#capabilities and hit points

[chaos-lioness]

Today my DND group adopted a baby dragon by luring it out of a cave with pies and I feel like I finally understand the true meaning of the game.

[lemongogo]

hi

[thevalleyisjolly]

Hey, remember the awful audio quality back in C1, especially with the liveshows and the Skype-in episodes, and how nobody blamed the cast for having loud reactions or said that they should stop yelling and shouting despite the literal blowouts?  Hey, remember when Percy used to take over every other group conversation and push for his ideas over the rest of the party’s suggestions, and people just went “Yeah, he’s being a dick, but that’s the type of person Percy is and Taliesin is doing a great job of role-playing as this character”?  Hey, remember when Joe Manganiello came in with a clearly evil PC with his own agenda who ultimately ended up betraying the party, but no one complained that Joe was making the cast uncomfortable and should leave the show?  Hey, remember when Kashaw was interested in Keyleth back in the early days of C1, and no one mocked him for pursuing a PC who wasn’t yet in any canon relationship but had hints of romance with other characters?

Gotta take another peek at those standards because they sure are looking doubled right now.  But hey, I’m sure those are the only reasons why people are criticizing Erika so much for things that other cast members and guests get away with and are even praised for.

Now, this might be a wee bit of a controversial take, but the Critical Role cast are in fact adults who have been playing D&D on and off the Internet for a long time and who have invited many guests to play with them.  They’ve spoken extensively about safe play environments as well as open communication both at and away from the table.  If anyone was uncomfortable even for a minute with someone’s character choices or play style, they’d bring it up off-camera.  If Matt thought a character concept wasn’t a good fit for the table or the story, he’d work with the player to develop something that was. Hell, Erika is a long-time personal friend whom most of them have played with before. If they didn't like how Erika played D&D, or weren't comfortable with something they did in-game, they're perfectly capable of having that discussion with each other as friends and professionals.

Y’know, you don’t have to like either Dusk or Erika, but you do have to examine how you’re talking about them because right now, a lot of the flack they get boils down to “I don’t like them for doing the exact same thing that white cast members are doing/have done, and I assume that because I dislike how they're playing D&D, they must also be making the cast uncomfortable.” And it does not matter whether you had any conscious racist intent or reasoning, because the impact of your words is singling out the sole nonbinary person of colour at the table and treating them as some kind of aggressive "threat" towards the white cast members, whom I will reiterate, are their long-time personal friends who invited them to play in this campaign in the first place.

[jahiera]

shoutout to the old guy who stared across from me in the park while I was eating mcdonald’s in my car. listening to which witch by florence. thinking about her

[unofficialadamtaurus]

100% on everything you said.

it’s just like. as a woc and a wlw, i can see how i’m treated differently based on both.

for many queer or gnc people, they can hide their identity to protect themselves. in the workplace this is called “covering” and can happen to a lot of different groups.

but i can’t hide my race/ethnicity. it’s visible from the moment someone looks at me, reads my name, sees my Very Ethnic features, etc.

racism shares certain aspects in common with queerphobia/transphobia (of course). but fundamentally these types of discrimination end up being two different things and trying to speak over one group because you’re part of the other doesn’t make sense.

white queer people trying to speak over poc in the fandom and excusing racism isn’t good and i’ve seen it happen in the rwby fandom WAY too much.

anyways mood below

Well said.

[detectivehole]

i'll spend like hours trying to perfect a level in ultrakill just to get frustrated and leave and then i'll come back and nail it on like. try 2. it teaches me the value of breaks but it makes me so mad

[balladetto]

there is a time, as a child, where stones or sticks or a pot over fire are warm not just for the flames, but for the way it is about learning how to look after yourself. and how to look after others, in turn! do the kokiri cook? i believe, yes. does link cook? i believe even more, yes. nature gives — lushly — and the children of the forest take — reverently. the act of hunting is that of respect. the act of feeding is that of love. the act of cooking is that of trust.

when link cooks, even by the bare definition of it as a meat-over-fire sort of thing, it's so easy to do in the face of words he can't seem to find. he doesn't need to use his voice for this care at all, and the words will be conveyed anyway. in a place like kokiri forest, where everyone always knows when the fruits are just ripe enough, home tastes like the earth: like chestnuts still warm from the fire, berries with a tart aftertaste, lemongrass on game meat.

castle town brings with it new foods and textures — he likes sticky rice the best. over the course of his journey, he looks to street foods and inn/home-cooked meals. lon lon ranch brings with it lon lon milk, and i imagine creamy soups. zora's domain is where the fish are really juicy, and there are things like shellfish, molluscs, hard things that can be cracked open the way forest nuts are. he can't eat rock sirloin or roasts on death mountain, but goron spice is a kick he enjoys for its newness. the riches and dishes of the desert, all eaten with whatever sense of camaraderie the gerudo are willing to build with him — he enjoys these, too.

i think he's someone who likes eating when his head is in the right place for it, or when he's with the right company. he tends to just go through the motions after everything.

[yoohyeontual]

Round of applause for Alex, I’m going to bed before 1am 👏👏👏👏

[zmeydeva-arch]

not to be basic on main but i still absolutely lose it over an arranged political marriage au this is in fact my cross to bear 

[medicinemane]

One final thought, if you're looking at Ukraine and you're saying "yeah, I feel bad for them, but I'm more worried about China", well... I do agree with you that the idea of China attacking Taiwan is horrific and real thing to be concerned about given the rhetoric China uses around Taiwan

However, all I have to say is that how we handle Ukraine will likely strongly factor in to China's thinking around anything to do with Taiwan

The parallels are blatant, and there's no way they aren't watching

I argue to you that the stronger our support for Ukraine is, the more painful this ends up being for russia so long as they refuse to withdraw; that the stronger the deterrence to China to engage in something that's really similar to what russia's doing in Ukraine

I argue to you that one of the best ways to deal with China and support Taiwan, is for us to support Ukraine

A Ukrainian victory supports a more stable world

[eatyourdamnpears]

I hate the fact that I couldn’t get out if I needed to. I don’t have a car or license. I can’t work. I can’t afford any rent in my area with disability. I don’t have control of my finances. I can’t take care of myself. I’m just… stuck here. I’m stuck living in a house that can become so easily volatile and I don’t know how to get out if the time comes where I need to

[kiilonova]

i am not able to handle this guy its like two magnets of the same polarity

[yesistolethisurl]

,

[foreveranevilregal]

I have to share the most incredible dream I had. The other night, I dreamed that I was in Traitors US season 2. I guess we were doing a night mission and I was running across a parking lot with Sandra (because who else could I keep up) with and she had a Mercedes. Everyone else had huge cars but she had this sleek looking black Mercedes and it suited her.

Then we cut to voting but instead of at the round table we were all on a couch in like a trailer and trying to decide who to vote for, and Parvati throws out, “How about we hear from someone quieter?” and looks around and I, taking this as a challenge, ask, “So are we not looking at Parvati anymore? Because she’s acting real sus. And once I get murdered in a night or two, because she’s not dumb and won’t do it right away, you’ll know I’m right. You can also vote me out to test me but I’ll stand up in front and say I’m a faithful (I was) and you’ll have wasted a vote.”

I guess voting happened after this and I don’t know who got banished. It wasn’t Parvati though, because afterwards she follows me into the hallway (at some point the setting transitioned back to the castle?) and pulls me aside. She opens her mouth, getting ready to lay into me, and I cut her off and say, “You want me to stop gunning for you? Recruit me. I promise I’ll accept and I’ll redirect the conversation as best as I can if your name gets brought up again.” And I meant it too. If I were a traitor I’d try to protect my fellow traitors as much as possible.

Whatever she was expecting, it must not have been that. I had her cornered, good and proper, and she knew it. She looked absolutely murderous. I think she kinda respected my manipulation game though. She looked so pissed and I thought she was gonna slap me or something, but she just starts walking away. And I call out to her, “You look hot when you’re mad.”

She turns around and does a double take, not because she doesn’t know she’s hot, but because me…saying that…? And her brain was processing that information and any implications held therein. I wasn’t even hitting on her, I just wanted to throw her off her game even more. For good measure, I blow her a kiss too. And then I woke up from probably a top 10 dream I’ve ever had.

[dangoulains-devotion]

every time I have to wade through inane ship wars where people are willfully ignorant to the depth and facets of cloud strife's character, circumstance, and story just so I can find some cool screenshots or fanart my 'cloud is ace' agenda simply grows more potent out of spite