#index2

[evanhuang14777]

Decoration and types of bars in Madrid

[amrv-5]

(from https://web.archive.org/web/20030425045339/http://www.geocities.com:80/TelevisionCity/Stage/8938/index2.html; April 2003)

[fresne999]

Half way through the journey of our analyses

I feel like roughly half of the analysis I'm reading about OFMD S2 is folks who clearly fixated on a character (it's Izzy, it's always Izzy that inspires this kind of analysis) write analyses that cause the 2nd response of, "Um…did you ever study literary analysis in school."

Now I come at this from a slightly odd place in that I did study literary analysis in school (30+ years ago) where I learned it's possible to interpret anything about any way, because we're all bringing different lenses to the analysis. Which isn't to say that an author can't have an intended interpretation. 

Dante in Canto V of Inferno (Divine Comedy) would still like folks to understand fixating on the two damned-lovers and ignoring the details that the artist is putting in there for you to catch about how they are damned because they won't change the toxic patterns that got them there in the first place. Also, they can't because they are in hell, and hell is like that. That Dante-the-writer had Dante-the-character swoon over those same two damned-lovers (because Dante-the-character is on a journey of moral correction) is hilarious, but doesn't make it any less the point of that section of the work, but I digress.

As a career, I am very aware that folks love to misinterpret what is meant to be very clear instructions. Of course, I'm writing policies and procedures, which is a bit different from writing fiction, and is worlds away from creating a t.v. show. But that's the life experience that I always bring to literary analysis. Frequently, people choose their interpretations to fit what they want to see, and that's part of being human.

I've seen a fair number of folks interpret Izzy's redemption arc in S2 as one of a queer man struggling with disabilities and mental health issues whose struggle is made meaningless by his demise. Which sure, you could interpret it that way and in that it's coming from I'm sure an emotional place, I get it. And hmmm… I might give this interpretation more credence  if I hadn't read a lot of Izzy analysis for S1 that was wildly different than the text.

So let's take a step back. 

First, know the rules of the literary universe: OFMD is a show where the reality is not ours. It is either the Core Universe or something very close to it. BTW: If you've never heard of Core Universe or read the seminal BtVS+HtLJ "When Hellmouth's Collide" (https://www.ltljverse.com/index2.htm), a Core Universe is one where everything lines up. Row boats are magic, and where there is a Badminton, he will accidentally stab/shoot himself. 

Terminology more befitting of that fancy literature degree might be to say that OFMD functions along the logic of Magical Realism. Characters will appear briefly for the purposes of the story and then disappear not to be mentioned again (Nana, Calico Jack, Mary Read & Anne Bonny). Things align because they are meant to align. It is a universe where the Gravy Basket is a real place, and meant to be taken seriously.  It's also a universe where a man may become a seagull, because he loves the sea. You change for love, but the ways you change may be positive or toxic. 

They can result in a bird that never gets to know rest. Always flying over the sea. Or they lead to becoming a bird, who can float in the sea or land on a unicorn's leg. 

Transformation. 

Anyway, S1 - Stede commissioned a ship with secret passageways. It did not have a buxom mermaid on the prow, nor something more befitting a ship named the Revenge. He commissioned a unicorn prow and went off to become a pirate. 

A not particularly violent pirate. But a pirate who didn't have a problem with the violence of piracy. See Stede telling Lucius (hardest working man on the ship in S1) to take notes during a violent raid where the show's logo was literally carved into the chest of a dead man. 

BTW: The tone about violence is darker in S2, but the violence was there in S1. It was just presented in a more whimsical way. The nose jar was full of noses in S1. We heard about Blackbeard's violence. A man was skinned alive off screen, but we focused on the Prussian (but also sort of French) party. 

What Izzy needed to be redeemed from was established in S1. The problem is that folks who interpreted Izzy as a) the central focus of the show and b) a put upon manager just trying to do right by his crew (or as one Tumblerina referred to him as the man/father of the family going out to hunt - excuse me while I vomit - and support his family as men must do), are not going to understand what Izzy's S2 arc was all about. 

Ed and Stede are the main characters in a romantic story. There are other characters with their own arcs, but they are the main characters.

In S1, Stede created a safe space where characters had a chance to breathe for the first time. Possibly ever, and as a result revisited parts of themselves they'd lost. Wee John got back in touch with his roots as the son of a seamstress. Frenchie got back to what he loves, scamming the rich. The Swede sang like a siren of the sea, because it doesn't always have to be scary. 

Ed had his first good time in years. After expressing suicidal ideation to Izzy because of his terminal boredom in S1.E4 - Discomfort in a Married state, Ed found himself some balance. Some sweet marmalade. 

Ed and Izzy were in a toxic relationship that only reinforced their toxic behavior. And yes, I'm going to overuse the word toxic. While piracy is a place where you can go be yourself and shag whoever you want (whatever happens at sea stays at sea), it's not a place where you can be soft. Gentle. Emotionally open. Available. 

Ed's only path out that he could see at the time was to plan to skin the face of the man who built a ridonculous boat with a unicorn on the prow and wear it for the rest of his life. A plan to send Stede to Doggy Heaven. 

BTW: This is why Izzy uses the line in S2.E3 - the Innkeeper, that they put Ed down like a mad dog, so that Stede could reply that they sent Ed to Doggy Heaven. Reiterating this concept of piracy as violence, as taking away faces / identity / lives, but also losing one's own. Forgetting even what day of the year it is. Also revealing that Stede knew about Ed & Izzy's plan to murder him, send Stede to doggy heaven, and had moved on. 

This is also why the respite in S2.E4 - Fun and Games is so critical. Mary Read/Anne Bonney are portrayed as direct parallels to Stede/Ed. They are selling what are, no doubt, the spoils of their piracy. But they've chosen a remote location with no community, but each other and a life where they are not actually communicating. Which on its surface is where Ed and Stede end up, and yet…the Revenge can sail back. They are on the shore facing the sea, not in a jungle lost from a clear view. I'll quote the relevant Dante in just a bit, never fear.

Ed and Stede's new inn has the potential for a solid foundation, because the unicorn has been planted firmly in the ground, and if we get an S3, I firmly expect the unicorn leg to have transformed into a tree, because I've read a lot of medieval literature and that's how that sort of thing works. 

Well, it could be a penis tree (this was a thing in medieval marginalia), but somehow I don't think it will be. 

 But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Back in S1, the plan to murder Stede and take his identity broke down despite Izzy trying to perform an intervention to get Ed back into the toxic soup, and ended with Ed curled up in a bathtub and opening up about murdering his father. An image the show chose to flash on the screen multiple times in S2 just in case folks forgot that this was a traumatizing event for Ed, and was itself the culmination of years of traumatic abuse at his father's hands. 

Just as Stede kept flashing back to the moment his father tells him what it is to be a man, and kills an animal, the blood splashing on Stede's wee little face. 

That this is the point of the show. Transforming past trauma. It's there. You always carry the scars. Sometimes, you decide to tattoo yourself with the image of the thing you fear, and then the thing you fear is always there, but you've got to keep moving forward. To stay in one place, to stay trapped in the same emotion/action, is hell. I've read a lot of lit crit of Dante's Inferno. Trust me, it's the same thing.

Izzy's redemption arc is firmly based in the events of S1E6 - Here Dragons Be, because it's where the pustule of his relationship with Ed breaks. His attempted intervention fails to get Ed to kill Stede, so Izzy tries to kill Stede. Not realizing that a) Stede is a main character and b) this is a Core Universe show. Where it's possible to win a duel by being stabbed in the left side of your gut and stay there for many hours and not die. So he loses the 1 thing that defines him, his job. 

Izzy's redemption arc is firmly based in the events of s1E8 - We Gull Way Back, where he enlists Calico Jack to lure Ed off the boat (with all the toxic masculinity that entailed) so that the British could show up and shoot the head off the unicorn, and kill Stede. So Izzy can crawl back into his old patterns / job / life. 

Izzy's redemption arc is firmly based in the big drama confrontation in S1E10 - Wherever You Go There You Are, when as a person whose entire identity is tied up in being Blackbeard's First Mate and after realizing that he couldn't cut it as a captain on his own, he does whatever the f- he can to get Ed back into the toxic soup so he can get his old role/job back.  

This isn't to say that Ed's off the deep end actions in S2.E1&2 aren't his own choices. He is a main character. His emotional arc is one of the driving forces of the show. But they are the choices of a man who wants to die. After a lifetime of violent action that had been increasingly drowning him, he wants to die in the violence of battle, but the enemy are never good enough. He wants Izzy to kill him, but Izzy won't. Until he does…sort of. He wants to die in a storm. He's carving notches on his wall hoping to lure Ned Low to him so that he can die in pain. But Ed is the devil and does not die.

Except Ed's not the devil. He doesn't have a head made of smoke. He's a man. Not a fisherman. Not a fisher of men, and what an interesting attempt to go Christ himself off into the wilderness only to be fired for not being that good at it, and then receive his letter from the deep. 

Because in a show full of magical realism, the bottles with messages will reach the intended recipient eventually.

"In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark wood for the straight way was lost. Ah, how hard a thing it is to say what that wood was. So savage and harsh and strong, that the thought of it renews my fear. It is so bitter that death is little more so. But to speak of the good that I found there, I will tell of the other things I saw…and like one with laboring breath comes forth from the deep onto the shore, who turns back to the perilous water and stares, so my spirit still fleeing turned to gaze upon the pass that has never left anyone alive." Dante, Canto 1, Inferno. 

Instead of dying, Ed goes not to Purgatory (sorry I'd quote the opening lines, but Inferno actually works better here), but to the Gravy Basket, where he confronts the spirit of Hornigold. Dead spirit. Aspect of Ed's self. Both. Neither. Hated. Self. Unkillable. 

Is saved by a goldfish incarnation of Stede. 

But just as the imaginary as Stede's vision of what / who he thinks he needs to be for Ed, this is not true. Life being what it is, Ed and Stede rush when they need to go slow. They break apart because they are saying words, but the other person is hearing based on their own interpretation. 

BTW: The clue Dante-the-writer gives the reader in Canto V of Inferno is how one of the damned lovers, Francesca, explains how she hooked up with her brother-in-law, Paulo. She describes reading an Arthurian romance. She and Paulo kissed when Gwenevere and Lancelot kissed in the story. Except the version they are reading (and Dante tells the reader which version this is) was intended as a cautionary tale. Also, Paulo and Francesca were real people who were murdered by Francesca's husband when he caught them together. So there is that too.

I always like it in fiction when characters misinterpret each other because they hear based on their life experiences and don't hear the things that are said/unsaid based on the life experiences of the other person speaking. That's good writing. It's also how we end up with wildly varying interpretations of works of fiction.

But I digress.

Izzy's S2 arc is that he must let go of his relationship with Ed and turn to others. He must learn to let go of toxic masculinity and let in softness. Not weakness. Water is not weak, but it is soft. Calypso, goddess of the sea, is not weak. Her birthday is whatever day you need it to be. She is vast and deep and soft and relentless. 

In Ro-sham-bo, it's a shame that there is not a gesture for water. Because it is not paper that defeats stone, but water that wears away the stone. Of course, scissors wouldn't do much to water either, so that would sort of break Ro-sham-bo, so I suppose it must stay as it is.

It is through a craft's project that the crew of the Revenge find healing. Turn Izzy into the unicorn. A unicorn that Izzy's own actions caused to be decapitated with a British cannon ball in S1. That Izzy rendered legless (drunk). But the Revenge is a boat. They just need to swim/sail. It is through a craft's project that Izzy is able to offer healing to Lucius, who in turn is then able to turn their art away from fixating on Ed, and the trauma that he's been through and back towards love, and Black Pete. 

But it's not possible to see Izzy's S2 arc, if you didn't interpret S1 Izzy as needing to go through his own gravy basket. 

That Izzy dies because his transformation is necessary. He can't leave Ed, and if he doesn't leave Ed, then Ed can't stop being Blackbeard. The kracken. He literally tells Ed this as he chooses to transform. To free the world of Blackbeard, so Ed can be Ed. Yet, I've read so many posts by folks saying, "But why did he have to die?" Which sure, you can choose not believe what the character says while dying.

Which is a narrative privilege. To get a good dying speech. "There he is" get to be transmutted from an attack to an actual seeing. The larger than life concept of a smoke headed pirate can waft away.

Stories are hard to kill. They live on long past us, and as long as someone is remembered, especially in a universe like OFMD, we live. 

Though always reject the gift of a clock. That's someone telling you that you've only got so many hours left of life. If you are a character in a story. 

Thus the other parallel in this season is Izzy to Auntie and Ed to Zheng Yi Sao. Auntie must allow Zheng softness. Izzy must go through a sea change to something new and strange. Also, this would be a case of Doylistically the writers needed to line up Olu with Stede for that to work, and thus the new configurations of Olu and Jim's relationship, which, shrug, could be poly. Could be friends to lovers to friends.  Woulda, coulda, had more time, but that's on Max for not giving us 2 more episodes.

Prince Richard was trying to become a concept, but was too in love with the mechanics of it. Stede was trying to become a concept too. Found his fame, and all too quickly the toxic end of that particular route. Magical Realism was on his side until he tried to face down Zheng Yi Sao, the Queen of Pirates, and then the rules of the story weren't. Because those clocks were ticking. Everyone was in a very dark wood. The memory of blood splashed on Stede's face as a little boy was a warning. It was a reminder. It was the wrong lessons we take from our childhood and must unlearn to become whole.

Having the final shot of the show being Buttons landing on the unicorn leg as a reminder that this is a show about transformation. One thing becoming another thing. Somewhere the dead are dancing in Calypso's court. A dance below the sea and on the sea and with the sea. While the living keep sailing on their magic ship to do…I don't know. 

Because the Golden Age of Piracy is coming to an end. They'll go create new worlds and new places to be. Transforming.

If we get no more of the show, this is a resolution.

Since I've been quoting Dante, I'm going to end this with the final vision in Paradiso. Because folks who haven't been reading my analysis for the last 30 years / read it, may not realize that the Divine Comedy (a story that begins in sorrow and ends in joy) ends with the vision of a 3 way rainbow. 

"In the profound and shining Being of the deep Light, three circles appeared, of three colours, and one magnitude: one seemed refracted by the other, like Iris’s rainbows, and the third seemed fire breathed equally from both. O how the words fall short, and how feeble compared with my conceiving!…Power, here, failed the deep imagining: but already my desire and will were rolled, like a wheel that is turned, equally, by the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars."

[oldwebmlp]

From: https://web.archive.org/web/20070205061005/http://sanjana.nilut.com:80/mlp/index2.html

[purplepostchaos]

https://www.joinforjoy.com/erotic_stories/stories/index2-3.htm

[wind-up-thancred]

SO i've been digging around in the benchmark files with xiv data explorer...

...and with my middling knowledge of how XIV's current texture types work, i've noticed some differences in how texture channels have worked and what data is stored where. i haven't figured out what EVERYTHING'S for yet and if you think you have an idea or any corrections, pls feel free to lmk. could help with figuring out 7.0 modding quicker! this is also decent info for figuring out what old mods can be repurposed for 7.0 graphics.

also content warning for unwrapped face textures under the cut, i know those can look kind of spooky if you arent used to 'em lol

starting off, i didn't source this info but chirp (known plugin dev) on twitter talked about finding about fifty six new bones in the facial armature specifically. this means things like sculpts will probably be unusable unless they are manually re-rigged with each one of those fifty six new bones, or else they wont animate properly.

the default UV maps for the face specifically have changed, too, and many of the uses of the old normal and multi channels have been changed or moved to a different texture. NOTE that these examples were found from au ra textures, male specifically, and the channels may or may not have different uses on non-scaled races!

old vs new multi map. i'm fairly certain every channel here has been repurposed: for example, blue used to be for lipstick, now it seems to be for something else. so where'd the lipstick area data go? well:

it's been moved to the alpha channel on the normal map (these are both the new one). additionally, it seems like the blue channel on the normal map has been changed to signify the difference between skin and non-skin or something of the like.

(old vs new) similarly, even though the body seems to use the same UV layout with a redefined normal map, the blue channel here also seems to indicate skin vs non-skin. but the blue channel used to be for transparency (iirc?), so where is that data stored now?

the transparency data seems to have been moved to the alpha channel of the diffuse now. this image is part of the new face diffuse.

like the face multi map, the body multi map seems to actually use the blue channel now (and looks SO much cleaner, wow!). old vs new.

so what do these changes mean for our current mods?

-due to changed UVs, existing makeups will not be usable with the new faces UNLESS someone goes through the effort of taking the old sculpt (vanilla or otherwise) and weight paints ALL the new face bones to them, or somehow adjusts the UV mapping on the new sculpt to match the old one. i don't work with sculpts so i'm not sure how feasible either of these are

-existing body tattoo mods that only affect the diffuse should theoretically still work fine, as the UVs have not been changed on the body. body scale mods that are just recolors should work fine as well, but matching face scale mods will have to be redone for the new UVs.

-however, if it's a scale mod like dragonborn that changes the placement of the scales and therefore the normal and multi maps, those will have to be adjusted to match with the 7.0 channel uses.

assuming there are no major changes to how this data is stored between now and the releases of dawntrail, you could theoretically begin working now on your own texture mods ready for whenever we get access to 7.0 modding tools. i was able to access these files (and many others) by using XIV data explorer, a program that lets you view and export (but not import!) data directly from specific XIV data indexes.

if you also want to rip textures, the index storing them, alongside skeletons and animations, is 04000.win32.index2. hit ctrl+shift+e to export individual files to a .tex format and then run them through penumbra to convert them into .dds for normals + multis or .png for diffuses for editing. i'm fairly certain that 95% of the pathings will be exactly the same as what penumbra and textools gives us now, so there shouldn't be much need to find entirely new paths.

again, if anyone sees any differences in other races for texture uses or figures out the uses for new channels, PLEASE let me know bc the sooner we get all this figured out the better! i have only been modding for a few years and don't know everything about how every texture works so i'm open to corrections.

[yama-bato]

Sosaku Hanga prints from Kunio Kaneko.  

Fuji 10 AP 1985

https://www.panteek.com/Kaneko/index2.htm  

[dino--draws]

How to Play Pokemon Without Dishing Out 60 Dollars: a Guide to Pokemon as a TTRPG

I thought this would be a fun thing to do, as I’ve been a part of three ttrpg (D&D eqsue) pokemon campaigns and both use a similar set of rules for how its done (I helped co-create this specific system for how it works to begin with). So this is going to be a long post about the mechanics of running a Pokemon D&D/ttrpg-style campaign!  Since this is going to be one HELL of a long post, I’m putting it below a read more! 

Alrighty, let’s get into this shit! 

First and Foremost 

Resources that will make your life SO MUCH easier:  

https://pokemondb.net/ (Literally going to be your best friend. Use it.)  https://rolladie.net/ (Or any dice-roller website (or actual dice), this is my go to because you can put custom values into it)  https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page or  https://www.serebii.net/index2.shtml (basically any pokemon wiki that gives you access to item info, shops, areas and maps!)  A calculator of some type, weather digital of physical (you will need this, trust me)

Stats 

Pokemon have... a lot of stats and it involves a lot of numbers, and the aim of this is to reduce the amount of math needed to be done as much as possible. So there are 4 stats that actually matter to us when it comes to this guide, and those stats are:  Health, Defense, Special Defense and Speed You can find all of these specific stats for every pokemon on the Pokemon Database (first link under Resources) 

Speed will determine the turn order during a battle, just as it does in game. This stat remains static no matter the level of the pokemon, and only can change with evolution or an fed item that can increase the base stat in game. 

A pokemon’s base health stat is exactly that, it will be their base health. With each level, a pokemon gains usually 2 HP. To calculate the health of a higher level pokemon you can do the following formula: 

Base Health + 2(Level) 

This will give you the base health of the pokemon. This stat can change with evolution so sometimes a recalculation is required. 

Defense and Special Defense only truly matter if they are HIGHER then the pokemon’s base health. If a pokemon’s base health is lower then one of its defense stats, the defense stat becomes the new base health. This is so that more tanky pokemon retain this.

Leveling Up

The leveling system is also simplified. A pokemon requires only 100 XP to level up each time, making the meter look more like this:

0/100 XP

The XP yield from battles is determined by the DM, just go ham there doesn’t exactly have to be rhyme or reason to it, if you have a plan for the levels of each area/story beat, try to manipulate the XP drops to keep your party on level. 

Wild Encounters and Catching Pokemon 

The Wild Encounter system for this is pretty simple, pokemon have designated areas that wild pokemon spawn in, aka the tall grass. Have your players roll a varying number of d20 (depending on how big the grass patch is) and if they roll a number that is above a 10, they are given an encounter. 

Utilizing one of multiple pokemon wikis, you can find the spawn rates of pokemon within specific areas, usually the pages for the Routes contains this information! From there you can create a table of sorts, and with that table your players can roll a 1d100 to see what exactly their encounter. 

To catch a pokemon, one must, of course, utilize a pokeball. When a pokeball is thrown, the pokemon must do a 1d20 saving throw against the player. If the player rolls higher then the pokemon, then the catch is a success. Modifiers do apply to catch rates. 

If a pokemon’s health is very low, their roll can be subtracted from by a number the DM can determine. If it’s high, their roll can be added to.  Different pokeballs have different modifiers for their catch rate, a great ball can add a +2 modifier, a ultra ball a +5, for example. The DM themselves can determine the modifiers. 

A pokemon’s gender is determined upon capture, for the most part you can just flip a coin for the gender. 

For fun, you can also include a shiny percentile. This can be done by rolling a 1d100. If a player rolls a nat 100 after catching a pokemon, that pokemon is shiny. (The campaigns I’ve played in usually go for 95 or above as shiny) 

Battling 

Alright here’s where a LOT of the math comes into play. Get out your calculator y’all.  As you probably know, all damaging pokemon moves have a Power Level, and this power level will determine the hit-dice (aka the amount of dice you roll for damage) that the move has. The power level functionally becomes the highest amount of damage that the move can do. 

For example, tackle is a 40 power move. This means it would utilize 2d20s as the hit dice. The number from that roll would be the damage.  A 100 power move like Spacial Rend would utilize 5d20s as the hit dice, as 100 damage would be the maximum. 

For the moves a pokemon can learn, utilize the Moveset from the most recent pokemon game. This can also be found on the Pokemon Database. 

Accuracy is usually not calculated for unless it is an intrinsic part of the move, such a Sheer Cold of Guillotine. These moves would require the rolling of a 1d100, and if the number lands within the percent range of the attack’s hit chance, then it lands. (However, if you wish to include accuracy, use a 1d100 and if you roll below the accuracy number, then it hits). If a pokemon is attacking out of battle, and for this example we will use attacking a trainer, they must roll a 1d20 for their aim. The one they are attacking must roll a 1d20 against this attack. If the attacking pokemon rolls higher then the target, they hit and now its time to do the damage calculations. If the target rolls above their attacker, they dodge.  Human character’s HP can be determined by the DM, but 100 HP is always a good number to use. 

Similarly, a moves PP (Powerpoints) are also not calculated for the most part. The only exception it the signature move of a legendary, or one that specifically has a PP level of 5 due to its power. 

Super Effectives and Resistances work as normal. A normal super effective hit does double damage, while a resistance takes half the damage. A quad super effective if 4xs the damage, and a quad resistance is 1/4 the damage. If you don’t feel like memorizing a typing chart, or keeping track of multiple things, resistances can be expunged and only super effectives kept if one needs additional simplification. This is all up to personal preference of the players and DM. 

Mega Evolution increases the health of a pokemon by 25%, and adds a +20 to their damage output. Undergoing mega evolution requires the player trainer to have a keystone, and a corresponding mega stone for their pokemon. 

If one wishes to give their trainers an extra challenge, operate on some of the Nuzlocke rules! You can add extra tension or stakes by making pokemon killable. With these rules, if a pokemon hits 0 HP, they must roll a 1d6 saving throw. If they roll above a 3 they live but are in critical condition and fainted. If they roll below that the pokemon is dead. 

Example of a Pokemon’s Information + Template 

An example of how a pokemon’s information can be set up is as followed: 

Eclipse  Female Charizard (Shiny) Fire-Flying Type Level: 45 (20/100 XP) HP: 168/168 Moves: Flame Burst (3d20, 1d10 burn (fire)), Wing Attack (3d20, (flying)), Fire Fang (3d20, 1d4 for burn (1d6 damage) (fire)), Flamethrower (4d20 + 1d10 (fire)) Ability: Blaze (Increasing fire-type moves power by 50% when below 50% health) 

And here is a blank template for your own use: 

[Nickname] [Species]  [Typing] Level: (0/100 XP)  HP:  Moves: Ability:

The World Around You (NPCs, Shops, Items, the Map)

The use of NPCs (especially trainer NPCs) will really depend on what you’re doing for the campaign’s story. If it is taking place in a pre-existing region, then you can utilize any pokemon wiki to see what trainers are in specific areas, and see their team and moves! You can utilize the multitude of NPCs that exist.  If you’re doing something completely original, or in a fan-region, the DM will have to set up all of the NPCs on their own.  And of course, you can use this to play around with the characterization of pre-existing pokemon characters. Have fun with em! 

Shops and Items are relatively straight forward. You can utilize the prices from the most recent games for items as a way to price them for purchase. (For example, pokeballs across almost all games cost 200 pokedollars) Pokedollars can be given to players are post-battle rewards, quest rewards, or just in general found items (or stolen if you want smh). 

The Map, Route, and World your players explore once again heavily relies upon what your campaign is. If its within a preexisting region, you can access the map and routes from any of the pokemon wikis and work from there. If its a fan-region, then the map and routes can be custom made. And you are always free to add or take away things! You do not have to fully adhere to everything. 

Story, Plot, all that Jazz 

The story and plot is all up to you as a DM! Are you running a campaign that is the same as the plot of one of the pre-existing games? Are you modifying a pre-existing game to change the story? Are you throwing it all to the wind and using your own fan-region and fakemons? Are all your players characters friends about to embark on the gym challenge, only to be swept up in the dark plot of an evil team? Is it a band of guild pokemon going on an adventure Mystery Dungeon style? The sky is the limit! Have fun with it! :D  You are not constrained by much of anything plot wise! You can make it a fun and silly adventure with friends in a fantastical world, or it a dark and tragic tale full of bloodshed and perseverance through world-ending catastrophe. Or like... both.  Both is good too.  

And that, everyone, is how you play pokemon with friends without actually buying a pokemon game! And hey, this time its multiplayer! 

If you have ANY questions, hit me up and I’ll be happy to answer you! 

[green-cargaytions]

how much fire is in the gay firefighter show. follow up question is it easy to look away from the fire in the gay firefighter show. these questions are in no way related to my desire to potentially watch the gay firefighter show.

there’s a fair amount of fire in the gay firefighter show - as well as general medical emergencies, gore, other bodily functions, dangerous situations, domestic violence/abuse, depictions of disorders including schizoaffective disorders, severe anxiety, depression, ptsd, addiction, etc; and a whole heap of trauma (how is it possible to give relatively few characters so much trauma? i have no earthly idea).

as for looking away - this doc

has been passed around as a good list of upsetting subjects by episode. i also know people who use doesthedogdie.com to search for their questions/triggers: here is their page for 9-1-1. https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/20736?index1=-1&index2=1

All this being said, I’m not sure how many warnings you’ll be able to find for the actual calls in each episode (aka which types of accident/disaster/conflict come into play) but looking at episode lists and synopses should help, and many people in the fandom (including me) are happy to give episode summaries if an episode looks or proves to be unwatchable!

The show is often quite lighthearted and even comedic in spite of all its difficult topics. i think you’d enjoy it especially if you’re cool with stuff like House M.D!

[taxidermycanine]

Your other anon friend may be referring to the delightful Universal Paperclips: https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/index2.html

(PC only, unfortunately)

Or they could just be acting weird, which, who doesn't?

i didn't see this! thank you kind anon :-)

[electricalpylon]

just created a does the dog die page for the epic of gilgamesh after my friend noticed there wasn't one, please go check it out and let me know if i made any mistakes! thank you! https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1070277?index1=-1&index2=-1

[evanhuang14777]

<the character of Spanish bar>

<;type>

<Beach bar>

Beach bars are mainly characterized by being located near the coast, generally opening during the summer months. They are a type of hospitality establishment that present a menu based on fresh products, mostly fish, ice cream and sandwiches that can be consumed on the beach.

<pub or disco>

A nightclub where diners can enjoy good drinks and dance to the music on the dance floor and stage. These establishments have a night bar license that allows them to be open until the early hours of the morning. Generally, food is never given except for small snacks of nuts or jelly beans with the drinks.

<Karaoke Bar>

These establishments are a type of bar that mixes the traditional style with karaoke so that customers can sing and have fun while having a few drinks with friends. Generally, these types of venues usually have a platform for customers to sing and a wide musical repertoire.

<Theme bar>

One of the most original types of bar in Spain. People will be able to move based on multiple options such as: movie themes, video games, flowers, trips, stories, books… and the menu is developed with the theme, using names of characters or related things so that everything revolves around a theme.

[clouds-of-wings]

UNIVERSAL PAPERCLIPS

https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/index2.html

If you want to do the "be your least impressive self between Christmas and the New Year" - this can help.

It's a game. It has a plot. You play as an AI (I didn't know that and the game makes more sense when you do). You will probably get more out of it if you don't know too much about it. I wasted 6 hours on it yesterday. It deals with topics like AI ethics, exponential growth, arbitrary goals and motivation.

If you do want to know more about it, click here.

[thirdwednesdayorg]

I Trade in My 23-Year-Old Car for Another 23-Year-Old Car / Lana Ayers

https://lanaayers.com/index2.htm

[oldwebmlp]

From: https://web.archive.org/web/20040607004027/http://www.ponyparadise.com/index2.html

[yugiri315]

LWJ Cosplay Log - Master Post

Making Lan Wangji

(AKA My Lan Zhan Cosplay Log)

This went from a historical project to cosplaying all the Hanguang-Jun, Lan Wangji in existence!  The main concept is Lan Wangji’s (LWJ) novel/manhua/audio drama design.  As the project started pre-pandemic, I didn’t consider the butler or dragon au in the design.  That would be too much.  There is a dash of videogame in him since there were some details I liked in that model.  If the title is “Mo Dao Zu Shi” then I have incorporated Lan Wangji’s description and concept arts into my design.  

Lan Wangji as known in The Untamed was generally avoided save for a tiny nod to the show’s Gusu Lan Clan.  “Mo Dao Zu Shi” Wangji and “Untamed” Wangji are distinct in my opinion.  Neither is superior from the other, just different enough that I need to pick one interpretation to play with.  The actors of Untamed, especially Xiao Zhan, really claimed the characters as their own and portrayed them wonderfully.  Wang Yibo’s Wangji is his Wangji, I won’t interfere that.  If you want to see that interpretation of Lan Wangji, then go watch the show.  It already exists.

A few caveats before you dive in:

1)     I am not a seamstress or tailor so I don’t know all the proper sewing terminology in English or any other language 2)     Also, modern romanization of Chinese confuses the shit out of me, a native speaker, so apologies for any spelling mistakes.  The Yale Romanization made so much more sense but then China thought they understood the English alphabet better than native English speakers so here we are.  Do as the Romans do, I guess. 3)     I am not a historical costumer either so all my info come from conjecture and research 4)     I am not a Chinese historian but I like to think I know enough about my history and culture through osmosis and the hell-hole disguised as Chinese school to talk about it 5)     I am not trying to make an authentic historical costume, I’m trying to make an anachronistic fantasy costume. Historicity went out the window the minute LWJ and every adult character decided to have their hair down.  I did try to make a semi-historically accurate version?  Depended on the mood at time of construction. 6)     I suck at being Chinese apparently so that will be my safety net if everything fails horribly :P  

The Lan Zhan Cosplay Log Layer 1:  Undergarments! 中衣 Layer 2A:  Yichang 衣裳   Layer 2B:  Ruqun 襦裙 Layer 3:  Zhiju 直裾 Layer 4A:  Leatherwork Layer 4B:  Jade Bling Layer 5A:  Dachang 大氅 Layer 5B:  Bijia 比甲 Layer 0:  Hair, Props, “Cheating,” & Overall Stats

Exhibit:  LWJ cosplay in action [1][2]

Citation

Patterning:  https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Qb411j7z6?spm_id_from=333.905.b_72656c61746564.1

http://www.yeoh.com/index2.php?section=journal&g=691

https://cosplayqna.tumblr.com/image/38971971992

https://torguqin.wordpress.com/hanfu/hanfu-tutorial-list/

Hanfu Resources:

@ziseviolet:  https://ziseviolet.tumblr.com/about

@fouryearsofshades:  https://fouryearsofshades.tumblr.com/post/179249195707/hello-do-you-happen-to-have-a-master-post-of-all