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muchtohope · 3 years

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Now that it’s like two weeks after I said I might do it, FINALLY sitting down to talk about Subcutaneously, My Dear Watson by Jack Tracy and I’m just gonna head it off with a read more because I ALREADY KNOW it’s gonna be excessively long ✌ KIND OF half review half summary, all infodump, u know how it is.

content warnings, of course, for drug use and needle mentions

So if you’re unfamiliar, Subcutaneously is a nonfiction writeup on Sherlock Holmes’s cocaine usage in the context of the time period. It takes into consideration everything that was known and/or believed about coke in the 70s (because this was published in 1978) and applies it to Holmes’s behavior throughout the stories to try and understand exactly how affected he might have been by his addiction.

Along with prefacing this by noting the year it was published, it’s ALSO worth pointing out that Jack Tracy is part of the Baker Street Irregulars, so there are points in this book where he refers to Sherlock Holmes and Doyle as if they were BOTH actual people who might have met in person at one point or another, also bearing in mind that the BSIs have some notoriously hot garbage takes.

Coke in Victorian London

So first, the stuff that’s already pretty commonly understood: drugs in 19th century England were not terribly regulated, dangerous addictive substances like opium and morphine and cocaine were legal and readily available. Cocaine first entered the general public’s sphere of awareness around 1884, popularized by our favorite deeply fucked up psychology dad Sigmund Freud. Medical professionals pretty immediately recognized it as a toxic substance and warned against it, but he insisted it was Totally Fine and Not Addictive At All until 1887, when he Stopped That for reasons Tracy does not specify but One Can Guess. Still, same as cigarettes and junk food, just because the doctor says it’s bad for you doesn’t mean you’re not gonna do it, so cocaine wasn’t terribly frowned upon by the average person.

It was only in 1916 that cocaine was restricted to prescriptions. This was, in part, a reaction to events in the US; in 1914, we put up the Harrison Narcotics Act which effectively criminalized addiction (that’s like, another post, I won’t get into it here) and over time, that had a pretty significant impact on the public’s perception of drug users. In the early 1920s, the UK passed the Dangerous Drugs Act which was a similar idea, allowing the government greater control over illicit substances and attempting to advise doctors when not to prescribe them, although overall that act wasn’t quite as invasive as Harrison. Up to THAT point though, cocaine was commonly prescribed to wean addicts off their other vices -- opium and morphine namely, but also cigarettes and alcohol. GENERALLY SPEAKING, doctors really didn’t know much more about these substances than their patients.

Cocaine itself was available in multiple formats: snuff, edibles, cigarettes, ointments, Coca-Cola as we know, and of course, injectable solutions, as was our boy’s preference. Since Victorians didn’t really have much in the way of germ theory, hypodermic needles were treated NOT QUITE as cautiously as they should have been, and a lot of morphine users ended up with really bad bacterial infections at the puncture sites -- Tracy suggests Holmes avoided this SORT OF through dumb luck, as it was likely his cocaine solution was some part boracic acid, added to slow the cocaine’s deterioration in the water and which acted as an antibacterial agent.

Watson describes Holmes’s coke intake at one point as somewhere around three times daily for months, which Tracy points out is pretty moderate. He does some interesting math based on Holmes’s supposed height and weight, along with the solution cap at 7%, to determine he was probably using 20mg with each dose in order to achieve any sort of satisfying high. Like, it’s Not Great, but Tracy writes that a severe addiction would probably not have that sort of cap on either solution percentage, dosage amount or frequency of dosage. This also makes it believable that Holmes would be able to put the needle down long enough to work a case without getting high. Another fun fact: Holmes’s annual cocaine budget was PROBABLY roughly what you might spend on a year’s Netflix subscription today.

SO. That’s the gist of the factual shit, the rest of it revolves mostly around the chronological timeline of the canon stories and Holmes’s changing relationship with the drug over time. Tracy uses the Baring-Gould timeline as a base, which afaik is the most widely accepted chronology.

This is where things become LARGELY subjective, and we’re reminded that the author is chronically heterosexual. I HAVE TO preface this by saying that while a lot of his suggestions are interesting to me purely for the sake of Angst, a lot of them are also A LITTLE upsetting to consider. So like, take it all with an entire rock of salt -- this guy does not know that the series ends with them retired together keeping bees in Sussex, he can’t help it.

The Coke Chronology

The first point Tracy makes that immediately threw me was the suggestion that when Watson and Holmes first meet, Holmes has not ever used cocaine before, but rather he picks it up somewhere around the time of Sign of Four. From 1878 (the year Musgrave Ritual takes place) to 1886 (two years before Sign of Four), Holmes is clean, if SUPER depressed. There are a few points here he uses to support this -- first, in Study in Scarlet, Watson describes Holmes as a pleasant roommate. He’s orderly, quiet, mostly keeps to himself despite laying out on the sofa for days at a time. This is in pretty stark contrast to the Holmes popular culture is familiar with, the manic disaster detective he came to be recognized as, and Tracy attributes the change to Holmes taking up coke.

Another is that Holmes’s opinion of himself and his career was SORT OF lower than dirt when he met Watson. He was convinced he’d already peaked and would never achieve more success than the SPARINGLY little amount he’d already tasted. Watson’s publications undeniably boosted his career, but Tracy looks at the frankly insane amount of stories published which take place between 1887 and 1891 as a result of the energy Holmes got from using coke. The idea, I think, is that rather than spending his down time relegated to a days-long depressive episode on the couch, cocaine offered him the energy and motivation to look for more work. This time period, according to Baring-Gould, encompasses TWENTY-SIX cases (out of the like 60 stories that exist!!) and ends with Final Problem. Watson either directly mentions or alludes to Holmes’s coke usage in six of these stories, most blatantly maybe in Sign of Four, where Watson leaves for married life and ends with Holmes’s alarmingly cavalier comment that I’m good, you got a wife and I got this here cocaine 👌

Tracy’s next take is that Holmes was absolutely clean during his entire post-Reichenbach hiatus. He feels like Holmes’s travels paired with his mission to eliminate Moriarty’s empire was sufficient distraction, and when he returns to London in 1894, he stays clean until the end of 1895. That’s 8 cases he works clean, and his sobriety could easily have played a part in convincing Watson to move in with him again in Empty House. Tracy frames those 8 cases as exemplary work, at least in comparison with some of the cases later on in the timeline, because he works them totally sober. This is kind of a hilarious way to @ Doyle that his later work wasn’t as good, but okay, we’ll work with it.

From late ‘95 to late ‘96, Holmes does not work a single case, at least not any which Watson deemed worth publishing. Tracy refers to this hiatus as Holmes’s first relapse, and suggests that Watson spends this entire year caring for Holmes and helping him recover. Tracy calls back to Watson’s comment in the Missing Three-Quarter that Holmes’s drug use “threatened to check his remarkable career”, which up to that point had not really been true, assuming his usage was as moderate as it sounded pre-Reichenbach. So that KIND OF implies it must have gotten worse at some point, probably here during this relapse.

From this point to spring of ‘97, Holmes works at least 5 cases (including Missing Three-Quarter). This stretch of time ends with Devil’s Foot and goes immediately into another year-long hiatus -- another relapse, maybe, but given that Devil’s Foot has Watson bringing Holmes to Cornwall for some Convalescence™, he had probably already relapsed and the rest of this empty time is spent in Cornwall, away from the stressors of the city, helping him recover again. The implication here is that, despite what Watson says about having already weaned him off the drug, Holmes is still dealing with his addiction and Watson is trying to get a handle on it in the face of changing public attitudes toward addicts. Basically, there’s nothing to see here, he’s all better, please just let us work through this privately.

The last bit here is honestly, in my opinion, the hardest to think about. Tracy writes about the stretch of 9 cases from mid-1898 to mid-1902 as some of Holmes’s worst work, and there’s two parts to why I really hate this.

First, like, it is of course painful to think of Holmes suffering any irreversible consequences of drug abuse. It’s harder, maybe, to think of it as affecting his cognitive abilities, but that’s exactly what Tracy says is happening: Holmes displays symptoms of “cocaine psychosis” (I’m not sure that’s still a relevant medical term, but that’s what he uses here). He specifically points out the too-close-for-comfort resolution in Lady Carfax and calls it a totally avoidable error, had Holmes been as mentally present as he should have been. He also points to the later case, Mazarin Stone, as evidence of Holmes’s love of practical jokes morphing into something “tasteless” and, as Lord Cantlemere says, “perverted”, and attributes all of it to said psychosis.

So that’s rough, and I high key hate it, but the second part is really the knife in my heart, and it has more to do with the relationship between Holmes and Watson at the end of Holmes’s career. Those 9 cases up to 1902, Tracy describes as alternating between near failures, showcases of Holmes erring sometimes GRIEVOUSLY, and impressive examples of what he was still capable of. This, he says, speaks a lot to Watson’s opinion of him during that time, that throwing in those unflattering cases was done A LITTLE BIT out of spite, suggesting that they weren’t really on great terms anymore.

There is a small reprieve in the otherwise totally depressing notion that Holmes and Watson became estranged in part due to Holmes’s addiction, and that is that Tracy believes in that summer of 1902, Holmes quit cocaine for the final time, and the very next case is Three Garridebs. Yes, the great heart beyond that cold mask was 100% sober and that shared moment of deep affection was just that and nothing else.

Around this time though, according to Baring-Gould, Watson has left Holmes, also for the final time, to remarry. Finding himself alone, with no support should he relapse again, Holmes retires at the ripe old age of 49 so as to remove himself again from the stressors and triggers of London and detective work. This doesn’t account for the work he does post-retirement, but it’s assumed he remains sober for the rest of his life.

SO ANYWAY

OVERALL, this is an interesting read, but the further in you get, the bleaker the picture becomes, and I kind of fundamentally disagree with this guy’s view of the relationship Holmes and Watson have. I’ve sort of intentionally skirted a romantic take on it because in the end I’m not sure that would necessarily impact how Watson felt about the entire thing -- romantically involved or not, I completely believe Watson would give years of his life to helping Holmes through his addiction. It’s a cold, sort of utilitarian perspective, but if nothing else, even if he otherwise totally resented Holmes, I still believe he would do what he could to keep him in working order, if only as an act of public service. Like I KNOW. I know. But that’s kind of my point: they were absolutely more to each other than that.

I have a really hard time reading Watson as intentionally publishing stories to tarnish Holmes’s reputation; not that he’s never spiteful, like, we know our boy is fully capable of being a bitch when he wants to, but I just can’t see him being that kind of malicious about what he HAS to recognize (because it was recognized then, and even today in the UK WAY MORE than in the US) as a disease. Like there’s a huge difference between expressing disappointment or disapproval and publicly dragging him. That is Not My John Watson.

I don’t like the idea that some of the most recognizable aspects of Holmes’s personality are because of his coke usage, not just because it sucks to think about but also because a lot of those same attributes are ones I’d more likely chalk up to neurodivergency. There’s too much overlap in the traits Tracy believes are a product of drugs and the traits I recognize as ADHD, manic depression, autism, any number of ND flavors that are a lot more meaningful in a character like Holmes than ascribing all of it to a coke addiction.

And there is of course the otherwise canon disappointment of the notion that Holmes and Watson become estranged after Holmes’s retirement, which for my own sanity I wholly reject, and I reject even harder when it’s paired with the implication that it had anything to do with Watson just trying to close that chapter of his life.

tl;dr, Subcutaneously, My Dear Watson -- interesting, depressing, terminally hetero, as probably expected, you can find copies relatively cheap on Amazon, not sure if it’s available digitally though. It is at the very least something to chew on, especially if you’re out there writing ACD Holmes fics.

Anyway if you made it this far I’m VERY SORRY but I’d love to hear your takes anyway, reactions, questions, whatever SORRY AGAIN HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A GREAT EVENING 💖

#acd holmes #subcutaneously my dear watson #sherlock holmes #this is too much #it's a lot

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symphonic-scream · 3 years

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Okay so here's the summary of what happens in the first section of the ML Genshin au. If you're overly familiar with the lore of the game itself sorry in advance cause things are gonna be different. It's a mix of wanted to incorporate new ideas and I don't remember everything exactly lmao

This of course contains Spoilers for the first three Archon quests in Genshin Impact :) so there you've been warned. Also warning: long post. I'm sorry

So the story starts with two travelers soaring through the skies, visiting world after world as they go. However their journey is cut short when they encounter a strange god in the heavens above one such world

The travelers hold out against her for as long as they can, but she gets the upper hand, capturing one of the two travelers. She seals away the powers of the other, trapping him in this world

Some time passes. Our traveler has spent his time trying to survive in the wild in this new world, and has now fished a strange creature up out of the sea. Some floating cat thing, that insists he's not a cat. He calls himself Plagg

Our traveler is blond, with striking green eyes. His outfit is very strange, looking kinda like,, a thick leather armour type stuff but softer. There are dark stars on his shoulders, wrists, on the belt, and in the centre of his chest, and his shirt cuts off at the base of his ribs. Pants are much the same, boots ending just below the knees, and he's got some fancy golden gloves and padding on the knees

The traveler explains what he remembers of his story to Plagg, introducing himself as Adrien. He's not of this world, and he's going to find his identical cousin Felix, who was taken by a strange god, no matter what it takes

Plagg decides to be his guide in this world, which he calls Teyvat, and agrees to help him find the god and his cousin. He explains that Teyvat is divided into seven Nations, each under the rule of one of seven gods called Archons, collectively "the Seven". The land they're in now is called Mondstadt, the nation belonging to the Archon of freedom. And Anemo, the element of wind

Plagg leads Adrien into a small valley, a statue resting in the middle of a small lake right in the centre. The guide calls it a Statue of the seven, this one modeled after Barbatos, the name used for the Anemo Archon. Plagg believes there's a chance the strange god could be one of the seven, so perhaps praying to the statue may give them some answers

However when Adrien gets close, he's infused with a strange power. He now has control over Anemo

This is odd to Plagg because in Teyvat, only humans with something called a vision can use elemental abilities. Visions are gifts from the Archons, used to show who has earned their favour through what's usually some inhuman feat or something like that I guess

The statue left more questions than answers, so Plagg decides they should try to find the god in person in the City of Mondstadt. However on their way to the forest that will lead to the city, a dragon flies overhead

Plagg decides a dragon is too much work to deal with and suggests they turn back, cause maybe your cousin will show up on his own- wait - hey come back here-

Adrien marches on, interested in meeting a dragon. He walks carefully through the trees, stopping short when he spots the dragon and a shorter figure

The person slowly approaching the dragon has their back to Adrien, with pinkish-red hair, wearing a somewhat fancy looking grey hooded jacket, black high boots, and dark cyan trousers. On their left shoulder, attached to their lapel, is a spring green/seafoam?? Kinda? Idk- coloured gem

Their hand is outstretched towards the dragon, who growls lowly as the figure shushes them. Adrien leans in to see better, snapping a twig beneath his boots. At the sudden noise the dragon shoots off into the sky, flying off. The figure whips around to face Adrien, summoning a sword from thin air (vision users can just do this?? There's really no explanation that I've cared to read haha). The figure turns and runs off into the woods after staring at Adrien for a moment

Adrien and Plagg continue on their way through the woods, coming out the other end with no other issues. Once they exit the forest, a woman is calling for their attention

She's dressed in for the outdoors, emerald kinda green overalls that are cut like shorts, white,, idk kinda like tights but thicker?? And brown boots, the same colour as the pretty much useless belt around her waist, where a bright green gem and little pouches rest. Under the overalls is a navy collared shirt, soft fabric, button open at the top, a brown half jacket (cut like a crop top) open over it. Dark hair in two pigtails, bright blue eyes

She introduces herself as Marinette, an adventurer assisting the Knights of Favonius, who protect the city, with keeping monsters at bay from the city. She asks Adrien what he and his, cat? ("IM NOT A CAT!") Are doing outside the city, and he tells her he's looking for his cousin, and maybe Barbatos

Marinette explains that they haven't heard from their god in years, and only recently have they gotten any sign that the Archon actually exists, with the first Anemo vision to be given out in ages and the dragon attacks

Adrien helps her clear out a little monster camp before they head into the city, with Marinette planning on taking Adrien to see the Acting Grand Master to see if she can help

But OH NO DRAGON ATTACK. Adrien hears a voice and suddenly he's got boosted abilities, flying (using a wind glider) up with the dragon, chasing it away from the city by blasting it with Anemo energy

When he lands Marinette asks him what the hell he just did, and someone else steps in, claiming they were about to say the same thing. This woman has orange cat ears sticking out of bobbed orange hair, and is wearing glasses over teal eyes

She's got a simple, dark blue jacket on over a light blue collared shirt, a brown vest between the two. Dark pants, tall metallic, silver boots, a small kinda waist cape?? Idk what they are but she's got one and it's white and furred. A pale baby blue vision hangs from the side of her belt

This is Sabrina, one of the Captains with the knights, Marinette explains. Sabrina escorts the two of them to the headquarters of the knights, claiming the Acting Grand Master wants to speak with them

The Acting Grand Master has long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and tired blue eyes. She wears a long dark coat, an orangey brown vision just off the right shoulder. Under the jacket is a dark brown, thick blouse and vest combo. Her pants are a pale brown, and her boots are the same as Sabrina's. Her clothing looks rather lavish

The Acting Grand Master, Chloe, she insists they call her, listens to Adrien's tale. She explains she can help once things calm down with the whole dragon thing. He wants to help, but she can't just let him in for liability reasons and strikes a deal. If he can locate the one citizen that didn't check in and confirm their health after the attack, he earns honorary knight status

The knights and adventurers head out to seek out the temples of three of the four winds while Adrien and Plagg look for this missing person. They follow traces of Anemo energy, leading them to the roof of the knights headquarters where they come face to face with the figure from the woods, the missing citizen

The citizen attempts to run, but they stop her and say the knights are looking for her. The figure cautiously introduces herself as Alix Kubdel, watching the duo cautiously

Plagg speaks first breaking the silence, asking her about what she was doing with the dragon. You know, the dragon that attacked the city? Got an explanation for that?

Alix hesitates but explains that she was trying to calm down the dragon, bond with it. When asked why, she finally explains that she's the New Anemo Archon, and she's still getting used to what she has to do

New? What do you mean new? Plagg kinda hounds at her, Adrien apologizes, and Alix says the last Archon died, and she was eventually chosen as a replacement

By now the knights are returning from the temples and Adrien takes Alix in to talk with Chloe to convince her that they don't need to kill "Stormterror", the name given to the dragon by the city. Alix corrects them, stating his name is Dvalin

Alix has to reveal to Chloe as well that she's the new Archon in order to convince her to let them try Alix's "bonding plan", and they set into action. The group sets off for the lair of the dragon, to confront him headon

Adrien fights the dragon the same way as before, realizing Alix was the one that gave him the ability to do the funky blasting and flying, and then they've got him weak enough that Adrien can do some weird otherworldly healing thing on him

Apparently the dragon was poisoned by the monsters from the Abyss, and was under their orders. Without the aid of the Archon he couldn't fight it, but now that he's met the new Archon, Alix, all is great and dandy and they have a fun chat

They all head back to the city to celebrate, but they're ambushed by a group called the Fatui from one of the other nations, Schnezneya. During the ambush a woman known as Signora, one of the Harbingers who executes the will of the Cryo Archon, gets a hold of Alix

She snatches something called a gnosis from her, leaving her weak on the ground as they flee. The gnosis, uh, it holds like,, uh, the godly powers of an Archon? It's what makes em an Archon I guess? Sorta? Anyways Alix's was stolen so she doesn't have it now

And that's pretty much it. Alix goes to heal at this big ass tree and advises Adrien fo go check out the next nation, Liyue, and their Archon Morax, to see about his cousin and thats it

Adrien would do other stuff before leaving including meeting two Alchemists and helping them explore a mountain, assisting the two owners of the Harmony Tavern with some bullshit and all that but yeah

This is a very condensed version, of the events, but anymore detail and this would be that much longer lmao

If you have any questions comments complaints or whatever let me know. Sorry this was long I tried to condense it as best I could,

#ml genshin au #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #ml #alix kubdel #adrien agreste #chloe bourgeois #sabrina raincomprix #marinette dupen chang #long post

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tigerkirby215 · 3 years

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5e Four Elements Bow build (In-depth Theory Build)

(Screenshot from Avatar the Last Airbender.)

Water Whip.

Not that much Earth.

Flames of the Phoenix.

Fist of Unbroken Air.

Long ago, the Four Elements Monk was a viable subclass. Then, everything changed when the Fifth Edition dropped. Only Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, master of making underwhelming subclasses viable, could make this subclass playable.

A hundred years passed and Wizards of the Coast discovered the new Monk playstyle, a bow user using Dedicated Weapon. And although they’d probably be better as a Kensei, there’s still a lot of potential for a cool character. But I believe the Four Elements Monk can be a viable subclass.

Welcome back to the semi-infrequent “here’s a random build I thought would be cool that doesn’t fit any League of Legends characters” series of posts on this Tumblr. But unlike most of my builds I’m going to go fairly in-depth into this and provide as detailed of a guide as possible on playing a vanilla Four Elements Monk with a Shortbow. Honestly this is a build that I have wanted to play for awhile but it always sort of fell on the backburner because I have other characters I want to play more. Ah c’est la vie, but it still means I can share this build here!

WHAT IS THIS BUILD?

In short Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything gave the Monk two very important key features that make playing a Monk with a Shortbow viable. The first is Dedicated Weapon, allowing you to turn any weapon into a Monk weapon as long as you are proficient with it and it lacks the Heavy or Special properties. This sadly means that you can not use a Longbow (as the Longbow has the Heavy property for some reason) but this does make the Shortbow a somewhat viable option for Monks!

WHY A SHORTBOW SPECIFICALLY - Crossbows are still gimped by the Loading property, and this build isn’t designed to use Crossbow Expert since you’ll likely be using your Bonus Action for other things (attacking a lot of the time or to use features like Step of the Wind.) The only other two weapons you can use are a Light Crossbow (which only has one attack and isn’t substantially better than a Shortbow) and the Hand Crossbow (which is pretty much just objectively worse than a Shortbow if you’re not going for Crossbow Expert.)

Crossbow Expert can be used in this build but you will be losing out on a lot of the value. And I mean you could’ve honestly picked a better class than Monk for a Crossbow Expert build.

The second feature that makes this build semi-viable for a Four Elements Monk is Ki-Fueled Attack, allowing you to make an unarmed strike or Monk weapon attack as a Bonus Action if you use a Ki point on a class feature with your main action. While this does accentuate other subclasses (such as the Way of Shadow) this was primarily added to allow the Four Elements Monk to still attack after using its Elemental Disciplines.

The important wording here is that you can make a Monk Weapon attack with this feature, meaning that you can fire your Shortbow as a Bonus Action after using an Elemental Discipline. This gives you a lot more flexibility to stay in the backline as a pseudo-caster, being allowed to use the Four Elements Monk’s powerful ranged options like Clench of the North Wind (Hold Person) and Flames of the Phoenix (Fireball) without it conflicting with your intended playstyle. It’s not as much of a problem that your abilities are ranged when your basic combat is ranged too.

I mean you’d still probably be better just playing a Warlock and spamming Eldritch Blast, but at least the flavor is cool right?

WHY RUN THIS BUILD?

PROS

More flexible short rest “casting” than a Warlock.

Get to use an underplayed subclass.

Get to use a weapon that isn’t often used in 5e (the Shortbow.)

Get to take the Monk class in a unique direction not often possible with other subclasses / builds.

CONS

Very limited use of your other core Monk abilities (notably Stunning Strike.)

Your DPS will be subpar in comparison to other dedicated ranged builds.

You’re still playing Four Elements Monk lmao. (You’ll have all the problems of Four Elements Monk, notably the insane Ki consumption and rather underwhelming spell scaling.)

Like, you’d honestly just be better just playing an Improved Pact Weapon Warlock.

In short the literal only reason to run this build is just to try to make Four Elements Monk viable. If you want something stronger just play a Crossbow Expert Fighter. If you want a viable bow fighter then Kensei Monk is also a considerably better option.

Also because I’m going far more in-depth this time I’m going to be explaining a lot of different options, which are going to be marked and color coded as follows:

✨ OPTIMAL - Grants unique abilities that empower the build specifically.

🌟 GREAT - Very good option with no weaknesses / losses in opportunity cost.

⭐ GOOD - Strong option in its own right but perhaps not too powerful for the build at hand.

👍 OK - Decent enough but mostly for roleplay than actual practicality. Has some flaws that don’t stack up well, or simply doesn’t provide enough to be chosen over other options.

👎 BAD - Don’t pick this option lol. There are other options that are just objectively better.

RACE

So remember how I said I’d go far more in-depth with this guide? Well I’m going to cover all the races, and the pros and cons of each.

👎 DRAGONBORN

While it’s certainly flavorful you’re hardly ever going to get into range to use your breath weapon, and since it scales off Constitution it likely won’t hit even if you get to use it. Your damage resistances will be situational at best. There are honestly better races to get damage resistances from.

👎 PHB DRAGONBORN

See above.

👎 DRACONBLOOD (Wildemount)

You’re a Wisdom class. You shouldn’t be making Charisma checks. Losing your damage resistance for Charisma checks is bad if not arguably worse than the base PHB Dragonborn.

👍 RAVENITE (Wildemount)

The ability to shoot back at someone who hits you honestly isn’t completely worthless, but in this build more than any other Monk build you’re likely going to be using Deflect Missiles a lot. It’s up to you if you think tanking a shot is worth it to shoot back but I’d sooner just play a race with more useful abilities overall.

👎 CHROMATIC (UA)

Total damage immunity is neat. Doesn’t stop the breath weapon from being largely useless.

👎 METALLIC (UA)

The Metallic breath weapon can be nice to give yourself some space, but it’ll come up so rarely it’s not worth taking an entire race for it.

👍 GEM (UA)

Now this is mildly interesting. Having a (non-Concentration!) Flight ability once per Long Rest can be useful! Thing is you’ll likely be using Ride the Wind in this build quite frequently, so Flight loses a lot of its value. And again: both your breath weapon and your damage resistance will largely wind up being redundant.

👍 DWARF

An amusing prospect but there aren’t many Dwarf subraces that work well for a Monk. Thankfully Tasha’s allows you to swap the proficiencies from Dwarven Combat Training with tools (or possibly even a Hand Crossbow if you swing that way) but you still won’t be able to use a Longbow because lol “Heavy weapon.”

👍 DUERGAR

Both Enlarge / Reduce and Invisibility can be useful, but they’re both Concentration spells which means you can’t use them at the same time as your Elemental Disciplines. And man does that Sunlight Sensitivity hurt! Your mileage may vary based on how frequently your party fights in the daytime, but this race is suboptimal at best and seriously detremental at worst.

👍 HILL

I mean, I’m not going to complain about extra health, but it’s largely redundant for a backline character. Take it if you want to dump CON like a gamer.

👎 MARK OF WARDING (Eberron)

None of the spells you get are that good, and you likely aren’t going to be making Investigation / Thieves’ Tools checks as a Monk.

👎 MOUNTAIN

I mean if you want to powergame for that sweet +2 DEX / +2 WIS. A +1 ASI isn’t worth the completely worthless armor proficiencies in my opinion.

👍 ELF

Ah an all-time classic. Can’t go wrong with the Elf Archer. But of course what we’re really here for is the subraces, as the baseline Elf package doesn’t provide much. The one thing that’s worth mentioning is that Elves do gain access to the Elven Accuracy feat, but since you’re likely going to be using Clench of the North Wind (Hold Person) your attacks are going to be auto-critting anyways, so it’s not as useful for this build as it is for an average Monk using Stunning Strike.

Regarding the Aereni, Valenar, and PHB High / Wood elves (Eberron) - The Aereni Elves get Expertise in one skill, making them by far the best Elf if given the option to choose. The Valenar and baseline elves just get weapon proficiencies which you will end up swapping anyways as the only weapon you’re going to use extensively is the Shortbow.

👎 DROW

Your spells scale off Charisma and you have very little practical use for Darkness. Sunlight Sensitivity takes an already suboptimal choice and makes it actively detrimental.

👍 ELADRIN

Teleportation is never not useful. I’d primarily opt for the Spring variant for some utility with allies, but Winter and Autum can also be useful. With all that being said I may be tempted just to play a High Elf for the Fey Teleportation feat.

👍 HIGH ELF

The cantrip can be useful if you take a utility cantrip like Message, Mending, or even Prestidigitation. (I’m actually playing a High Elf Monk right now!) But again: the real reason to play a High Elf is the Fey Teleportation feat.

⭐ MARK OF SHADOW (Eberron)

A nice cantrip, a boost to stealth, and (most notably) the Invisibility spell. Good options if you want a bit of Rogue in your Monk.

🌟 PALLID (Wildemount)

Invisibility is nice but Sleep and Light vary in utility. The real utility however is the Advantage on Insight checks, which for a Wisdom character will be consistently useful! Advantage on Investigation checks is also nice to have.

👍 SEA

Are you in an aquatic campaign? Well here’s your subrace. Are you not in an aquatic campaign? Then this subrace is almost completely pointless.

🌟 SHADAR-KAI

Pretty much objectively better than the Eladrin, and offer a compelling argument to be played with their Necrotic resistance and damage resistant teleport. Just be ready to be called an edgelord for playing the death elf.

⭐ WOOD

5 extra feet of movement goes a long way for a Monk, and being able to hide goes a long way for an archer. The Wood Elf Magic feat isn’t all that useful for you unfortunately.

⭐ GNOME

Gnomes arguably became one of the strongest races in the game in general now that Tasha’s allows you to move their Intelligence boost elsewhere. Gnome Cunning is damn useful, and their subraces aren’t half bad either!

👍 DEEP (Svirfneblin)

Woah an Underdark race that doesn’t have Sunlight Sensitivity?! Memes aside this race has a similar problem as the other Underdark races for slightly better reasons. While other Underdark races are useless in the light Deep Gnomes by contrast don’t do anything when outside of a cave, as Stone Camouflage is situational at best. Still: you can do worse!

⭐ FOREST

Get Minor Illusion, talk to squirrels. Very fun to roleplay though perhaps not the most practical in-combat. You’d be surprised how useful getting help from the birds and the bees can be while out-of-combat, however.

👎 MARK OF SCRIBING (Eberron)

Ah yes; NPC race. Let’s be honest you are only picking this race for roleplay.

👎 ROCK

Even with the bonus to History checks your Intelligence likely won’t be high enough to succeed on them. The Tinkerer trait (while fun) likely won’t be that useful overall.

🌟 HALF ELF

+4 to your starting stats is never a bad thing.

🌟 PHB HALF ELF

+4 to your starting stats and two free skills? Sign me up!

👍 AQUATIC

Is your campaign an Aquatic campaign? If so, proceed to page 4.

👎 DROW

Your casting is still based on Charisma, and you still have little use for Darkness. Even if you don’t have Sunlight Sensitivity the spellcasting won’t be used much realistically.

👎 HIGH

The main reason to make a High Elf Monk is Fey Teleportation, and as a Half Elf you are denied access to that feat.

👍 MARK OF DETECTION (Eberron)

You get some nice utility spells and a bonus to Insight checks. The Wizard can honestly be the one to cast Detect Magic instead, but if no one’s playing a caster you can take that duty.

👍 MARK OF STORM (Eberron)

Boosting your Acrobatics checks is nice for a Monk. Everything else is kinda situational, especially since you can get Gust of Wind as an Elemental Discipline. But let’s be real: the main reason to pick a Dragonmark is roleplay, not practicality.

👎 WOOD

Hiding better or moving slightly faster isn’t worth losing two skill proficiencies.

🌟 HALFLING

You’ll be thanking me when Lucky saves you.

🌟 GHOSTWISE

Telepathy is extremely underrated. At worst it’s a way to justify mid-combat strategizing with your allies, but at best it can be an insanely useful stealth tool.

⭐ LIGHTFOOT

Being able to hide can be useful, but you’re not Rogue.

🌟 LOTUSDEN (Wildemount)

More casting to augment your Four Elements flavor (reflavor your spells as Earth manipulation) and the ability to ignore difficult terrain. The only downside is that the innate spellcasting provided from your race also takes Concentration, but more options are never a bad thing.

🌟 MARK OF HEALING (Eberron)

👏 Cure 👏 Wounds! 👏 It’s more than worth it to have a one-time use of Cure Wounds; boosts to Medicine checks and a one-time use of Lesser Restoration is also extremely useful.

👎 MARK OF HOSPITALITY (Eberron)

Ah yes; NPC race. You’re not a Charisma class so what little utility this race would have is lost completely.

👎 STOUT

Monks get immunity to poison by level 10, but if you’re not going to hit level 10 this might be useful?

👍 HALF-ORC

Relentless Endurance could be useful, but Savage Attacks are largely wasted in a ranged build.

👍 PHB HALF-ORC

See above.

⭐ MARK OF FINDING (Eberron)

A one-time use of Hunter’s Mark may actually be worth it, and Hunter’s Intuition is nice too. Still doesn’t stop Savage Attacks from being worthless in a ranged build.

⭐ HUMAN

Mmmm feat. You know I’m going to speak highly of Variant Human, but we can at least talk about the Eberron humans too.

👎 PHB HUMAN

And the baseline human... +1 in everything is worthless; you don’t need an increase to your dump stats.

⭐ MARK OF FINDING (Eberron)

Honestly I think I’d prefer being an Orc. But yeah: Hunter’s Mark is genuinely worth it, and Hunter’s Intuition doesn’t hurt either.

👍 MARK OF HANDLING (Eberron)

“Hello mister DM I wish to play a Pokemon trainer.” You know exactly what you’re doing as a Mark of Handling Human.

⭐ MARK OF MAKING (Eberron)

Being able to make your bow a +1 almost makes you as good as a Kensei?

🌟 MARK OF PASSAGE (Eberron)

Misty Step once per Long Rest is nice. A boost to Acrobatics is also nice. And 5 extra feet of movement is good too. Together? You’ve got a nice package that comes with roleplay of a Dragonmarked house!

👍 MARK OF SENTINEL (Eberron)

Shield likely won’t be that useful for you as a Monk. The swapping ability can allow you to take a hit for an ally however, and sharing damage is generally a good idea. There are better options overall however (notably you could take 4 levels in Cleric for Warding Bond.)

✨ VARIANT HUMAN

You no longer have to ask if Sharpshooter is worth it, which makes Variant Human a good choice in its own right.

BTW it goes without saying that Custom Lineage is similarly good for this build.

👎 TIEFLING

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless. This means that the only ability you’ll be using frequently is the Fire resistance, which is situational at best.

I’m also not going to mention the Feral Tiefling as the only change is your stat bonuses, which are made redundant by Tasha’s.

👎 PHB TIEFLING

See above.

👎 BAALZEBUL

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

👍 DISPATER

Disguise Self is actually not completely useless! I mean, I’d rather be a Changeling. But if Changelings are banned...!

👎 FIERNA

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

⭐ GLASYA

Far more useful than Dispater as all the spells are useful (instead of just one.) Still doesn’t change the fact that I’d honestly rather be a Changeling.

👎 LEVISTUS

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

👍 MAMMON

All of your innate spells are largely utility based... So what you’re saying is that the Wizard should be casting those spells instead?

👎 MEPHISTOPHELES

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

👎 VARIANT - DEVIL’S TONGUE

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

👎 VARIANT - HELLFIRE

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

🌟 VARIANT - WINGED

The one Tiefling I’d genuinely consider! Innate flight is always a huge boon, and the Fire Resistance becomes a nice bonus. Thing is you will likely be using Ride the Wind to give yourself Flight. But being able to concentrate on other Elemental Disciplines is nice!

👍 ZARIEL

You can at least use Branding Smite on Ranged attacks, but Searing Smite will be completely useless.

👍 LEONIN

Your main ability of Daunting Roar is largely redundant. Everything else is nice but I’d sooner pick a Half Elf or Variant Human.

⭐ SATYR

Magic resistance is always good, and better jumps as a Monk is never bad. Thing is that you legit get nothing else other than skills I guess.

⭐ AARAKOCRA

Innate flight is always a huge boon. Thing is you will likely be using Ride the Wind to give yourself Flight. But being able to concentrate on other Elemental Disciplines is nice!

I’d rather a Winged Tiefling for Fire Resistance, but it’s worth mentioning that Aarakocra have absolutely ridiculous flight speed (50 base, up to 80 at max Monk level.) I mean if your DM hasn’t banned the Aarakocra go ahead I guess.

⭐ GENASI

CON casting isn’t the best, but there are some good options. And of course being an elemental being as a Four Elements Monk is super fun!

⭐ AIR

Levitate is nice, and you can be Aang!

🌟 EARTH

Pass Without Trace can be extremely useful for your party, and Earth Walk lets you keep your mobility up.

👎 FIRE

You can cast Burning Hands as an Elemental Discipline, and Produce Flame is just a worse Light cantrip for you.

🌟 WATER

An obvious choice if you want to lean into the Water Bender aspect, and a really good way for you to produce water for the Elemental Disciplines that require it. (Shape the Flowing River.) Also one of the few ways you can get Acid resistance (like that’s going to come up) and an all-around great choice if in an Aquatic campaign.

👍 GOLIATH

Stone’s Endurance is largely redundant. That basically just leaves Mountain Born which is... alright?

🌟 AASIMAR

Like lowkey Aasimar are kinda OP? Damage resistances, a bit of healing, some Light for your allies (or yourself I guess), and three powerful transformation options at level 3.

👎 FALLEN

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting Fear ability will be largely useless.

Protector is pretty much objectively better since you likely won’t be getting into melee range for the fear anyways.

✨ PROTECTOR

This is the one flying race that I won’t say invalidates Ride the Wind. Having a once-per-day “master let me go all out just this once” ability is extremely for when... well, you have to go all out! Increasing your damage output and being able to concentrate on other Elemental Disciplines is very nice.

👎 SCOURGE

YOU. ARE. LITERALLY. KILLING. YOURSELF. No! Just go for Protector!

👍 VARIANT?

I mean I don’t know why you would but having Lesser Restoration and Daylight might be useful? The official Aasimar is kinda just objectively better though.

👍 BUGBEAR

Your long-limbed trait will mostly be wasted, but Surprise Attack might have some use.

✨ FIRBOLG

Actually an insanely good option if you want to defy the norm and play an 8 foot tall Monk. You have some good innate spellcasting, non-concentration Invisibility that takes your Bonus Action (easily the most useful feature for this build), and Speech of Beast and Leaf as an added bonus. I’d probably only play a Critical Roll cowbolg as a Firbolg, but it’s certainly a great option both in and out of combat!

✨ GOBLIN

Fury of the Small is nice, but what you’re really here for is Nimble Escape. Play what I’d humbly call “shitty Rogue” and Hide every turn with your Bonus Action if you don’t use it for something else.

👍 HOBGOBLIN

Saving Face isn’t worth playing a race that’s otherwise dead in the water. Fun for roleplay I guess and has nothing that goes against your playstyle, but very underwhelming overall.

⭐ HOBGOBLIN OF THE FEYWILD (UA)

I still have no fucking idea why this race exists, but I digress: being able to Help as a Bonus Action is certainly useful, and your three Fey Gift options are good as well. This subclass just gives you more uses of your Bonus Action overall, which (combined with general Monk features) means that you should be able to do something everything round. I’d sooner opt for a plain-old Goblin but I guess if you want some Fey flavor without being an Elf?

⭐ KENKU

Skills are nice. Mimicry is nice. Forgery is nice. This is an RP-heavy race, and you are likely picking it for the RP.

🌟 KOBOLD

Pack Tactics is bullshit overpowered. Sunlight Sensitivity does make it considerably worse however. Results will vary based on what your DM allows.

👍 UA KOBOLD

The loss of Pack Tactics hurts, and none of the options you gain really make up for it. Still the option for advantage against fears or a free cantrip can be nice.

👍 LIZARDFOLK

Very fun to roleplay but you won’t be using a single feature from this race except Hunter’s Lore and maybe Cunning Artisan (if your DM lets you make bone-tipped arrows.)

👍 ORC

So I’m just going to ignore the Volo’s Orcs since the Eberron / Wildemount Orcs are objectively better. With that being said: Aggressive is largely redundant for a ranged build, which just leaves Primal Intuition and I guess Powerful Build as the only traits of use you get. Nothing works against your character but there’s nothing particularly good.

✨ TABAXI

No matter how you spin it Feline Agility is insane for a Monk.

👍 TRITON

The most mediocre of the aquatic options next to perhaps the Sea Elf. Gust as an innate spell will largely go to waste due to your low Charisma, Fog Cloud is meh, and Wall of Water is also subpar. Good for Waterbender roleplay but that’s about it.

👍 YUAN-TI

Get yelled at for playing an overpowered race any% speedrun.

You won’t be increasing your Charisma so your innate casting will be largely useless.

That just leaves you with poison immunity (gained at Monk level 10) and Magic resistance... I’d sooner play a Gnome or Satyr.

👍 TORTLE

Cute, and your Natural Armor will be useful until you hit 20 DEX / 14 WIS. Thing is you don’t need high AC much as a ranged fighter, and the usefulness of this race tapers off massively once the only good thing it provides (its shell) becomes a detriment instead of a boon.

⭐ CHANGELING

You’re not exactly a Charisma character, but innate Disguise Self is never not useful. You can get around low Charisma if you have a lenient DM and good roleplay.

⭐ KALASHTAR

The best way I can describe the Kalashtar is “neat but nothing I’d lose my head over.” Advantage on Wisdom saves is nice, Psychic resistance is nice, and telepathy is also nice. But none of these are traits that I’m going to go out of my way to get. Play a Kalashtar if you like the roleplay, I guess.

👎 SHIFTER

Le furry has arrived. You don’t really need the Temp HP provided by Shifting.

👎 BEASTHIDE

You don’t need AC or Temp HP as a backliner.

👎 LONGTOOTH

You’re a Monk. Why are you taking a race that gets a Bonus Action attack?

👍 SWIFTSTRIDE

Can be good to play keep-away, but I think I’d sooner play a race with higher base movement. You won’t trigger the Swiftstride reaction much.

👍 WILDHUNT

Advantage on Wisdom checks can be useful. Making enemies unable to hit you with Advantage however will come up incredibly rarely.

👎 WARFORGED

The AC boost is largely wasted on a backliner, and the race provides little else of value. Cool RP though.

👍 GITH

Githyanki and Githzerai

Elves that look like they wanna die

All they're about is how they clash

Been around 40 years and their lore's still trash

🌟 GITHYANKI

Like, your spells actually aren’t that shit? Mage Hand is always useful as is Misty Step, and Jump actually has some use for a Monk. (I mean, you also have the Fly spell but...) Add in some tools and languages and there’s actually a fairly compelling argument to play a Gith! I mean, assuming you actually want to play a Gith.

👎 GITHZERAI

Wisdom spellcasting! Thing is that Shield probably won’t be that useful overall and neither will Detect Thoughts. This just leaves you with Mage Hand and Mental Discipline that’s largely made redundant by Stillness of Mind at level 7.

🌟 CENTAUR

You’re trading 40 foot base movement for a slower climbing speed, but you’re going to gain the ability to fly so the poor climbing speed probably won’t matter much. The Fey classification and skill proficiencies also help so if you’re fine with the mental image of a centaur flying around like it’s DBZ.

👎 LOXODON

The natural armor trait is completely wasted as you’ll be using Monk Unarmored AC. That just leaves the trunk for punching, but you can easily let go of your bow for a moment to punch someone who got too close. Could be worth considering if your DM’s an ass with weapon swapping.

👎 MINOTAUR

Every singe trait is worthless for a Monk. Your class will provide you everything that this race would provide.

👎 SIMIC HYBRID

None of the animal enhancements are particularly useful.

⭐ VEDALKEN

Same rating as gnomes because they’re basically just tall blue gnomes. Just play a gnome instead of a smurf.

⭐ VERDAN

Same rating as gnomes because they’re basically gnomes who heal more during short rests and have telepathic emotions. Losing out on Intelligence saves kinda sucks but rerolling 1s and 2s on hit die during Short Rests more than makes up for it.

🌟 DHAMPIR

Unlimited Spider Climb is rather interesting for a ranged character, and being able to increase the damage of your bite to get more value out of the empowerment features is a nice option to have if you’re forced into melee. Just make sure your DM has the same ideas about the bite as you.

⭐ HEXBLOOD

A once per Long Rest Hex might genuinely be worth it. Having Disguise Self and the Magic Token is also great for roleplay.

👍 REBORN

Knowledge from a Past Life can give you some out-of-combat utility and... well that’s about it really. If I wanted to be a skill monkey I’d play a Rogue.

👍 LOCATHA

Natural Armor is useless. Observant and Athletic is underwhelming. Leviathan Will however is still comedically overpowered. You can easily carry a tub of water with you and use your Four Elements powers to keep yourself wet.

👍 GRUNG

Poison can be moderately useful in the early game but it falls off massively late game. The need for water really isn’t a problem, but you’re trading a small (yet noticable) downside for a very small upside.

⭐ FAIRY (UA)

Flight and the Faerie Fire spell that can be cast with Wisdom. Nothing overly special but it’s certainly not bad.

⭐ OWLFOLK (UA)

Having Detect Magic as a ritual without being a spellcaster is very nice, and takes some of the stress off your casters. The real benefit however is Nimble Flight, which allows you to keep your height even if damaged. You do have Slow Fall of course so it’s not like Nimble Flight is saving you much.

👍 RABBITFOLK (UA)

I still don’t see much of value in this race. There’s nothing that would stop me from playing it but it just feels so underwhelming to me overall.

ABILITY SCORES

The big question you’re probably asking is if you should max Dexterity or Wisdom... Max Dexterity lol. You’re still a bow fighter first and foremost. Even if you have ready access to spellcasting you won’t be using it much, and a lot of the options you have available will do damage even if the enemy succeed on their saving throw.

DISCIPLINES

LEVEL 3

👎 Elemental Attunement

Prestidigitation, but worse! It’s not so much that this option is bad but rather that you have so few options to begin with spending one of your precious disciplines on glorified Prestidigitation feels like a joke. Ask your DM if you can just have the Prestidigitation cantrip (or more ideally the four elemental cantrips from EEPC) and get something else that’s more useful.

👎 Fangs of the Fire Snake

You have a bow.

⭐ Fist of Four Thunders (Thunderwave)

Actually not godawful as a get-off-me tool early on. The low Ki cost means that you can (hopefully) knock your target(s) back, shoot them, and then run with your increased Monk movement speed.

👍 Fist of Unbroken Air

The 30 foot range combined with the fact that it knocks the target prone makes this somewhat undesirable. It’s essentially 2 Ki points to fire an arrow that knocks the target back and knocks them prone. It can make for very good synergy with the melee characters in your party pre-Stunning Strike but by level 3 it costs over half your Ki to use it.

👍 Rush of the Gale Spirits (Gust of Wind)

Another decent get-off-me tool but there are so many other, better options. Honest to god when’s the last time you’ve seriously used Gust of Wind?

👍 Shape the Flowing River

Very fun and flavorful but your mileage will vary massively depending on where your campaign takes place and what your DM lets you get away with. If you’re playing Ghosts of Saltmarsh this is crazy good. If you’re in Descent into Avernus? Not so much.

👎 Sweeping Cinder Strike (Burning Hands)

Very low range. Fist of Four Thunders will probably get you more mileage as it’ll do AoE damage and give you space.

👍 Water Whip

Fist of Unbroken Air but you can choose to either pull them closer or knock them prone... Thing is you’re hardly ever going to want to pull them in closer as a ranged fighter.

LEVEL 6

✨ Clench of the North Wind (Hold Person)

“Why would you use this over Stunning Strike?” Because you’re in the backline with a bow, ya dummy! One of the main elemental disciplines you should be using in this build as you can’t just run up and Stunning Strike instead. It’s still extremely Ki inefficient but around level 9 you can spend 4 Ki points (half your Ki lol) to paralyze 2 people, which is kinda good? Like sure a Warlock could paralyze 4 people twice by that point with Hold Person but...

🌟 Gong of the Summit (Shatter)

A strong AoE option before you gain access to Flames of the Phoenix (IE Fireball.) By the point that you get Flames of the Phoenix that will almost always be better unless you’re fighting like, exclusively Monks and Rogues. But until then this is a great AoE option that leverages one of the few strengths of the Four Elements Monk.

LEVEL 11

✨ Flames of the Phoenix (Fireball)

It’s Fireball. Arguably one of the few Elemental Disciplines actually worth picking this subclass over. It’s a shame it comes online so late (by this point casters have 6th level spells) but it still manages to keep competetively viable when compared to the big spells.

👍 Mist Stance (Gaseous Form)

A decent escape tool in a very tense situation, but I’d sooner use the next option on this list.

✨ Ride the Wind (Fly)

The main ability you’re going to be using in this build; shame it comes online at level 11. Flight for any ranged build is extremely useful, and you can essentially cast flight twice on yourself at this point and up to 3 times in one level.

LEVEL 17

⭐ Breath of Winter (Cone of Cold)

A good AoE option but it’s hampered somewhat because it originates from your character, making it hard to position since you’re going to be running around with a bow.

👎 Eternal Mountain Defense (Stoneskin)

Oh boy I sure do love resistance to nonmagical damage at level 17.

⭐ River of Hungry Flame (Wall of Fire)

Big damage in a large, continual AoE that serves as a good capstone for a bad class.

👍 Wave of Rolling Earth (Wall of Stone)

This would be good if you didn’t get it by level 17. Most enemies are going to be able to break through it which makes what little utility it has completely pointless. But I mean at least it’s not Eternal Mountain Defense?

THEORETICAL ELEMENTAL DISCIPLINE BUILD

LEVEL 3

(Elemental Attunement)

Fist of Four Thunders

LEVEL 6

Fist of Four Thunders

Clench of the North Wind

Gong of the Summit

LEVEL 11

Fist of Four Thunders

Clench of the North Wind

Flames of the Phoenix

Ride the Wind

LEVEL 17

Fist of Four Thunders

Clench of the North Wind

Flames of the Phoenix

Ride the Wind

River of Hungry Flame

FEATS

I’m not going to go over every feat but I will mention ones to consider and ones to avoid. Remember that (especially as a Monk and especially as a Four Elements Monk) maxing out your Dexterity and Wisdom should be your top priority.

🌟 ALERT

You already have high DEX so going first would allow you to get Hold Person or Fly off and start shooting.

👎 CROSSBOW EXPERT

You may be tempted to use a crossbow for this build... don’t. If the Artificer got you a Repeating Crossbow that’s cool, but there’s no reason to use a Hand Crossbow in this build. (Especially since you likely won’t have the proficiency for it anyways.)

👎 CRUSHER

Normally a very good feat for Monks but it’s rendered vastly less useful since you’ll be primarily using a bow.

👎 ELVEN ACCURACY

Clench of the North Wind (Hold Person) will make you auto-crit anyways so there are better options available.

👍 FIGHTING INITIATE

+2 to hit from the Archery Fighting Style isn’t worth losing an ASI.

⭐ MAGIC INITIATE

I actually wouldn’t be against MI (Druid) for Guidance, Druidcraft, and Healing Word. Shillelagh unfortunately isn’t as good for you since you need DEX for the bow, and since your Elemental Disciplines are technically “casting” spells you can’t cast Healing Word after using one of them.

👎 MOBILE

You have a bow. Extra movement speed is nice but everything else is largely wasted, especially since you have Elemental Disciplines to give yourself space.

🌟 PIERCER

If you have an uneven DEX score this should be the feat you take. Clench of the North Wind (Hold Person) gives you autocrits which makes the x3 damage from Piercer insanely valuable.

⭐ RESILIENT (CON)

You do need to concentrate on your Elemental Disciplines, and while you are more capable of avoiding damage than most (thanks mostly to Deflect Missiles) you can still easily lose your Concentration. If you can afford the ASI it’s more than worth it.

✨ SHARPSHOOTER

If you’re asking if Sharpshooter is worth it the answer is always yes. It’s not just the damage but the range and ability to ignore cover. I’d probably max my DEX first but at level 12 (Starting at 17 with Standard Array: Lvl 4 Piercer feat > Lvl 8 +2 DEX) I’d take Sharpshooter over a Wisdom increase, as you are still a bow fighter first and foremost.

👎 WAR CASTER

Advantage on Concentration is nice but everything else largely goes to waste, especially since you likely won’t be in range to provoke opportunity attacks anyways. Opt for Resilient (CON) instead.

CONCLUSION

Just play a Warlock, Druid, or Eldritch Knight lol. No matter how you look at it the Four Elements Monk simply scales too slowly and uses up too much Ki to be considered viable.

With that being said: if you’re fine with being subpar in comparison to your peers this build isn’t bad for play between Tier 2 and Tier 3 (from level 6 to around level 14.) You can still leverage the general strengths of the Monk class (Deflect Missiles, Evasion, high movement speed) without facing as many of the class’ inherent weaknesses thanks to the range provided by a shortbow.

Yes you could accomplish the same thing with a Kensei Monk, Shadow Monk, or even Mercy Monk but you get to play a unique fun class with this build. Just maybe ask your DM if you can get more Ki...

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #dnd monk #dnd four elements monk #four elements monk #bow #dnd bow #bow monk #dnd bow monk #avatar the last airbender #lol this build is so bad #seriously just play a warlock

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botwstoriesandsuch · 3 years

Note

Since you’re promoting Zelda OCs I would like to share this thing that happened to me with you and if you want you can also tell me what you think. There is this botw artist who had her Zelda OC whom I liked very much. Her art is beautiful but she’s been very mean. It's true: “never meet your heroes”. One day she shared a post about her OC asking others if they had ocs as well. I shared my OC in the comment section saying I made my OC based of myself. She immediately DM me saying I should delete the comment because to her it looked like I wanted to use her ‘popularity’ to promote my art (dude wtf she isn’t even THAT famous lmao). I ofc told her I was ashamed by it and deleted it... I complimented her and she didn’t even give a shit about it. I told her I wanted to let her see my OC to not make her feel ‘alone’ and she told me “uhm okay I don’t need your approval, I’m quite happy with that I make”. And last but not least when I said I’d been following her since 2018 she said “but I don’t see you among my followers”. What do you think? It made me so depressed I quit drawing my OC for three days.

Well, obviously I have no context for the whole extent of this situation, so very well could be misunderstand and tone and other stuff factored in there, but going off what you’ve said overall sounds like she’s a BITCH. Not very poggers of her if I do say so myself.

There’s maybe an argument and point to made there about not putting art in another person’s art post because I guess it could be seen as derailing. But like, if she asked for people to share their ocs then people are gonna share their ocs lmao. Also, and this is just my personal opinion and I’m no artist myself so take this as you will, if someone posts art, and then someone reblogs that with their art that’s related/inspired by the original topic, 90% I’m able to appreciate both art separately. Welp, I guess she’s op so she gets some semblance onto how she wants people to interact so. Good for her for not needing people’s approval to enjoy the things she makes

But that shit about “using popularity” and questioning your follow time...wow that’s bitchy sldkjfs apologies I can’t think of the proper synonym for it but it just is. Gonna call the cops? Gonna report me? “Oh how scandalous that this person who follows me and likes my content has been following for only 200 days and not a YEAR like they said smh” boi shut the fuck up no one cares. I don’t care, and you shouldn’t care. If you’ve followed since 100 followers, sweet. If you’re here from just this month, welcome. What is this gatekeeping obsession with how long you follow people for like I get it if you’re friends or mutuals but literally what is there to gain by saying shit like “only REAL ones have been here since 1k subscribers” or “only my TRUE fans are the ones from 2017″ like fucking shut up, since when has follow time constituted for how much you enjoy and appreciate something

“Using my popularity to your advantage” arguments have also grinded my Ancient gears. Like yes, there are assholes who only want to talk with you or be friends just so they can use your position or whatever for their benefit. They totally exist don’t get me wrong. People who are like that, you have my approval to punt them. But also, the entire idea that just because someone is benefitting from someone else’s popularity they are a bad person is really wrong. Not to bash capitalism on the Zelda sideblog, but the entire idea that the rich and “famous” (heavy heavy quotation marks there considering we are on tumblr) are only successful because of their hard work is just blatantly false. Sure it’s important, it gets you like 50-70% of the way there, but the rest of that very significant percentage is just luck, or just factors in user engagement, or current trends or maybe they’re related to someone influential. It’s a roll of the dice. You don’t own popularity, you just don’t. That is completely owed to the people that follow and engage with you, so who are you to insult them.

Now, I’m not saying that you owe your followers anything, in fact, yeah I’d agree blatantly: You don’t owe your followers anything. You make the thing, they get the thing, they follow/like/share, the transaction is over. But at the same time, don’t act like a high and mighty bitch about it, fucking “using her popularity,” how much of your precious and popular time do you waste to give a nice comment, or even sharing something made by someone else, someone that could very well be the reason you’re in the position you’re in right now. Yeah bitch how about you use your “popularity” to give attention to someone talented, what do you have to lose by sharing something good with people. And no one better give me that shit about “OhhhHhhHHhhhh but if you share it then they didn’t eaarrnnnn anything and they can’t leaaaAAARnn and growww” cause first of all no, shut the fuck up, bash your capitalism brain into the earth and stop thinking that all success and growth has to be born out of pain and sacrifice. Secondly, just because someone popular shares something, it that doesn’t mean all that engagement instantly gets passed on to another person. That engagement would only get passes if the person was skill/talented/created something great AKA they worked in that regard to earn it. Idk about you, but if someone I like promotes another person, I don’t just automatically follow them, I look at them, and if I like them and what they do, then I follow. Such an incredibly stupid argument to me when people say that people are leeching off of popularity like it’s some finite resource, anyone can get a couple hundred likes and views, but if the stuff you make is quality and good, that’s when people stick around.

If you’re “popular” you should also share the work of other people that you like. Now THAT’S JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION cause there are other reasons that you might not mass reblog shit to keep yourself organized or you purely just focus on your account for sharing and nothing else or whatever other reasons there are that are probably valid, but it’s how I feel. So if you share, don’t share because someone asked or begged you, or because you want the nice guy clout, just fucking share the stuff that you like because you like it, because those 5 seconds it takes to click a few buttons could mean a world of change to someone who very well could have been in your position had the stars of the social media algorithm aligned a bit differently.

Wow I wrote a lot, I guess this was something I really wanted to rant about huh. I guess I just really want you to know that, yeah, that person sounds like a bitch, and you shouldn’t let that experience stop you from making the things that make you happy. TL;DR be nice to your nice followers, popularity is a made up currency so just fucking spend it wildly, OCs are pretty rad

#long post #sorry #not botw #rant #there's nuances to the argument obviously #but also #being nice feels nice #so #take that haters

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a-crimson-lion · 4 years

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My Thoughts On Chapter 257 and Why I Think The Bakudeku Dynamic Is Still Fundamentally Broken

[Spoilers and Bakugo-Bashing ahead. Long post. Avoid if you don't want to see.]

Look, I can kind of see why people enjoy the idea of Izuku and Katsuki making up and being friends again after all the crap Katsuki did. Honestly, if Horikoshi had set it up right, I might have been rooting for them, too. Of course, I don't root for it, because I don't see much improvement in the dynamic, especially on Katsuki's part.

Before I get started, remember: if you like the dynamic between Izuku and Bakugo, that's fine. This post probably isn't for you, and that's fine, too. I'm not writing this post to attack anyone personally, but if you feel offended, feel free to ignore this post and go about your day. I'd like it if we could be respectful of one another's opinions. Sound good? Good.

Now, let's begin...

So the big thing in this chapter (257 chapters, dear God...) is that we're finally learning a bit more about the OFA Holders. For starters, we now know the Black Whip user's name: Banjo Daigoro (heads up, the "Go (五)" in Daigoro means "Five," continuing the trend of OFA Holders having their wielder number in their names). We've also learned that Nana's Quirk was "Float" or "Levitation," which makes a lot of sense.

(I mean, Flight is one of the most iconic superpowers besides super strength, and since Nana is Izuku's metaphorical grandmother, it's incredible for her to be using such a by the book super power. Plus, it only compliments her friendship with Gran Torino, another hero with a flight Quirk.)

I'm rambling at this point. As intriguing as the Quirks of the previous holders is, my attention (as well as other readers' attention) was pulled towards Katsuki. Most say that the relationship between Katsuki and Izuku was adorable in this chapter. Others say Katsuki was a gremlin, but they still love him for it.

Well, pardon my pessimism, but if I'm using the phrase right, it looks like I'm gonna be playing devil's advocate.

[Keep in mind, the official translations haven't dropped yet, so this might screw up my analysis a bit.]

There's another meeting about OFA between Izuku, Toshinori, and of course Katsuki. Toshinori talks a bit about how he couldn't find everything for the previous holders, and what does Katsuki say?

If you don't know it then just leave it at that, I'm waisting my precious time on you guys.

There are a handful of other rude/passive-aggressive ways Katsuki could have phrased that. He could have made it sound like "That's nice and all, but could we skip to the important stuff?" But no, even though this information is crucial to Izuku, even though Katsuki has every right to just stay out of the room since the conversation won't benefit him, he says they're wasting his "precious time." Once again, Katsuki is being self-centered, but that isn't anything new.

A little later, Katsuki is taking a loom at the notebook, and he remarks that all the Quirks Izuku got must have been lame. Katsuki is immediately writing the Quirks off just because they aren't upfront with their badassery. Izuku appreciates all Quirks because he wasn't born with one, but Katsuki only appreciates strong Quirks because that's what society and his own self image have taught him up to this point.

Think of it this way: A man with diamonds can't understand why a man is happy with silver, but a man with nothing understands the value of both.

Katsuki's Quirk is admittedly versatile and efficient, and I can respect the work he put into it. However, immediately dissing less flashy Quirk's might be his downfall. Characters like Sir Nighteye don't have "powerful" Quirks, but are still capable adversaries thanks to how they use them in tandem with their other abilities. Foresight might not be a powerful Quirk in a fight, but Nighteye's own strategy, deceivingly ripped physique, and his high-density stamps help round him out as a capable opponent. We've seen Izuku utilize Black Whip in ways which can be definitely declared badass. Even Nana's Quirk can be used in incredible ways, especially considering Izuku's strategy and relentnesses.

Speaking of Nana's Quirk, here comes the part I hate the most...

Lots of readers talk about how Katsuki and Izuku's dynamic has grown a lot since their middle school days. That's not to say the statement isn't true, because there has been some growth, but I feel like most of it is exaggerated. Katsuki and Izuku haven't had an introspection (or at least a meaningful one) on themselves where they've come to grips with their faults and have vowed to change for the better. Izuku doesn't stop to think that maybe Katsuki shouldn't have treated him the way he did since they were kids, because Izuku's more concerned about heroism, mastering OFA, and (ugh) proving to Katsuki that he'll surpass him, being his image of victory. Katsuki hasn't really thought about his actions aside from that one time after the Provisional License Exams that ultimately amounted to nothing. It's been said time and time again by several in the fandom that Katsuki hasn't really changed, and for as much growth (or lack thereof) as he's had throughout the entire course of the series, the statement is not without merit. Case and point: the very first thing Katsuki spits out to Izuku when All Might reveals Nana's Quirk?

I WON!

He's more concerned about his own image and pride then about Izuku's progress. He's already got flight down, so instead of leaving it at that or (highly unlikely) offering to help Izuku figure out the whole flight thing, he decides it's a great thing that Izuku will waste his time learning something Katsuki already knows so Katsuki can make sure he can beat Izuku yet again. He's not adding anything to the conversation, and while Izuku isn't personally bothered, Katsuki's next words are not okay, even if they're relatively tame.

Before you tell me that Katsuki is just trying to encourage Izuku or something like that along those lines, let's take a look at their proceeding dialogue:

T-that's not true! I'll just master it and catch up to you!!

You're just going to panic again! Explode and go to Hell!

Buy I managed to get the gist of Blackwhip, so...

DIE!!

No hesitation...!

...Katsuki is not being encouraging in any way, shape, or form. He's being discouraging; in spite of Izuku's protest, Katsuki insists that Izuku is going to crash and burn once more. Never mind that Izuku isn't bothered by it, what Katsuki is saying is not okay. No one can be the best but him, so no one can improve... including Izuku. Forget about Izuku's previous feats, forget the fact that he learned to use the base Quirk without damaging himself AND a second Quirk in less than a year. As long as Katsuki can pull ahead, stupid Deku won't be able to catch up and he'll prove that he'll forever be the best.

...can you feel my frustration with this character?

And then there are the panels where Izuku looks like he reading the journal, and Katsuki is making a gremlin face while make the "kill" gesture across his neck, and All Might's looking at it like it's something precious. Other people called this scene adorable, but for me, it only proves that Katsuki hasn't changed and WHY he hasn't changed. He still treats Izuku as someone lesser instead of as an equal; he might not be Quirkless anymore, but for Katsuki, Izuku just another extra to surpass. And then Izuku tries to be civil with Katsuki, but... the boy really does not care about him. And then people like All Might don't know the full depth of their relationship and consider this a massive improvement, and see no reason to confront Katsuki or Izuku about their issues.

Seriously, the narrative is so contrived in Katsuki's favor, I'm losing hope that Horikoshi will ever try to fix it properly.

And before you give me Izuku's whole spiel about:

I never thought the day would come where I could speak so naturally with Kacchan.

NARRATORS! CAN! BE! BIASED!!!

Just because Izuku is the protagonist and overall honest does not mean his views/relationship with Katsuki are ultimately well. I'm not saying he's an unreliable narrator, since he hasn't really gone to Delusion City as he's told us the story, but it's very clear that he doesn't give Katsuki's actions too much thought. Him suddenly being able to talk casually with Katsuki is not a major feat: EVERYONE ELSE can casually talk to Katsuki just as well even if his personality is, quoting Denki, "flaming crap mixed with sewage." At this point, I'm just tuning out all the times the narrative tries to claim that Izuku is completely mentally sound, or that Katsuki has made significant progress.

You can keep shouting it from every roof top you want to, but unless you're showing CONSISTENCY, you're not showing substance.

So, TL;DR This chapter continues to push the Bakudeku rival dynamic while instead showing how Katsuki has ultimately barely changed and is continually enabled by other characters and the narrative to continue his behavior because virtually everyone around him has an abnormally high tolerance for his bulls***.

That's all I can write right now. Thank you for reading.

-Crimson Lion (18 January 2020)

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #izuku midoriya #katsuki bakugo #katsuki bakugou #bnha 257 #character analysis #meta #drabble #long post #anti bakugo #anti bakugou

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shiroganeryo · 3 years

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D.Gray-Man Tag!

I got tagged by my friend Violet to hop into this little game she made, and there are few things I love more than babbling about DGM, so let’s go! The rules are to tag three people to get the game going, so I’ll do it at the start because this will get looong. I’ll tag @14th-melody, @metzzi and @rudimentor0x0. Here’s the blank post. Sorry if you have already done it, I might’ve missed the posts ;;

⭐ What year did you first get into DGM? Hmm, actually, that’s a hard question because I didn’t get into it right away? If memory serves me right about what grade I was in high school when that happened, I was 15 - so, 2008. Pull a chair, I’ll tell you how that went. It was actually a recommendation from a friend of my best friend; we weren’t particularly close, I just knew he and I had a similar taste for anime/manga and I was looking for getting into a new series... but I wanted it to be worthwhile. So I asked my bestie if her friend wouldn’t give me a rec. He recommended me D.Gray-Man, and just like I do before watching any series, I watched the first opening to get an overall “feel” of it and I quite liked it: cool aesthetic, music was dope, characters were nice-looking. But, for some reason, I didn’t watch it and eventually forgot about it.

Then, one day on my way back home from school, I stopped by a nearby newspaper stand since here they also sell manga. They were all very cheap at that time, so I would often look for new volumes of the titles I was collecting (my allowance was enough to buy two or three!). I saw DGM’s first volume there, and went “oh! It’s that one series he had recommended me! I’ll take it and finally give it a shot.”

I fell in love.

I really liked it at first, but the point where DGM completely won my heart was during Lala’s arc. I had never cried with a manga before.

⭐ Who’s your favorite character? This is probably very unoriginal, but it’s Allen! At the start I was very lukewarm about him, but as time went on, I felt like I could relate more and more to that kind-hearted boy and he became my role model. DGM has been with me through some of the worst of my life, and Allen’s resolve to keep going, keep walking, no matter how hard things were for him was what motivated me many times in past. It still does. Allen also taught me to be kinder and through him I realized being there for others makes me truly happy. Sadly, I also share with him the same trait of being unable to truly see how appreciated I am and all the good I bring others just for being there... But I’m working on that! He became the first character I felt like I could fully relate to, and I was surprised - but still very happy - to realize that, now that I’m an adult with more experience and maturity, I feel like I can understand him even more and better than before. Our connection didn’t wane with time, I feel so much closer to him now. He’s very special to me.

Standing at the second spot - because it’s also fair I would mention her -, is Miranda! I always say that if Allen didn’t exist, Miranda would be my number 1 since she stands so close to him hahaha After him, she’s another character I deeply relate with. My self-esteem isn’t the best out there so I’m quick to think I’m worthless or useless, just like her. Even so, she wouldn’t give up. Every time I felt like giving up because of auto depreciation, I would think “Miranda would try again, she would work harder”.

It’s like the two of them were walking me through the steps so I could move forward and keep doing my best.

⭐ Who’s your least favorite character? I’m going to say Chaozii. But, before we get to the usual “Chaozii slander” we’re used to doing in this fandom, let me elaborate. It has nothing to do with him not siding with Allen. As much as I love Allen, I know we’re able of sympathizing with his ideals because as the readers we have a plethora of information on his motives; if not for that, we would probably take the same stance as Chaozii has taken about him.

What riles me about Chaozii is that, unlike all of the characters, his mindset is either black or white, good or bad. Everyone seems to have a perfect mix of both, showing many facets just like, well, real, imperfect people. Chaozii is the only one who doesn’t have that. Being simple-minded is not a bad trait, but when that clouds your judgement, then it turns into a bad thing.

It all fell apart when he snapped at Allen when he refused to kill Tyki. That particularly bothered me a ton, even if I understand his feelings. Chaozii, who thought it was wrong and cruel to kill humans and was grieving for his lost comrades, was fine with killing a human whom he wasn’t even sure if was being forced to do things or not. Do you see the issue here? Chaozii never feels to me like he’s striving to do the right thing in order to bring justice, but instead, because he wants revenge.

I hope he does get to learn one thing or two in the future. He has potential to be a great character; but he needs a “redemption” first.

⭐ Who’s your favorite general? Tiedoll! Although I like all of them for different reasons. I really love Cross and differently from what some people think, he did care for Allen and I love their rather dysfunctional relationship. He’s a much deeper character than just a womanizer full of fishy shenanigans. He’s also really badass: former scientist, user of magic, (former) wielder of both an Innocence of his own and another person’s (Grave of Maria). I just happen to love Tiedoll a liiiittle more because I can’t take this guy! He’s just so sweet, and his doting nature makes him both funny and lovely. General Sokalo is really cool and all, but I feel like he’s just a cool guy to me. On a side note, General Klaud could step on me and kill me and I’d thank her. I hope we get to learn more about her Innocence sometime.

⭐ Who’s a character you would get along with? I would love to say it’s Allen, but he’s someone really hard to get close to. If I think about the characters I’d like to befriend because of shared traits or interests, I think I could get along well with Miranda, Krory, and Marie. The first two because they’re two softies who just happen to be really awkward, I feel like I would probably befriend them after trying to comfort them too often. And, the latter, because I’m a person who likes calm company whom I can have honest talks with.

⭐ What kind of innocence would you have? I honestly have no idea. If I had to pick one from the ones we already have, I think I would go with the Dark Boots. Being able to fly and maneuver in mid-air would be a dream come true, I feel the happiest when the wind blows against me. If I have to think of something “for me” specifically, I think I would like a long range Innocence. I particularly like firearm-like weapons like guns, so maybe a gun or dual pistols? Yeah, I think I’d really like the dual pistols.

⭐ What’s your favorite ship? Ah, to be in the DGM fandom is to be a multishipper; yet this is the part where I always get nervous at because my favorite is a rarepair. But!!! I’m building up the courage to be more open about (and less self-judgmental of) the things I like. It’s Allen x Miranda. I don’t really know when it started; from what I said before, you already know they’re both my top favorite characters and very special to me, so I naturally loved it when I saw them sharing screentime. When I realized it, I was looking at them and thinking “they would make such a cute couple together”. It just kinda happened.

To keep this short, there’s this blog I really like explaining about this pair’s dynamics. I think they have a great dynamic together and much potential. They could very easily have a wholesome relationship based in lots of patience and mutually covering the other’s weaknesses and helping them become someone better. These are the best kinds of relationships imo. I hope to share some of my headcanons for them (and even writing, hopefully!) sometime in here. I always picture Allen being older, so that gives me some free room for creativity; it doesn’t look like he has time for romantic love right now, and I don’t really feel comfortable with him being a minor for this ship, so both things go hand in hand.

Honorable mentions go to Link x Allen (again, older!Allen), Yulma and LaviLena, as I also get super happy when I see these particular shippings.

⭐ What’s your least favorite ship? I actually have some, but it goes against my policies to publicly (consciously) say negative things about certain things if I can help it. I know I’m allowed to have opinions, but you never know who can stumble upon it and what I dislike can be something that makes someone really happy, you know? I tend to stay silent about such things when it comes to something as harmless as shippings.

So, I think I can say I’m accepting of everything as long as everyone respects each other! And, of course, if it isn’t distasteful (as in, illegal).

⭐ What branch would you want to be part of? We’ve only seen the European and Asian branches properly before but even if there aren’t many choices, this is still a hard question; I think both have lots of good things going for them. I think I would probably want to settle with the Asian Branch! I love how lively the atmosphere is and I also feel like there are way less science division shenanigans in there... Sorry, Komui.

⭐ What’s your favorite arc? I have three! The Rewinding City arc came right after Lala’s arc - that had touched me a lot -, bringing in even more feels. It introduced Miranda and at the blink of an eye, made me care so much about her. The first activation of Time Record after she protected Allen, followed by his thanks to her hit so hard; I get really emotional talking about it. It was such a great, yet touching moment. I think everyone can relate to that; being worthy of receiving gratitude for something they did for someone.

Then, there’s Lulu Bell’s Invasion of the Black Order arc, followed by the appearance of the Level 4 Akuma. I can’t express into words how great the flow of the elements are there. The plot is focusing on multiple characters with their own background dramas happening, all at once, yet none of it feels out of place. Everyone gets their moment, everyone contributes to the big picture (saving the staff and defeating the Akumas). It all felt like one big collective effort of several parts uniting forces, no one was more or less important than the other. It was expertisely done.

And the last mention goes to the Searching for A.W’s arcs (Saying Goodbye to A.W also included). These arcs are being extremely painful but, at the same time, also extremely rewarding to go through. For the first time ever, we’re seeing Allen give in to his wants and acknowledge his feelings; he’s not honest with himself very often, and seeing him actually admit that he still wanted to go on - for himself -, that he still wanted to hold onto hope was something that I suddenly realized I had always wanted to see him do. It’s like I had been waiting for so long. Allen is growing up, and I’m loving to see the part Johnny and Kanda are playing in this. I could talk all day about how happy it makes me, to feel this much hope in the midst of such a difficult situation these arcs are covering. It captures very well the essence of D.Gray-Man imo: the bittersweetness of the hardships of life, and the good things it makes us realize we have had all along. The people we have by our side. The will to continue moving forward because we still have something we love and want to fight for.

Whew, I expected this would get long but guess I got too carried away; those were amazing questions to answer to! If you read until now, you have my most sincere gratitude and appreciation. I wish you have a lovely day! 😊

#dgm #d.gray man #d.gray-man #long text #tag #there are still asks in my inbox but I'll be tending to these sometime later!#I really don't want to spam you with long texts everyday #but I don't really like not elaborating my thoughts when I'm on to discuss something #added a read more not to clog your dashboards!

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birdkoskincare · 3 years

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SPFgate 2.0: Keep Cool 💀

i don’t usually post these sort of “tea spill” summaries, but i wanted to do so this time in order to collect all my thoughts on this thorny issue. you might find it helpful in case you haven’t heard of the whole situation!

on today’s episode: the shady dealings of keep cool. KC’s soothe bamboo sun essence was initially touted by many (incl. myself) as a possible alternative to Purito’s sunscreen when the whole controversy broke out last month. it’s an extremely popular sunscreen, especially with international fans of kbeauty products. shortly after the OG SPFgate, though, certain bloggers began questioning whether their filter %s were sufficient to obtain the labelled SPF 50+/PA++++. KC’s response was to threaten these small content creators with legal action, rather than assuage their concerns.

meanwhile, on reddit, someone found many similarities between the formulation of the KC sunscreen and another brand (fascy) that does disclose their UV filter %. these similarities could easily indicate a shared manufacturer using a stock formulation as a base and tailoring it to fit KC’s marketing needs, a very common practice for smaller, up-and-coming brands like KC that do not have their own manufacturing facilities (this is called “private label” production). reddit users plugged the percentages of these UV filters into the SPF estimate calculator offered by BASF (a big raw material developer and supplier); now, this calculator only offers an estimate that doesn’t take into account the overall formulation and other factors, but in this instance it spat out a value of SPF 4.4 (plugging the Purito % into BASF gives an estimate of SPF 10.3, versus an alleged real SPF of 28, if that helps you put that value into context). yikes.

it was probably around this time that yesstyle withdrew the KC sunscreen from their website, which, kudos to them for erring on the side of caution. this is when i also got sus, and went on their IG to check when their last post about their sunscreen was; after all, it’s their most popular product by far, so it should be featured a lot. but they had not posted about it at all since the time when the purito news broke, which, despite their defensive DMs to the concerned bloggers, suggests they themselves were already suspicious of their own product’s quality.

fast forward to now: Insuk Ahn, head of the Korea Institute of Dermatological Sciences, is conducting her own independent tests with the latest available machinery; she concluded in this video from december that the Purito sunscreen’s SPF was of 28 according to the most modern testing methods available to her, more modern than those presented by INCIdecoder’s testers which yielded the initial SPF 19 value (still way short of the labelled 50+, though). she also promised to test an array of popular asian sunscreens to verify their SPF, and the results of three of them are being posted this friday. she’s blurring them for legal reasons, but it doesn’t take an expert to tell that one of those bottles is KC.

this morning, before the results have a chance to be posted, KC rushed ahead of them and disclosed that, although their original SPF tests were validated by the authorities, since the purito debacle they sent their own sunscreen to be tested independently and found out today (so they claim. allegedly.) that it was below the labelled value. therefore, they’re stopping sales of the product. however, unlike Purito, they’re not offering a refund, but rather a $25 voucher to use on their products for purchases of the sunscreen up to jan. 20, 2021. more info on that on their IG post, but, again, yikes. they also have not apologised to the content creators they were previously warning of legal consequences.

for now, that’s where things stand — and KC and purito are not at all the only brands whose sunscreens have been cast into doubt; i will be collecting a post with more info on that, but suffice to say that other skincare darlings like klairs have been pulled from the shelves, albeit with less of a bad attitude than what KC displayed. as for me, i’ll be looking forward to see what numbers Insuk Ahn’s testing will yield this friday, and just how far off the mark the KC soothe bamboo sun essence was.

what do you think about this whole situation? i feel like i should start a YT channel for tea like this ☕️

#spfgate #sunscreen #keep cool #spf #skincare #skin care #yesstyle #kbeauty #korean skincare

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iampikachuhearmeroar · 4 years

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tl;dr political rant post:

it had been my goal from 12 years old to do an arts degree in philosophy (yes what a nerd- thanks to my dad playing a Great Courses philosophy dvd one morning in 2007 and my dad always taking me to the botanic gardens/the uni some weekends).

i graduated from my arts degree in 2018, with a major in english and a minor in philosophy. i was so, so lucky to even get into my communications & media degree (at first i was originally going to do marketing communications, advertising & PR)... but i realised that i was not made for business subjects- despite my mark101 tutor telling me she thought i had knack for marketing- something under this policy that i wouldn’t undertake due to the price hike for commerce/business degrees. nor was i made for a media degree. so i changed to arts & humanities.

although under this atrocious policy, english subjects are made “cheaper”- why on fucking should the rest of someone’s arts/humanities degree be so much more expensive, all depending on the fields they choose???? so you’re telling me, if i was instead to enter undergrad this year to do my english degree... that my english major would be subsidised, but my philosophy minor would be at double the cost (along with the few first year business and communications&media subjects i did), unless i forced myself to pick maths or science subjects that i would most definitely fail, no matter how much work i’d put into them??? or there’s languages- but much like maths/science- there’s the problem with my handwriting that stopped me trying french and even japanese (ironically, since it’s know for its ~painstakingly neat and orderly~ script- but my handwriting is still messy, disorderly and confusing asf).

*please note that most of this next section is just me being highly spurious and cynical. it’d probably work out fine*

but you’re also telling me that under this policy that i’d also probably have to forego my reasonable adjustments in those subjects (yes i still have trouble with my handwriting to this day) mostly because a lot of software still won’t let you write out maths problems properly or i’d have to spend twice as long trying to get a graph to work in excel or idek matlab (please teach me maths nerds)???? and most maths working out is probably better handwritten or whatever??? and that’s besides the point that i still can’t use excel at all 😂.

so with these classes then, would i be battling from day one of first year with professors to let me use a computer during exam periods (unless of course they use online/take home exam methods like philosophy)???? probably (im being very suspicious here because i don’t know how science/maths etc faculties work).

although i did get this once with one particular english professor; who used the excuse that he didn’t know how to set a computer up for exams because he had been on “sabatical for 4 years” or whatever and so “didn’t know the policies anymore”.... so then according to him it was apparently “the students job to do it.... especially since you’re in third year, miss williams”..... however, i was promptly then told by EVERY uni offical that i approached for help to do it for me.... and my other professors across my course that had done it for me, that it was in fact the PROFESSORS job/responsibility to set it up, and not the student’s??? like. help your students fuckwit professor grant??? honestly. anyway. aside from my personal struggles in the english department: let’s proceed. (this was a real incident btw).

would i be at a significant disadvantage to other students by not being able to use a computer during maths exams or science exams because of the drawing of diagrams and graphs and “showing your working”???? hell yes. would i want the professors in that department to probably condescendingly telling me all the time to “present my work neater and more precisely”? FUCK NO. it’s exactly why i avoided every maths and science subject in undergrad- even including the astronomy subject that i wanted to do- because it also meant that fellow students had to read my handwriting for practicals etc as well, that i wasn’t entirely keen on either. but i did not need the harsh reminders of “be more precise and infallible in your work presentation” that i’d had at school constantly for 11 years of maths lessons; affecting my mental health and performance in a subject during a uni semester.

moreover, that’s besides the fact that i’d flat out fail the “year 12 band 4 maths” requirements- unless they want to waive those- for first year maths/science subjects (at least basing it on my local uni).... considering that i actually skipped out on maths completely in year 12 by doing a TVET/tafe/technical college course in live theatre, production and events (which no surprises here, actually included maths anyway 😅).

because, fuck. is ANYONE seeing a trend in my study choices here? hell, i almost did a commerce/business dual degree with a tafe diploma in event management for crying out fucking loud. and you’re telling me that’s also doubled in price?? it’s obvious that i was interested in the arts & humanities and business subjects from the get-go. but under this policy- i’d be charged double for having my interest in event management, instead of say, biology (which is a subject that if it weren’t for mark scaling in my final hsc exam- i would have failed completely)??? utterly ridiculous.

i even contemplated doing a double degree with law at one point (or doing a legal studies major/minor- which is now a course at my local uni, but was not while i was there). however, law course fees have also doubled under this new policy. leaving that out of reach for me, despite that a double degree with law was out of reach for me anyway..... since my mark average was 65% and not at least 75% lol. but as if those marks averages will actually matter under this new policy.

under this bullshit policy, i’d be forced to take science/maths or even teaching (another field i had to avoid, since people can’t read my writing on a whiteboard from a distance half the time either.... besides the fact that i’m not really the ~teacher type~) subjects- all so that my degree price overall will be ”reduced”..... meaning that i would have to trade out my philosophy minor for something in maths/teaching/science (or maybe creative arts- since those fees stayed the same roughly)... instead of sticking to what i was good at: philosophy and other humanities/social science fields like sociology and history????

i understand that many people will snub me with saying “oh why did you even BOTHER going to uni if you were THAT indecisive about what you wanted to do?” which is something i’ve seen many older people saying on posts about this policy. but hell, i was 19 FUCKING YEARS OLD WHEN I STARTED UNI, FOR GODS SAKE. OF COURSE I WAS GOING TO BE FUCKING INDECISIVE ABOUT MY DIRECTION IN LIFE! because, newsflash fuckwits: not everyone has a defined career goal at 19. hell, i still don’t have one at almost 25..... since i’ll admit here, that i flunked out of my postgrad library course.... because i realised that i simply couldn’t cope with learning simple HTML, CSS and javascript coding for website design & user experience design 😂 (again help me computer wiz friends). yes, believe it or not, librarians have to know that today. and most people think that it’s just all about books (okay that was me, but i was wrong). also, if you’re wondering: postgrad library courses aren’t affected, thank god. but my point is, aren’t we meant to fuck up and pick the wrong things in life sometimes??? aren’t we meant to be indecisive about our choices in our late teens up until our mid 20s???

but now you’re telling students that their very first year of uni is practically set out for them, even for arts/humanities degrees (im not counting properly prescribed degrees such as engineering/science/communications & media (they had prescribed majors and prescribed first year subjects, which is why i left it. because i felt trapped in the prescribed marketing et al major etc); all because the government is telling them that “oh to make your first year cheaper: (A.) get good marks.... so that we don’t cancel your HECS place and (B.) pick subjects outside of the arts/humanities like science/maths/tech related subjects so that you don’t pay a whopping $14,500 for your first year of uni and will be more likely to be “job ready”. whatever the actual fuck “job ready” really means. and this all as if there ISN’T enough pressure for a 18/19 year old to succeed in their first year of uni already.

although, the one thing i’ll say is that my one year advanced diploma in marketing that i did in 2014, was $16,500. i still haven’t made any moves to pay it off. but it was constantly in the back of my mind during uni, both undergrad and postgrad. it was there as a reminder to pick cheaper subjects, so as to not greatly increase my combined hecs debt and vet-fee help debt; which is now sitting at $42,500. which under this new policy is the new price of ONE arts & humanities undergrad degree. i’d hate to be going into uni next year at 19 years old (or any age really) with that price tag on my degree.

anyway. that’s the end of my non-sensical rant. morrison and the rest of the libs etc can go fuck themselves.

#life #about me #shut up ilona #auspol

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