blame victims for their abuse & throw a tantrum whenever someone doesn't wanna be near others anymore.

[voidsparkk]

this is so nitpicky but i cant stand it when ppl draw mad scientist characters doing a completely different type of science than they normally would. like it's ok if it's a gimmick (ex: halloween) or a crossover (ex: with another scientist) but if i have to see a guy who's thing is oddly specific ray guns doing human experimentation again i'm gonna lose it. or like when a character is clearly inspired by alchemy and makes weird chemical potions but someone writes them making machines... not everyone is da vinci

[souvelani]

Can we not be all negative about anything in the veilguard. Please. I wanna play the game without feeling the same negativity. Saw someone say the combat looks like shite and I disagree but now that is in my system and I’ll always think of that ONE post saying they didn’t like the combat.

[idiot-mushroom]

guys i cannot be this fucking ill over tmnt anymore

i had to do an art portfolio for school and had to put a piece of personal art outside of school in it, and what have i drawn for a year straight without fail? teenage mutant ninja fucking turtles. you know how embarrassing that is? cuz i had to make this beautiful water color landscape that my grandparents hang in their house and what’s right next to that in my digital portfolio? ttnm raph in a dress. i get graded for this assignment.

i fucking hate it here with these bitch ass turtles, trying to ruin my career

[teatitty]

Insane to me that Tsunade has a closer relationship to Naruto than she does Sakura. Absolutely crazy that despite Sakura being her disciple and working closely with her we like barely if ever get proper one-on-one screentime with them. Tsunade knew Naruto for a couple months maybe at best and is allowed to have an informal personal bond with him but the girl she mentored for 2+ years gets none of that??? Fuck off man I wanna see Tsunade treating Sakura as a niece or granddaughter I want her and Jiraiya to bicker about who has the better disciple --

[tategaminu]

I'm glad Callum in arc 2 is less goofy and has a deeper voice because one more comment about him being a Sokka copypaste and I'm losing myself

[cruel-kaya]

Am I the one cursed ? Am I the one always at fault ? Am I always committing mistakes ? Am I not worthy of affection ? Am I unworthy? Am I unlucky for people? Don't I deserve someone who'll understand me ? Am I overthinking things ? Am I lonely ? Do I seek validation from people ? Is my energy draining people's soul ? Am I clingy ? Is that why people replace me ? Is that why people find it easy to forget me ? Is that why I never got any friends ? Is that why I am always blamed ?

I guess I already know the answers to these questions....

But just one last question dear "GOD" - why always me ????