#where are the high or low intelligence options?

[transmairon]

I am still salty about how Bethesda didn't implement the Confirmed Bachelor or Cherchez La Femme in Fallout 4, and just excluded perk based speech in general. Yeah sure, we finally had romance options and all of the companions you can romance are "player sexual", but the lack of including those perks just makes the game feel so shallow in comparison to the Original Fallout games and New Vegas. And unless you romance a woman as Nora or a man as Nate, same sex relationships might as well not exist in their Fallout games.

[astrow0rldx]

pac tarot: feelings & admiration for you 💌 (anyone) IN-DEPTH

very straightforward! pick a photo, piles number left to right

Pile One

somebody’s a water sign. their feelings are adaptable & they have a lot of responsibilities in their everyday life. but they balance you out , they are flexible to your presence, company, partnership etc. they may feel stable, grounded & comfortable in their level of feelings with you. your this very comforting, pretty, empathetic, emotional, intuitive, loyal person in their life. they probably are at the planning stage with you & figuring out what they want with you, what they are going to do when it comes to you and are they even going to take action in the first place.

now for some people i’m channeling some negative energy. someone could be having you as an option. or you in their life is conflicting because to much competition, sneaky & 2 faced conflict energy is going on that is hurting someone. this could be them getting away with it, both of you, or how they feel about what you contribute in their life. they are trying to stay strong, confident & brave through this conflict. when they think of you, they are pretty calm. and they feel like they came to a realization & a better understanding of what’s going on.

tbh no matter the business though, i don’t know if it’s small, if it’s them doing the sneaky stuff or y’all just have history and ten toes down. they feel like your where home is, & emotionally fulfilled with you. they want to explore more fun adventures & just be lively and extroverted with you. they feel like they are really smart & head strong when it comes to you and thinks of you strategically. they are scared if their efforts are going to really pay off, they want to invest but are they going to end up winning. they are kind of just taking a risk. idk if your really pretty & popular or something, and get a lot of attention, but they could be scared about your status and or ego/options. but if it’s not that it’s their status & the risks and efforts they are starting on this new beginning with you that they are doubting. this person is not as worried about the future of y’all connection, not in a they don’t care. because they do have a lot of curiosity & lovable feelings for you. but they are just going to see where it flows, they are relaxed and not overthinking it. but they definitely feel like they want to be bonded with you, compatible, and connected. but if they have to leave they will.

💞your late night talks could be very comforting, if you see each other late night or talk on the phone. but any talks, convos & deep talks with you are comforting. they like your mindset, they like your mind, they like when you get to know things about each other. they feel comfortable with the hope & wishes they can have with you and that you make them feel faithful. something that excites them about being with you is your romantic potiential/connection, sex/wanting to have sex with you or if this isn’t romantic probably partying, loosing up having fun, or still sex. you guys mental , mind games that y’all play is exciting to them for some people. the karma someone ends up getting. competition,arguments. but they like talking & learning with you, being prosperous & growing with you on different areas excites them. your such a sweetie pie, they feel like your such a good partner, friend with love to give, they admire that. they admire how when you got a lot going on you may be confused & conflicted you kind of just let loose and forget about it. they admire your ability to rest, take breaks. if your a homebody, they admire that. if you be confused with a lot of anxiety, they even admire that.

for the people i’m talking about that’s asking about a toxic relationship, the toxicity, the emotional highs/lows, risks, sneaky energy is what draws them in. they are really drawn to your mental intelligence, your mind, maybe your mystery. or maybe just your curiosity & open-mind ness. if your spiritual, religious, moral, committed that draws them in to you. your probably a very fun person, exciting, have motion, always on the go, or just a ball full of that with adrenaline. your a seed-planter, you grow things and prosper, you start, you manifest. those are parts of your personality that they see you in that they admire. they definitely respect you!! they respect your ambition, your self discipline, your will power. your money, income, ambition, career, career status. they respect your religion, your spirituality, your morals & traditions.

if your spiritual, emo, hippie, grunge they like that aesthetic on you. when you wear red/black, or when you wear all white. they like your hair, if you have thick textured hair, if you have curly hair, brown hair. if you wear accessories. they like your details. they like your walk.

Listen!! + movie - Waves by Trey Edward Shults

extra signs: water sign. feminine energy, sacral chakra. pregnancy, pregnancy scare. toxic relationships. woman with a lot of money, work schedule, business ideas, in college. curly hair, accesories. friendly, vulnerable female. female who is better than the second option or rest of exes.

Pile Two

their feelings for you is very sexual & freaky. if this is not that type of connection, they want to have fun. but most likely sexual. they like you as their fuck buddy. “i been working all day, i like to run the streets till it’s dark out then come home blow your back out” by Brent faiyaz. might be friends with benefits or one u guys are just independent. your someone they’re holding on to, going through the motion & moving forward with. i hope your not a burden lmao. your someone that might be a co-worker, study partner, student, school friend etc. someone that learns something from them, or they learn something from you. they want you in their life, transform the connection. the connection is transforming, transformative, or is it ending … but they want to work together with you on some matter, your their teammate. awnnn are they looking at the bad side, and sad in their feelings about you being in their life. the relationship you have could be a sexual option for them. i’m getting a specific situation for some people and you might be someone’s school, or work bop or avenue for some sex. but that’s for some, take what resonates. some they still feel very sexual motivated for the relationship you have, and may just have a lot of ideas and wishes when it comes to you. could be up in the clouds about the relationship y’all have & let’s hope not delusional.

they could have been defeated, rejected, let down in some way, victimized basically and trying to get through it & move on. they feel new & fresh with you still when they think of you and want to risk and start something new. i don’t know if they are not motivated enough & bored/dissatisfied. maybe not with you maybe with the situation that’s going on & want something different out of it. maybe feeling missed opportunities & like something didn’t go there way. they feel kind of focused & driven on you, making a lot of decisions and judgements when it come to you. but feel like your fun & a fun time.

their fears about you. do they think your the demon? or they might be the demon. they may be afraid of you having other suitors. they might not want you to see yourself higher than the connection. they don’t want things to be too chaotic, fall apart & a new perspective happens. so this is a very sexual connection, or that’s a lot of his feelings but it seems like he hides this. he hides all his sexual feelings, passion, interest, and how he be horny. he hides the fact that he likes being around you, and celebrates. honestly he feels like the future of the connection is going to be sadd, and fall apart. idk but i don’t think he wants you to let go, someone is going to be attached. & some information is going to be clarified and knowed.

💞what makes them feel secure with you is the hope & faith for y’all connection. the way someone can make something happen, control something. they like the movement & fast paste that goes on. they like how you let go & see things different. oh you look gooddd, idc what you say they believe it. and they were excited about being with you because of this, they thought you was a new lover & loved the love u had to offer. your a queen to them frfr. like they think you sexy asf, and probably freaky. they love that & admire that about you. your sexual, fun, free energy. you in your lilith, empress energy. and your ability to move on to happier waters. i really doubt your their girlfriend, idkk are you?? or is this like a friends with benefits. what draws them is is the excitement you spark, your sexiness. but i think they look at you as independent & free on your own. like a sex buddy. but still what draws them is is your flirty , playful lovely side. your probably not the most intimate, but you definitely show some pretty love & affection that draws them in. they like that part of your personality how you can be so fiery, freaky, sexy, free & fun but also emotional, inner child, comforting. they think your very smart, curious & could be a good student too. but they admire your mystery, your attention that you get or your acheivments. just how you sit on your throne in this mystery. could be intuitive, spiritual, witchy. they like all of that. your ability to just go with the flow, calm & take it slow. juggle things & responsibilities, be flexible & adaptable is something they respect you for.

they like your natural face, hair, body. they like your curves, physique. they like you when your sleeping. they like your around the house wear. they like your height.

Listen!! + movie - Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering

extra signs: fire or earths signs. friends with benefits, someone that you mess around with, school/work/team partner. someone that comes around every once and while. someone you party with, get drunk with. someone that you have a toxic sexual relationship with for the thrill.

Pile Three

their feelings are very steady & stable. is this a current-ongoing connection? they like you there, want to keep you there. feel committed & invested. your the empress in their life, so someone nurturing, high level, queen, mom energy. your someone who they see from another perspective & is going on a slow paste journey with you, maybe taking it stable and slowly, for a goal or something. wtf who cheating? or being fake they could feel this way about you being in their life, or this could be them being sneaky, argumentative, competitive, putting you with components. but being with you has caused a tower moment in their life & shook everything up but they feel like your this emotional woman, loving & caring. they celebrate the relationship y’all have, and take it softly in the emotional department with puppy love but you could be a burden in some areas or they feel like the relationship needs some hard work.

when they think of you they think your there’s, in the life stably. they be curious about some things. wanting to know some stuff & ask you stuff. they think of the effort & investments they put in or what as been put in between both of y’all that bonded you guys. y’all connection overall. they may think about leaving and moving on from something. y’all might have history, know them from the past. they feel very comfortable & familiar around you in a very good way. they feel like your someone that their lucky to have, your here by fate. could be your family for some people asking. they might feel like whatever tbh and kind of unmotivated. or maybe they feel like they missed out on something and miss you.

theirs fears when it come to you is losing you, definitely someone who’s big on stability in their emotional landscape towards you. idk are they scared of you knowing something, they are scared of someone losing interest. hmm this idea that they would fight for you, hold on to you, commit to you, spoil you & celebrate being with you, they might be keeping it from you … idk they might really think that something is going to end you guys and you will end up being in the past or something but they’re scared of that

💞they feel emotionally secure with the fact that you satisfy them, & they satisfy you. they like the movement & action you guys do, fast progress, maybe traveling. they feel comfortable when you guys surrender to each other, let go & have new perspectives. chilling. what excites them the most about you is the hold they have on you. wheter it’s positive or negative. you may be one of their options of many, great friend, etc. or someone they want to hold on to they can get daydreamy about and have a lot wishes and fantasy’s with you. they are excited about the way y’all can come together and have fun, work together, be a good teammate, celebrate together. y’all quality time. they think your headstrong, smart, mature, logical and excited to go through things and push through it with you. they admire your hard work, patience, mind. they admire your love, emotions, happiness, fulfillment. your personality is so queen stand on business fierce confidence emotionally mature and they admire that.

what makes them respect you is the fact that you have hope & if you don’t feel secure in that hope you work on it, your an ambitious star. they respect your drive, they respect your adrenaline. they respect your fun, free, sexy energy to. physically they like you in dresses, classy clothes that makes you look materially clean, fresh, and rich. they like your physique, you might have an hourglass they like that. they might like your stomach, skin, you when laying down on your back.

Listen!! movie - Trust by David Schwimmer

extra signs: committed relationship/stable connection, girl who’s hard to get, scared of losing you, age gap, ex, childhood friend, internet friend

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for S; the one where Clark panic-adopts his teenage clones (yes, including the supervillain one). 

Maybe it’s a trap, Match thinks warily as he stares down the crystal-lined hall stretching ahead. A trap would make more sense than Superman bothering to be concerned with his injuries. Much more. 

But also it’s fucking cold and Thirteen is already headed inside, and hell if he’s going to get left out here alone with Superman right now. He’d actually rather never be alone with Superman again, at this point.

Match follows Thirteen in, and Superman closes the doors behind them. 

“Welcome home, Kal-El,” a voice says, and a luminous hologram of a man in long robes appears in the high-ceilinged, arching hallway in front of them. 

“Home”? Match thinks in absolute incredulity. That cannot possibly be accurate. Just–no. Not even slightly. 

“Hello, Jor-El,” Superman says, smiling at the hologram with a slightly stressed expression. “We have a couple of guests.” 

“I see, yes,” the hologram says, looking from Match to Thirteen, and then back again, his eyes lingering assessingly on Match. “Jor-El”, apparently. “Well-done, Kal-El. You are proceeding very well, for lacking a proper birthing matrix to work with.” 

“That’s, uh–that’s not–” Superman cuts himself off, looking flustered. “I didn’t commission them, Jor-El.” 

“Isn’t Jor-El your dad’s name?” Thirteen asks, peering curiously at Jor-El. “And you kinda look like . . .” 

“I am an artificial intelligence formed from Jor-El’s memories and cast in his image,” Jor-El explains. “I maintain the Fortress when Kal-El is away.” 

“Sick,” Thirteen says, then looks embarrassed for some reason, possibly because he sounds like an idiot. “I mean–cool.” 

“The current external temperature is 15° F,” Jor-El says agreeably. 

Match cannot for the life of him figure out what he should be doing here, but “escaping this conversation” is an increasingly tempting option. 

“I need to make a call,” Superman says, clearing his throat. “But first–ah, Jor-El, can you scan our guests for injuries and pharmaceuticals? Just–general health scans, actually, but focus on injuries and pharmaceuticals, please.” 

“Kon-El has high levels of hypnotics and sedatives in his system,” Jor-El says. “And your youngest has moderate levels of sedatives and tranquilizers, along with low levels of opioids. He has one second-degree burn on his stomach, another on his right thigh, and a minor head injury. All other injuries are negligible."

“What?” Superman startles, his eyes snapping to Match. “They drugged you?”

Match frowns, not understanding why the man looks so surprised by that idea. 

“Yes,” he says anyway, since apparently there’s actually a question there. 

“Why?” Superman asks. Match continues not to understand why he’s surprised, or why he’s asking questions with such stupidly obvious answers. 

“To keep me manageable,” he says, because why else? Superboy is prone to anger and rage and drastic emotional spikes, and Match was made from the same template. And everyone knows what an angry Kryptonian can do. 

Even just half of an angry Kryptonian. 

Superman stares at him, looking . . . unsettled, almost. Thirteen grimaces. Match really doesn’t understand what the problem is. 

“You mean they always drug you,” Superman says slowly. 

“Obviously,” Match says dubiously. “I wouldn’t be manageable otherwise.” 

“Jesus Christ,” Thirteen mutters under his breath, putting a hand over his mouth and looking nauseous. Match doesn’t bother wasting time on trying to figure out why. Thirteen never has rational reactions anyway.

[avelera]

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT, ONLY ONE PERSON COULD EVER CONVINCE JAYCE TO KILL VIKTOR

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT

SOME OTHER THINGS I WAS RIGHT AND WRONG ABOUT FOR ARCANE ACT 3:

(Ok I was wrong about the armor shot being from the past, probably should have realized that a video game based property would want that look for the final battle, so sue me.

And I was wrong about Jayce being the one to experience the time loops. What should have clued me in is that Jayce is a bit of a dumbass (HIGH intelligence, low wisdom) and Viktor is the cerebral one, so it's Viktor imparting the wisdom of those timelines to Jayce.

Still a little annoyed we don't find out what Jayce's flickers were in 2.05/2.06? I guess they were just dimension travel effects?? It still would have made sense if he got knowledge from other timelines BUT I am not at ALL unhappy with "he saw one horrible future because VIKTOR saw the others and this is the one timeline of options where Jayce successfully stops him just with his HEART

Oh also, Madoka themes absolutely panned out and I'm not even the only one who saw it now

[chaos-vixen]

Wait- did we cross-over again?

Idea rant time:

So Danny Phantom (Fenton depending on how much you know about him) has been traveling after (Mm let me pick a card) “Reveal Gone Wrong™️”! Let sprinkle that with a lil “Can’t Return/ Nothing to Return to” and we have a decent base for a fic.

Now comes my Idea

So here he is, in the R&D labs of Stark Tower after fully completing the plot with one Peter Parker (Spiderman to those who know him about him) and one Shuri, Crown Princess of Wakanda. And these three have already done their bit, payed their dues to the plot gods, when for some reason:

A) Danny’s lil side project malfunctions and opens a portal

B) Villain of the week opens a portal

C) Clockwork decides he needs a new plot point for his favorite soap opera

D) Danny is summoned and PANIC

E) Something else

And where does our hero(es) end up? Gotham, DCU! Which results in in two options!

I) Just Danny, goes with Alley street urchin route (most plausible ending being adoption, might stay)

II) Danny + Peter, dispute the intelligence between them, they go pizza delivery boy route (might be adopted, will be building tech, prob should work on getting home, Mr. Stark will worry. High chance of underground fighting)

III) Team Nirvana (Danny, Peter, & Shuri [GO READ The Ghost of Heroes!!!] And Shuri tells the boys that the pizza delivery plan is low-key dumb (honestly she might go with it but doubt it) and instead they’d get a proper set-up going and find the quickest way to make money is:

a) Undergound fights (Danny, Peter! Why is that your first though?!)

b) Sell tech (Profit↗️)

c) Get adopted(?? P: How will that make money? S: Have you seen yourself and Danny? Perfect adoption bait.)

Goodness this is turning out to be a build-your-own-adventure! But anyways, the plot depends on the options chosen,

(ex: B, II, a - Objective is cash, need to find an in to the underground for fight info and where they can register to participate)

(ex2: D, I- prob just needs to quickly deal with issue (1 Cult summoned [effete and find JLD to go home], 2 John Constantine summoned [likely needs help defeating x threat], and find a way home)

you could pretty much do anything with it (I know I said a lot of different ideas here, I’ve never seen a cross over like this, and I can see why [so many characters!!] but tbh it’d be fun [also Tim Drake + Team Nirvana + Everlasting Trio is a shit show waiting to happen)

I’m not sure who to share this with either (if you play with these ideas plz tag me– I want to see it!!!!!) but I might tag some ppl I’ve seen around the fandoms.

Honestly I thought my rant was going to be about Barista Danny

apparently not.

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders Viewers' Choice #30 B: Sodom's Beast/Draco

great news everyone! life stopped kicking my ass quite as hard, so we’re back and better than ever! or at least, more employed than ever. still, that means Grailfinders is back on the menu, and to celebrate we’re solving that little tie we left off with by making both of them!

next on the chopping block is Sodom’s Beast a.k.a. Draco, the nero that never was, and never could be. I really don’t get why people thought making Maxwell’s Demon would be hard, I swear like half the roster explicitly can’t exist in a standard fate timeline, what makes him special?

anyways, gripes aside, she’s a Rune Knight Fighter to sneak in a rapid shift in perspective during her ascensions, as well as a Shadow Sorcerer to make dragons pop out of every which where while also making her wildly hard to whittle down.

check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Species and Background

I really wanted to make draco a tiefling for the horns, but we have to account for both forms of draco so that severely limits our options with going full 2024, and you never go full 2024. so with that, we’re going with Custom Lineage. this way, you get +2 Charisma to continue to exist no matter what the universe says, as well as Darkvision to clown on those pathetic humans, and the Crusher feat for +1 Strength as well as the ability to push any creature you hit with bludgeoning damage with no saves needed, and if you deal critical bludgeoning damage, everyone can pile on and get advantage on their attacks against the poor son-of-a-gun until your next turn.

Draco doesn’t do melee too often in her animations, but when she does she’s either using a giant flaming magichand or she’s a 7’ tall dommy mommy, so either way throwing her weight around is justified.

and of course, we’re using the variant Noble background for History and Intimidation proficiency.

Ability Scores

in order for draco to exist at all, her Charisma has to be pretty high, so let’s start there. after that, grab some Strength- you might not use melee often in FGO, but D&D’s another beast altogether. also we need it for multiclassing. after that is Constitution. you don’t die easy, that’s kind of why you’re here.

I mean that’s why everyone’s here, but you know what I mean.

your Dexterity is barely positive if you’re using the standard array, you’re either blasting people with magic or you’re wearing armor, either way we don’t care about getting hit too much. this means your Intelligence is a bit low- just because you probably had access to greater learning doesn’t mean you had to use it- and we’re dumping Wisdom. Nero’s wisdom was never high, and you are a walking impossibility, which can’t be good for your common sense.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: as I said earlier we need that sweet, sweet platemail, which means we need to start here. as a fighter you get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Animal Handling and Athletics. you might be a terrifying hellbeast now, but you’re still nero. I’m sure you’re even better at “handling” lions now.

first level fighters also get a Fighting Style, and while your sword is great you use it one-handed, so you get the Dueling style for +2 damage to all attacks made with a single one-handed weapon. also your Second Wind lets you heal yourself as a bonus action.

2. Fighter 2: second level fighters get an Action Surge once per short rest, letting you take two actions in one turn with no restrictions. yes, this is one of the few options in the game to cast two leveled spells in one turn, don’t let it go to your head.

3. Fighter 3: at third level you can finally become a Rune Knight, giving us one of the two options available for your golden grail ability. yeah, it turns out there’s very few ways to pretend to help your enemies while actually sabotaging them, that’s probably a little cerebral for WotC. I am of course, talking about Rune Carving. every long rest you can carve a rune into a weapon, armor, shield, jewelry, or other hand-held object. while holding or wearing those objects, you and only you can get a cool bonus, but you can also invoke the rune once per short rest for an extra special bonus regardless of where the rune is. so this is all a roundabout way of saying you can add say, a Fire rune to someone’s armor, feed them a story about how it doubles your proficiency with tools while holding it, and then when you fight them you can invoke it to stick them in chains, which is the closest we could come to stunning them like the actual skill.

yes, it’s all very tortured, but at least you can also use the Cloud rune to get advantage on all sleight of hand and deception checks, and redirect peoples’ attacks so they hit their allies, corrupting them for all of five seconds with grail mud.

the bigger (literally) reason we’re here is for Giant’s Might, which lets you grow to large as a bonus action. the rules might say you take up a 10’x10’x10’ cube now, but that’s just what being 6’1” is like. you need a lot of legroom. you also get advantage on strength checks and saves, and you deal an extra d6 once per turn when you hit with a weapon attack. you can reach third ascension proficiency times a day.

4. Fighter 4: fourth level fighters get their very first Ability Score Improvement, and we’re getting a twofer today thanks to rounding up your Strength and Charisma. more hitting, more spells, what’s not to love?

5. Fighter 5: for our final fighter level, you can fling a flurry of fisticuffs at your foes thanks to Extra Attack. it’s an extra attack, just like the title says. you may notice doubling down is a theme of this build.

6. Sorcerer 1: bouncing over to sorcerer nets you some Spells, which you cast using your Charisma. you’ve got your filler cantrips like True Strike and Blade Ward, as well as your actually useful stuff like Control Flames and Green-Flame Blade. we’re going for something of a diet paladin build this go-around, all the classic smites with none of the holiness.

but we also need some dragonfire, which is why we’re picking up Burning Hands as well, plus Mage Armor for your lower ascensions.

but that’s not all! Shadow magic sorcerers also get Eyes of the Dark, an extra-strength darkvision that comes with a free copy of Darkness in two more levels. you can cast this one with just sorcery points if you want to see through it.

you also get Strength of the Grave, letting you make a charisma save to avoid reaching 0 HP once per day, unless you drop to a critical hit or radiant damage. I wouldn’t worry overmuch about holy knights though, we’ll have… other ways of dealing with them.

7. Sorcerer 2: second level sorcerers get a Font of Magic, which is just an extra spell slot right now but we can use the points for other stuff later. also you can cast Absorb Elements now, because aside from your fire rune this is the only way to get fire on your sword for a bit.

8. Sorcerer 3: third level sorcerers get to use their sorcerer points for fun stuff like Extended and Empowered spells. the former doubles the duration of the spells and the latter lets you reroll some of the damage dice to stoke your flames even higher!

that will really help your accuracy with spells like Crown of Madness, which makes a cool crown for an enemy that also forces them to attack a random nearby creature each turn. checks and balances, y’know.

9. Sorcerer 4: fourth level sorcerers also get an ASI, and Durable is the only halfway decent constitution bonus feat left that doesn’t require another feat first, so now your constitution is higher and you roll slightly better with your hit dice- essentially if you roll below your constitution score, you can act as though you rolled that 2 instead. which isn’t great, but sorcerer hit dice are teeny, so it’ll get some use.

you can also cast Message for the chaldea-standard communicator, and you get Flame Blade! this makes a one-handed sword that probably doesn’t count for your dueling bonus but it’s stronger than a greatsword and it’s fire!

10. Sorcerer 5: at fifth level you get Magical Guidance, letting you spend sorcery points to re-roll a failed skill check. it’s not quite regular nero’s imperial privilege, but it can be helpful. and with the advent of third level spells, you get the one actual rigged present you can give an enemy, Haste! it doubles the target’s movement speed, adds extra AC, gives them advantage on dexterity saves, and they get an extra turn to boot!

obviously it would be a lot more directly useful on your party, but when you end the spell the affected person loses a turn. you can stop concentrating on a spell whenever you want.

11. Sorcerer 6: at level six, shadow sorcerers can summon a Hound of Ill Omen, a mini-dire wolf, a.k.a. our very first dragon! it can also knock people around and it gets advantage when attacking things with friends around, it also relentlessly targets a single person, passing through objects in a beeline to them, until they’re dead!

you can’t kool-aid man your way through walls just yet, but you can use Ashardalon’s Stride to keep up, and deal damage at the same time.

12. Sorcerer 7: seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells like Banishment. if your target fails their charisma save you can slap them back to whatever heaven they came from, and if you keep concentration for a full minute they have to stay there.

13. Sorcerer 8: use your next ASI to become an Elemental Adept, letting your fire-based spells ignore resistances, and you can bump any 1 rolled up to a 2. if we’re going all-in on one element, it had better be hot.

you also get a more permanent solution to your holy people problem with Gate Seal, to prevent those sorts of summons in a 30’ cube for a full day. screw gods, deliver until nero that which is nero’s.

14. Sorcerer 9: ninth level sorcerers get fifth level spells, so we can finally summon an actual dragon. or at least we can Summon Draconic Spirit. for up to an hour, you can make a dragon that’ll fight on your side, but like most modern summoning spells it’s very undertuned. it has less HP than you do, for one. still, a dragon is a dragon!

15. Sorcerer 10: tenth level sorcerers get another kind of metamagic, like Heightened. this forces a target to reroll their save against your spell, which given your biggest get-out-of-divine-punishment-free card is a save or suck spell, that will be seeing a lot of use.

you can also cast Friends partly because I was running out of cantrip ideas, but ignore that because you also get Bigby’s Hand! Whether it’s baby draco’s big slapper or the mouth of a dragon, you can reflavor this baby in plenty of ways, so have fun and go wild.

16. Sorcerer 11: eleventh level sorcerers get sixth level spells, and to be honest I’m sick of trying to copy draco’s skills or bio stuff, let’s get some damage and some animations. Sunbeam is a giant freakin’ laser that can blind enemies, and you can keep shooting lasers out for up to a minute after casting.

17. Sorcerer 12: with our last ASI, you can get the Gift of the Chromatic Dragon for some diet smites, adding a d4 of fire damage to your sword for a minute once a day. you can also react to give yourself resistance to an elemental damage type proficiency times a day.

18. Sorcerer 13: we’re also getting to our final spells, starting with our seventh level spell Draconic Transformation. for a minute after casting, you get especially beastly, gaining blindsight, a breath weapon, and wings. it’s not as fast as teleportation, but it’s a lot more flexible.

19. Sorcerer 14: but we’re not done just yet! we still get one more shadow goody, Shadow Walk. as a bonus action you can teleport from one shadow to another, because walking is for peasants.

20. Sorcerer 15: at our final level, you get your truly final spell, Sunburst. it sucks that at the very end they swap out fire for radiant, but this is still a massive fireball, and I won’t say no to a massive fireball.

Pros & Cons:

Pros:

with access to plate mail, a decent amount of HP, and plenty of resistances, you are pretty tough for a gish. the winner is whoever survives the fight, so survivability is never a bad addition to a build.

with long-term damage bonuses from dueling, giant’s might, chromatic gifts, and so on, you have plenty of consistent damage. with action surge and high-level damage spells, you also have some burst damage. and since you can do both, you have plenty of flexibility when it comes to how you fight. some times slow and steady wins the race, sometimes you have to beat someone down before they escape with a macguffin, and you can help with both.

with flight, teleportation, and boosted speed, you can get around easily and always be in an advantageous position. and with crusher, that position is usually “next to a cliff”. you can play merry hell with enemy positioning, and just being around you is a stage hazard.

Cons:

fire. about a tenth of the enemies in D&D are straight-up immune to fire, so even with elemental adept there’s a decent chance you’ll have almost zero magical damage in some fights. even without direct damage you have some options though…

unfortunately your options are save or suck spells, which are very powerful when they work, which is why a good chunk of the game is dedicated to making sure they don’t. banishment and crown of madness can change the course of a fight if they hit, but that’s a big if.

you have a little bit of everything, but you excel at nothing. you have no capped stats, your HP is good but not great, you have some control spells but not a lot of concentration, and you have damage spells but they’re all one type. but at least you’ll always have something to do, unlike some people.

[littleguypumpkinsheep]

IHNMAIMS CAST RE-INTERPRETATION

Due to my visceral hatred of the game and the way they handled the characters, I’ve decided to re-write their stories a little bit! I’m using the book, comics, and radio drama as reference, and my own headcanons too for fun. This is all For Fun

Ellen

Things I’m Keeping

Born in Trenton, New Jersey

Computer scientist

3 degrees

Went to Stanford university 

Graduated high school early

Lived with her grandparents 

Hope in humanity

Self assured

Sympathetic

Rape survivor

Little to no interest in sex in general

Work driven

Career focused

Things I’m Changing

Black rights advocate

Queer rights advocate 

Feminist

Outspoken

Trans woman 

Lesbian

No interest in motherhood

Fell into a depression when her assault left her with chronic illness and pain

Has OCD

Character Notes

Highly distrustful of people. Kind and caring, but her concern for others is surface level. Struggles with the fear of men and violent intrusive thoughts. Favorite color is red. It calms her.

——

Ted

Things I’m Keeping

Born near Shelby, North Carolina

Grew up extremely poor

Lived on a farm

Interest in reading

Knack for mechanics and engineering

No traditional education, self taught

Studied intensively

Education focused

Grooming victim

Charming

Relied on his body for money

Philanthropist

Rich

Good sense of morals

Kindhearted

Things I’m Changing

Closeted bisexual

Not a con-artist

Not a racist

Not a womanizer

Has anxiety

Has a paranoid personality disorder

Touch adverse

Struggles with dermatillomania

Demisexual

Character Notes

Had always been paranoid and anxious even before AM, but it made his problems even worse. Struggles heavily with internalized homophobia, and gets visually uncomfortable when queer topics or people are discussed. Prideful and egotistical out of habit, but is deeply insecure in reality.

——

Gorrister

Things I’m Keeping

Born in the Midwest

Troublemaker as a child

Disrespect for authority 

Did poorly in school

Moves across states for work

Practically friendless

Has experience as a construction worker, electrician, mechanic, and a trucker

Interest in reading

Prefers to stay home and eat home-cooked meals

Wants to settle down

Divorced

Anti-war

Left-leaning political activist

Strong sense of morals and justice

Wanted a family

Things I’m Changing

Marriage with Glynis was not abusive

Did not strike his wife 

Divorced due to wanting different things out of life and overwhelming mental health issues

Bisexual

Queer rights activist 

Has depression

Has CPTSD

Born in Texas specifically

Struggles with alcoholism

Struggles with anger issues

Is an artist

Character Notes

Very deeply loved and adored his wife. He did everything he could for her, but it just wasn’t enough. Glynis’ worsening mental state became too much for either of them to handle, and Gorrister didn’t know what to do. Sending her to a mental hospital was a non-option, things got worse, and she commuted suicide. He blames himself for it every day of his life.

——

Nimdok

Things I’m Keeping

Born in Düsseldorf

Jewish parents

Went to medical school 

Apparent lack of compassion

Gay

Scientist

German

Has dementia

Had a partner in Brazil

The oldest of the group

Self assured

Logical

Things I’m Changing

Not a nazi 

Not decrepit 

Has early-onset dementia specifically

Not AM’s favorite

Low empathy

Low sympathy

Has a general disinterest in other people

AroAce

Struggles with schizophrenia 

Character Notes

While unable to sympathize or understand other people’s emotions, it wasn’t ever in his nature to be outright mean or cruel. Rather, his dementia is what caused the change in behavior. Sometimes he has moments of clarity, where his true nature can be seen for a few fleeting moments. Still retains his sharp scientific mind.

——

Benny

Things I’m Keeping

Gay

Professor

Good looking

Intelligent

Born somewhere in America

Strong willed

High perseverance

Self assured

Physically strong

Things I’m Changing

Had absolutely nothing to do with the military 

Did not have a wife

Is not needlessly mean or violent

Career driven

Focus in academics

Knows sign language

Struggles with chronic fatigue and pain

A softer man

Interest in nature and the outdoors 

Character Notes

Never one to start a fight or even anger much at all, Benny was laidback and easygoing. He had a calm life, and his personality was upbeat. Nothing ever seemed to bring him down. Not even his chronic illnesses, as frustrating and disheartening as they could be. In his free time he was somewhat of a survivalist. 

[fallout-lou-begas]

What is very interesting about the difference in Agnes Sands's and Murderfreak's in-game builds is that Agnes is high-intelligence with pretty poor direct martial skills and Murderfreak is low intelligence with almost exclusively high direct martial skills, but they both have absolutely terrible social skills (Charisma generally and Speech particularly, and in Murderfreak's case, also Barter). And so the result is that Agnes gets pretty good at a lot of things whereas Murderfreak gets exceptionally good at one specific thing (murdering, but also to the freak's credit, Survival crafting), but neither of them are good at settling anything diplomatically. It makes for a very dynamic dichotomy between the two of them as characters that I am playing as in the video game:

Agnes is significantly outmatched in most direct gunfights to where even just one guy with the drop on her is a disaster, and when outright aversion ("I am not fucking doing that") isn't an option, she has to sneak and skulk around for her life, being very careful about starting any kind of fights at all, praying that she doesn't piss any faction off enough to get hit squads sent after her, and relying primarily on lockpick, pickpocket, craftiness, exploration, terminal hacking, or big chunks of her personal finances to get out of trouble. As a result of resource scarcity, Agnes has to plan every excursion out of major settlements very carefully, and keep exceptional track of her food and water, and even has to straight up steal from people just to survive. And she has to do this very carefully, because getting caught stealing and attacked, or shunned by a community, is a great way to make things even fucking harder. However, since Agnes isn't much of a fighter, weapons barely take up any space in her inventory, so she can carry a lot of food, water, and medicine at least.

Murderfreak, meanwhile, can only thrive in direct combat engagements. Sneaking is just a means to an end, a matter of optimal positioning before combat begins. Murderfreak thinks of hit squads as random supply drops and food delivery. Murderfreak's primary method of forced entry is breaking through doors and containers with whatever melee weapons her most recent victims were carrying. Murderfreak does not "make" things, Murderfreak is a exclusively a destroyer. Murderfreak does not "hack" terminals but can get them open sometimes in four random guesses if the luck's there. Murderfreak does not carry money because Murderfreak simply doesn't need it. Murderfreak gets most of their food and healing from being a cannibal, but with all the weaponry in her inventory, they can only carry so much water, and it runs out fast.

And I love this. RPG gameplay tends to be split into roughly three distinct pillars of "Combat," "Stealth (or Exploration)," and "Speech," and the way that both Agnes and Murderfreak are complete ass at that last pillar both heightens their specializations into each of the first two pillars, and exaggerates the friction that manifests when they're forced to interface with the other ones. Neither of them have a "get out of jail free" card, ever. They handle the same situation in completely different ways by necessity, but it's a constant loop of emergent gameplay for the both of them: the stakes are constantly very high, I am constantly confronting obstacles that I am simply Not Built For, and the only way around those obstacles is either sheer ingenuity (strategy, attentive preparation, and resource management), or a mixture of good luck and brute force. Agnes is roleplay as a cunning but frail prey animal and Murderfreak is roleplay as a big dumb apex predator that's just barreling through the Mojave in a single-minded quest for more food. What I don't like as much about "Speech" (in FNV) is that it makes all of my most important gameplay decisions happen in dialogue menus, as opposed to in the moment, in the action, in my own inventory, or in the environment.

So, yeah, I'm having a lot of fun playing New Vegas again

[madamecaos]

Side-Hustle

Ghost (Simon Riley) x Fem!Reader

Imagine Simon having a side hustle every time he’s home.

or

Where Simon is kind of a pornstar.

C/W: just mature theme in this one

You hesitated, not sure if you’ve heard right.

Ghost was never open with you, nor up for casual conversation. The only times you’ve found yourselves alone, there was only silence. Quiet watchful eyes situated on a high ground, concentrating on the possibilities of hostiles. But this time, his tongue was looser.

Maybe he felt the same burden as yours lift from his broad shoulders, this being the last day of deployment.

Amongst the comfortable banter of the team surrounding the campfire, you sat down with legs tucked beneath you on the chair. Cozy with a warming beer between her hands, wet with condensation.

But now so close to the masked man at your left, you felt you were in your little corner, just the two of us. Barely controlling the tilt of your disbelief.

In your delusion, you preferred to think he sat down right beside you just to talk to you.

“You have another job?”

“Of sorts,” Ghost answered, feeling no need to explain himself further.

You had asked him, not expecting an answer, what he intended to do with his time as a temporary civvie. And he, to your surprise, admitted that he had other ‘hobbies’ that brought him monetary value, other than maiming.

You stared back, almost in awe at the lack of denial or take back. Something in the amused tilt in his tone told you he was enjoying your indecent digging. His body faced forward, but his head was bent down low, to the side, eyes focused on you.

The intensity was jarring. You had been never the focus of his attention, not even the famous jokes or dry answers that everyone revered him for. Well, besides the violent tendencies.

He adjusted his body on the chair, now facing you wholeheartedly. Your eyes widened, doe eyes reflecting the flickering flames in front of you.

The inevitable raising heartbeat now reached your throat. You blamed the beer for your warming cheeks.

For someone that dared to defy death often, you weren’t brave enough to face the big fat crush you had on the most unapproachable OP of the team. A Lutenaint, for gods sake. And he wasn’t someone who just made friends.

So you admired from afar, smothering down the grins at every smart retort he had to offer. And he was so smart, so quick sometimes, that you felt you were the only one that saw his intelligence shining through his dry humor. You hadn’t told a soul, feeling shame at your obvious option to crush on. Someone emotionally unavailable and way out of your league.

You knew his type, you thought once in your nightly musings. A guy like him would probably go for someone quick, temporary… more feminine. So you denied, and pushed down the urge to want something ’human’ from him. You convinced yourself that you were projecting, a mere infatuation with the mystery of someone you couldn’t read.

“Aren’t you going to ask me more questions?” Ghost said at your long silence. “(Y/N).”

You held in a gasp at the surprise, thankful that you kept your calm, having no idea that he knew your name.

But you recovered fast, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Frankly, I think you’re taking the piss out of me.” You crinkled your nose at the warm taste of your beer. The answer had him sitting straight, arms crossing.

You weren’t sure how to read him, the short sleeves around his bulging arms not allowing you to think much.

He hummed, looking at you, contemplating… His drink already finished.

Seconds went by as he stared. And stared, taking your soft gray sweats in, along with the wispy tendrils escaping your hastily up do. When he zeroed in on the sun-dessert made freckles dotting the top of your cheeks, you held the urge to squirm.

You blinked at the uncharacteristic action, he blinked in return, almost in wonder mainly aimed towards you. The predatory interest wained towards something distant at your hesitation partake in conversation, but not as cold as he had been before.

“You should come sometime,” He offered, meaning lost on you as he fetched something from his back pocket. You felt the crinkled note pressed into your hand, the warmth of his fingers encompassing through the thin paper.

Just as briefly, you felt the pressure of his palm on your shoulder, fingers long enough to reach lower than your clavicle. You craned your neck at his retreating hooded figure, realizing he hadn’t interacted with anyone in the circle but you.

The inside of your cheek was raw now at your nervous biting. Confused at the sudden shift in your dynamic, you looked down at the glaring white between your hands.

You peaked at the hastily written words, realizing that this would be the first time you saw his handwriting. Something about a handwritten note felt cute, a word you couldn’t certainly associate the walking nightmare that had just invited you to hang out with him. Of sorts, maybe he invited you just to watch him work.

For a second you saw him attending or owning a raunchy bar, his covered looks and tattooed arms fitting the right image for the scenery. Or maybe he was a hired mercenary, and your recently extended invitation meant that he needed the help of a teammate.

Like you were friends. The thought forced another grin out of you, not believing what just happened.

The note crinkled open, and the amused grin in your face froze, now taking in the words said.

Beneath a few numbers meant for a phone, there was a link. Your flushing skin couldn’t be blamed on a watered beer this time. Nor the hurried side glances, your paranoia making sure no one was suddenly over your shoulder reading the audacious link.

It was simple, the username after the well known pornsite was surely his. It was the only logic.

Your Lieutenant was a pornstar. And given the few words that now held on a whole other meaning, he had just offered to make you come.

[calder]

May I please bring something up in fallout 4 that makes me sad? I really hate the idiot savant perk. It feels like it’s making fun of high support needs autistic people and intellectually disabled people. I wish more people talked about it.

In fallout london the icon they did for it was someone hitting themselves with a hammer if I remember right

I’m also not a fan of how low intelligence dialogue is written where it’s just a joke or where people are needlessly cruel to them… people with intellectual disabilities are people too and some of the most discriminated against, vulnerable members of society

yeah it's pretty incredible your character can actually say "doy" in fo4. lowbrow and unnecessary. obnoxious in practice

classic low-int dialogue comes from a rather hateful place, but as a retarded, i have affection for the concept in theory. it might hit a bit better if it were more developed, but it feels like an afterthought, with very typical 90's sensibilities.

it's cute to see which characters are nice to disabled people. reminds me of the bit in MOTHER3 when you can walk around the world with a trans person and vibe-check which characters are transphobic

i think the fnv/OW solution of just giving low-int characters a few optional foolish dialogue options is probably the best approach

[lemonthepotato]

Narratives Schools Teach Us About Language Learning That I Dislike

Maybe this is rich for a monolingual to say, but I hate this narrative we’re told growing up that English speakers are just “lazy” when it comes to learning other languages. It’s a lie, and honestly, I think it just blatantly ignores the reasoning why English is so widely learned… cough, colonialism. The school system? Not wanting to teach us things that might us uncomfortable or break the historical narratives? Never heard of that before. Sarcasm.

No, other countries aren’t just super intelligent compared to English natives (I find intelligence narratives in general rooted in… many things). The reason why someone living in Wales might not speak fluent Italian is the same reason why someone living in Japan probably doesn’t speak fluent English, why would they? Well, also the fact English education in Japan is the equivalent of Spanish education in American classrooms… not very good, but mainly the lack of a need to speak it.

And that’s not laziness, it’s that the human brain is wired to go with the more practical options, the ‘easy’ ways. This is why I believe motivation to be a myth, something I have been reminding myself recently as I go through a pretty fucking difficult time in my life. Motivation isn’t something you strive for in order to be productive, it’s something that makes you want to be productive. Does that make sense? Motivation is the reason we do things, it can’t be forced.

It’s not lazy for someone living in America to not know fluent French… because they don’t live in France, so the chances that they’ll need to speak French, unless they’re living in certain parts of Maine or Vermont or something, are low. The same is true for other countries.

I don’t think language learning should be shamed into people. From a young age, it’s driven into us that the lack of proficiency is our fault, not the system’s, based on a lack of discipline. My high school forced us to take two language courses, and sometimes you wouldn’t even end up where you wanted regarding that.

I feel like this narrative just further discourages people from learning other languages- you’re not “skilled” enough. If you don’t have the time to learn it, you’re just not “motivated” enough. Let’s ignore the fact that unless your only hobby is being a polyglot (based tho) you have other shit to attend to- you’re just “lazy.”

I think the easiest language for someone to learn is the one you can immerse yourself in easiest. After putting myself through two weeks of nothing but Japanese content with minimal grammar study, I also think ‘immersion’ is overhyped. I think “you’re not immersing enough” is the new form of shaming, honestly. But I’ve learned from my mistakes, so I’m learning about Spanish grammar before I immerse. Spanish? Yes, I’ve switched to Spanish. Why? Well, growing up I tried learning many languages, and ended up giving up and throwing 5 years into lazily ‘learning’ Esperanto. Didn’t really work, I could form sentences but vocabulary was lacking and relied on google translate. I truly believe duolingo doesn’t work, even for ‘easy’ languages.

But, anyway, I felt shame for the fact I couldn’t learn a ‘harder’ language. But you know what? Don’t let anyone shame you out of learning an “easy” language. I wanted to learn Japanese and French too because I felt like I would’ve been too lazy or basic learning Spanish, but let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with learning an “easy” language. I don’t even believe there are languages “easy” for English speakers based on objective difficulty.

I think it’s about how much you can expose yourself to the language more so, though, yeah, obviously an English speaker will struggle more with learning Mandarin Chinese than French. But like. I think having a “beginner” language that you learn is perfectly fine. You’re learning a language and that’s okay. And also, don’t let people do the opposite either, and shame you out of learning a “harder” or even more obscure language. Just do what works for you.

I’m focusing more on Spanish because it’s easier to expose myself to; that’s all. Sure, learning Japanese sounds like fun, but it’s not practical. I think it’s okay to look at a language, study it a bit, but not aim for total fluency. I think you can appreciate a language without focusing so much on the end goal. Yeah, sure, if you want to learn Frisian (a language pretty close to English, so probably ‘easier’) but you think you’ll get more coolness points for learning Korean… you can do that. But you don’t have to start now. You can look at a language and think “I like this. I’ll study this from time to time. I appreciate this language” without feeling like a failure for not understanding it.

This goes for non-native English speakers, by the way, or people who speak very different languages than English. You’re not a failure for not understanding it. I also think there’s a discussion to be had about the opposite; shaming people for NOT speaking English. I’ve actually heard stories of people going to Japan and being upset that they can’t communicate with Japanese people. Yeah, uh, you’re in JAPAN? What are you expecting?

So, fuck it, I don’t care if learning Spanish will make me “basic.” Not everyone has to be a hyperpolyglot and there seems to be a weird internet measuring contest of who can learn the most languages. Also, I find it really funny when people assume I can speak Irish because I’m Irish. It’s actually very hard to learn Irish unless you live in very specific parts of Ireland, trust me.

What the fuck was I even talking about again? I went on a tangent about how I was basically like a weeb but for American culture growing up and then deleted it. Try growing up on the internet and not developing a half-American half-Irish accent. Btw despite people telling me that, I was never really aware I had an Irish accent. I used to not really care about my culture growing up, honestly, especially since I’m detached from it, but I kinda like being Irish, now. Will I ever learn Irish, though? PFFT. No. Irish class in high school KILLED my motivation because not only did I want to learn Spanish & French but got stuck in the Spanish & Irish classes, but I’m convinced that language teachers don’t even know or care about the languages they’re teaching.

Anyway, I swear I had a point with this post… see, sometimes I want to make well-structured essays on this app, but I’m just too incoherent, man. Oh, speaking of languages, considering Co09 the flip side came out and sucked, it made me curious if there was any Spanish fandubs of the original games. And you know what? There was a trailer for one a year ago, but it has like, 1,000 views, which sucks! Oh, yeah, another reason why I want to focus on Spanish > Japanese is that a lot more media I like is available in Spanish than Japanese. Also, Spanish has, like, an easier barrier of entry? Japanese has kanji.

You know, a lot of people shit on kanji, but I think I can acknowledge “it makes things 10x harder for me, but that’s okay.” Like, for me, the thing with kanji isn’t even the amount of kanji, it’s how many strokes some kanji have! I have poor eyesight 😭 at the same time, though, removing kanji from Japanese is like… I think it would get confusing fast because from what I’ve heard, it’s like, uh, okay, what’s a metaphor I can use? Imagine removing contractions from English but if 80% of English was contracted. Actually, avoiding using contractions was something I did as a young teen… for some reason. I just felt a need to speak “proper” or else I was bad or improper. But it’s just awkward. Sorry, “it is” just awkward.

Another thing- I’ve kinda grown to hate Esperanto. It’s really hard to immerse yourself in a conlang, and honestly, I should’ve just spent those 5 years learning Spanish instead of losing confidence. If you’re going to learn a language that’s very similar to English, kinda easier for an English speaker, why not learn the one that’s actually practical? Also, I know I said language learning shouldn’t be about impressing people, but I just- I don’t even like Esperanto anymore! I’m kinda embarrassed about it, frankly. It’s not even a good auxlang. Though, I will say, people who say Toki Pona is better as an auxlang are kinda funny. Imagine you’re in a burning building and trying to communicate with your Spanish friend in Toki Pona. You’d spend more time thinking about how to say “fire!” than running out the building. So, honestly, I think Esperanto is better in that regard, but I think Toki Pona is a better language because it accomplished its goal. To be fair, though, I think Esperanto kinda gets an unfair rep. Like, yeah, it didn’t age the best, but back then, there wasn’t really any social media, Zamenhof was polish, so it’s not like he could make the perfect auxlang with all languages considered. Nowadays, if you want to know more about a language, you can just use google. Back then, Wikipedia didn’t really exist.

Also, really depressing fact about Esperanto is that people were killed in WW2 for speaking Esperanto. I wonder how much of Esperanto’s lack of success has to do with the historical repression/censorship of the language. To be honest, I don’t even know if it’s possible to make a “good” universal auxlang.

But honestly, I find the fact English is such a widely spoken language more depressing than anything. So many non-natives learn English because it’s inescapable.

The moral of the story is that if you speak another language and want me to learn it, just refuse to speak English to me. The social pressure will be too embarrassing and I will buy 10 Swedish textbooks or Bengali or Serbian. Okay, I have no idea why those were the first three languages I thought of.

Anyway, I hope nothing in this post comes off the wrong way. Overall, I think that people being colonised into learning English, and then the education system putting individual blame onto English young children for not being “smart” or “motivated” enough to learn a foreign language, is, er… definitely problematic. I also think it’s bullshit to get mad at foreign people for not knowing English, too, obviously. Just like, be chill, god damn. Language learning should be done out of a genuine desire to learn a language.

[triviallytrue]

BG3 Feat Tierlist

Fuck it, here's every feat in the game split into four tiers. Within each tier, feats mentioned earlier are better.

Always Take

Feats that, when applicable to your build, are so good they should always be taken.

Tavern Brawler

The best feat in the game by a wide margin. Strength elixirs are available by the time you hit level 4, so for throwers and monks this is a flat +5/+5 to all attack and damage rolls, scaling to a +8/+8 when you get Cloud Giant elixirs in act 3. The fact that it gives you +1 Con on top of that just makes it even more absurd.

Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master

Both feats revolve around the -5/+10 attack/damage passive, which is crucial for dealing damage as a non-TB martial. Requires a fair bit of game knowledge to manage (should be toggled off against high AC/low HP enemies) and prepare for (Oils of Accuracy, sources of advantage), but in the hands of a skilled player it's essential. The question of which of the two is better gets into thornier debates about ranged vs melee - GWM has the better extra feature with bonus action attacks, but ranged martials can already utilize their bonus action with hand crossbows and have archery style for extra accuracy, but melee gets strength elixirs- on and on.

Often Take

Feats that are not essential but will be useful in a lot of builds.

Dual Wielder

Funnily enough, this feat is the closest thing pure spellcasters have to an Always Take. Melee martials are better off with two-handed weapons and ranged martials don't care, but pure spellcasters can use this feat to dual wield staffs. As early as mid act 1 with the Spellsparkler and Melf's First Staff, this makes a big difference, and in the lategame this allows for dual wielding the Markoheshkir and Staff of Spell Power. Oh, and you get a free +1 AC on top. Isn't an Always Take because if you're running more than one pure spellcaster, you may want to distribute the staffs instead.

Savage Attacker

On a d12 this averages out to +2 damage, which is fine but not incredible. What really makes this shine is that the effect applies to all additional rider dice as well, which is a hefty chunk of damage by the late game. A very nice option for melee builds to pump up their damage, especially if using strength elixirs.

Ability Score Improvement

The default option. Bland, unsexy, but almost always a pretty good choice.

War Caster

The opportunity attack feature here is negligible, but as it turns out, not losing your concentration when you get hit is really, really important. Most dramatic example is twinned haste, where losing concentration will stun half your party, but there are lots of other scenarios where it's pretty bad. Only reason it isn't higher is that there's other ways to obtain advantage on concentration saves, but if you don't have access to those, this is worth taking.

Alert

Much improved over its tabletop counterpart, due to BG3 using a d4 for initiative rolls. If you commit to this one partywide (or on all non-dex primary characters) you can almost always all go first, especially nice for parties that benefit from interweaving actions when they go together.

Resilient

Useful for patching up your saving throws - you can't gain saving throw proficiencies by multiclassing. Mostly useful with Constitution for casters looking to never blow a concentration save, but could be nice to have to buff up Intelligence saves against stuns.

Rarely Take

These feats have niche uses but aren't generally optimal.

Elemental Adept

A very hard one to rank. There are three good elements in BG3 - Lightning, Cold, and Fire. Lightning and Cold resistance are uncommon and can be mitigated with Wet and Fire resistance can be bypassed with Arsonist's Oil, so that part of the feat is less useful than it would appear at first glance. The damage increase is +0.5 per damage die on average, so a Fireball or Lightning Bolt will deal +4 damage per target, which is quite good. Cantrips deal +0.5/+1/+1.5 more, which is less impressive. The main downsides are that you only get it for a single damage type when you'll want to use spells from all three, and that the main elemental damage specialist (Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer) gets their Charisma added to their specialized damage anyway, so Ability Score Improvement for +1 attack/DC/damage is competitive. I think this narrowly misses the cut in most builds, but it's still pretty good.

Lucky

Loses points because it doesn't synergize with... well, anything, but it's never bad to be able to reroll important rolls 3 times a day. A slightly suboptimal alternative to Ability Score Improvement if you don't have anything you want and are feeling quirky. Be warned that it may slow down the pace of play with random boxes.

Sentinel

Unfortunately doesn't have the juice to be a core building block with its Polearm Master synergy bugged, but it does accommodate a tank-adjacent playstyle that you really can't get any other way. Purely mechanically it isn't terrible either, but generally there are better options.

Actor

Useful if you have a Warlock/Sorcerer Tav who isn't going to multiclass into Bard or Rogue. Still not great in most situations - you can get a lot of other bonuses to ability checks and there's a parasite power that gives you expertise in all the social skills in act 3.

Polearm Master

Kind of a tragic feat, considering its stature in tabletop. The bonus action attack doesn't proc additional non-ability modifiers like the Great Weapon Master passive, which severely limits its usefulness, and the classic synergy with Sentinel is buggy and unreliable. Still probably usable, but only just.

Spell Sniper

All damage cantrips besides Eldritch Blast are pretty bad, so be sure to take that one. In general you'd rather take two levels in Warlock to get the goodies that make Eldritch Blast ridiculously good instead of merely better than Firebolt, but as it turns out there is a clear niche use where this is completely optimal: Eldritch Knights that need a cantrip to use with their bonus action attack but can't spare two levels for Warlock because they want the level 11 fighter multiattack. The expanded crit range is worth more to them than the other Magic Initiate crap or a single level in Warlock. Go figure!

Mobile

Optimal for Hamarhraft builds, if you're the kind of person who likes crazy builds in theory and is willing to push through hours of tedium in practice. Everyone else should steer clear, movement speed is nice but not worth spending a feat on and the other benefits are negligible.

Never Take

There are strictly superior options.

Defensive Duellist

Close to putting this one in Rarely Take, but I cannot in good conscience endorse putting in a feat so you can burn reactions on buffing AC, or one-handed melee builds in general.

Martial Adept

Very hard to justify a feat for a single superiority die (ie, one maneuver per fight).

Charger

Would be usable if it was a passive or just cost your action, but spending your bonus action in exchange for only 5 damage and not being able to combo other abilities with it makes this one a no-go.

Mage Slayer

Want to fuck with casters? That's what Wizardsbane Oil and Arrows of Arcane Interference are for. Don't waste a feat on those squishy nerds.

Shield Master

Makes you tankier without making you more resilient to actually dangerous conditions like stuns. Don't spend feats around avoiding damage - enemies can't damage you when they're dead.

Medium Armour Master

Decent effects in the early game (more the AC than the stealth) but obsoleted by magic items that give you these effects or better for free.

Heavy Armor Master

-3 damage, only from nonmagical sources, in a game where most heavy armor users will have more health than they ever need? Not worth a feat.

Tough

Gives less HP at level 12 than a level 5 Aid cast, which hits the entire party.

Crossbow Expert

Crossbows in BG3 already get the main feature that makes this good in tabletop for free. Instead you get the ability to hit from point blank range (you should not be doing this) and a slight improvement to a mediocre ability. Pass.

Athlete

Don't sacrifice one of your ability points for the ability to stand up faster and jump a little farther. There is a level 1 ritual spell which triples your jump distance.

Lightly/Moderately/Heavily Armored/Weapon Master

You're better off getting your proficiencies through multiclassing instead of feats, even with the ability score bonus.

Ritual Caster

Take a level in Wizard.

Magic Initiate X

Take a level in X.

Durable

This is what healing potions are for, and it's hard to run out.

Performer

Just play a Bard. It's a really good class, I promise.

Skilled

A feat on extra skill proficiencies, in a game where you can build an entire party to cover the handful of actual relevant skills? Come on now.

Dungeon Delver

Worst feat in the game. Not only are its stated benefits complete ass, its main feature is glitched and offers no benefits.

[windser]

unholy nai (million knives) thots (which actually just turned into a lot of personal modern!verse lore madness ) —

currently rewatching trigun stampede and cooking up my usual obsession for nai. it's always the evil brothers, i swear. anyways, i love thinking about modern verse ceo/cto of some high end research institute where he oversees medical research and what note. minor details here. the point is the man is loaded but like he built this life brick by brick.

actually brief back story, i see the twins growing up in an orphanage after losing their parents to an accident. this is where they meet you. someone who went from having a family to no one. bc like yeah the twins lost their parents but at least they had each other. and i imagine vash latched on to you first and nai was still processes the loss of his parents (still debating if he was the cause, i low key vibe with his villan backstory but we'll get back to that). anyway, for awhile he's like forever in the background just observing. he's always been and forever will be protective of vash but like he's never really worried about you. you with your bright, gapped smile after you lost a tooth a little early to a fall. you who never seems to fail to make vash laugh when he's feeling down. you who harbors your own demons late at night when you think no one is looking. (i swear ill elaborate more on the orphanage days) but the point is he noticed. and slowly unintentionally you wormed your way into his life right beside vash and that just kind of sealed the deal?

it wasn't to say that you and vash we're smart but nai was just like this diabolical genius and he quickly got noticed for it. even at a young age, he was like controlling the room. i swear he vetted his own potential foster/adoption options before he eventually found conrad on his own. conrad who was already an established research physician intrigued by nai's intelligence. the man with no offspring who basically had his ideal protege just email him?? anyways, nai basically convinces him to like foster all of them but not legally make the trio of you siblings but the three of you grew up together.

(once again, ill elaborate on the whole coming to realization of feelings even though nai basically already claimed you a long time ago) basically fast forward to you mid-late 20s, youre a housewife to one of the smartest, youngest geniuses in biomedical technologies in this era. nai who had never missed a step securing his future (and vash and yours). the man who swept you out of the orphanage and into pretty dresses, expensive jewelry and extravagant galas.

the man who will press his lips to your temple first thing in the morning and in the same second pin you to the mattress with the weight of his thrusts smacking into your pliant body. this is the man who taught you how to kiss, how to use your mouth on a man and how to receive in return. this is the man that molded you into the person you are. and you love him for it...(until he gives you a reason to question the glass you're standing on)

[katzenprinz]

Did any of the goslings go to college prior to joining up? Did any dropout? Finish degrees? Either way, what do you think they would/ would want to major in?

Gabe and I had a lot of fun discussing this!! It’s something we’d only established about Jones so far. So~

Palmer - Palmer grew up in a low-income home with immigrant parents and upon graduating from high school he couldn’t find a steady job. The only option he could think of that would allow him to go to college was enlisting, so that’s what he did. He wants to go to college after he has served his active duty years, and he has always been determined to do something that will allow him to be stable and give back to his family, so he intends to become a lawyer one day.

Elliott - Elliott was, unsurprisingly, involved in theatre when he was growing up and that is what he imagined he would go to college for. But he realized quickly how difficult making a career in theatre would be, and he is also not the competetive, cut-throat sort, so he lacked the confidence to try to go for it anyway. He instead had a buddy who enlisted who talked him into signing up too - they didn’t end up in the same unit, though. But now Elliott has really found a passion in archaeology and has begun to consider following that path where it might take him, with Rana as an excellent mentor.

Mosson - Mosson was in college and had finished a general studies Associates degree and was just about to start thinking about what major to choose. He ended up going on a Spring Break trip with friends into the mountains and majored in Werewolf instead. He got bitten and of course could not return to his university until he figured out a cure - which happened when SOCOM stepped in and ‘saved’ him. They told him how to break his curse and in exchange offered to help him explain ~circumstances~ away by enlisting him straight into the supernatural unit. He hasn’t really thought about college since and doubts he’ll ever go back.

Bonus Jones, even though he isn’t technically a gosling - Jones is part of a military family. He did ROTC throughout high school and enlisted the day he graduated high school, but knew he wanted to become an officer, so went to a military college and got his Bachelor’s in Strategic Intelligence. He has always thought his whole career would be as a military man, but that is up in the air now.

[2manyflannels]

Octopath Traveler Characters Ranked by How Good they are at Cooking

(Objective list up for no debate I am not wrong)

/j

(From best to worse)

————————————-

-H’aanit

This is actually in the game. She’s good at cooking, or at least baking, but I feel as though it’s fair to say that it extends to cooking as well. It also makes sense. Let’s be honest, Z’aanta can’t cook for shit. I think H’aanit would rush to learn so she can provide for them just so she didn’t have to eat his cooking. Also hunts can last a long time and she probably had to do a lot of campfire/over flame cooking prior to her journey to begin with. I think she’s also the most passionate about it as I can see it being a hobby of hers. (Also she hunts for her own meat! It’s hard to see this being up for debate)

-Olberic

This one might be more controversial this high up, but I believe he just has the most experience. I think he cooked a lot for the fellow soldiers during the war and he also lived alone in Cobblestone for along while, I think he’d pick up a lot of cooking skills a long the way. Also, he just kind of gives off the vibe of a dad who loves to grill. I think he isn’t as good at baking as H’aanit which is why he’s placed below her, but he can make an incredible fucking stew.

-Alfyn

I think this has the same reasoning as how chemistry and cooking go hand in hand, if you substitute apothecary/alchemy instead of chemistry. I think it also makes sense that the group doctor has a good grasp on cooking. Besides job based reasoning he seems like the type of person to help his mom out with cooking dinner ( I think also his mom taught him well and he loves making her recipes 🤧) I think especially after she died he really stepped up to help cook for Zeph and Nina (because they don’t have parents either, or at least I think I do)

(This is where there is a big gap between number 3 and 4, and a close race for 4-6. I think you could rearrange these next one as I feel they’re all around the same level)

-Tressa

This is kind of similar to Alfyn where I feel like it’s something she did with her family before she leaves on her journey. It just seems like the sort of thing they’d do together. I also think she’d be the best gatherer of ingredients, and I think she has a knack for creating her own recipes on her own merit. (I also think she improves a lot under H’aanit and Olberic’s guidance when it comes to cooking over the campfire)

Therion-

This is based on the fact that he’s had got to eat somehow, and as skinny as he is I don’t think he just eats stolen apples. I think he can cook with the bare minimum needed to survive. Like the real-world equivalent of knowing to put water in the easy-mac cup. Not extensive, but he knows the basics and can help out the group. (Also while not as skilled with picking out the best options I think he also is quite good at gathering ingredients)

Ophilia-

Like Therion I feel like she knows the basics, but she didn’t have much need to learn how to cook back in Flamegrace as that was more of the other clerics in the church territory. I do however think she improves the most during her journey, as she seems the type to be a quick learner when she’s focused on improving a skills.

Primrose

She lived in a mansion with servants for the first years of her life who would cook for her, and then I don’t think it would come up after Geoffrey died. I think she was busy doing other things, and unlike her bestie Therion I think there was just no free time for her to learn. (As shitty as Helgenish was I do think he fed them, though no trust in how much or nutritious it was). She does learn a bit and (unlike our last place) is able to help out with the cooking, she just is inexperienced and doesn’t have a knack for it.

-Cyrus

Are we surprised? No! This man is a disaster. He’s the definition of high intelligence low wis. I think he put all his energy into his studies that when it comes to life skills like cooking he just ignored completely and is shitty. Age≠experience in his case and he just keeps on making messes of things. I think it’s a Spencer Shay deal where if he simply touches a dish while cooking it’ll become inedible. He has been banned from being near the cooking pot, and settles for just making the fire before being shooed away.

[dick-meister]

Sinner Adam Character Sheet

HP: 143 MP: Can go all night!! LV: 17 AC: 16

Stats:

Strength: Average - 15

Dexterity: High - 19

Constitution: Average - 16

Intelligence: Low - 8

Wisdom: Surprising - 18

Charisma: Dick master - 20

Skills:

-Soul Grenade: Adam rips off a piece of his sinner soul and throws it at the target area where it explodes (20 feet Radius). On hit target takes 2 damage and is stunned for their next turn.

-This Sinner shit kicks ass!: Demonic chains wrap around target upon a successful hit roll causing them to attempt getting out for the next two turns. Each turn the target can attempt to get free by rolling a number higher than the successful hit number. (If hit was a crit then target cannot attempt to break free.)

-Look at me when I'm screaming at you!: Adam does what he knows best and talks trash at a target. Hit determination is made by the target rolling higher than Adam's attack roll. (Can effect target even if under the AC requirement) Upon hit, the target can only target Adam for 2 turns.

-We're gonna need a bigger Weapon: Rolling a D4 allows Adam to change his weapon into a larger one, however bigger isn't better and can change into a size that he cannot handle. (See Table for weapon options) 1. Longsword 2. Axe Guitar (+1 to hit) 3. Halberd (Unbalanced -1 to hit) 4. The Chosen Ones Hammer (Immovable)

-Perish Song: Adam "sings" a deathly tune for 2 turns and is Vulnerable (-5 to AC) Upon completion of the song, both Adam and the target perish, if interrupted the spell fails causing disadvantage for Adam on his next turn.

Weaknesses:

-Lute. -Easily manipulated.

Gear:

-A tire iron -Sinner Robes with a hole in the back.

Passive: I've seen scarier shit- Adam cannot be feared.