#also i am not to increase the level of evil in this world while D&D seem to think evil is GREAT

[sometimesrosy]

This isn’t an anti question in any way & doesn’t even have to do w/The 100 but tv writing in general. I’m not an expert so when I hear people saying “the writing is bad” on a show like let’s say GOT. What exactly are they talking about? Dialogue, scenes, story, character arcs, all of it? Like sometimes people will say an ep has bad writing but there are really good character moments or emotional scenes & I just get confused what people mean. I’m not talking about antis but like legit opinions.

Most of the time, when I see people saying “this is bad writing,” I think what they’re really saying is “I do not like this.”

That’s not what bad writing is. 

I’ve started to not listen to that criticism. Half the time, what it sounds like to me is either, “i didn’t get it,” “this is not what I would have done,” or “i don’t like it.”

That’s not about skill or storytelling, that is about understanding, refusal to listen to someone else’s story, and taste. The first two are failures of audience. The last one is no one’s fault. Just not their thing. I see that a lot when I see people wanting a romance and getting a tragic sf/fantasy epic adventure. Mismatch of expectation to genre.

Not liking an endgame? That’s taste, and maybe refusal to pay attention to the story. It doesn’t mean that the endgame is bad writing or a betrayal of the story. Sometimes the writers are not interested in that ship or romance at all, and despite some of the audience PREFERRING the ship/romance, it is not a requirement of the story or of storytelling or of logic or of genre. 

We have a tendency, in fandom, to equate “I do not like that” with “that is bad writing.” And those two things are not the same thing.  Loving a character doesn’t mean they are good and hating them doesn’t mean they are bad. Loving a storyline or ship doesn’t mean it is well written or just. Hating one doesn’t mean it is poorly written or evil. We can dislike a story or character or ship and it can STILL be well written. 

Maybe we need to spend more time looking at what the opposite of badly written means. What does it mean to tell a good story? To have a story or show be WELL written? It is engaging. The characters are well rounded and deep enough that they feel real. There is an internal logic to the universe that respects the audience and makes sense. The important questions and narrative threads are tied up and don’t leave the reader hanging. It is consistent with character and story and does not contradict itself. When it DOES contradict itself, as when a character transforms from one extreme to another, the story explains that or takes us on a journey. The story stands on its own and does not require extra-narrative explanations from the author to tell us something that was not included in the story. We want to keep watching and it pulls us in to the story, with a pacing that fully engages our emotions and thoughts.

See, now this all does not have anything to do with genre and allows many different types of story and storytelling to be good. It can include award winning serious films dealing with important real life matters that enlighten us about humanity as well as side splitting funny stuff that comforts us and makes us feel good and even tropey genre stories that follow all the rules of movie making block busters and STILL manage to make us cheer for the good guys and cry on cue and leave the theater happy.

Because stories serve different purposes and it’s up to us to find the stories that feed our needs. I personally steer away from the serious stuff lately and towards the fantastical. And I refuse the many judgments that call genre stories inferior or unworthy or trash. 

What happened with GOT was beyond just a ship not happening though. They had the audience. They had the story. We were drawn in, invested in the characters and the world and the epic battle… not for the fighting and special effects but for tension and the struggle, because we’d been watching those characters face their demons and their enemies and we wanted them to win against the evil, both human and not. 

The final season took the stories that were building and just discarded them. Character arcs that were NOT shown. Prophecies that built the story up were ignored. Societies whose driving force was inevitable just went, “eh” and walked away. 

 One of the things that bothered me was that they didn’t seem to understand some very basic GENRE requirements– like with the magic, spirituality and prophecy of this world. It felt disrespectful to me as a life long fantasy fan. You can’t just IGNORE the prophecy. That’s one of the things that is suppose to tell us what this story is about. Genre stories follow certain rules. Science fiction explores what ifs based on technology and science. Fantasy has mystical and magical rationales that are as REAL in their universe as science is in ours. Romance REQUIRES a happy ever after– or you betray your readers. In fantasy, if you put forth a prophecy, you have to deal with the prophecy. If there’s a character ascending into a mystical higher being, you can’t just reduce them to “weird.” If dragons are what brings the magic back, you need those dragons, or you need to end your magic. If the lone wolf dies but the pack survives, you can’t just separate the pack into lone wolves, send them to different corners of the world and then call that a satisfying ending. You COULD do it and either debunk the saying, or you could doom them to death as the saying predicted, leaving it a grimdark ending. But the way they framed it, the separated the Starks, and framed each of their lone wolf undertakings as a success. Which contradicts quite a few story and character arcs. 

The thing that upset me most about the ending though, which might very well be about taste, not about bad writing, is that the show seems to be making the statement that the little guy–the dispossessed, the bastard, the slave, the exile, the abused, the tortured, the oppressed–will never find justice or freedom or happiness or power. The world that oppressed them is the way the world should be. It takes all the torture and rape and pain that the show gave us, and never overcomes it, never gives us a reason for it beyond causing pain, If all those characters could have overcome their terrible beginnings and risen to set the world on a better path, we’d have a story that uplifts the audience and a very genre-appropriate story that we can see in the root of the genre, LOTR. 

Instead we have a story that rewards men for being clever and all knowing and superior, and the women who accept that as the way it should be. The end of the series returned power to the same unequal system, which discarded the oppressed. And did NOT break the wheel. It destroyed the throne and then continued on without the chair, doing the same thing. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BREAK THE WHEEL.

On one hand, I can recognize that the writers wanted a story that said something I didn’t like. That does not necessarily mean it was bad writing. On the other hand, the story they were telling seemed to be saying SOMETHING ELSE, and instead of following the story they were telling, they switched it up, did not develop the switch, and called it a “surprise twist.” THAT is bad writing. 

You can’t just turn the heroine crazy without showing us her descent. It places a POV character into the role of “The Other,” whose motivations we can NOT know, despite following her path for years. We’re supposed to be watching part of the story from her perspective and be able to see her choices and why she makes them. 

It IS possible to turn a female pov character crazy in a way that is believable. The 100 showed Octavia Blake’s descent. We SAW her break. We saw what made her break. We saw her irrational choices. She wasn’t a goodguy-goodguy-goodguy-BURNEVERYONEDOWN character. They took us on the steps from good guy to broken person to violence as the answer to trying to be better to untenable situation to tyrant to burn everyone down. And then, frankly, although they didn’t need to do it, they brought her back to good guy and we saw that too. Having Dany go crazy is a narrative choice that I don’t like and is a matter of taste. Having her go crazy without showing us why or how and then TELLING us later that the good guy choices, like ending slavery, were a sign of her going crazy??? Disrespectful to the audience and disrespectful to the story and disrespectful to the character they developed. THAT is the bad writing part.

ENDING SLAVERY IS PROOF OF HER MADNESS???? what the? 

I have to say that this is not a sign of bad writing. You could write a story this way and it could be written well, (they didn’t, but you could.) This is a sign of a BAD PERSON. D&D are bad people. They root for slavers. Bad people can definitely be good writers. D&D are both bad people and bad writers. 

[writing-frenzy]

Airplane gets Ghosted~

Brain: :D

Me: Oh no, what did you do.

Brain: Let’s make another Airplane Harem~

Me. 🥺 why are you like this?!

Note: Inspired by A Crowd of Evil Spirits Lines Up to Confess to Me; pretty funny horror unlimited flow story, with some good scares that leave ya at the edge of your seat. (I really love the Protagonist, so good and pure and I headcannon as Aro-Ace~) So anyways, for those who don’t know, in the novel, the Protagonist Gu Wuji is a genuinely good person, an aspiring actor on hard times who suddenly gets pulled into this horror survival game. Here is the thing; while for others this is a truly cursed and terrible thing, for the protag this is just a regular day, just with some people who need some help; he will help Ghosts just as much as he would help a human.

Ghost: *being Scary*

Gu Wuji: Oh no, let me help you? *smiles*

Ghost: *either a blushing mess, happy to be helped, or can feel how strong this human is and is the one scared instead*

So yeah, here this man goes, bewitching everyone he meets, especially terrifying Ghosts who want him to die so they can stay together forever 🙃 Lucky he is so charming, and that with every Instance cleared, he can get points to get items and information/hints from the store.

And then I though about Airplane being in this position and I just grinned.

So, to preface this, I’m going to go on how I think Airplane has been raised in this AU.

Basically, since our favorite writer was young, Airplane was pretty much raised by ghosts. With two increasingly furious and arguing parents who couldn’t care less about him, they don’t notice at all how weird their kid is, not wanting to be reminded of old memories. So thus start’s Airplane’s growing up more comfortable with the headless car-crash victim who helps him know when his bullies are around then actual living people who only seem to try and tear each other apart more then most dead ever want to. Not to say he hasn’t met some mean dead too, but all they seem to care about is just scaring him off so they can be alone. Which, fair.

Just... Airplane is still Airplane, but for him, normal is dealing with the Ghostly Neighbor who will at least hear him out most of the time, especially since most Living people are assholes.

(Also, Airplane will have some of the strength that Gu Wuji is known for, but he mostly just has a really good head for intelligence, logistics, plots, and strategy... Let’s just say Airplane has seen and been through some shit in his younger years.) 

I am also being a gremlin and making Shen Jiu and Yue Qi be the friends Airplane makes in middle school, Shen Jiu being superstitious as fuck and Yue Qi going along with it, even as he because more WTF the longer they are friends with Airplane and fully realize ‘Shit, ghost are fucking real, nope, nope, nope.’ It is a beautiful, disaster of a trio and their friendship is eternal... (even if Shen Jiu will never forgive/hold over Yue Qi for leaving him with the ghost in the fucking burned down Mansion, even if Airplane fixed it; apparently it had something to do with their previous incarnations?)

So yeah, these guys are released out into the world, where Airplane writes really good, if bloody dramas, asking his Ghost Friends if he can use some of their stories and them either not caring or excited as they give him the go ahead. (The Police have some questions...)

Sure, he writes some bad porn on the side, but with some of his Ghost friends able to beta read for him, Airplane is able to stay a float nice and easy, if still anxious every time he has to pay the rent because human interaction is so hard when you’re dealing with the living. (Don’t have to worry about meeting someone’s eyes if they’re gouged out after all)

And then we get to the Instances :) (Now, besides the first one that does happen First, these others could happen with one or two between them.)

First Instance(Novice): The Traitor’s Secret~

The fresh new Players, with some older ones here, is part of a Merchant Caravan that they just have to ensure gets from point A to point B, and just live. Simple mission as this is a Novice Instance for innocents pulled in. And it would have even remained a simple one, only having to deal with the wondering dead that are manageable, as they have plenty of supplies to ration and work with, if one of the Older Players wasn’t here with ulterior motives.

See, this ‘Senior’ managed to buy information that there is a great item that can be obtained; the thing is, one must betray their comrades in order to get it, with the first betrayal making the difficulty rise from the Novice to Intermediate immediately, as this as awakened a terrible Boss.

It probably would have gone smoothly (maybe....) but here is the thing.

As it turns out, ‘Senior’ didn’t buy enough information; after The First Betrayal, the Boss Ghost will sneakily become a part of the Party, acting much like a helpful NPC when really he is a trap; if the Betrayer betrays him, it is game over.

But the game is different this time; No one expects Airplane, who has the ability and instincts of a cockroach who was completely willing to hug a Ghost’s (well, NPC’s) thighs

Cue Shang Qinghua who is very confused, because after he sneakily becomes part of the group, this human has decided to cling to him of all people, the Creepy/Grumpy NPC, and not his fellow group members... 

Airplane grows on SQH like a fugus, makes amazingly funny commentary, and even tells some interesting stories. On Airplane’s part, Shang Qinghua feels not only like the strongest guy here, but also the most reliably competent...

 Not to mention he feels comfortable to be around, which is weird since Airplane doesn’t usually feel to comfortable with the living~ (ha ha ha, maybe because he’s a NPC? Though he still freezes with those guys too...) 

As it is, because ‘Senior’ needs to betray everyone, he tries to get Airplane, who, again, is still a very, very morally ambiguous guy, sees this guy trying to kill him, and simply pushes them instead into a throng of the undead.

Airplane: Ah, sorry for the terrible sight Senior brother, but he was trying to kill us? Are you alright? Do you want a massage?

Shang Qinghua is incredulous, but becomes more charmed as time passes.

(Remembers, how his martial brothers, people who he had lived and worked beside all his life, so easily sold him out, trying to kill him only for him to suffer a fate worse then death. It was only so much time was passed, after having to spy and betray those who betrayed him before he finally had the release of death; but even then, his resentment was too strong, even the blood sealed onto his jade hairpin filled with resentment.)

It is this item he gives to Airplane, blushing as he does as he says if the other ever needs help, to just use the pin and it won’t lead him wrong.

When Airplane leaves the instance, he gets a system notice about the points he got, increased because of the Instance’s sudden level increase, as well as information on the item he received from Shang Qinghua 

Shang Qinghua’ Hairpin: A Hairpin with deadly secrets, belong to A Spy with a vast network of information, be able to uncover hidden secrets with ease and learn anything you wish of with loyal shades at your command,

 Level One: Summon two shades to gather information. (Each level up gets you another shade to do your bidding)

(He only has the information from level one, but once he levels it up, this is what else it can do)

Level 3: Your shades can now help you escape dicey situations

Level 5: Able to uncover the deadly poison hidden in the hollow of it, this deadly substance can poison Living and Dead both

Level: 7: Able to use the Hairpin like a deadly knife, the resentment enriching the wood to be harder and sharper then ever before.

(Past Level Seven, must full on stab someone in a vital place to discover this ability: Able to release one ensured fatal attack from the Hairpin; after that, it will continue to drop to a fifty-fity chance and before renewing each Instance.)

Level 10: be able to summon Shang Qinghua, the deadly competent Spy to your side to aid you; note, he will only help as much as he likes you and you are only truly safe from him for an Hour before he gets free range to do whatever he wants.

So yeah. this is Airplane’s first instance~ It was so terrifying, having to be around so many people and freaky monsters, but he thinks he made a friend? He hopes?

(He certainly gets one heck of an admirer.)(¬‿¬)

Second Instance(Novice): The Healer’s Broken Heart

So, next Instance, Airplane finds himself in an ancient, fantasy hospital with a group half novices and novices who at least survived two or three games after this. The challenge this time is two pair up into teams of two or threes and try and treat as many ‘patients’ in the hospital as one can. First, they have to collect all the medicine they need, prepare the Nursing rooms, and then, of course, treat at least five patients each, or face death for failing. 

See, the patients are sorta, kinda, Undead they need to treat as if they were living, so they Have to do things like bandaging sliced throats, sew back on sliced limbs, and drain puss and other gross gory things to give nightmares. Not to mention that they have to follow regular rules like in most hospitals, so no running in the hall, no loud sounds, things like that when their are Ghosts everywhere. (As long as someone doesn’t break the rules, the Ghosts won’t notice you.)

 As Airplane is a nervous wreck around people, and with this being a bad day for his anxiety, no one but one guy is willing to partner up with him, this gentle, sweet guy called Mu Fan, who’s amazing chill affects Airplane’s own chill and helps him feel a little better about the situation.

Ha~ Mu Fan is so nice and even knows so much about all the medicines and what to do here! He’s even helpful and nice when Airplane was about to have an anxiety attack, following what Airplane warned him about not touching him, but if he could, maybe hum if he could?

Of course Airplane can’t just let the other carry him the entire way! Mu Fan is just too nice and really helped him back there, so he wants to pay back at least a little. So, being this disaster that he is, instead of thanking Mu Fan and asking him if their is anyways to pay him back, Airplane uses his Hairpin instead to see if he could help the other out.

He gets an... interesting reaction...

Apparently, Mu Fan is actually Mu Qingfang, a Boss Ghost (tho Airplane only knows the other is a ghost) of this area, who can be activated in some ways; examples, if the Players try and hurt the Patients, if Players try and kill each other in cold blood, or try and steal Medicine. Mu Qingfang’s most sincere wish is to free his patients from this cycle of pain, hopefully be free from it for good.

This is the information that Airplane gets, what Mu Qingfang has been trying to discover for years with no luck.

Airplane: QAQ Mu Qingfang is truly too good, too pure for this world, wanting to help the other ghost past on and be out of pain.

On Mu Qingfang’s part, he saw this poor, distressed man and the doctor instincts in him went on fire as he did his best to help the other with their heart demons. But he was really, extremely impressed by them with how they treated his patients, taking care of their wounds like it was nothing, joking with the decapitated head as he sewed it back on, getting a breathless laugh from the woman as she cried happy tears from it. The doctor went really gooey though with how Airplane spellbound his audience of twins who needed to be separated after their parent had sown them together, the two young (very creepy as fuck) children begging for more, distracting from the pain of having to reattach their arms in the right places one more.

(Tries not to cry when this disaster of a Man says he has to do something first before he leaves after he finishes the five patients, only to bring a true gift back as he does. Mu Qingfang has nearly given up on his poor patients ever being free from this constant cycle of pain, their Bandit Killers, for such a small, evil group, never brought to justice only for Airplane to catch them all, bringing them to the hospital so that all their grievances can be aired out and payed back once and for all. It took a bit, and Airplane accidently raised the Level of the Instance himself this time doing it, but he got all the baddies round up and incapacitated as he did.)

Mu Qingfang is ever so grateful, even as Airplane offers to help the man finish up here before he leaves, the last doctor’s visit these ghost will ever need to have. He blesses Airplane with a powerful healing ability, along with a Doctor’s kit that is full of useful supplies, refilling ever day if needed.)

So, Airplane is back in his space, cleaning his hands and body because that was still gross (but not the worse thing he has dealt with) with new points and some good prizes once more, even if he isn’t sure why the level went up all of a sudden? The Bandits honestly weren’t that hard to trick and sabotage?

Mu Qingfang’s Medical Bag

Basically, like the Hairpin, full of goodies that can do more and more OP things the higher the Level it goes (and yes, has a secret poison function as well; Now Shang Qinghua can refill the Hairpin if he ever need to :D And yes, Mu Qingfang can be summoned with an Item in the bag once he gets to Level Ten..

Same with the Healing ability, it just gets more OP the higher the level, tho it doesn’t have a summoning ability, but will let you heal others as much as you want at Level Ten

So thus, this is Airplane’s second Ghost ‘Friend’~ (〃￣︶￣)人(￣︶￣〃)

Instance Three (Intermediate): Guards of The Icy Village

So, Airplane is confident in himself, seeing as he’s managed Instances that go from Novice to Intermediate all the time, thinks ‘why not try an Intermediate, since my Novice experience will probably turn out like that anyways? (the fact that all the choices he has left are either Intermediate or Hard does not matter!) 

Looking through his choices, he see a Limited Event One, with a Special Link to it; not knowing what this means but being effected by the Limited deal, he picks it.

(What this means is that there will be an Event in this Instance that will literally only be open this one time and can not be done ever again; Special Link Means that this Event will and can effect in even Higher Level Instances in the Future, depending on how Many +’s are in the title of it.)

This Event has a Max Number of +’s :)

So, he picks his choice and finds himself in this beautiful Icy wonderland with a group of other people. Everyone has to be set into teams here, guarding the snow village from evil spirits and monsters that would prey on it for five days and five nights. And because I want to, Airplane has been teamed up with Gongyi Xiao, Qin Wanrong, Qin Wanyue, and Qiu Haitang. As long as they protect their part of the Village, they will be able to pass the Instance and everything will be swell

(Is this me indulging in having some badass girls, and letting these characters not only get some damn scene time, but be able to be happy and live? Yes, yes it is, because let me explore these guys in this traumatic AU where they have to do all they can to live, and still be able to trust to have each other’s backs dang it) 

So, the Huan Hua High Schooler group have already been through two instances at this point, Airplane has been through a lot, and Qiu Haitang has had one game that turned from easy to hard in a minute that she survived with luck and her wits (and gave her a crap ton of points and a need for survival classes she took asap before her next game). Airplane, because he doesn’t trust the fact that they’ll be okay if other parts of the Village they’re in are invaded, sends his spirits and some nifty golems he got from the shop to help patrol everywhere. 

Because come on, if one place gets breached, of course the rest will be vulnerable! He’s played the Empire Building, Fortress Making games to prove it!

(Everyone nods, because this actually makes so much sense, how could they have ignored such an obvious trap! Intermediate Instances are no joke!)

Cue really scary as fuck ice monsters and evil spirits. Things are going good, Airplane and co are making it through, with Airplane discovering and making obsolete yet another trap unknowingly because he’s making sure everything is rationed(and using some points to actually buy some fooof) and checking in with villagers all over; because they are literally in charge of protecting and managing all these people, and with everything around here with the blizzard and seize, they have to make sure there is enough food and supplies for everyone. 

(That this prevents making evil spirits and monster from rising with the Village is a big thing actually, because some of them are made from the dead.)

So then, the forth day comes; it starts out nice, no more harsh snows, people are coming out of their houses now, Airplane is nearly tearing his hair out from stress and too many people, but he can make do. (has had to make do with worse really)

And then he hears some of the Villagers are about to riot, planning to go at something with stones and pitchforks. Panicking, thinking these NPCs that he has to protect are trying to go outside their weight class, Airplane gets the others in his team and other teams who are useful to hopefully get the weak peasant class NPC out of danger as he goes about handling the problem himself, only to stop and start at the literal child bleeding in from of him.

For a moment, Airplane blanks... (Sure, he knows, from experience, that Children Ghosts are in fact some of the most, if not the most deadly ghost out there... And yet... for all the pranks and cruelty they played, they were always the ones who understood Airplane’s loneliness the most, being the most truthful and blunt and just honest with him...)

So, when Airplane sees this light blue demon child with horns and nasty claws, tear stains on his still baby fat cheeks even as they scowl and bare fangs, fear and anger in their eyes as they tremble before him, Airplane does not kill the child or run them out of the village.

It takes some coaxing, and it’s mostly hunger on the child’s part that wins in the end, but with the last of Airplane’s Jerky being torn through, he is able to treat the kid with his kit in his tent, even get them some cold soup to eat before they sleep.

Airplane has enough time to possibly panic over the fact ‘Wait, if there is a child there must be a parent’ before said Child’s Father appears in the Village the next morning, KO’ing two teams before almost killing his own before Airplane shakily presents them their well treated and contented child... 

who doesn’t let go, until their parent raises an eyebrow, makes an amused huff, and easily grabs their child, even if it leaves Airplane with some nasty scratches and one less lucky charm necklace.

(The Future Mobei-Jun, still Mo Bolin, nearly cries, but stubbornly bites his lip as he does, glaring at anything and everyone around him, especially his parent and the warm person he has to leave here. He wants to keep them! They saved him when their was no gain for it, and even used much needed supplies to treat him, which Mo Bolin knows are important and guarded fiercely! They told interesting stories and had good food! He doesn’t want to leave them.)

Mo Bolin’s Father is very amused, and gives Shang Qinghua an ice power(shield) and a Teleporting Token.

So, when Shang Qinghua gets back from this instance, he gets some friend requests, a bunch of points for the best possible ending ever achieved in a game, and info about his new things.

he’ll only be able to make Shields and Barriers with his new Ice Ability, with the strength and number he can make increasing with each level.

With the Token, it allows him to teleport a limited range and places he either sees or has been. It can’t be leveled, but apparently, if he fulfills some sort of condition, it can be upgraded.

So, those are ideas I have for some of the Instances. Things not mentioned:

Time with the Instances is weird; Time still always moves forward, but it can easily skip around... So the next time Airplane accidently gets into a high Nightmare Grade Instance, He might see a fully grown Mo Bolin, now Mobei-Jun~ 

Another example of Time being weird with the Instances; Airplane obviously met Shang Qinghua first, but Shang Qinghua had been Betrayed and sold out to Mobei-Jun, the same Mobei-Jun that Airplane saved as a child :D

(Yes, Airplane will summon Shang Qinghua in an Instance with Mobei-Jun, and it will be gloriously awkward, even as Shang Qinghua is smug, because he can still see Airplane anytime the other wishes to summon him)

(This will probably lead to Mobei-Jun upgrading Airplane’s Token, making it to where it’s range is even greater now, and can summon him if Airplane wishes it.)

I am still on the fence of making Shen Yuan either a Ghost and part of the Harem, or a player who is bros with Airplane.

There is an Instance in their Real Life, where Qiu Haitang, Shen Jiu, Yue Qi, along with Airplane go along one hell of a Blast from the Past as they find out terrible secrets, things get resolved, there is much crying to be had, and everyone agrees to never mention the Instance ever again or so help them Shen Jiu will make them forget.

(Shen Jiu likes having a sister. Qiu Haitang likes having a brother she actually likes.)

Liu Qingge is a disaster; is he a player, is he a Ghost, is he a monster? Who knows, Airplane doesn’t. (I’m going to say he is a fellow player~ he just likes messing with Airplane.)

And thus, here is this AU~ Hope you guys like it~ EDIT: Noticed this was weird to read, so I added spaces: hope this helps.

[theirrationalzone]

Yakkin ‘bout Games: Wolfenstein: The New Order

Yakking ‘bout Games is a series where I talk about games that I’m currently playing or have just finished. It can be new or old, console or PC, good or bad, it really doesn’t matter. If it’s a game worth talking about, you’ll see it covered here.

I think it’s fair to say that the FPS genre has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance over the last decade and a bit. The modern military shooters that dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s have become less common. We have seen the return of classic franchises like Doom and Half-Life, and we have also witnessed the influx of “boomer shooters” like Dusk and Amid Evil. A lot of cool stuff indeed.

With that being said, let’s take a trip back a few years. 2014 to be exact.

This was the first year of the (then) brand spanking new PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The two consoles were not off to the best of starts though. Their early exclusives like Killzone Shadow Fall, InFamous Second Son, Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3 had failed to impress. The only games picking up the slack were multi-platform releases like Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. The only FPS games available at the time (other than Killzone on PS4) were Call of Duty Ghosts (dull as dishwater) and Battlefield 4 (I enjoyed it but it was completely broken on release.)

Not exactly the most exciting of times for an FPS fan on console.

Wolfenstein: The New Order finally came along that May. It had been announced the year prior but it didn’t have much fanfare behind it. The initial E3 showing didn’t really impress anyone and there wasn’t really a great excitement for the game’s release. Perhaps it was because the previous Wolfenstein game was largely ignored by people or maybe because people were skeptical due to the game being MachineGames’ (the developer) first effort. People needn’t have worried though. The game turned out to be a massive surprise. It ended up being one of the best of that year.

Why am I covering this now? It’s because I recently got the urge to play it again after all these years. Plus I wanted to see how it would function in a post modern Doom world. So with that in mind, let’s get psyched and see how the game holds up.

Never has a smile brought terror to my heart so fast. Well this and my last dental appointment...

The New Order is set in an alternate universe where the Nazis won World War II due to their advanced technology being too much for the Allied forces. After an operation to try and assassinate the spearhead behind this growing technological evolution goes horribly wrong, Captain William “B.J.” Blazkowicz ends up taking a piece of shrapnel to the back of the head which puts him into a vegetative state. He ends up spending fourteen years in a Polish mental asylum before finally being awoken again due to witnessing a horrible atrocity committed by the Nazis. B.J. is now in the alien world of 1960 where the Nazis rule over the world with an iron fist. It’s up to B.J. to link up with the remnants of the Resistance and take the fight back to the Nazis once and for all.

The story was and still is one of the most surprising elements of The New Order. It paints a brutal picture of a world controlled by an evil and ruthless force who will stop at nothing to assert their dominance. The cast as well are very memorable. You have the plucky and likable Resistance fighters who you get to spend quite a bit of time with. You then have some memorable encounters with the evil figureheads of the Nazi regime at certain parts of the story. Anyone who has seen the train sequence in this game knows exactly what I’m taking about. I have to give MachineGames credit as well for the characterisation of B.J. himself. They managed to turn a character who was known for being a badass Nazi killer to a very sympathetic and likable Nazi killer. B.J. in this game is weary and tired after years of fighting evil and tyranny at every corner. The man wants nothing more than for the war to be over so he can hang up his guns and finally settle down. How could you hate the man after hearing something like that?

B.J. is such an upstanding guy that he would infiltrate a Nazi controlled train just to get you some coffee. Liberation and a Cappuccino, you can’t beat it. 

The real bread and butter of The New Order though is the gameplay. It has held up fantastically for the most part. Combat is a blast thanks to the very meaty arsenal at your disposal including assault rifles, shotguns, marksman rifle and a Laserkraftwerk which allows you to blast enemies to smithereens. You’ll have plenty of enemy types to cut through including rank and file soldiers, big mech suit soldiers with heavy weaponry and robots that have massive lasers. B.J. has a few abilities though to help turn the tide of battle. Leaning is one such ability and it’s implemented very well. How it works is that if you hold the L1 button, it locks B.J. in place and you can then use the left stick to lean at different angles. It’s super useful. Earning a well placed few shots at a Nazi from a very awkward angle never gets old. B.J. also has the ability to dual-wield certain weapons to deal even more hefty damage to his foes. Press up on the d-pad and prepare to bring the carnage. While this is a pretty fun feature, it does limit your movement speed and it can result in you burning through ammo quite quickly. It also is restricted to two types of the same weapon. You can also find upgrades for weapons which give them different ammo types and fire modes. The Laserkraftwerk, for example, can be used to cut through certain boxes and materials which is pretty nifty.

In terms of how health works, it’s a hybrid between classic pick-ups and regeneration. You can recover health by picking up health packs and food throughout the game. Armor can be found as well to allow you to take some extra damage. If you take health damage and managed to find cover, you’ll eventually get 10 health points back. You also have the ability to overcharge your health. How this works is that if you end up picking up a health item that takes you over your max health, you get higher health points for a brief period which is quite useful. You can increase your max health by finding hidden health upgrades throughout some of the levels.

AI is decent for the most part. They will attempt to find cover in the heat of a firefight and they do try to flank you. Some of the heavy soldiers will also attempt to rush your position. I certainly didn’t notice any unusual behaviour from them. Boss fights are a bit unremarkable for the most part. The game pretty much spells out how to take them out and they don’t really put up much of a fight. The main exception being the final boss but even then, it really isn’t that hard.

The secret painting boss fight was an interesting idea though. Definitely a canvas for them to work on in the future. (Apologies for the bad pun and joke.)

The game does have a basic stealth system and it works fine. When you enter most of the areas in the game, you will be informed that there are two commanders in the area. Take them out without being spotted and you can sneak through the area without having to worry about reinforcements if you get spotted by an enemy. You can take down enemies stealthily by using a silenced pistol, throwing knives or by sneaking up to them and performing a takedown. Stealth can feel a little overpowered during some of the early sections because the pistol is super accurate and it only takes one headshot to take some of these enemies down. The game does balance this a bit better later on as areas are populated with more elite enemies that harder to kill without being spotted.

Being a Wolfenstein game, you would expect exploration to be a big part of the gameplay and it does play a part for sure. There are hidden areas to be found with collectibles such as the Enigma codes which can unlock new difficulties and cheat codes. You can also find hidden max HP upgrades and other stuff as well. Maps can be found in each level which will indicate possible hidden secrets with a question mark. Levels are definitely more linear than some of the prior Wolfenstein games so don’t expect huge hidden areas or levels.

Key and item hunting still exists of course. You will find doors that require a key or a tool needed to progress which requires a bit of skulking around to find that key or item. You see this especially in the Resistance HQ sections which occur after most of the levels. In these sections, you will be tasked with finding a certain item for a character to progress to the next level. There are also side missions where you can do the same thing for other characters in the HQ and completing these unlocks extras such as artwork. I’m mixed on the Resistance HQ sections overall. On the one hand, they’re good from a lore perspective because you can overhear conversations from some of the characters and there are newspaper clippings and notes to find which do a good job of building up the world. On the other hand, they do feel a little bit like filler. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose...

I don’t really have many issues with the gameplay as a whole. My only real gripe is how the weapon wheel works. Weapon wheels are commonplace on console because a controller doesn’t have many buttons when compared to a keyboard. Makes perfect sense. The New Order’s one however can be such a temperamental thing to use. How it’s supposed to work is that you hit the R1 button to bring up the wheel and then you use the right stick to pick the weapon you want. Sounds simple enough. In reality what happens is that the game ends up giving you the wrong weapon time after time. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times that I tried to switch to the assault rifle and the game switched me to the dual-wield pistols instead. It can be a bloody nuisance. Part of this is down to how sensitive the stick is when using the wheel. It’s way too fast. Also why do the dual-wield options even need to be there? You can already hit up on the d-pad to dual-wield a particular weapon plus I didn’t really need to dual-wield all that much so it’s just clutter. They could have cleaned this up a lot better. I also had issues with swapping back to the previous weapon. It would sometimes default back to the Laserkraftwerk even though it wasn’t my previous weapon. Thankfully these issues didn’t get me killed but they certainly got on my nerves a little bit.

Textbook schadenfreude here from one of the villains. Shouldn’t be that shocked really...

From a graphics point of view, Wolfenstein: The New Order still holds up remarkably well. It runs on the same idTech engine that powered Rage before it and it certainly looks great. Character models are well detailed and they animate well. Cutscenes are well framed and the angles are perfectly done. Environments are beautifully crafted with amazing detail so whether you are in rainy soaked London or even the friggin’ Moon, you feel immersed in the world of the game.

I wasn’t kidding about the Moon. Look Ma, I’m in space! (In a video game...)

The game is quite aliased on the consoles. You definitely see sharp and jagged edges at times. Plus the textures look a bit low-res when viewed up close, but the game still looks great, and I imagine the PC version cleans up most of this stuff anyway so there’s that.

Tumblr’s image compression doesn’t do this environment justice. Oh well. C’est la vie, I suppose...

I can’t fault the game’s sound though. All voice performances are pitch-perfect with Brian Bloom (the voice of B.J.) being the standout. The music is incredible too with a great balance between atmospheric tracks and hard edged ones when the action really kicks off. It’s composed by a guy named Mick Gordon. Don’t think he’s done anything of note since though.

In terms of length, you’re looking at about roughly 8-10 hours for a first time playthrough. There is replay value with the collectibles and the Timeline system. To briefly explain, the Timeline system is related to a choice you make at the start of the game which changes some of the characters you encounter during the game. It doesn’t drastically change much. The events remain the same. You just get some unique dialog and a scene or two. Not much else.

So as you can see, I think that Wolfenstein: The New Order is still a bloody good time. The shooting still feels great with some really meaty weapons, the story and characters are super engaging, and the presentation and sound still kicks some ass. It has some minor issues here and there, but this game is well worth experiencing. You can pick it up pretty cheap nowadays on most of the platforms and it does go on sale quite often.

It’s nice to go back sometimes and revisit a classic, isn’t it? 

Check back here soon for Part 2 of this where I take a look at The Old Blood. Until then, stay safe, folks!

[self-loving-vampire]

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988)

Summary

Ultima 5 is what you could call Ultima 4′s edgier but “cooler” sibling. The gameplay has gained in complexity, dialogue has been greatly expanded, and the ground-breaking system of virtues and morality from the previous game has been twisted by the tyrannical Lord Blackthorn following the disappearance of Lord British.

Ultima 5 also introduces more of a day/night cycle to the proceedings with the introduction of NPC schedules, enabling a level of world simulation that was very new at the time of release. It goes on to make good use of this system by casting the player in the role of an outlaw fighting against the new government, meeting with members of the resistance in the shadows, and going around the martial law that has been imposed.

Freedom

Just like in Ultima 4, you are dropped into an open world right from the beginning, and your tools to explore the world have been expanded. 

The inclusion of more complex systems also enhance the feeling of being able to interact with the world with less barriers, as there is now furniture you can use, barrels you can search, etc.

Like with Ultima 4, there is only one way to win and a list of absolutely required steps that must be taken to reach that victory, but the order in which these steps can be taken is rather flexible, allowing players to create more of a personal narrative as they follow clues they picked up on wherever their instincts or whims took them first.

It is worth noting that there are actually some optional quests dungeons this time around, which is always nice.

Character Creation/Customization

While it is very nice that you can import your character from Ultima 4 into this game, I would say that this aspect of the game has taken a step back in a sense even as it has made progress in other ways.

The eight classes of the previous games have been reduced to four: The standard Fighter/Mage/Rogue Bard trio plus the Avatar class the main character belongs to, which is an all-rounder. As before, there is not really any customization beyond equipment either.

However, the positive of this is that equipment has been greatly expanded from the previous game. While in Ultima 4 you were limited to merely choosing your character’s weapon and armor set from a very short list, Ultima 5 not only enlarges the list but also allows for equipping multiple armor parts (such as a helm or amulet) while also providing a secondary hand slot.

What this means is that two-handed weapons now also give you a trade-off between their big damage and the option to use a shield in your other hand, or even dual-wield.

This greater variety of equipment allows a greater degree of specialization for your party members, though by modern standards this still isn’t much. The supremacy of ranged weapons also continues here, as magic axes are undoubtedly what you should be equipping everyone with later in the game, and now that class does not restrict equipment every single one of your party members will end up in plate with a magic axe.

Story/Setting

This is, in my opinions, one of the most interesting things about the game. Ultima 5 takes all of the virtues from the former game and turns a corrupted form of them into the law.

The game is pretty explicit about this too. Early in the game, in the town closest to the shack you start in, you can find a man in the stocks together with his son. The man is being punished for failing to donate enough of his income to charity as the Law of Sacrifice demands, while his son (who is barely breathing at this point) is being tortured for not reporting his father to the authorities.

Throughout your travels, you meet many kinds of people. From victims, to resistance fighters, to supporters of the regime and everything in between. Throughout your interactions with these groups you will have to discern who can be trusted (generally easier than it should be since the bad guys tend to be meaner or even cartoonishly evil at times) and learn how to fight Lord Blackthorn and the Shadowlords who corrupted him.

The Shadowlords are, incidentally, the part of the story that I don’t quite enjoy. Fantasy is full of one-dimensional ancient evils and dark overlords. By making the events of the game the result of an unambiguously malevolent supernatural force rather than human failings of the type that are not uncommon in real life, the game makes those events feel more distant and less complex.

This very series already has had plenty of “Defeat this one evil force and everything will be fine” plots. They are generally devoid of the moral complexity that the series is now aiming to explore and I want to know what this game would have looked like without the Shadowlords.

Fortunately, however, this effect is not too pronounced. Blackthorn remains a misguided man with good intentions. He admires you a lot, actually, and seeks avatarhood himself. He has such a positive view of the virtues that he sought to enforce them by law.

(Then again, his actual plans for the shrines make this apparent idolization feel dishonest, or at least inconsistent.)

And there is a real type of authoritarianism that functions a lot like this. Even on this site there are many who would be in favor of things like surveillance, police brutality, and harsher punishments. Even on this site there’s a whole lot of people who seek to punish others over stupid things like shipping the wrong fictional characters.

The people I grew up with even went as far as yearning for a dictator who would unleash death squads to execute all the “bad” people. This is a wish that I still see in many people, even those who grew up outside of the circumstances of my country of birth.

This is not an error that humans need supernatural corruption to fall into.

Other than that, I find the dark twist on the existing setting from the previous game to make for a spicier world to explore. 

This is also the section where I should point out that Ultima 5 introduces a rather large and dangerous “Underworld” map that is easy to get lost in. While it is mostly barren, you do have to visit various parts of it as part of the main quest, and I just find the concept of a massive dark world beneath the earth to be a super interesting one (I mean, I have even run D&D campaigns based primarily in the Underdark).

I kinda wish there was more to it other than some items and a companion to collect. Something like a town would have been interesting.

Immersion

This is one area where the jump from Ultima 4 to Ultima 5 was massive thanks to the day/night cycles, NPC schedules, expanded dialogue, and even the addition of words of power to the magic system.

But the best thing I can say about it is really that it calls on you to actually roleplay and engage in the world as if you were actually there, at least to a degree, and it does so through a combination of atmosphere and gameplay.

You will not only want to be careful with your words when talking to certain people to avoid being reported to the regime, but you can also learn the resistance password and use it to get help and information from other members.

While these systems are all still pretty rough here, they still come together well enough to make this a lot more immersive than the average JRPG.

One thing that does feel really off is that the guards are not only superhumanly tough but you also lose karma for attacking them. They also behave strangely in that even though you are a wanted outlaw they don’t actually hunt you on sight, only trying to arrest or kill you if you refuse to pay tribute (as if they didn’t recognize you or your companions at all). This despite wanted posters.

So there’s definitely some rough aspects to the crime system in this game.

Gameplay

Massive improvements have been made in this area, and I don’t just mean the above-mentioned expansion of items and the addition of NPC schedules.

For one, enemies now drop things other than gold, such as food and armor pieces. The magic system has also been improved so that you can now mix multiples of a spell at once instead of having to do it manually every single time.

Additionally, spells are now cast using a consistent language of magic composed of several words of power, which you can chain together to produce effects.

But I would say that the single most significant improvement in the gameplay is the simple fact that most NPCs now have significantly more keywords that they react to in dialogue, including many that do not come up through normal conversation with them. The system is still not perfect, but you can have more of a conversation with characters now and switch from topic to topic relatively easily.

In terms of combat, you can attack diagonally now (only monsters could do that in Ultima 4) and random overworld encounters are much easier to avoid now, cutting down on what eventually starts to feel kind of like padding in the previous game (but see below).

Despite the fact that the material rewards from combat have been increased and items are much cheaper now, Ultima 5 is actually significantly more difficult than Ultima 4. Not only do you have less health, enemies also seem to do more damage.

Dragons and daemons in particular are a nightmare, as they can summon more daemons (who can posses party members) and are extremely durable. A single dragon is a very tough challenge for an unprepared mid-level party, and even after giving most characters magic axes they still prove tough to take down while also being extremely damaging. Trying to fight multiple ones at once without blowing powerful spells or glass swords is costly at best and foolish at worst. Dragons are best thought of as boss-level enemies probably.

I am pleased to report that the dungeon crawling is better in many significant ways. Not only are the graphics more pleasant and immersive but also fully cleared rooms no longer respawn endlessly the moment you step out of them (in fact, they may not respawn at all).

It is not all positive however. The descend and ascend spells seem to be nearly useless this time around and the spell to instantly exit a dungeon is gone entirely. This can make getting out of the underworld such a pain at times that you might even prefer to literally kill yourself in-game and lose some XP instead of doing that. Fortunately you can now dig up and bury moon stones, so you can create moongates down there to quickly escape that way.

There is one problem in terms of balance though. While obtaining gear is significantly less of a problem now due to many enemies dropping tons of torches, gems, and keys, your experience will lag far behind your itemization and your quest progress. This means that to actually reach the 8th level and unlock all of the ultimate spells you will need to either explore all the dungeons thoroughly while focusing XP on one character, or otherwise just grind a lot.

Enemies just don’t give enough XP for a smooth progression otherwise. This would have been solved entirely by making significant main quest events (such as finding the artifacts of Lord British or destroying the Shadowlords) grant experience, but no such luck.

This makes for a strange endgame where you’ll have so much money that you run out of worthwhile things to spend it on while at the same time still feeling forced to grind out enemies, even if you imported your Ultima 4 character for an XP boost.

You do want to have access to these 8th-level spells too, as the final dungeon can be brutal without them or items that replicate their effects.

Adding to the experience issue is the fact that you can’t level up at will in this game. You have to camp and hope that an apparition of Lord British will appear and level you up (if you have enough experience). He does not always show up, and as far as I can tell he does not appear at all if you sleep on a bed or camp inside a dungeon. It has to be out in the wild in the overworld (and possibly also in the underworld).

I wish leveling up was just not tied to him at all.

Aesthetics

As is often the case for this series, the game looks and sounds really good for its age. The jump from Ultima 4 is particularly notable, as the level of detail is on a whole other level, particularly within the dungeons.

As with the previous game, the aesthetic core of the Ultima series (after the first trilogy) lies in the virtues. While there is still a karma system involved, it is much simpler than having to maximize eight different virtues. The karma system determines how much XP you lose on death and how much shops charge you, encouraging players to behave (or at least atone for their misbehavior).

But the biggest impact on the feel of the game is the above-mentioned corruption and tyranny affecting the land. Some of my favorite moments were early on, when I was just starting to get involved with the resistance and investigating what was happening around the overworld.

That said, I think that if the guards did actually recognize you on sight and hounded you more aggressively after spotting you the atmosphere could be even better (assuming they were balanced a bit better).

I think some of the music some versions of the game have is quite good too.

Accessibility

This game manages to up the complexity from Ultima 4 while not being any harder to play. Chances are that if you’re importing your Ultima 4 character you will need only a little bit of adaptation to do fine in Ultima 5.

As before, you will need to take many notes throughout the game. More so than in Ultima 4 due to the greater size and density of content. However, if you played Ultima 4 and took notes for it, this is somewhat alleviated. The mantras for the shrines remain the same, and the world’s geography should be mostly familiar (though there have been changes there as well).

You will also still need to consult the manuals and map frequently, at least early on.

The difficulty has also increased dramatically. You will likely end the game with about 200-ish HP rather than 800 and every enemy is much more deadly. Both the early game and the final dungeon will challenge the improvident.

For these reasons, the game is not that easy for newcomers to pick up but I would not call it obscure or complex.

Conclusion

I would say that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives on this one. The story and setting are interesting even if I don’t agree with all of the decisions made in crafting it, and the rest of the game is usually tolerable at worst. Nothing nearly as annoying as Ultima 4′s Reaper and Balron sleep spam (in fact, a plot-relevant item you can find renders Reapers pretty much helpless).

My primary complaint about the game is that the balance is poor. You will end the game loaded with all the items you could ever want while struggling to reach level 8 with even a single character even after doing nearly everything you need to do before the final dungeon.

I know there is a remake of this game made using Dungeon Siege, which I have not played. I think this is a good thing and I’d hope that it fixes some of these issues, but even apart from that I wish there were games that set out to achieve the core concept of this game.

What I am talking about is an open world RPG in which you play an outlaw who must hide from the state and meet other rebels in the darkness, but with complex and mechanically-competent systems to enable all the interesting possibilities this should enable.

I do not assign numerical ratings to games with these reviews, but I can definitely say that I liked Ultima 5 better than Ultima 4. I think it is worth trying even today despite the late game grind.

[warsofasoiaf]

Have you played Fallout 4? What did you think of it?

Joseph Anderson had a phenomenal video on Fallout 4. Although it is enormous, so be careful. Overall, there were things to like and things not to like about Fallout 4. I’ll start with what I liked first. Throwing a cut in here because it’s long.

Combat in the first-person Fallout games has always been clunky, and enemy AI relatively largely consisted of straight charging or shooting from as maximum range as possible. Difficulty came primarily from enemy quantity, high damage output, or incredibly enemy hitpoints. The last of these has been a particular Bethesda problem in their games, with enemies being incredible damage sponges, making late-game fights a boring slog as you slowly whittle down their health while being impossible to damage in any meaningful capacity. While enemy variations aren’t nearly as high as the game’s fans would have you believe if you conceive of them as AI patterns, the AI activity did have some nice variations. Human enemies used cover, ghouls bobbed and weaved as you shot them, mole rats tried to ambush you. It’s got nothing on games with fully realized combat system, but it does make the combat that you do engage in much more enjoyable. 

All of the random crap you can pick up in a Bethesda game having a purpose is another positive. It is a true nuisance to find out when playing a game that I hit my encumbrance limit only to find out it’s because I’ve picked up a bunch of brooms, bowls, and other garbage accidentally while grabbing coin and other worthwhile treasures. Actually having these things mean an object is worthy mechanically, aside from level design; typewriters are useful as items as opposed to something that shows you that the ruined building you’re in was formerly a newspaper. As crafting is a big portion of the game, having these things provide component parts that you use for crafting on their own creates more utility in these elements of clutter which still require modeling, rendering, placement, etc. Now if you need aluminum, you’ll try to raid something like a cannery because it will have aluminum cans, which is an excellent way to create player-generated initiative. It also reinforces one of the primary themes of the game which is crafting and design, where even the trailers of the game suggest building as a key idea of the game. Certainly sensible for a post-apocalyptic game to focus on building a new society upon the ruins of the older one, and given what the game was trying to do with their four factions mechanic, it’s clear that this was their intent, and good job for trying to ensure that things factor back into their principal intent. 

Deathclaws look properly scary, the animations with Vault Boy were funny, there’s some pretty window dressing. The voice work wasn’t bad, the notable standout being Nick Valentine. The Brotherhood airship was an impressive visual. I had a little fun creating some basic settlements, particularly in Hangman’s Alley where I tried to create a network of suspended buildings and Spectacle Island where I had room to grant every prospective settler a shack. Bethesda clearly looked to create a game with mass market appeal, and I believe the metrics bears out that they succeeded in that regard. The robots in the USS Constitution quest were very funny, the writers were able to make the absolute ridiculousness of the situation work (curse you Weatherby Savings and Loan!) and framed it well as a comedic sidequest, with a final impressive visual if you side with the bots and the ship takes flight.

Now that this is out of the way, I think that a lot of what Fallout 4 did was not the right move. 

The quest design was particularly atrocious in this regard. Most of the radiant quests boiled them down to a simple formula - go to the dungeon, get to the final room where you need to either kill the boss or get an item from the boss chest, return. In this game though, the main story quests often were boiled down to just this simple formula. You need to find a doodad from a Courser to complete your teleporter? Go to the dungeon, kill the boss, recover the item. The Railroad needs you to help an escaped synth! Do it by going to the dungeon and getting to the final room. This really hampers the enjoyment of games because the expressiveness of the setting and elements of an RPG is often explored through quests. Quests are meant to get you out into the world and give you an objective, but they are also meant to connect you to the people that you’re dealing with. If every quest is boiled down to the same procedure, that hurts the immersion, but the bigger sin is that when you return you have another quest waiting for you. That robs the player of the sense of accomplishment because there is no permanent solution to problems, even for a minute. There is no different end-state for the player to see the transition from one to the other and feel accomplished that they were the ones who did it. Other RPG’s always understood this - a D&D game might have a party save a town investigate an illness dealing with a town, take out an evil druid who has charmed the wildlife into attacking supply and trade shipments, slay goblins who are raiding cattle, there are a lot of possibilities that might even feel samey: if you’re killing charmed dire wolves or goblin cattle thieves, you’re still going to the dungeon and fighting the boss, the usual flair and variation came from encounter design. After you’d do that though, the NPC’s might say “Hey, Mom is feeling better after you cured that disease, she’s starting to walk again,” “Hey, we were able to send a shipment of wine from the vineyards out to the capital, here’s some coin for the shipment as reward for your service,” or even just a simple “Hey, thanks for taking out those cattle thieves.” There’s a sense of accomplishment even if it’s a fleeting “we did a cool thing.” Computer RPG’s are tougher in this regard, part of the sense of accomplishment in tabletop gaming is also with your friends, it’s a shared activity, but usually in that the reward was some experience and character growth and going to new content. There isn’t new content here in Fallout 4 though, because of the samey quest design and lack of progression.

The conversational depth was also ruined, with so much of the voice choices mangled by the system of conversation they designed. By demanding a four-choice system, they limited themselves to always requiring four options which completely mangled interactivity. The previous menu design allowed for as many lines as you wanted, even if the choices were usually beads on a string. The depth and variation, however, are even lower than what could be found in games like Mass Effect 3, and the small word descriptions were often so inaccurate that it created a massive disconnect between myself the player and the Sole Survivor, because they weren’t saying what I thought they would be saying. That prevented me from feeling immersed, because a “Sarcastic” option could be a witty joke or a threat that sounds like it should come out of a bouncer. The character options were already limited, with Nate being a veteran and Nora being a lawyer, but this lack of depth prevents me from feeling the character even moreso than a scripted backstory. You get those in games, but being unable to predict how I’m reacting is something that kills character. 

Bethesda needs to end the “find (x) loved one” as a means to get people motivated to do a quest, or if they don’t want to rid themselves of that tool in their toolbox, they need to do a better job getting me to like them. More linear games can get away with this, but open world games encourage the sort of idle dicking around that doesn’t make any sense for a person who is attempting to find a family member. Morrowind did this much better, where your main task was to be an Imperial agent, and you were encouraged to join other factions and do quests as a means to establish a cover identity and get more acquainted with combat. Folks who didn’t usually ended up going to Hasphat Antabolius and getting their face kicked in by Snowy Granius. Here though, what sort of parent am I if instead of pursuing a lead to find my infant son I’m wandering over east because I saw what looked like a cool ruin, and I need XP to get my next perk (another gripe, perks that are simple percentage increases because they slow down advancement and make combat a slog if you don’t take them, depressing what should be a sense of accomplishment). By making us try to feel close with a character but by refusing to give us the players time with them, there is no sense of bonding. I felt more connection to James in Fallout 3 than I did for Sean, but even then, I felt more connection to him because he was voiced by Liam Neeson than because of any sense of fatherly affection. The same goes for the spouse and baby Sean, I feel little for them because I see them only a little. I know that I should care more, but I also know that I the player don’t because all that I was given is “you should care about them.” You need time to get to know characters in game, along with good writing and voicework. I like Nick because he quoted “The Raven” when seeing the Brotherhood airship and I thought that was excellent writing, I didn’t have any experiences with Sean to give me that same sense of bonding. 

They’ve also ruined the worldbuilding. The first-person Fallout games have always had a problem with this, with Fallout 3 recycling Super Mutants, the Brotherhood of Steel, and other iconic Fallout things into Washington D.C. Part of this is almost certainly the same reason that The Force Awakens was such a dull rehash of the plot of A New Hope, they wanted to establish some sort of continuity with a new director to not frighten off old fans who they relied on to provide a significant majority of the sales. The problem of course, is that this runs into significant continuity problems, now needing Vault 87 to have a strain of FEV and having a joint Vault-Tec/US Government experiment program there on the East Coast, so we can have Super Mutants. Jackson’s chameleon isn’t native to Washington D.C., but we need to have Deathclaws because they’re the iconic scary Fallout enemy, as opposed to creating something new with the local fauna, which is only made worse because they did do that with the yao guai formed from the American black bear (the black bear doesn’t typically range in the Chesapeake Basin near DC these days, but it’s close enough and given the loss of humans to force them back they could easily return to their old pre-human rangings). Some creatures are functions of the overall setting and can be global, ghouls are the big one here since radiation would be a global thing and fitting considering Fallout is a post-apocalypse specifically destroyed by nuclear war. Others though, are clearly mutated creatures and so they would be more localized. Centaurs and floaters were designed by FEV experiments and collared by Super Mutants, they should really only be around Super Mutants. Radscorpions shouldn’t be around, there would probably be instead be mutated spiders. Making things worse are that the monster designers do develop some excellent enemies when they think about it. Far Harbor has a mutant hermit crab that uses a truck as a shell (a lobster restaurant truck, which is passable enough for a visual joke even if it falls apart when you think about other trucks that they might use) and a monster that uses an angler lure that resembles a crafting component - these are good ideas but the developers needed to awkwardly shoehorn in iconic Fallout things that have no place there. This isn’t to say that I’m in love with a lot of Fallout’s worldbuilding, a lot of the stuff in Fallout 2 I found to be kind of dumb particularly the talking deathclaws, but as the series went on it took objects without meaning. The G.E.C.K in Fallout 3 was pretty much a magic recombinator which makes no sense as a technology in a world devastated by resource collapse, something similar can be said about the Sierra Madre vending machines. 

Fallout 4 though, had a lot of worldbuilding inconsistencies that really took an axe to the setting. The boy in the fridge outlasts the entire Great War, but apparently never needed to eat or drink water. This is, of course, stupid, because ghouls have always been shown to need to eat and drink - Fallout 1′s Necropolis section has a Water Chip but if you take it without finding an alternate source of clean water, the ghouls will die. Ghoul settler NPC’s that flock to your player-crafted towns require food and water. The entire thing was ruined from a complete lack of care, to build a quest where you reunite a lost boy with his still-alive ghoulified parents. I think this one bothers me not simply because of the egregious worldbuilding which isn’t even consistent in the very game it’s written it, but it’s done so frivolously for a boring escort quest. It feels scattershot, and that’s the problem I think with a lot of Fallout 4′s quests. They feel disconnected, like every writer worked in a cubicle without talking to any of the other writers. Same with things like the Lady in the Fog.

Are we done with that? Good, because now we’re going into the parts that I really dislike - the main quest and the factions. These are just awful. The developers took what folks really liked when it came to Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas (Fallout 1 did have interesting factions but they were largely self-contained, more towns than anything else) and completely botched it. New Vegas was the clear inspiration for these factions, with the four faction model of NCR, Legion, House, and Indepenedent meaning that there were four different ways to go forward into the future, so we get three factions that fight each other and a fourth more player friendly faction that roughly resembles the Independent Vegas where you can pick and choose which factions you bring in with you and which you get rid of. Thematically, this fits in with the core of the game, crafting is a big portion of what you do and so crafting what sort of world the Commonwealth would be is simply a logical extension of it. The factions aren’t presented well though. The Railroad are impossibly naive and don’t demonstrate any rougher edges like denying supplies to humans in order to fuel their synth effort, even though such a thing should be evident if the post-apocalypse of the Commonwealth is to be believed. The Institute are sinister murderers and replacers without bringing any of the advanced technology that could provide some benefit such as the gigantic orange gourd that can grow. So much of their kill-and-replace mentality seems to be done for no great overarching purpose. The Minutemen are basically blank, pretty much just a catch-all for the player-built settlements, though the player as the leader of the Minutemen ends up getting bossed around by Preston to the point of the faction rejecting your commands to proceed with the main quest, a significant problem with Bethesda factions where you are the leader but never get any actual sense of leadership. There doesn’t appear to be any addressing of the failures of the previous Minutemen whether that be the previous summit, or new problems such as settlements feuding with each other requiring the general to intervene and mediate. The Brotherhood come the closest to a real faction with advantages and drawbacks if you squint, they are feudal overlords with the firepower to fight Super Mutants and other mutated nasties, but also violently reject ghouls and synths as part of their violent dogma except for seemingly not caring when you bring a companion around or killing ghoul settlers in settlements they control. But even then, we don’t really see the Brotherhood providing protection to the settlements that they demand for food, the typical radiant quest to destroy a pack of feral ghouls or super mutants is directed from a Brotherhood quest giver to a randomly determined location, hardly a good way to illustrate whether or not the Brotherhood is actually protecting settlements that they administer. We see little change in the way of the Commonwealth save that certain factions are alive or not because the game needs to stay active in order to perform radiant quests, so not even the signature ending slideshows can give us the illusion of effects building off of our actions. This is contrary to the theme of building a better world in the Commonwealth because there is no building. 

Special notice must be given to the Nuka-World raiders because they show the big problems with the factions. You can be a Raider in Nuka-World but only after becoming the Overboss, which is fair enough. But you’re already a Minuteman, but the Minutemen don’t activate any kill-on-sight order and Preston still helps you out. The game is so terrified of people losing out on content that they make permanent consequences rare, and when you do something like order an attack, it can be rescinded automatically if one of your companions is there. As an Overboss, you do grunt work in the Commonwealth, and the factions get mad and pissy if you don’t give them things despite even if you only give one section of the park to one of the factions, that’s more than they got from Colter. It’s like they don’t exist until the player shows up, which is exactly how a lot of modern Bethesda character and faction building seems to be. While in most computer games a sort of uneasy status quo is the desired beginning state because it gives the protagonist the chance to make ripples while justifying the existence of a status that allows the player to change it, it has to be applied consistently. 

The main quest itself is silly. There’s a decent twist with Sean becoming Father that sort of works, which would have worked much better if we had actually gotten a chance to bond with him, although the continuity of everything gets wiggy quick. When he said that he looked over the world and saw nothing but despair, I was wondering if they were going to actually bring a big question up and a debate between Father and the Player, the idea of what worth the people on the surface have, but it goes nowhere, it’s a missed opportunity. The main quest is just a means to meet all four factions and it’s a barebones skeleton at best. There are some interesting concepts they try, but what they do often falls flat. They try to establish some sort of empathy for Kellogg in the memory den, but it’s lazy and cheap because he kidnaps a baby and wastes your spouse, a wasted effort of empathy only made worse when you get criticized for not showing any sympathy. Kellogg then shows up in Nick’s memory for one second and then that little story nugget is ignored. The half-baked nature of the story keeps being brought back up, which is a pity because we actually saw them do a competent job in Far Harbor. The Followers of Atom are crazy and they really aren’t sympathetic in any way, but some of the folks inside the sub aren’t so bad that it might prevent you from wanting to detonate the sub, or at least you might think enough that you look for another solution. DiMA did some monstrous things, and if you bring him to justice, the game actually takes the time to evaluate whether or not you helped out Far Harbor, with meaningful consequences being taken if you took the time to do the sidequests which imparts far more meaning to them. 

While there’s a lot of problems that show up in terms of binary completion, the question of whether to replace Tektus and turn the Children of Atom to a more moderate path is a good question, it actually gives a lot more merit to the Institute if they were ever to have been shown to enact the same level of care. That only makes the Fallout problems stand out more, because it shows that they were capable of it but didn’t. This isn’t the only missed opportunity, synths themselves become a big problem. The goal was to create a very paranoid feeling but it was so sorely under-utilized that I never grew suspicious of folks because the game never gave me enough incentive to be suspicious of them. I didn’t think that Bethesda made synths that would give you false information or ambush you because that would have been potentially missed content. The idea of whether you are a synth or not is clearly an attempt to give the game more depth than it is presenting. You’re not a synth, Father’s actions make no sense if you are one, and DiMA attempting to make you think you are is silly because you know you aren’t one.

I think the game would have been much better if they had dropped the notion of Fallout entirely. If they had instead looked to create an open-world post-apocalyptic game focusing on crafting and building towns, perhaps with an eventual goal state of building many towns, establishing transportation networks, and rebuilding a junkyard society as a decent place (or going full Mad Max Bartertown complete with a Thunderdome for players looking for an evil and over-the-top option). That might have been an interesting game for Bethesda to potentially develop a new IP, even contracting with smaller studios for those who wish to tell story-heavy games in the setting. Instead, they applied Fallout like a bad paint job, cobbling together weak RP elements and story that made the game feel like a hydra that couldn’t recognize it was one being with multiple heads, constantly tearing the other parts of itself to ribbons. 

If I wanted to further improve it, I think I would have instead made the spouse a synth. It would require some serious reworking, but I would have made it so that Sean did believe that synths were people, or that they were real enough that the difference was negligible, they had free will. During the initial grab, the Institute took the entire cryopod where Sean was, baby and parent both. They used Sean to create the next generation of synths, but something happened with the parent, and they died during defrost. Sean hates the Institute for what they did, but what happened was truly a medical complication, not malicious in any way. When he learns that the player character is active, he creates a synth programmed to believe they are the spouse. He believes that exposing who he really is to the surviving parent would be traumatic, and as he hears that the player character is thriving, he wants to give them a chance at a normal life, and to alleviate the loss that he had in his life with the loss of his own parents. So the spouse is sent to you, and for a long time, you and the spouse have no idea. You adventure together, you build settlements together, the game encourages you to have a good relationship. It doesn’t have to be hunky dory, and I’d argue it’s actually better if it’s not. Have the spouse be programmed with some rough experiences in the Wasteland, so they’re nervous, skittish, maybe even a little resentful that the player character snoozed their way through everything, but slowly rebuild the relationship. That way, when the quest eventually comes where you find the truth, the player character has to confront that reality. Then when you confront Sean, Sean explains himself and the player is given the choice to forgive him, be understanding but still angry, or be hugely pissed at the manipulation. That’s drama that uses the core theme of what synths are about with the whole kill-and-replace motif the Institute does. There’s a plot twist that batters the player, there’s one that’s just messy and gross and tough to reconcile. There’s one where the conclusion the player comes to is valid because it’s the player themselves deciding what the meaning of it is.

So overall, I see Fallout 4 as a bunch of missed opportunities and clumsy writing wrapped up in the popular shallow open-worlds that triple-A games end up having. 

Thanks for the question, Jackie.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[cgaubrey]

2020 Wrap-up

Despite being largely canceled, 2020 was a two planner year. For us, this rather unprecedented year actually began in December 2019 when I finally accepted that I had reached a level of burnout and exhaustion I had not seen since I quit driving six hours one way to graduate school. I realized I had a terrible boss (spoiler alert: it was me!) and that if I’m going to give my life to this writing thing I might need to also try some living while I’m at it.

So last December I accepted that I was going to have to go through recovery and then, just when I sorta got comfortable with the idea, our beloved Basch Foo began (what we did not yet realize was) the final stage of cancer. We thought he was simply struggling with some gastrointestinal issues and we treated him for those. For 9 weeks there was no recovery for me, and almost no sleep for me and Basch and Bridgette. We finally accepted the inevitable in early March and made that painful, final decision.

The rest of March I turned my care over to (a far too happy to be an only dog) Bridgette. We slept a lot. Like…weeks of it. I honestly don’t remember much. I bought a new planner because so much of the first was filled with Basch’s rigorous daily care and meds. Bridgette began truly living her best life. Shane and I celebrated TWENTY years of being smooching buddies. (we have a solid three before that for which we’re also pretty darn grateful, but 2000 was The Kiss™ so we mark it. :D).

In April, I stopped sleeping 12 hours a day and I started redecorating. We’ve been here for a crazy long time, but we’re not ready to leave so it was time. I painted the living and dining room and bought a new area rug. We rearranged every single room. Bridgette basked in her only dogness to quite frankly an embarrassing degree. We bought her memory foam mattresses for her arthritis. She also now spends more time in our bed than out, though after one night of trying to sleep with us she realized that was terrible and thankfully still insists on her kennel at night.

A great friend gave me a Masterclass membership in May. I spent the entire summer listening to writers and working on short stories and remembering I’m terrible at short. I managed one at 5.5k but then my second attempt became a full-fledged novella (still in progress). I followed that with a Secret Garden reimagining at 15k; my Halloween short story reached an entirely unapologetic 10k words. I am, of course, always looking for readers so if you missed some of these and want a link, let me know. You can find the Halloween short <here>.

I also revamped the website this summer when I finally, FINALLY, chose the name I want to publish under. Hooray!

I usually travel a lot but that was the 2nd biggest change to my year. My first trip of 2020 was not until September, delivering a pair of diamondback terrapins to the rehabilitation program at the Charleston Aquarium. It was a single day, rushed (12 hours in the car), and exhausting but I did get the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life from Brown Dog Deli and most importantly the turtles will finally get the proper care they need. Sidebar: leave wild animals in the wild, people. They are not pets.

Autumn brought my and Bridgette’s favorite season: PUMPKIN! We decorated and celebrated like no year before. With everything going on across the US (and the world) there’s been so much negativity and darkness (and honestly pure evil) and I won’t get into those things here but I will say that while fighting what fights we could from home, we were also largely insulated from it. And I know what a privilege that is.

Shane’s job didn’t change much beyond some increased overtime. He was still on site, which meant, my and Bridgette’s days only changed in that whole having to be home all the time. In late October, I attended my favorite conference virtually. That helped but I am still very angry at so much of our country for how this whole pandemic has been handled/treated. I don’t want to talk or think in terms of forgiveness but I can say without question that my opinions of people (collectively and individually) have been irrevocably changed by their actions.

November was NaNoWriMo and getting back to drafting a new novel. Thanksgiving was spent at home, decorating for our second favorite season and then, in a blink, December was upon us. We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary (which still feels so weird to say) on the 10th and pretty much baked and watched holiday movies and snuggled until…well now.

If you made it through the year then you won 2020, but I also think that if you look back upon the year, you will—like me—find growth or success in unexpected places. Tiny shoots of green, flashes of crocus petals pushing through the snow. For me it was breaking bad emotional and work habits. It was reading 66 books. Writing 125k words and finding joy in them. Painting again. Crafting again. Baking bread. Loving and caring for my pack. Letting them love and care for me. Giving myself permission to fail and be afraid and be angry. Finding that I would not, in fact, burn to cinders in those flames.

I’ll spare you the phoenix imagery. I’m honestly not much on the rebirth thing (for me personally) as I remain—moles, wrinkles, cackles and all—rather fond of my marsh witch, swamp witch self. There’s still work to do. Work on myself that I hope to see the proof of. Work that we must do to improve our world, seeds to be planted and ideas tended, the harvest of which we may not see in our lifetimes.

[hanbeihood]

A D&D 5e Build: Ron Stoppable

I did one of these sometime last year for Halloween and just wanted to do another, so here it is. First up: Why am I attempting to build Ron and /not/ KP? Simply put, Kim is a fairly straight forward build in 5e terms. She’s an Inquisitive Rogue with a single dip into Monk. You could give her some Fighter levels (that UA Unarmed Fighting Style is so tempting) to keep up with Shego’s combat prowess, but her brain is honestly her key feature, making those Rogue levels very valuable (11 at minimum as far as I’m concerned). She’s you’re basic, average girl, and she’s here to save the world. Ronald, on the other hand, is remarkable by just how unremarkable he is while still somehow keeping up with Kim. Barely. For those who didn’t watch Kim Possible when they were younger or don’t have Disney+, he might not even seem like an adventurer. But Ron’s amazing in game terms; he’s at that level of naco cheesiness I just love to play. Plus, he has Rufus, and everyone loves Rufus. Spoilers may appear.

Let’s get into it:

I’m going to be using the standard point array from the PHB. If you would like to roll for stats, just keep in mind where to put your higher and lower rolls.

Ron’s 15 is going into Wisdom. He may seem like a totally inept doof, but he’s incredibly insightful and holds onto his own philosophies. Also, his best friend aside from KP is a naked mole rat (a very smart one at that, but that’s cartoon logic). I’m going to put 14 in Charisma. Ron isn’t intended on being conventionally attractive, but Charisma =/= being hot. It’s all about your presence and ability to get people to listen to you and consider what you’re saying. Ron is somehow able to casually talk with so many villains, so his CHA must be high. Also, he’s an honorary Pixie Scout. 13 is going straight into Constitution. He is R-unstoppable after all... He can take a real beating from even the more threatening foes and eats so many nacos that an above average CON is the only reason he hasn’t been hospitalized for his diet. I’ll give 12 to his Dexterity. He’s dodged lasers, booby traps, and incoming fire from all sorts of things. An adolescence of fighting robots and super-humans will leave you light on your feet and your hands. This may sound weird, but I’m giving his Strength the 10. He’s worked in retail and has lugged around some pretty heavy looking things. And that leaves Intelligence with 8. Ron isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He says good stuff, but don’t ask him to tutor you for the upcoming exam unless it’s a subject he excels at without question. I know he was kind of a genius when he became evil that one time, but I’m going to rationalize that as his INT & WIS swapping places when his alignment got shifted. Ron’s a Neutral Good guy with Chaotic leanings, so going Evil is bound to mess with your brain in more ways than one.

STR 10 || DEX 12 || CON 13 || INT 8 || WIS 15 || CHA 14

Ron’s a Human of the Variant variety, but if you want to play him as a Bugbear, that’s cool I guess. I’m not your dad. I’m going to bump up his WIS to 16 and CON to 14. And I’m going to give him the Magic Initiate (Wizard) feat. Prestidigitation & Mending can reflect parts of his Movie Makeup Magic Kit, but I’m really taking this feat for Find Familiar so we can have Rufus right off the bat. He’ll also get the Animal Handling skill because Rufus loves him.

For his Background, I’m going with Entertainer for proficiency with Acrobatics, Performance, Disguise Kits, & a musical instrument of your choice. This solidifies his place as the Middleton Mad Dog mascot, the costume of which he made using his MMMK, and he has disguised himself as Mr. Dr. Possible & The Fearless Ferret. However, if you feel that the By Popular Demand feature doesn’t fit Ron quite right, go with the Rustic Hospitality feature from the Folk Hero background.

Oh boy, time for the class.

Ron is a Monk, first and foremost. Despite his clumsy, slacker nature, he’s incredible capable when it comes to dodging blows from Shego & Kim even with his hands behind his back. In addition to Martial Arts & Unarmored Defense, he’ll receive proficiency in Cooking Utensils, Insight, Stealth. He will continue down this class for some time, but what kind of Monk would he be? In the show, he eventually becomes the Supreme Monkey Master as recognized by Master Sensei (I know what you’re thinking.), so we should probably begin with looking for which subclass could best emulate Monkey Kung Fu.

There is a lot of history when it comes to Kung Fu, more than I’m going to type out. That’s not even to mention the 5 variations of the Tai Shing system. I bring this up because Ron’s arch-nemesis, Monkey Fist, is a pracitioner of Tai Shing Pek Kwar and probably would be best described as a user of Wooden Monkey. However, the beauty of 5e is that many different martial art styles can be emulated based on how you use your action economy and describe your attacks & movements. Flavor is everything.

If I were to put all the Monkey magic from the show aside, I would guess Ron could pass as a user of various styles due to him not being nearly trained as much as Monkey Fist in a particular discipline. For D&D 5e, he could be seen as a Drunken Master or Open Hand Monk, but he does have that Monkey magic, putting Four Elements on the table even if we want to say the more mystical side of his simian abilities are due to multiclassing.

At 2nd level, Ron gets access to Ki Points that he can use for Flurry of Blows, Step of the Wind, or Patient Defense. PD is especially handy for the sidekick who would rather avoid danger. He also gets Unarmored Movement which is incredibly useful for a guy like Ron. His running ability landed him a spot on the Middleton High School American football team. Crazy right?

With all that out of the way, I’m going to say once he reaches 3rd level of Monk, Ron will adopt the Way of the Four Elements, learning Elemental Attunement (a more elemental version of Prestidigitation that we can swap out later) & one other viable Four Elements Discipline of your choice. Fist of Unbroken Air is a great option for pushing a foe back while dealing damage. He also gets the ability to Deflect Missiles which is always good.

4th level Monks get the option for an Ability Score Increase or a feat. Take the Lucky feat. It’s honestly super impressive that Ron survived so long fighting baddies before he started his martial arts training. Remember, Kim Possible is one of those shows that has stuff going on off-screen, so there have been many missions between the episodes we see. Monks get Slow Fall here too; Ron falls a lot and this may be how he’s avoided concussions when he should clearly get one.

5th level gives Ron an Extra Attack and Stunning Strike. The best way to avoid a punch is to insure your opponent can’t even throw one. Also, your Martial Arts die is now a d6.

At 6th level, Ron can gain a new 4EleDis as well as swap one out for another. Drop Elemental Attument like I mentioned earlier for Gong of the Summit. This allows you to cast Shatter, and we can flavor this to be a sort of mystical monkey screech. Pick up Clench of the North Wind so you can cast Hold Person; KP will have an easier time boppin’ bad guys when they aren’t moving. Also, your unarmed strikes are now magical when it comes to overcoming resistance and immunity against non-magical attacks & damage. Talk about that Ron factor.

7th level Monks get Evasion for even more ways to avoid danger & Stillness of Mind; he may seem like a coward, but Ron Stoppable won’t be swayed into abandoning his friends.

8th level gives Ron another chance for an ASI/feat. Bump up DEX by 2 to 14 so you can start dealing more damage and have a higher AC. 15 isn’t great but PD has probably served you well if you’ve survived this long.

At 9th level, Ron’s Unarmored Movement is improved so you can have him run along walls or over liquids as long as you keep moving. This isn’t super in-character, but it’s useful.

10th level of Monk gives our boy Purity of Body, making him immune to disease and poison. Looks like he won’t be able to miss school unless he fakes being sick.

11th level is really what we wanted from the Four Elements because now Ron can use Ride the Wind to cast Fly on himself like the Supreme Monkey Master he is. Plus, his Martial Arts die is a d8 now.

For 12th level, we have another ASI/feat opportunity, so that’s another +2 to Ron’s Dexterity for a 16. This gives him an AC of 16 with the ability to take the Dodge action as a bonus action with PD.

I’m going stop here with this build because I think this is a solid place that could potentially coincide with the show, but if you want to take Ron to 20th level, Monks do get two more ASI/feat opportunities at 16th & 19th level. Use these chances to bump up your DEX & WIS to 18 each, or make one of those a 20. Four Elements Monks also get one more Discipline they can take at 17th level; Ron would probably take the Fist of Four Thunders in order to cast Thunderwave. However, if you don’t want to continue levels in Monk, almost any subclass of Fighter or Thief/Swashbuckler Rogue (if your DM is cool with Martial Arts counting towards Sneak Attack) could be viable.

If you decided to opt out of the Magic Initiate feat I took at 1st level, you could easily just take the pet mouse from the Urchin background equipment. Or you could make Rufus a player character with an Awakened Rat as the race if you want him to be more involved.

[kaypeace21]

The Mind flayer’s motivation and Will’s destiny to defeat him (deep dive analysis/theory)

Before I get into my theory/analysis I must preface this by saying that I will be using references not only in the show, but of the cannon comic book series, as well D&D wikia. Any paraphrased quotations about the background of the mind flayer or supernatural powers are from there.

1.So I first have to explain all the cannon evidence (in the show) of Will having powers before the upside down incident.The easiest way to do so is by comparing him to EL. They both could communicate through different dimensions (Will exploded 2 phones , El exploded a radio at the school). Both of their moms’ had “crazy aunts” - powers are genetic. Both had their brain waves monitored at the lab and their measurements were off the charts, plus they were being unknowingly recorded on video. El and Will are the only people who could touch, speak, and hear each other in the void. They both tore through walls (with that pink gunk between the normal world and upside down). Both communicated psychically by transferring their conscious- El to talk to Mike in his basement using the void (in s2) & Will to his mom in the living room (in s1). And they are the only magical d&d characters (mage & cleric).Also before Will goes missing , he asks Dustin for his X-men comic- later in reference to El ,Dustin asks “Do you think El was born with her powers like the X-men?” And when Mike says El is “channeling him (Will)”. Dustin says “like professor x”. clearly hinting that they were both born with powers, like the X-men.

And in s1 Will was described to be “shadow walking” . In D&D Shadow walking is – “ largely illusory, but  quasi-real. characters can use this spell to travel rapidly by stepping onto the Plane of Shadow, moving the desired distance, and then stepping back onto the Material Plane.” This quote perfectly summarizes Will’s power - which he was shown to be using in s1 & s2 (before his possession)- he can be partially-present and can physically interact with both dimensions at the same time. This explains how he was standing in the real world next to Mike in the field,  while the mind flayer took possession of him in the upside down version of the same field.

In fact the comic verifies Will was born with several powers: shadow walking, teleportation, and invisibility. All 3 of these powers in D&D are powers of a wizard/sorcerer - which is synonymous with the term mage (which is used to describe El).According to D&D invisibility is a level 1, teleportation is level 5, and shadow walking is a level 6 in order of increasing difficulty. It wasn’t until Will’s possession that Will truly became a cleric (which I’ll explain in detail later).

Will always had powers and  was unaware he was using them (before the upside down incident)- the only powers he used at the time were invisibility and teleportation.Do you guys remember when Jonathan said Will was “good at hiding” cause teleportation and invisibility seem like something a kid who hid from his abusive father might of used accidentally A LOT! In fact the comic overemphasizes his ability to hide

The comic also verifies his ability to shadow walk. Out of fear, he powers-up from level 5 teleportation to level 6 shadow walking.He sent himself accidentally to the upside down (the lightbulb glowed just like all the lights in Hawkins did when El closed the gate to the upside down in s2).  

This is made even more clear in the fact that the demagorgan is far away from him at this moment. And the comic also verifies that the demagorgan attacks people before sending them to the upside down.

The fact that Will is a Wizard and not a cleric at this time is emphasized in the comic as well. Clerics have different sources for their powers and different abilities than wizards.Season1 says Will is a cleric but the comic makes it clear that he is not one yet.

Mike corrects Lucas and says they can’t change classes now because “it’s fate” Will will become a cleric. But before this, the comic shows he’s indeed a wizard (with all the innate, born abilities that entails). Also, in the show the password Will picks for castle byers is ‘Rhadagast’ (a wizard in lord of the rings)

Also if you still don’t think Will has powers this boy literally closed his eyes and imagined lights (in another dimension) flickering and got them to do so!

2.  So now I’ll discuss how Will became a cleric. It’s because of the Mind flayer- “they are evil and sadistic aberrations, feared by sentient creatures in many worlds across the multiverse due to their powerful innate psionic abilities.” The upside down is an alternate dimension/universe the mind flayer previously took control of.

“These beings sought to expand their dominion over all other creatures, controlling their minds to use them as hopeless slaves (demogorgans and demo-dogs).  

“A mind flayer who decides to follow the path of WIZARDRY transforms into an ‘undead’ Alhoon- this is a mind flayer who combines powerful wizardry and sorcery with his innate skill of psionics to become a new threat. He becomes this ‘new threat’ by creating an undead elder brain (from the minds of others) and then merging his own sentience into it. Most of apprentices are destroyed in this arcane ritual” (except Will).

A Mindflayers’ religion states, “the greatest wish of a mind flayer is to conjoin/form into an elder brain,  obtaining immortality by having its life experiences merge into the consciousness of those he’s sacrificed”.  He essentially used these people to gain immortality and to become more powerful. Now that the mind flayer is this new ‘undead’ immortal entity/a god of sorts -he as the elder-brain is now “capable of granting divine powers to his followers.” In this case, Will, his apprentice.

The Mindflayer never intended to sacrifice Will. He thought he was special.The Mind flayer used his various powers to kidnap Will . Mindflayers have a power called scrying  where they view a subject at great distances and even across other planes of existence (when the gate opened he saw Will and knew he wanted him as an apprentice). He took possession of a demorgan (who chased Will down) even though they are supposedly only attracted to blood (and Will wasn’t bleeding at the time) . And in ep1, this is the only time we see a demagorgan use telekenesis to unlock Will’s house door. This is because it wasn’t a normal demogorgan,at the time, it was possessed by the mind flayer. Also it’s interesting to note that , mind flayers can detect invisibility- a “ spell that allows a caster to see invisible creatures.”

The comic alludes to the idea of him thinking Will is special by  having an unknown voice say things to Will such as “do not fear... ” and  in reference to Will the mind flayer says “I want him to live forever”. And even more telling “ Do not be dismayed... am your... will strengthen you... with my righteous...”

My assumption is the mind flyer believes Will’s abilities to travel to alternate dimensions without the need for a portal makes him special and this is why he wanted to become one with him, in order to possess his powers (trying to do so in s1 and 2). He possessed Will because he wanted them to become one entity together- to become a god. The mind flayer’s main purpose in life is to “take dominion over dimensions” so with Will’s power they would be unstoppable.

3. However, since the mind flayer could never complete his possession over Will’s mind. Will is left with remnants of the mindflayers/elderbrain’s powers - and this is when Will becomes a Cleric.

“Clerics are given their powers by a god” (in this case the elder brain/mindflayer)

Typical Powers of Cleric include

-Plane shift- the shadow walking was accidental but plane shifting allows a cleric (and up to 8 people who are holding hands in a circle ) to travel to the other plane of existence or an alternate dimension (that could come in handy)

- detect chaos and evil (Will was able to do this in s2)

-Scrying- “a mindflayer can view a subject at great distance and possibly across the planes of existence...Clerics have a similar spell they call magic font.”

There are also various subcategories of clerics (the closest to Will’s description was a )-Light Cleric. “Light clerics- are infused with the radiance and power of their god and charged with chasing away lies and burning away darkness (in this case the upside down). Fire features prominently for the spells and abilities of Light Clerics.”

Note that in the first ep Will was told to use a “fire ball” to kill the monster- and the mindflayer and its minions have a weakness to heat/fire.The power that the Mindflayer gave him will be his undoing. Especially because now that the mind flayer is an “undead elder brain”. The fact that clerics can destroy/control the undead will make Will a powerful adversary.

Infact in D&D lore,  “there was famous Elder brain who had many mindflayer apprentices and 1 human apprentice . The human apprentice killed over 2000 mindflayers who were about to sacrifice her to a dark deity- and there were rumors she was a dragon in a human disguise” (*cough association with fire).

So by s5, Will is going to be the one who destroys the upside down once and for all!  The meaning of his name means "resolute protector" after all.

[homebrewsno1asked4]

Wah

Full disclosure: I played an entire 20-level Dungeons and Dragons campaign as a character based on Waluigi.

An entire campaign

like almost 2(?) years of my life

playing a joke character

I based on Waluigi.

Scratchy nasal voice and going waaa and everything.

I wore a goddamn Waluigi hat.

I’m torn on this, folks. On the one hand, I feel like I should’ve changed my character to a more original creation after a couple levels. Play as a joke character for a little while to get used to 5E, then switch over to one of my brainchildren.

On the other hand, I fucking love Waluigi. I’ve wanted a Waluigi game since the Nintendo 64 era. I despaired when Nintendo failed us again last year (I’M LOOKING AT YOU, SAKURAI).

Well, what’s done is done. My Level Ridiculous Moon Elf Rogue-Ranger is part of our old group’s canon timeline, becoming the kingpin of the Baldur’s Gate underworld.

Strange, the passing of time.

Without further ado, a Waluigi build! After I deleted like half my notes when I shouldn’t have. Not like it was an accident - it was a totally conscious decision I regretted a few days later when trying to figure out why the hell I picked the things I did.

TOO BAD, WALUIGI TIME.

Race

Outwardly, Waluigi’s clearly a half-elf, if I had to pick a Wizards-sanctioned D&D race. Noodle build, big pointy ears, somehow still grows facial hair.

In the campaign I mentioned, I made my boy a moon elf. And his mustache was magical because elves can’t grow facial hair. I never fully fleshed out the magic mustache’s origin.

Functionally, neither elf nor half-elf caters to the Waluigi experience. Half-elves get that major Charisma bump. Waluigi’s not a charismatic fella; doesn’t play nice with others, throws fits. You know the type. Plus the Fey Ancestry feature doesn’t quite match up.

My number one choice? Githyanki.

That little Intelligence increase: Between him and Wario, he’s supposed to be a bit more cunning, more the Snidely Whiplash type.

Strength Boost: Waluigi’s always statted as a heavyweight/high-power character.

Githyanki Psionics: So githyanki get these psionic-flavored spell-like abilities at levels 1, 3, and 5. Mage Hand’s a bit of a stretch. Idk, Waluigi always has an abnormally long reach in Mario Sportball. But githyanki get Jump and Misty Step at levels 3 and 5, respectively. In multiple games, Waluigi has Super Jump abilities, and in at least one of the Mario Strikers titles, he has the ability to kind of Nightcrawler-bamf while he’s running.

Note: I’m aware Gith are kinda… noseless. Maybe your Waluigi Gith wears a false one, or a plague doctor mask, I dunno. Like he’s self-conscious about not having a nose, or the nose and mustache is their shitty disguise and everyone just goes along with it.

Class

Again, I picked Rogue for my way-too-long tenure playing High Fantasy Waluigi.

Looking back, I don’t think that was a bad way to go. He’s highly skilled, has well-rounded stats with an emphasis on Defense and Control (equal to DEX in a D&D framework, I guess?), and a set of special moves focused on sabotaging other characters.

I considered Alchemist (the ENWorld template), because Waluigi and his stages and items and stuff usually have a bomb motif. But beyond the bombs, I don’t think the Alchemist’s abilities are as neat a fit.

Subclass

My version of a D&D Waluigi was an Arcane Trickster. After looking into some of his more obscure abilities, I think that was the best way to go! Unfortunately, I didn’t use my abilities to their full Waluigi-ness.

The Mario Bros. and Wario all need power-ups to give them an edge. (With a few notable exceptions, like in Superstar Saga where Mario and Luigi unlock the ability to wield fire and lightning, respectively.) Waluigi, on the other hand, demonstrates several innate magical abilities. To name a few: surrounding himself with whirlwinds, summoning walls of thorns, filling the arena with water, cloaking his projectiles with illusions, etc. These lend beautifully to an Arcane Trickster, with a suggested spell list below:

Cantrips

gust

mage hand

minor illusion

shape water

true strike

Level 1

catapult

feather fall

fog cloud

jump

magic missile

silent image

Level 2

darkvision

dust devil

gust of wind

levitate

magic weapon

misty step

warding wind

Level 3

fireball

major image

tidal wave

wall of water

Level 4

control water

dimension door

Evard’s black tentacles

Background

The Criminal background seems obvious, but mechanically, I think two other backgrounds fit better:

Gladiator (Entertainer variant) and Harborfolk (Elemental Evil).

Acrobatics because that boy can jump (I’d rather demonstrate with GIFs, but I am lazy) and he can like swim through the air for no reason; and he’s a big ol ham, so Performance.

Gladiator also grants you proficiency in an unusual weapon. In all his appearances, Waluigi doesn’t really use weapons, besides bombs and Bullet Bills and other explosives/ballistics. If your DM allows firearms in their world, that could be his “Unusual Weapon” proficiency. Otherwise, I was thinking if I had the chance to redo a Waluigi-inspired character, I would use bats; baseball bats, tennis rackets, cricket bats (I like the image of D&D Waluigi cracking skulls with a cricket bat, I dunno why), etc. You could probably just borrow stats for clubs.

For Harborfolk: Athletics and Sleight of Hand make sense to me, and because of his high Control in the Mario Kart series, I’d say any vehicle proficiency is a good fit.

Suggested Characteristics

Gladiator

Personality Trait: I get bitter if I’m not the center of attention.

Ideal: Greed. I'm only in it for the money and fame.

Bond: I want to be famous, whatever it takes.

Flaw: I have trouble keeping my true feelings hidden. My sharp tongue lands me in trouble.

Harborfolk

Personality Trait: I'm a fisher, but I secretly detest eating fish. I will do anything to avoid it.

Ideal: I will gain the favor of someone powerful.

Bond: [A gang/faction] killed my friend. I'll get them back somehow, someday.

Flaw: I oversell myself and make promises I can't keep when I want to impress someone.

Suggested Feats

Acrobat

Athlete

Defensive Duelist

Durable

Elemental Adept

Magic Initiate

Resilient

Sharpshooter

Skilled

Spell Sniper

Congrats! You survived my first post! Your reward?

MORE TRASH!!

Stay tuned for just a bit more Waluigi!

“Please no stop with the Waluigi. I will kill myself and then you if you say “Waluigi” one more goddamn time.”

I hear you. I’m not changing my behavior, but I hear your complaints. But let me explain:

For some characters, I’ll be following up the “Canon Builds” (the format of this here post) with a new subclass targeting these characters. I’ll usually make a “Character Class” if some vital part of the character and their abilities feels missing from the Canon Build, if I couldn’t find anything that fit.

For instance, I relied on a lot of stretches of the imagination for Waluigi, relying on stuff like his Mario Sportball stats and specials to select the closest analogous things in D&D. Using Arcane Trickster, I captured some of his weirder, more obscure abilities.

But remember the Snidely Whiplash thing I mentioned earlier? I feel like that’s Waluigi’s core: explosives and sabotage. And other classes known for using explosives – Artificer and Alchemist – I don’t think quite cut it.

So stay tuned for the Dastardly Prankster Roguish Archetype! Unless I come up with a better name! Until then, ta-ta!

[eddycurrents]

BPRD: Being Human - “The Dead Remembered”

Story: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie | Pencils: Karl Moline | Inks: Andy Owens | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in BPRD: The Dead Remembered #1-3 | April-June 2011

Collected in BPRD: Being Human

Plot Summary:

In 1976, Professor Bruttenholm takes Liz with him to investigate a haunting in Massachusetts that may have ties to the witch trials. While there, Liz experiences her first real crush, trying to come to terms with her powers and the ghosts that haunt her, both from the past and the present.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything found in the issues or collections.)

pg. 1 - Interesting cold open, on the confrontation of a “witch” by a mob threatening to do her ill. The terror in her eyes is aptly captured by Karl Moline, Andy Owens, and Dave Stewart here in the art.

It’s also interesting in that in our current understanding and hindsight, witches as envisioned by witch hunters, priests, and such during the height of the Salem Witch Trials don’t exist. These women were generally falsely accused out of politics, jealousy, spite, etc. or in the rare case where they exhibited some natural or scientific knowledge. No magic powers. No communion with the devil. So, in general, we often find stories in which these women are accused, the women are given a sympathetic outlook, because we don’t believe they’re actually “witches”.

In a world like Hellboy though, magic witches and demons do exist. The women can actually be what the people accuse them of. As such, it adds a certain level of doubt as to the veracity of the claims that otherwise wouldn’t be there. So you wonder, is she really a witch? And, if so, is she a good witch or a bad witch?

pg. 2 - And we’re into the present of the story in 1976. I absolutely love Hellboy and Bruttenholm here interacting as adults. It’s an interesting dynamic, also when it comes to Bruttenholm getting nostalgic about young Hellboy. It is funny to see a kind of inversion of HB wanting to go on a trip.

pg. 3 - It’s also great to see Hellboy acting like a big brother.

pg. 5 - One hell of a nightmare to carry around with you as baggage. Compared to the somewhat neutral palette (other than the vibrant reds), it’s interesting to see this explosion of bright colour for Liz’s memory from Stewart. It gives a very nice impact to how overwhelming it can be to Liz.

Also, there’s an idea put forward here that her “minders” are terrified of her. That’s got to do one hell of a number on a kid.

pg. 7 - Hellboy’s probably the most human and humane of any person at the Bureau. You really get the impression that he wants Liz to succeed and be “normal” (whatever that normal may be).

pg. 8 - I hate this car game. I have a few friends who do it still, and I always see it as a kind of gatekeeping and flouting of knowledge rather than the sharing of information that I know at least one of them means it as. I’m probably guilty of it in some regards as well.

The song is “Loves Me Like a Rock”, by the way. Which is kind of interesting since it involves the devil and being fooled.

Though Liz’s response of ultimately diving into reading is the perfect teenager reaction, regardless of time period.

pg. 9 - The Father’s dilapidated house is interesting. Who puts a priest out to pasture in the middle of nowhere?

pg. 11 - The incorporation again of Henry Hood is nice, as is the possible ties to the Whittier family we met earlier in The Whittier Legacy. That gives further credence that Anne perhaps actually is a witch.

I like the simple purple wash Stewart uses for the flashback.

pg. 13 - I like that the priest is building the possibility here of Anne’s innocence throughout the terrible ordeal. It sets up the idea that this could be a revenge haunting.

pg. 14 - It’s somewhat funny that the witch, or whatever it is at this point, would use fire to spook Liz. It feels like something intentional that a spirit would utilize in order to sew doubt in Bruttenholm.

pg. 15 - Which seems to have worked. You get the impression that Bruttenholm thinks that Liz caused the fire.

pg. 18 - Why is it always smudging? There are other ways to cleanse and purify an area, especially when you consider that Bruttenholm is a stodgy Brit (even if he has been living in America for at least 30 years at this point).

pg. 19 - Liz is also downright mean to Teddy here. I mean, it’s understandable given what just happened with the professor, but wrong target.

pg. 22 - Now that’s just creepy. The bullet hole in the back of her head just makes it even more terrifying.

pg. 24 - You’d think that this happening in the woods would clue the professor and the priest that it’s not necessarily the house that’s the problem, but no.

pg. 25 - It’s also kind of sad that Liz is effectively being unheard, disbelieved, and denied here. It would only further her feelings of alienation.

pg. 28 - It ultimately didn’t seem to stop Teddy, though...

pg. 30 - Teddy emphasizes that it always does seem to be the kids who know the truth. Also, that adults tend not to believe the kids.

pg. 31 - There’s something about those shell wind chimes.

pg. 33 - I think it’s kind of weird that Bruttenholm is still pursuing the ghost as if it’s in the house and not tied somewhere else. Sure, there are manifestations within the house, but his previous attempt at purification didn’t even get a little bit of cupboard rattling.

pg. 34 - Being concerned about occult methods now is a weird quirk.

pg. 36 - It would have to be scary to find out that you’re developing pyrokinetic powers. Add that to the usual problems that any adolescent goes through and this is just a recipe for a firebomb.

pg. 39 - It’s a wonder that Liz didn’t go into a permanent state of shock from this. Actually seeing the full flashover event that caused the death of her family, friends, and more is just horrifying.

pg. 40 - Also the guilt from knowing that her mother knew about her lie is clearly eating at her.

pg. 42 - Awkward...

pg. 43 - More about those wind chimes. Also, regardless of whether Anne Caldwell was guilty or not, the mob “justice” is just nasty. 

pg. 44 - The repetition of “Behold, I am against thee, saith the lord of hosts.” is interesting.

pg. 46 - I like the seeds of doubt planted as to who or what the ghost is, though Bruttenholm still seems to be looking in the wrong direction.

pg. 47 - This has got to be hard for a kid to understand. Also, Bruttenholm really isn’t great at interpersonal skills. He does at least seem to be trying.

pg. 48 - Third time’s the charm, right?

pg. 49 - It is good, though, that Bruttenholm seems to have finally clued in on what Liz really needs. Locking her up and treating her like a feral animal definitely isn’t good for her.

pg. 51 - I do like that the kids are taking the approach ultimately that the witch was the wronged party here.

pg. 52 - Or maybe she is evil.

Also, if this was what happened the first time I ever tried a cigarette, I’d never smoke. Ever. (I don’t and never have, but you get my point).

pg. 53 - The increasing severity of the storm is wonderfully depicted.

pg. 54 - Definitely evil.

pg. 55 - Just great art from Moline, Owens, and Stewart. The horror feel is intense.

pg. 58 - Liz being forced through the stages of Anne’s death in the present is very weird. It gives the impression that the witch wants her to experience something, 

pg. 60 - There’s an interesting line here about power. Giving you the impression that maybe Anne wants Liz as a vessel.

pg. 62 - That’s an impressive column of fire.

pg. 64 - Poor kid.

pg. 66 - Good on them. This is sweet.

Final Thoughts:

Liz is probably my favourite character outside of Hellboy himself. For a character who was going to die because Mike Mignola didn’t know what to do with her, she’s come very far, suffered a lot of adversity, come to terms with her own agency, and become the fire. This origin story, delving further into what happened regarding the death of her parents and also some of the formative events that clearly imprinted on who she became, paints a complicated picture out of fear, self-doubt, and building an abrasive personality in response to it.

It’s also really nice to see more art from Karl Moline. His art on the Liz-centric issue of War on Frogs was wonderful and he, with inks here from Andy Owens, was the perfect choice to come back to flesh out this period in her life. Also, his witches are creepy fantastic.

d. emerson eddy does not want to burn the witch.

[albumoftheweek]

Album of the Week - 96

Ah! It’s time to talk about one of the greatest myths of modern music. A feared concept that keeps musicians, artists, record labels and industry buffs on their toes like no other.

What is that? – you might ask…

The difficult 2nd album. AKA the Sophomore Slump. The theory that most artists’ 2nd outing flounders and/or is worse than their debut.

Debut albums, by default, benefit in the following ways:

Time – plenty of time to write (people’s debuts can very well include songs they had written in their teens)

Limited expectations of success by the artists themselves, the media and adoring fans

Limited pressure from record labels who now need to cash in after initially investing in the band/artist

No comparison – the benchmark that needs to be met or surpassed is set by the debut album itself

Fewer chemistry issues (in the case of a band) and fewer character issues (ego, excesses etc.)

Urgency and need – most of these artists and bands often have no money so part of why they do this is for their livelihood

Artists of all levels, tiers and talent are tortured by this. Am I good enough? Am I as talented as the hype, fans, media and my peers make me out to be?

I am no real artist myself. As you know, I will strum my guitar and write the odd melody, which I have probably unconsciously (or in certain cases consciously) borrowed from other musicians. But even in my amateurish level, I worry. Am I as creative as I always thought I was? Creative block has been studied for decades and is the subject of many practises, both in terms of social sciences (psychology) but also in arts. Authors, painters and others I forget are all scared that they might suffer from it.

In music, unfortunately, there have been way too many one-hit wonders. Way too many artists whose debuts brought about way too much hype and hope, but then faltered. But there have been a few exceptions to this. The odd band that comes back as strong or even stronger with a follow-up that matches the hype and expectations of their debut. Easy examples? Well many of the bands and artists that we now recognise as great (otherwise they wouldn’t have had a good, solid 2nd album). The Beatles, Nirvana (Nevermind was their 2nd effort), Radiohead (In Bends), Led Zeppelin (II) and

Interpol – Antics

When Interpol’s superb debut Turn On The Bright Lights came out in 2002, it felt like something completely different. Don’t forget; that was the era of The Strokes (talk about a great debut and an underwhelming follow up huh?), The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand (see comment re: The Strokes). Darker, bleaker, a mix of New York City elegies, drenched in Joy Division basslines and frantic rhythm sections. As with most of the big bands of that era, Interpol became an overnight sensation. Paul Banks, their idiosyncratic singer made young emo girls go crazy and all media outlets rated “…. Bright Lights” as one of the best albums of the young (then) millennium. The album was so great that I did consider giving you that one instead as your AoTW. I didn’t, but please please please listen to “Obstacle 1”. It’s an absolutely insane song.

So how do you follow that up? How does a young, bloodthirsty, horny band, who has been drenched with praise handle their follow up album? What do they do next? Do they keep their unique sound the same and make an album that is simply an extension of their debut – A Turn On The Bright Lights 2? Do they keep their sound but get studio help buy a famous producer who refines their sound, gets paid more than them (God Bless record labels and their cash)? Or do they completely transform their sound to something new? And more importantly, are their new songs any good? Have they got anything new to say after they only came out with an album 24-months earlier and all they’ve been doing since is promoting the album, touring the world and enjoying the fact they are now becoming successful (basically realising their dream when they started playing music).

Through the noise, the stress, the pressure, the constant touring and increasing chemistry issues, 2 years after their debut, Interpol submitted Antics. An album that streamlined their signature sound, increased the velocity and quality of each instrument (more money in studios does that…), brought out Paul Bank’s lyrics more, was more direct than its predecessor and yet had something to say. “Evil”, “Narc”, “C’mere”, “Slow Hands” are all brilliant 3-4 minute nuggets of angst and brilliance. My favourite “Take You On A Cruise” brings all elements that make Interpol great together in a single song. Just listen to the changes and evolving rhythm section throughout the song. But the most interesting aspect of this album is its precision and accuracy. At 40 minutes, Antics feels weighty while also feeling light and enjoyable. Just a great listen.

Interpol are the last remaining band from that era that are still around. In fact the thing that triggered me to give you Antics as AoTW this particular week is that they just brought out their 6th album, Marauder. But since Antics, none of their efforts managed to keep up with the qualities they showcased in their first 2 albums. I have a soft spot for their 3rd album Our Love To Admire, but by all accounts it is not as good as Antics. And the rest of their albums failed to recapture the magic of the first two albums. They fell out with Carlos D, their beast of a bassist. Paul Banks started focusing on other projects including individual albums andcollaborations with hip-hop legends. They seemed to have less and less to say and resigned to talking about sex and cheap one-liners. Their sound didn’t evolve or remain as direct and punchy as it was.

But looking back at it, they gave us 2 great albums. And they defied the Sophomore Slump. Or at least they delayed it by a few more years….

Enjoy kiddo

X

https://open.spotify.com/album/35nhRlIbpZLPzGUCnePzow?si=c2WeCuU_TQib5p-munVXuA

[massielandnetwork]

Thriving in an Economic Bubble during Anarchy

12. The Christian Succession – A Tipping Point?

The official results of the November “election” set our country on course to intense crises which are becoming increasingly obvious. To those of us that understand how the American economy works the official results were especially agonizing because we realized the horrendous outcome ahead. In his book entitled “Tipping Point”, Malcolm Gladwell describes how “overnight successes” result from a focused effort over a long period of time that become visible only when they finally reach their tipping point and “succeed”. Some of his examples took 20 years to “arrive”.

We saw an example of that on Sunday, August 15 when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban led by a muslim terrorist Obama released from Guantanamo Bay prison six years ago. I am not sure which one is laughing at Americans more, the muslim terrorists or Obama. What the fall of Afghanistan revealed about the Demented Marxists (DMs) is a singularly important milestone.

Another singularly important milestone was disclosed on Wednesday, August 18, when the minutes of the July meeting of The Fed revealed a high likelihood that in September, they may announce the tapering of Quantitative Easing (QE) starting the end of this year. QE is The Fed buying our government debt and mortgages to stimulate our economy by forcing interest rates to be low. Tapering the QE will result in higher interest rates especially mortgages.

Business prospers when there is certainty but since March 2020 the business community has faced a constant steam of crises. One can trace these crises to our leaders who thought that prosperity and world peace would come from shipping American manufacturing to China. Cheered by PhD’s and other “experts” who had no real-world experience, they eliminated our manufacturing base with no regard for destroying middle class jobs or our becoming dependent on a self-proclaimed enemy. The investment bankers that hollowed out America probably made huge contributions to those politicians. President Xi of China must belly laugh when he thinks about America, his vassal, pursuing self-destruction. Trump was reversing that self destruction.

The Johnson Report in 2020 established that Biden and many of our elected and appointed officials became wealthy on government salaries by catering to the Chinese. The Chinese bought influence with our colleges and universities via Confucius Centers and other “contributions”. Is selling our country to our enemy treason? Fauci used American taxpayer dollars to fund the Wuhan Bioweapon lab and the “gain of function” research into the bat virus thus paying the Chinese to build their bioweapon they unleashed in 2019. Did he buy stock in the vaccine companies? Why is he still a U. S. government employee? Do we have a shortage of traitors so we keep them? Perhaps we have a surplus so we could send some to China.

It is critical to understand how the singularly important events listed above will impact the American economy and therefore the land market. Capitalism allocates scarce resources by price. A major factor in that allocation process is the cost of money called interest rates. The Fed has been buying 10-year Treasuries because that interest rate is the base on which mortgages are calculated. New housing construction influences activity in about one-third of the total economy. That is huge and why The Fed uses new homes construction to revive our economy. The spread between mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury is normally about 1.5% per annum so if the 10-year Treasury is at 3% then mortgages will be at least 4.5%, perhaps higher if interest rates are rising.

The impact of mortgage rates is easiest to see in the housing market but the impact is the same across all real estate. In this illustration we will only focus on the interest component of a monthly home loan. If a homebuyer can afford to pay $1,000 per month ($12,000 per year) in interest for a home.

a. At a mortgage interest rate of 3%, our homebuyer can borrow $400,000.

b. But if mortgage interest rates increase to 4% our home buyer can borrow $300,000.

c. That is a reduction of 25% in buying power.

d. The result is the home buyer either buys a smaller home or continues to rent until they can afford to pay $16,000 per year for that $400,000 home and the market slows.

Now factor in that the artificially low interest rates have caused home prices to soar and construction costs to soar (the market was allocating scarce resources). Based on exploding sales, homebuilders have made commitments for land, material, and staff to meet a superheated demand. What happens when demand falls because interest rates have risen taking some of the potential homebuyers out of the market? PAIN.

That pain is shared across the board of the homebuilding industry including lot prices. A reduction in lot prices will mean the value of land that can be developed into residential lots also will decline. Now multiply this across the entire real estate market distorted by the pandemic shutdown. We have just defined a TOTALLY UGLY real estate market.

The historic response of the Fed to an ugly real estate market is to reduce interest rates to stimulate demand. But QE and how the federal government has piled stimulus bills on top of stimulus bills has resulted in rising inflation and massive increases in our national debt. Per one analysis at today’s historic low interest rates the annual cost to service our national debt is approximately $500 Bn. If The Fed raises interest rates to an historically normal level, the cost of servicing the debt triples to an estimated 1.5 Tn. If our economy GDP is $22 Tn and historically the federal rate receipts are 20% of the GDP, then the nation revenue will be $4.4 Tn.

But Congress has not balanced the federal budget with $4.4 Tn revenue and $500 Bn in interest expense. What programs will get cut $1 Tn to balance the budget at normal interest rates? The DMs response is that Modern Monetary Theory says that the amount of national debt does not matter. Reality is that this is the same group of academics and idiots just lost Afghanistan, gave our self-proclaimed enemy massive amounts of weapons paid for by the American Taxpayers, not to mention a new base for terrorism against us, subjugated millions of Afghanis to the rule of thugs, and cannot figure out how to get Americans out of harm’s way so they are going to abandon them. Is there anything in this paragraph that gives you confidence in Biden or the DMs in Congress and our bureaucracy regarding their opinion on anything?

Remember my joke two weeks ago about the two truckers, Bob and Billy, with Bob waking up Billy because Billy “ain’t never seen a wreck like this one”. You need to wake up Billy because the highest probability is the next several years will be an historic economic period that will be the topic of many future history and economic PhD dissertations. This wreck will be epic.

Now let us add to this equation the debacle in Afghanistan. Biden and the Elites/DMs running our country have just confirmed that they only care about themselves. They got wealthy shipping our manufacturing base to China, making us dependent on OPEC oil, obtaining campaign contributions to their PACs from groups “Paying so they could Play” in China, not to mention financial benefits given to their spouses and family members. To the Biden and the Elites/DM, we American taxpayers are peasants, expendable like the folks in Afghanistan.

Now that the world including the Chinese who own Biden and the DMs have proof including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense are all totally incompetent (in a capable organization they would already have been fired), China invading Taiwan is a high probability.

Never fear, guided by their Saul Alinsky/ Rahm Emanuel mantra the DMs continue their “Never waste a crisis” campaign driving us towards higher energy cost, unreliable electricity, higher taxes, “Social Justice” garbage, teaching our children CRT propaganda rather than reading writing and arithmetic, telling all whites they are racist, forcing vaccinations, et al.

What is so frustrating that Trump had us on the right economic path because he cared about every American. The DMs used their propaganda mill called the news media and their Obama appointed traitors in the government bureaucracy to steal the election so that they could regain control. Now we get to pay the price – inflation because of the stimulus funded by debt and higher interest rates which will give us a stagnant economy (called Stagflation).

Fortunately, God is in control and empowering the Patriots who are demanding forensic audits of the 2020 elections and all future elections to ensure they are honest. The Cyber Symposium in Sioux Falls last week released a “silver bullet”, that spurred many of the attendees from 47 states to form a group of state legislators to push for full forensic audits around the country including a lone Virginia Republican, Senator Chase. The next Republican legislator you see, ask them about the contract Virginia has with Unisyn Voting Systems which is owned by a business partner of the Chinese Communist Party according WND News. AuditVA!

Every portfolio should contain some cash but a great piece of land remains The Best investment long term. Capitalism builds wealth, Marxism/Socialism consumes it in self destruction. Pray for honest and forensic audited elections in the USA. Men make plans, but God ALWAYS wins. Stand with God and support the patriots while replacing the Elites/DMs.

“Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

(Ephesians 6:13) New Revised Standard Version, Oxford University Press)

Stay healthy,

Ned

August 21, 2021 Copyright Massie Land Network. All rights Reserved.

[fatedcaniine]

Servant Alice Profile

Avenger Alice Almarias

Servant Details: True Name: Alice Almarias Servant Class: Avenger Region of Origin: Pennsylvania, USA Age: ??? Faceclaim: Aqua from Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep

Servant Parameters:

Strength : B+

Agility: A

Endurance: B+

Luck: D-

Mana: A-

Noble Phantasm: A++

Servant Skills:

Wrathful Dog Rank C

As a human forced into multiple life changing situations by a being above humanity, her body and mind slowly transformed even if she didn’t want them to. This skill acts similar to Mad Enhancement, increasing her strength as it also lowers her sanity in turn. However, it also transforms her body into a more monstrous form that she sees her own body as at times. This form is a mix of a werewolf, dragon, giant, and a demon. This form drains more prana from her Master the more transformed she becomes, and she can turn on her Master within a second if the transformation gets too far.

Disengagement Rank B-

The ability to withdraw from the battlefield in the midst of combat or reset the battle conditions. At this ranking, it has the bonus effect of returning battle conditions to what they were at the beginning of the match (1st turn) and restores the condition of this Skill to the initial value. As a unyielding warrior, she has learned when it is good to run away from a battle and when to continue to charge into combat as well. With this skill is at this rank, she is given a slight speed increase when she runs away from a battle.

Eye of the Mind (True) Rank A+

This skill is a heightened capacity for observation, refined through training, discipline and experience. A danger-avoidance ability that utilizes the intelligence collected up to the current time as the basis in order to predict the opponent’s activity and change the current situation. This is not a result of talent, but an overwhelming amount of combat experience. A weapon wielded by none other than a mortal, gained through tenacious training. So long there is even a 1% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning. At this rank, She is capable of calm analysis of the abilities of the opponent as well as the battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. Hundreds of thousands of fights of different kinds have given her the ability to understand how a fight will go and how a foe will act when they make movements of a combative nature.

Magic Resistance Rank D

While she was a normal human all of her lives, she gained plenty of knowledge on how magic works and how to protect herself from it. Though without the ability to call upon all of her years of skills and abilities, her protection from magic is less than what it normally would be if she was summoned at her peak.

Servant Noble Phantasm:

Castle Canem Diebus Fatalibus; A Castle of no Escape

A++ Rank, Anti-Unit

A large castle that reaches into the sky, where the outer walls are the least defensive of the entire castle. A courtyard with a single chair, a sleeping beast, and a woman covered in scars innumerable. The number of floors in this castle is hard to count, but they all are filled with corpses in many forms of decay. Some have barely decayed and only miss what they lost in life, while others have skin and muscle hanging onto the bone by a small amount of connective tissue. This is a Reality Marble based upon how she sees herself, how she wants to be even in life; locked away from anyone or anything that she could hurt by being around them. The person drawn into the Reality Marble ends up on the highest floor of the castle, unable to escape unless they make their way down to the Courtyard and kill the woman in the center.

Each floor of the castle is manned by a different Corpse that takes on a different classification that Servants can take on. Saber, Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Caster, Rider, and Berserker. To move down to the next floor, the Corpse with a Servant class must be killed, else they will never be allowed to escape as the corpse hunts them down to kill them.

The Castle, her visualization of it is based upon the Houska Castle, a place she once visited in life. A castle meant to defend the common man from the hole to Hell. A fitting place to keep the Dog from escaping and ruining the lives of those around her.

Servant Lines:

Summon

I am Avenger, though perhaps that is the best for a monster like me…

You can call me anything you want. So long as you fight for mankind, I’ll be by your side.

Level Up

I still like this feeling of getting stronger.

Ascension 1

Oh? This armor? It’s one of my favorite sets, Master.

Ascension 2

You… Still want me to be stronger? Are you sure?

Ascension 3

… I can’t tell… I can’t tell if you’re an idiot, or if you’re suicidal. Maybe both.

Ascension 4

I’ve lived for many years, Master. I’ve lost count of the years, seeing as each day was never the amount of time I wanted to deal with. But in the end, everything dies, even me. I wish… I really wish you were smart enough to not tempt Fate, but… Perhaps this is why I stand with you, Master. We’re both idiots who don’t listen to reason.

Battle Lines

Battle Start 1

Your Fate is sealed.

Battle Start 2

I hope you don’t hold back against me.

Skill 1

G-Grrraaagh!

Skill 2

Let’s see how you fight, eh?

Command Card 1

Oh?

Command Card 2

Very well.

Command Card 3

I know this will end it.

Noble Phantasm Card

Very well… Prepare yourself, monsters!

Attack 1

Haah!

Attack 2

Hrmph!

Attack 3

Huhn!

Extra Attack

You won’t survive this!

Noble Phantasm

Behold this castle. Behold the corpses. Behold your tomb. Rise up and assist me, my unending corpses! Castle Canem Diebus Fatalibus!!

Damage 1

Gah!

Damage 2

Damn, that hurts!

Incapacitated 1

D-Damn… Even now, I hate… Dying.

Incapacitated 2

T-thank… You...

Victory 1

I see. I still stand tall, against all odds.

Victory 2

Are you sure these foes were strong? They didn’t seem strong…

My Room Dialogue

Conversation 1

Are we going to be heading out soon, Master?

Conversation 2

I’m a Dog, Master. Eh? N-no of course I’m not actually a Dog! It’s a title!

Conversation 3

Even now, I can tell that the other Servants care for you. Am I really needed here then, with so many legends around you? I’m not even that well known, you know...

Conversation 4

Requires Hercules

I… You managed to summon him? Eh, do I know him? Of course I do! He’s my Sen- I mean he’s the first Dog of Fate to ever live. I look up to him, a warrior of whom I will never defeat.

Conversation 5

Requires Gilgamesh

You know, hearing of this man, I was expecting a bit more. The King of Heroes… He just throws weapons at people! I never throw swords! They need to be shoved right up your foe’s a- A-Ah! Forgive me Master. I got a bit too excited there, didn’t I?

Conversation 6

Requires any Servant with the Saberface attribute.

Um… Master? Why are there so many people with the same face? I mean… It gets kind of hard to tell who is who. Like… Is it normal for legends to share the same face? I’m not sure if that is normal.

Conversation 7

Requires Asagami Fujino

This girl… She’s very much like myself… She’s almost human, yet she’s a Servant. I… I wish she never had to suffer like I.

Conversation 8

Requires Merlin

… I met you once. I do not doubt you remember me. But… That tower… Can I go back there, someday? It was peaceful… Somewhere I felt safe… Please, just one more time.

Conversation 9

Requires Iskandar, Altria, Ozymandias, Cu, Leonardo, Cleopatra, Sherlock, Arjuna, Karma, Rama, Tesla, Drake

You know… Looking upon you… I know I’m at a disadvantage. I’ve killed gods, demons, angels and more. Yet… You stand as heroes of mankind. I… Even if I was a legend of my own, I still don’t stand a chance… God damn it…

Conversation 10

Requires EMIYA (not Alter)

Who are you? I swear I know who you are but… I keep drawing a blank. Pah, it doesn’t matter. We’re both fighting for our Master, for mankind. Besides, we both should work together, eh?

Conversation 11

Requires Aŋra Mainiiu

You… Even looking at you sickens me. All the World’s Evil… You certainly feel like that. If you try to kill a single human, I will not hesitate to turn you to a pile of blood and gore, you fucking abomination! Even if Master wants you here, I won’t hesitate!

Conversation 12

Requires Mash

Well, this is a surprise. I never see you around much, but you’re special. Don’t worry. If you ever want to relax and not fight, I’ll stand in your place. A hero needs to know when not to fight, after all.

Bond Level 1

Master, I hope you don’t mind if I made some effort to clean the room up. It was kind of a mess before.

Bond Level 2

Um, Master? Are you well? You seem to be tired. No? You’re fine? Alright then. Just… Try and slow down, kay?

Bond Level 3

I… I hope you know that you aren’t alone. I’ve felt alone many times, so I know what you may be feeling. So you should lean on them more than you lean on me at the moment, kay?

Bond Level 4

Why the hell are you getting close to me, Master? This is too much, alright!? Do you want the bastard to try and kill you!? Leave me alone, now! I’ll fight for you, but if you get any closer, I won’t stay here.

Bond Level 5

I… I can’t get you away from me. No matter what I tried, you just came back.

I, All my life I’ve had to deal with everything being taken from me by Fate. Everyone I was close to, everything I held dear, that bastard took it away from me. Yet… You stand there and tell me that you’ll keep me here.

Heh. You have to be a freaking idiot. But then again…

I’m just as big of an idiot as you, Master… No, (Your name here).

Likes

My likes? I do like peace, and I like food that isn’t stale.

Dislikes

Hate? Oh that’s simple. I hate Fate and anyone that thinks that life is ‘fated’ to happen such a way.

The Holy Grail

The Holy Grail eh? I would like to use it. But… It’s probably stupid, you know? I want to go back to the day I died… And wish my sister a happy birthday. I never got to do that, you know?

Event

Something’s going on, Master. I suggest you do what you feel is important and relax when you’re done.

Birthday

It’s… Your birthday? I… Oh dear god why the hell did you not tell me that it was coming up!? I need to get a cake and a card and so much shit for you! Next year you better warn me it’s coming up! I can’t have things happen just like my first life!

Servant Bond CE Text:

How many years has it been since I saw you last?

I don’t remember, really. I do remember your face, though.

You were so mad when I didn’t give you the chance to tell me what day it was.

You pouted so much. I kept interrupting you when you tried to tell me what was going on. You thought I was ignoring you…

I wasn’t.

I knew what day it was. I knew what you wanted to tell me. And I knew what I was doing. It was your birthday, little sister. And I was going to get your cake, your card, and the present that I ordered for you.

But I never got the chance. Because he took me away that day. He took me away because he wanted a Dog to use for his ‘experiments’. I never got the chance…

And now? Now I’ll never get that chance, ever again… Please Seras… Please forgive your dumb sister, who failed you on your thirteenth birthday. Please don’t hate me…

Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday dear Seras… Happy birthday to you...

[dalyunministry]

We must all appear before the judgement seat of Jesus Christ.

By. Pastor Johnraj Lamech

💥

Greetings in the matchless Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Topic: We must all appear before the judgement seat of Jesus Christ.

Rhema Word : 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Let’s pray. Our Gracious Loving Father, thank you for giving us an opportunity to meditate your Word today along with your children who have been called to live a holy life Lord. I commit everyone who are all meditating this message into your mighty hand Lord. Bless them and give them the oneness of Spirit and make their heart as a good land to receive each and every Word which is living and active Lord. Thank you Holy Spirit for helping us to understand the in-depth treasure of your Word and helping us to live a life as per your Word Lord. We give all the Glory and Honour to you only Lord. We pray in the mighty Name of your beloved Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Yes…Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon as Judge…!!!

We are living in this world wherein most of the verses Jesus spoke in Matthew 24:6-14 are happening now…

Jesus said in Matthew 24:6-14 ”You will be hearing of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Yes, so far in 2020, for the past 7 and a half months, the entire Globe is under pandemic and it has spread with alarming speed, infecting millions of people and lakhs of people died across World besides bringing economic activity to a near-standstill as countries imposed tight restrictions to halt the spread of virus.…Whatever happening currently is beyond mankind’s imagination or comprehension.. Casualties are increasing day by day without any clue for human brains to predict when this would stop….

Our Lord says in Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Paul cautions us in 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Let us try to understand, with the help of our beloved Holy Spirit on the following points from the Word of God, today:

(1) On what basis the Judgement will happen?

(2) Who are will be accepted by the Lord on the day of Judgement?

(3) Who will be rejected by the Lord on the day of Judgement?

(4) What is the greatest invitation by our Lord who is coming as a Judge?

(5) As we are going to face the Judge, how we should safeguard ourselves?

Firstly, let us try to understand “On What basis the judgement will happen to us”?

a] Judgement will be based on works of every one: David says in Psalm 62:11(b)-12 ”Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love; and, You reward everyone according to what they have done.”

Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jesus also said in Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done.”

Yes, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad…

Are we prepared to meet Him? Let us introspect…

b] Judgement will be based upon the Person of Jesus Christ: Jesus says four points on this in John 5:21-31..

(1) Jesus gives life to whom He wishes: (John 5:21) “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”

(2) God Father has given the full authority to His Son Jesus Christ to judge: (John 5:22-23, 27) “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him. And He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”

(3) Those who hears Jesus’ Words and Believes God Father, has eternal life and will not come into judgement: (John 5:24) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

Yes.. Jesus confirmed in _John 5:29 “those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned”

(4) Judgement by Jesus is just: (John 5:30-32) “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just,

because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.”

Yes, God Father has given the full authority to His Son Jesus to judge us..That’s why Jesus says in Revelation 22:12 & 13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Remember, all who are in the tombs will also hear the voice and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgement.

Secondly, let us try to understand, who are all will be accepted by the Lord on the day of judgement?

a] Those who hear Jesus’ Words and believes God Father: Jesus said in John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

b] Those who know God Father and His Son Jesus Christ: Jesus while praying to His Father in John 17:3 said “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

c] Those who wash their robes in the blood of Jesus: Revelation 22:14 says “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”

Yes, the only way a person can ever eat the fruit of the tree of life is to wash his/her robes in the blood of Jesus Christ…

Yes, if we are washed by the blood of Jesus, we will be accepted by the God Father to enter into eternal life..

Peter also confirms in 1 Peter 1:17-21 “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

Yes…Jesus Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.

d] Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life: Revelation 21:27 says “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, _but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Let us check ourselves…How is our belief on our Father God and the Words of His Son Jesus Christ? Whether we know our Father God and His beloved son Jesus in a personal capacity as sons and daughters with deep intimacy? Whether we have the confidence and belief that our sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ and remain in the priceless salvation which we got as a free gift? How is our level of confidence that our names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life?

Thirdly, let us try to understand, “Who will be rejected by the Lord on the day of Judgement?”

Revelation 21:8 says “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Revelation 21:27(a) says “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful.”

Revelation 22:15 also says “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Here, the word “dogs” refers to all types of ceremonially impure persons and following are the verses which give deeper meaning of “dogs” in the Bible: In Deuteronomy 23: 18 male prostitute (referred in this verse) refers to “dog” – a word often associated with moral or spiritual impurity.

In Psalm 59:5-6 it denotes wicked traitors

In Psalm 22:16 it denotes a band of evil men.

In Isaiah 56:10 it denotes blind watchmen – who do not safeguard the people who are sliding in their ways..

In Isaiah 56:11 it denotes who never satisfied with what they have and seek their own gains.

In Philippians 3:2 Paul uses this harsh word “dogs” showing his opponents’ opposition to gospel and those who depend on their self-righteousness rather than God’s righteousness - the truth that God made Christ who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Let us check ourselves. _Whether we find a place in any of these categories of people who will be rejected by the Lord on the day of judgement?

Fourthly, let us try to understand “What is the greatest invitation by our Lord ?”

In Revelation 22:17 our Lord invites us - “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

God invites us in Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

In Revelation 3:19-21 our Lord says ”Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on His throne.

Shall we accept our Lord’s invitation for our complete salvation today by opening our hearts in total to Him?

Fifthly, As we are going to face the Judge, how we should safeguard ourselves?

a] Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus..

Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

b] Let us watch ourselves: Jesus says in Luke 21:34-36 _“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

c] Remember – “One who stands firm to the end will be saved:”

Jesus says in Matthew 24:13 _”But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

This specific verse is best understood when read in context. Matthew 24:9–14 says, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Jesus is speaking of those who are truly born again, whose lives are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. True followers of Jesus Christ will withstand the onslaught of wickedness, recognize and reject false teaching, and cling fast to the truth of God’s Word. They will overcome this world and be granted reward in the world to come (Revelation 3:21). Those who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22) have His power working in them to enable them to stand firm (Romans 14:4; Jude 1:24–25).

Yes, we need to stand firm in our faith till the end…

Let us examine ourselves..

d] Let our love be sincere: Paul reminds us in _Romans 12:9-10 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.”

You may be aware of Lactometer – an instrument used to check the purity of milk.

Paul gives us a lactometer to check our genuine love in _1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Just replace the word LOVE with <your name> in these verses and read again, for example,

Johnraj is patient..

Johnraj is kind and does not envy.

Johnraj does not boast and he is not proud.

Johnraj does not dishonour others.

Johnraj is not self-seeking.

Johnraj is not easily angered.

Johnraj does not keep a record of wrongs.

Johnraj does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

Johnraj always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

While reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 by putting our name in the place of “love”, our Holy Spirit would speak directly to us and help us to improve upon the areas where we need to still improve so as to achieve the level of love what Jesus expects from us.

Am I really having genuine love?

Let us examine ourselves whether our LOVE is really sincere?

e] Let us conduct ourselves in fear during the time of our stay on earth: Peter points out this in 1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

f] Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God:

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

g] Run in such a way that we may win: Paul reiterates the need for self-discipline in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Let us examine ourselves. Yes.. we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Shall we throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith?

Yes.. Let us run in such a way as to get the prize.

Let us Pray: Heavenly Gracious Father we thank you for helping us to understand that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Lord I pray that we remain faithful to you until the end of our life so that we may inherit the crown of life which you have kept for us in heaven. Thank you Holy Spirit for helping us to run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on our Saviour Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of faith and walk our Christian life with faithfulness in every situation Lord. We give all glory and honour to you only Lord. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

God Bless you all.

[tabletop-rpgs]

How can I roleplay a cleric with 19 wisdom and 6 intelligence?

Mental abilities can be represented with a few traits, most of which don’t actually indicate a persons intellect, wisdom or charisma as much as education level, experience, outlook, attitude etc. It is important to consider the ways an ability score is used in game if you are going to base your characterization on their stats. In the real world an illiterate person can go on to become well read while in D&D an int six character’s potential depends on where they put their ability score increases.

Below is a list of traits often used in media to signal low intelligence and following that a list for high wisdom, by mixing them up you may come up with some unique characterization options for your cleric. You may also wish to consider their god, background and where you put skill proficiencies when fine tuning how you role play.

Starting off with a low intelligence.

- Minimal to no traditional/formal education- Minimal literacy skills if any, poor speech skills and comprehension- Being unconcerned with how things work or why things happen- Superstitious reasoning- Draws more on their experience and feelings than knowledge- Disdain for intellectual pursuits, methods and those who favor them.- Lack of mental finesse- Difficulty adapting to new situations - Frustration/ violence when baffled- Tendency to deal with what is in front of them rather than what may come - Assume that the motivations of others are similar to their own- Fear of the unknown/new experiences

High Wisdom traits.

-Good intuition-An ability to “read” their current predicament-Common sense-Cautiousness -Self awareness-Good rapport with animals-Perceptive -Environmental awareness

Putting a few together your cleric…

- May sense when they are being deceived but have difficulty with why, mistaking someone hiding something personal from them as having malicious intent. - Probably recognizes their lack of intelligence and so consults those they trust when having difficulty, which people may have tried to take advantage of in the past.- Might be aware that ignoring their weakness could make them vulnerable but have difficulty gaining control of their instincts.- Seek ways to mitigate their shortcomings through prayer and seeking the counsel of more enlightened clerics/friends. - May need to remind themself that their experiences are not universal- Be inclined to see omens and signs where there are none.- Knows how to get by on their own in the wilderness by knowing which berries animals eat (survival - wis skill test) but they cannot classify one type of berry from another the way a sage might (nature - int skill test). They know to drink running water but think that the reason still water is unsafe is because it attracts evil spirits (which in D&D might be true).- Knows that a poultice made from specific ingredients will help deal with an ailment (Medicine wis skill check) but think it’s because it cleanses the person of the remnants of dead people that have built up and clouded their soul over time.

Low intelligence is sometimes represented by a tendency for brutish or violent methods but wisdom suggests caution, in cases where two things conflict consider the god they worship or their background. A sailor may be inclined to fight more than an acolyte, the follower of the goddess of storms or war may be more inclined to strike out where the god of life or justice may encourage the cleric to be more cautious.

I want to reinforce that I am not saying that anyone who exhibits some of the above traits is unintelligent (or especially wise for that matter). I have difficulty adapting to new situations but that’s a symptom of my anxiety rather than because I deal with new situations by rigidly applying methods that have gotten me through difficult experiences in the past. So please do not come for me over this post >_

[yashuved]

How To Make Your Dragon

First thing’s first: Dear United States of America, how the hell are you still tolerating Nazis in your country? The world defeated Nazism over 70 years ago, and you played a big part in that. The birthplace of Nazism is more intolerant to it than you. Everyone in the world knows it, condemns it and vehemently opposes it. Everyone but you, it seems. 

The World hopes that for your own sake, you use your sense, just the common one in this case will be good for a start. 

On to happier things…

Last weekend I watched one of the greatest comedians in the world perform live. Jerry Seinfeld graced our shores with a one night only stand-up act and me and the wife were lucky enough to be a part of it.  

He has been doing stand-up shows for 40 years now and he is still the best. He doesn’t do sex. He doesn’t do race. He doesn’t do accents. He doesn’t do impressions. He doesn’t do politics (he didn’t mention Donald Trump at all!). 

90 minutes of non-stop gut wrenching laughter was all about observational humour. Much like his sitcom Seinfeld, which aired 20 years ago, the stand-up act is much about nothing. It just looks at people’s lives, as it goes by each day. The writing is so tight, the performance is so nuanced that you can almost see how much work must’ve gone behind it. He knows how to time the punch lines, he knows exactly when to pause, when to raise and lower his pitch. He knows how to draw the audience in and then take them on a journey.

There is so much class about everything that goes on about the show. Right from the moment you enter the arena. You walk in and there’s Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York blasting on the sound system. You hear that and you know, you’re in for something special. The set decor is simple, yet elegant. Everyone, from the announcer, to the opening act, to Seinfeld himself are dressed in very stylish suits - jacket, tie et al. 

Best of all, there is no fanfare before Jerry’s entrance. No DJ spinning some gangsta shit or some band announcing his entrance. Hell, even the announcer doesn’t do anything at that moment. The lights go out and Jerry just walks on to the stage. 

It was a dream, I never thought would come true. If I could, I would do it all over again. And if you ever get a chance, Do. Not. Miss. It!

Now, on to this week’s GOT. There are spoilers from S7, E6. If you haven’t watched it, you know what to do…

The penultimate episode came with big expectations. This series has been so huge - so many characters, places, houses, lineages, story lines, relations, alliances, enmities and deaths. So many deaths, and bringing-back-from-the-deads.

Now it is nearing towards an end. We know it, the writers know it and they need to do bring it all together in pure GOT style, in GRRM style. 

But I am not sure what is their approach for this though. Are they bringing it as the fans want it? or as they want it, as George RR Martin would want it? GRRM is involved in it, no doubt. But the plot seems to distance itself from GRRM’s style. 

My gripe is not with the writing per se. It is with the plotting of the episode, the narrative style and structure. GOT has taken TV to a new level and in doing so, continuously built and delivered on new expectations. And this is working against them a little bit at this point.

Here are some of my observations/questions/WTFs…My 2 Cents

- Tyrion started off well on his attempt to get Dany to cool down on the people burning part. He was starting to get through to Dany when out of the blue, he started talking about succession! WTF man? She’s right - first get me on the throne and then we can talk about who will succeed me! Plus, what about my ships that Euron Grejoy stole/burnt? What about my important allies that are captured/dead/presumed dead? It was an awkward dialogue between the two with no logical conclusion in sight. The only thing it showed was that tensions between Tyrion and Dany increased further, which was evident when Dany left for North against Tyrion’s advice.

- Speaking of North, what’s up with Arya and Sansa? Haven’t they lost enough to be fighting now? Sure, sister jealousy and whatnot but they cannot make it this easy for Littlefinger. Arya, for all her new wisdom should’ve sensed that. They argue about the moment when Ned was beheaded. Both were there. For her to insinuate that Sansa was there, and not affected by it all is a bad jab at the viewers! Yes, a lot of this is setup for the finale and the next season but come on guys, please set it up a bit better. They teased the audience with the unsheathed Valyrian dagger and then did nothing with it! And where was Three Eyed Raven 2.0? Ya, we know he doesn’t care about any of this now but he can clear the air out. He can now see what happened. So see, clear the air.

- Moving further up North, North of the Wall, the first 10 min or so felt like The Fellowship of The Rings. Unknown companions on a quest to save the world from evil. But it was weird to see that at this stage of the series they were trying to build rapport between the characters. 

- There was a nice tongue-in-cheek moment between Jon and Beric (Dondarrion). Beric tells Jon he doesn’t look like his father at all. Kinda true for the show. However, in the books, Jon Snow was more Stark looking than any of his half-siblings. However, we the viewers know that Jon is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son so from that POV, yes, he doesn’t look like his father at all!! Would Beric know something or was that an unintentional coincidence?

- How convenient was it for a small party of un-dead to be wandering separate from the main group? Just what they wanted, right. And how easy was it for them to capture an un-dead. But we all knew it was not going to end there. That confrontation between the living and the dead was so very one sided. There was no way out of it. But we have Gendry, the character who returned after four seasons to get a quick exit yet again! We also have a frozen lake. It’s not that frozen - BTW; we can buy you some time until the message reaches Dany. You just hold tight and don’t do anything stupid. Enter, The Hound, throwing rocks in a lake like a bored kid on a family picnic. The rest was an unconvincing fight sequence. But then what to do until the dragons show up? How silly would it look that the dragons show up and the two groups are just sitting quietly :D

- Why did Dany take all three of them up North? Drogon has already shown his power. Plus, it was not an attack. It was a rescue mission. Yes, I know it was necessary for a major, probably the biggest plot twist of the series. But that too came too easily. Are we to believe that the Night King has a spear more powerful than the scorpion and an arm more powerful than the scorpion? Lets say the former has magic involved. But the force with which the spear pierces Viserion was unreal. This means in battle, the dragons are essentially useless against the Night King! 

- Waddup, Uncle Benjen! Where did you come up from, yo? That was the most convenient placement for a Jon getaway. He just came there, out of nowhere to get Jon to escape and then he just gets himself killed! I guess the actor was just bored and the writers didn’t know what more to do with him.

 - There is an undead Dragon now. How strong is the Night King’s army now? Think about it - GRRM’s original title - A Song of Ice and Fire seems to refer more and more to a final showdown between dragons - two (until now) spitting fire and the one spitting snow! Obviously, the Night King will ride it into the battle. Does this mean they now have the weapon to bring the Wall down? Hell, as such they don’t need to bring it down anymore, they can just fly over!

Look, I am still excited and committed to the show. I even got a HBO subscription. The fans are very invested with the characters and want to know how it all ends. Jon and Dany obviously have a thing for each other. Even though I noticed that she withdrew her hand three times when Jon held it, I also saw the look on her face when Jon asked them to leave him in the North. 

We have picked our sides and we have spirited debates around the lunch room, with the Non-GOTs looking at us with blank looks! But as per my last post, we want entertainment. Game of Thrones delivers entertainment at a certain standard. While it is known for its violence and sex, it is admired for its characters, the plots and the politics. We want to see a final showdown. But we want to see it done with finesse and with justified motivations for actions as per the characters. They have kept Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger in the background for most of this season. Remember when they ruled the plot-lines in the earlier seasons. It was so much fun to watch!

Since S4, E2 - The Lion and the Rose, GRRM has not written a single episode. He is currently busy writing the books (apparently), which are already way behind schedule. But that would mean an even more reduced input from him in the writing process of the episodes. 

Maybe there is a need for bit of an impetus from the man himself - a bit of course correction, if you will. 

Maybe he needs to…