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alexilulu · 5 months

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GAMES I PLAYED OF THE YEAR 2023, #1

(Next: #2)

OR: How I Was Let Down By AAA Dogshit

Razzies Award for Most Baffling Game of 2023 Winner: Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix, Creative Business Unit III)

Or: The Aristocrats, by Way of D & D (the Game of Thrones TV writers, not the tabletop roleplaying game)

Playing Final Fantasy 16 was an exercise that began as farce, then kind of morphed into tragedy, for me. This might be because of how I played it (my girlfriend played until the first Kupka fight, stopped playing when she saw the volume of sidequests that spawned after that, and I played the rest), or how thoroughly I felt that the game was doing something that was making me thoroughly depressed to see go where it did.

I think mostly I was hoping that the AAA, ultimate budget and engine that they gave CBU3 to run and play with, the indulgence from corporate masters to let them experiment and make something new that still rings with the Final Fantasy name, gave me Final Fantasy 14 with better skin shaders and shit.

I didn’t go into it expecting much on the politics; the magical underclass is ruinously powerful (they literally control the means of production with their bodies, villages are reliant on them for water because they don’t dig wells anymore) and simultaneously reviled, beaten and ultimately killed by their own power via crystallization. The world is divided by kingdoms…that all have agreed to a central banking standard that a merchant’s guild set and not a single one of them is doing wild debasement to? The planet’s dying, Cloud, but everyone’s way more focused on watching gay Bahamut cross cocks with Odin twice and then leave in the skies over another pointless battle?

All of which is out the window by the time Titan’s dead in the ground, btw. The plight of the Branded is wholly forgotten the moment the plot really wants to be about the world-ending god who wants Clive’s body, and doing things about free will and predestination without even a look back at how those themes play into the abject chattel slavery that a significant portion of the world lives under.

But somehow, it’s bizarre, disappointing and ultimately confused middle to final third aren’t really my biggest problem with the game, even if the finale was quarter-baked and vaguely infuriating. I can accept a fully vibes-based plot, even when it has pretensions towards a grand scale of movement and war (they really brought in a historian into the plot after the timeskip so they can pretend they have any cohesive idea of geopolitics going on outside of when you show up and the world starts ending somewhere immediately). I can even except the ‘fuck yeah humanity’ ass boring ending that’s supposed to make you feel like you read a fairy tale about the hero who saved everyone.

The combat brutally, terminally killed any semblance of care I could ever show for this game by the time I had all the eikons unlocked.

See, this is a thing that’s been a long time coming for final fantasy, ever since the first 13 game, when they introduced the idea of stagger and magic/physical damage, the idea of a high-damage state you put the enemy in and extend the duration of by applying elemental weaknesses that allows you to hammer them with physical damage. This was how FF13 worked and was designed around the 13-style turn-based ATB system, stacking up multiple moves on a bar, and it’s a little bit of how FF15 worked by way of Kingdom Hearts with a teleport button, but by FF16 the plot is lost completely.

You put enemies into stagger…by hitting them with anything. You get elemental-themed bursts you can intersperse between your sword strikes by learning a very basic one-two rhythm that speeds it up (because magic abilities do more stagger than physical damage, natch), and you have big flashy super abilities that are on a cooldown and are based on your eikons equipped. So you’ve got a pretty easy one-two of hitting them with basic combos and using your specials to tip them over the edge…

But wait. Your specials are also your biggest routes to high damage in the game. That’s where the big bad Phoenix wing swing is, one of the most simply effective damage moves in the game that isn’t Literally Gigaflare Beaming Their Ass. Do you want to use that for stagger…Or do you want to clear the fight in less than 20 minutes?

The stagger mechanic in 16 perfectly recreates the feeling of being in a DPS window in Final Fantasy 14 (for the luckily uninitiated, this is when you would all pop your party buffs at the same time, so that you all benefit maximally from damage amps and do your highest potency skills during to maximize your damage for the 20 or so seconds it happens during), to the point where it feels like they did it on purpose.

So, you get them in stagger, and the dance of holding R2 and cycling through your special abilities begins. You can have 6 of them at a time, so there’s a real flair to chaining them together, and it can feel great to just go through your rotation perfectly and end the stagger window with some light chain comboing for good measure. It even pops your damage up at the end so you can be like yeah! I did that much damage! I’ll only need to do that 3 more times to finish fighting this interminably slow dragon!

It’s fucking boring. It has the feeling of feeling good. It’s a little dopamine hit for you to just optimally nail things down, but there’s literally nothing to it. It doesn’t feel like anything. The rhythm to hit so that you get a full 8 hit combo of sword and burst attacks numbs the senses. The extraordinarily forgiving dodge that rewards precision with bonus stagger damage on your next hit feels like a single Skittle thrown into my mouth for doing a trick right.

I think that might be where I’ve landed on the game. Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t feel like anything. A moodboard of a video game, designed to death by a team that didn’t know any other way to make a game than to make more of what they made before (CBU3 are the primary minds behind Final Fantasy 14 before they split to work on 16 around 2020, with various parts of the team cycling in and out of Final Fantasy 14 in the ensuing years). Final Fantasy 16 is Final Fantasy 14 wearing Game of Thrones’ skin.

I do mean that somewhat literally; Non-primary cutscenes are shot and directed in the precise manner that Final Fantasy 14 non-voiced cutscenes are produced, down to the angle of the camera above the player model and the semi-canned animations that you will see a hundred times throughout the story. It feels uncanny, especially after they stated directly that during development that they specifically abandoned plans for a PS4 version that would ‘not limit the team’s ambitions’. It feels like the scope was crushed down to something they could complete in the 3-4 years they had afforded themselves for development.

Ultimately, it feels like a game that was built inside a box. I keep seeing all the ways they wanted to produce something grand, but I can feel how shoddy the set the actors are standing on really is. Final Fantasy 16: the off-Broadway production, coming soon to your Playstation Five Home Entertainment Console.

#Alexis Plays Games 2023

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cakemousse · 11 months

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15 Questions 15 Mutuals

thanks for the tag @ladyofthenoodle!

1. Are you named after anyone?

not that i know of? i just know that there's symbolism in my name like most east asian names (im aware the rest of asia could be the same but i'm most familiar with the naming conventions of east asia so 🤷🏻‍♀️)

2. When was the last time you cried?

a few days ago??

3. Do you have kids?

no.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

i don't 😉

5. What sports do you play/have played?

badminton was my life when i was younger, i was (still am as long as there’s people doing the activity with me) really sporty and i love doing sports and i find myself playing better with equipment than without, idk like i can play frisbee and captain's ball well but for some reason i can't coordinate my limbs with tchoukball? lmao

6. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?

i don't pay attention to people enough to know :p

7. What’s your eye color?

it looks black from far but it's actually dark brown, very very very dark brown

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

why not both? i’m not picky as long as it’s good 😂

9. Any special talents?

my special talent is being fine with being average

10. Where were you born?

somewhere in asia

11. What are your hobbies?

thinking about my blorbos 24/7 lmao and prolly watching youtube videos and shows i love, talking to people from around the world, writing, reading, gaming, learning about various things. i prolly would wanna get back into leathercraft as soon as i have the means too, and maybe discover more things as i earn more

12. Do you have pets?

used to have hamsters and a whole family tree of them but no, not anymore

13. How tall are you

168cm

14. Favorite subject in school?

science! i fucking love science especially chemistry and biology! i score in physics too but i hate doing it 😂 language classes are also fun hella fun for me

15. Dream job?

i don’t even want to work, i just want to enjoy life and have enough money for that, so a job that can finance that and is fulfilling to me would suffice lol working ain’t everything in life 💀

tagging @ladynoirist @literaphobe @p0mmia @little-mari-on-a-roof @bananagreste @miabrown007 @rosekasa @emsylcatac @2manyfandoms2count @talkstoself @frostedpuffs @asukiess @yeet-noir @amimons @eggrestes

#tag game #doing this early so that i don’t run out of mutuals to tag this game for lmao

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yourmoonmomma · 1 year

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15 Questions

I was tagged by @natepthegreat thank you friend!!!

1. Are you named after anyone? Yes. I was named my bio name after a viking lol, and my middle name (the first one) is after a great-aunt.

2. Last time you cried. Yesterday, while out to dinner with Jayson, bc I was thinking about how lucky I am to be so surrounded by love <3

3. Do you have kids? I have an angel baby <3

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes, lol. My dad taught me sarcasm before I learned how to properly speak English.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people? Their laughs, usually!

6. What's your eye color? Brown. Some people say hazel but... I think it's brown.

7. Scary movie or happy ending? Can't I have both?? Scary movie though.

8. Any special talents? Mmm, depends on what you consider special! I am very adept at learning new things rather quickly. I can complete puzzles very quickly. I can flex my pecs (which isn't that special in the human species, but from speaking to other AFAB people, seems to be a unique thing in that area).

9. Where were you born? British Columbia <3

10. What are your hobbies? Hiking, writing, reading, gaming.

11. Do you have any pets? Yes, my two lovely kitties!

12. What sports do you play/have you played? I don't currently play any sports. I briefly did some when I was younger, but nothing for too long.

13. How tall are you? 5'9/5'10, somewhere around there.

14. Favorite subject in school? English.

15. Dream job? Genetic Engineer.

#abt me #tag game #thank you again my friend for the tag!!

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picklesonjupiter · 10 months

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For the ship ask game: sirireggie! Go wild

What’s their love languages?

Touch, they didn't receive affection and comfort growing up so they cuddle and hug and kiss a lot.

2. Do they have a dynamic trope? (enemies to lovers, sunshine x grumpy, etc?)

Forbidden love

3. Who cooks? Who cleans up? Who’s banned from the kitchen?

Neither cook. They grew up rich and with house elves, but I think Sirius would try cooking at least once and get it so bad that they got food poisoning and he's banned from ever cooking again.

4. What’s their favorite sleeping/cuddling positions?

Sirius loves being the little spoon, but Regulus wishes he could be the little spoon at least once.

5. Who does what chores?

Same answer as question three, but if Sirius were disowned then he'd learn and Regulus would never do chores.

6. Do they go out often or prefer to stay indoors?

Sirius loves going out especially as he tries to show Regulus that there is beauty in the muggle world. Regulus rather stay in to read.

7. Who is the more romantic one?

Neither are very romantic. They aren't the sort to speak about their love.

8. Do they have any favorite activities to do together?

Going to concerts once Sirius found the right band for Regulus to enjoy. (And fun time adult activities.)

9. Baths or showers together? Do they like elaborate ones with bubbles and flower petals?

Baths for aftercare and showers when they want a quick fuck. Sirius enjoys quick showers, but Regulus loves to be pampered with elaborate baths.

10. Who drives and who picks out the music?

Sirius drives on his motorcycle and he chooses the music because Regulus only know the muggle music that Sirius has shown him.

11. What’s a song that describes their relationship? Or, what’s the song that they’ve deemed “their” song?

Another Love - Tom Odell

12. Who gets up the earliest? Who has the worst sleep schedule? Who is the sleepiest?

Sirius has the worst sleep schedule because he's an insomniac. Regulus sometimes stays up with him, but he usually goes to sleep early and wakes early. Sirius usually only sleep 5 or 6 hours. It's rare for him to get 8 hours or more of sleep.

13. What’s their opinions on PDA?

They're always touching in private, but rarely in public.

14. Who does fashion shows after a mall trip and who watches and compliments them?

They both do the fashion show, but they argue about who gets to show off the outfits they bought first.

15. Do they go on vacations together? Where is their favorite place to visit?

They visit their family's other properties in other countries. Sirius enjoys anywhere he can transform into Padfoot and run around. Regulus just wants somewhere quiet.

16. What’s their favorite “domestic bliss” moment? Do they cook/clean together? Do they like to go out shopping together?

For Sirius it's watching Regulus slowly learn and like muggle culture. For Regulus it's cuddling while at home.

17. What does a relaxing night in look like for them?

Sirius would get invested in video games if he new of them. And obviously it reading for Regulus.

18. What does a date night out look like for them?

They switch out when they go out or stay in. Sirius wouldn't enjoy going to fancy dinners, but he does it because he knows Regulus enjoys it.

19. How do they silently/subtly express their love for each other?

Through touch, it can be as subtle as a squeezed hand to reassure.

20. What clothes/accessories do they steal from each other?

Sirius steals Regulus's jewelry, and Regulus steals his leather jacket.

21. Which of their friends/family pokes fun at them for them getting flustered/affectionate?

Narcissa, especially in front of people who don't know that they are together.

22. How do they apologize after arguments?

They both find it difficult to verbally apologize, so they just near each other and become overly affectionate with hugs and kisses.

23. Do they like pick up lines?

Sirius does it just to see Regulus cringe.

24. What are their favorite places to kiss on their partner(s)? What are their favorite types of kisses?

Regulus loves kissing all over and leaving marks that can be seen by others. Sirius loves kissing Regulus's forehead way to often.

25. What is their dream home? Do they buy a place together? Who plans the decorations and who does the heavy lifting?

Sirius wants a small home, possibly a condo. He's tired of living in large empty homes. Regulus wants to stay at Grimmauld Place because it's their family history, plus he wants to fill the house with his and Sirius's children. Regulus would plan the decorations because he doesn't trust Sirius's tastes in decor.

26. Do they have any pets or kids?

Regulus would love children, but no they don't. They have two dogs, a rottweiler, and a great dane. Neighbors think they have three since Sirius often transforms into Padfoot.

27. Who would propose? What would their wedding be like?

Sirius proposes. Intimate. Sirius and Regulus only invite their friends and their friends are left out. (This is if it is legally possible for them.)

28. What’s something that reminds them of their partner(s)? Do they have anything on them daily as a reminder (a photo, phone background, tattoo, clothing/accessory, etc)?

The stars remind them of each other. The scent of motor oil reminds Regulus of Sirius and his motorcycle. The scent of old things and books reminds Sirius of Regulus.

29. What is something they can never agree on? How do they meet in the middle?

Politically speaking they wouldn't agree on most things. They rarely meet on the middle about it. They ignore the issue.

30. Free space! Say something about this ship that you want to say!

sirireggie is definitely my favorite blackcest ship.

#sirireggie #blackcest #ask game #for darling caitie

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tigerkirby215 · 2 years

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Another Bel’veth build (Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition)

(Artwork by Edward Chee and West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

I did like my original Bel’veth build: I felt like it captured her ability to create summons and use powerful Void abilities to empower herself... I didn’t expect Bel’veth’s gameplay to be slapping people constantly. While full Bladesinger worked it suffered for a variety of reasons: you were squishy and lacked the true mobility Bel’veth has. And notably there was nothing with Void Coral as a Bladesinger. So here’s a second build that I think also captures Bel’veth in a similar light, although perhaps not the way you’re all expecting because she still won’t have Monk levels.

GOALS

I’m not going to make a fancy list of goals like I usually do since I already made a build for Bel’veth, and the goals are about the same: hit hard, dash around, summon void fish.

The difference with this build is that it’s going to be taking a more martial focus, although I’m still going to have some caster levels (I need void fish from somewhere.) I also tried my best to incorporate Bel’veth’s Void Coral mechanic into this build, and while I did take it in an interesting direction I think you’ll all enjoy it.

RACE

Still making a Simic Hybrid, still increasing Intelligence by 2 and Dexterity by 1, still getting all the same traits including Manta Glide from Animal Enhancements.

ABILITY SCORES

Not gonna write reasoning why these are just the stats you need.

15; DEXTERITY

14; INTELLIGENCE

13; CONSTITUTION

12; WISDOM

10; CHARISMA

8; STRENGTH

Wait this is literally the exact same stat array as last time.

BACKGROUND

Still using the Faceless background with the same proficiencies in Deception and Intimidation and the same background trait of Dual Personalities.

(Artwork by @denilveart on Twitter.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for good ol’ skill proficiencies, and also because it would be kinda redundant to make this build start off the exact same way as the last one. Regardless you can grab proficiency in Acrobatics, Perception, Persuasion, and Stealth (because you’re a Rogue, I guess.) You can also grab Expertise in either Deception or Persuasion depending on how you want to run Bel’veth, and Stealth. (Again: because you’re a Rogue, I guess.)

Other than that you learn Thieves’ Cant because the void knows all, including weird code languages. But most importantly if a foe is distracted by your subjects or your voidspawn you can get a Sneak Attack in, dealing an extra d6 of damage.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get access to Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. Use your mobility to weave around danger and also hide to get the jump on prey! It’s worth mentioning that since you have a Cunning Action you can probably grab a rapier for this build instead of opting to do two-weapon fighting.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Finally time to get your Roguish Archetype, and we’ll be going for Phantom to start. For now that doesn’t give us too much: you can use Whispers of the Dead to give yourself a new skill (or tool) proficiency at the end of a Short or Long Rest, giving you plenty of flexibility with any task you may need to do out of combat.

But the main feature to talk about is Wails from the Grave. When you strike with your Sneak Attack, you can deal half of it in Necrotic damage to another target within 30 feet of the target you struck. While this doesn’t apply to the target you hit (obviously) it’s a very good way to spread extra true damage around (unless the foe is a zombie or something.)

For now you can only use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, but that’s okay because your Sneak Attack only does 2d6 currently. It’s still a nice way to spread damage amongst your foes however.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

Honestly going 4 levels deep into Rogue wasn’t that necessary to start. Hell, we could’ve probably jumped off at 2 levels. But I figured we may as well grab the first Ability Score Improvement for more Dexterity. But you’re more than free to change up the leveling as you see fit.

(Artwork by @Skiz0h on Twitter.)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 1

First of all: you can now get your Carapace from Animal Enhancements for a nice solid +1 to your AC.

But yes we are going to borrow a bit from the other Bel’veth build: I’d suggest the same cantrips of Booming Blade, Mind Sliver, and Message, and the same spells of Mage Armor, Shield, Disguise Self, Sleep, and Detect Magic. I will however make specific mention of Find Familiar as having your void remora distract a foe and give you the Help action will make it very easy for you to trigger Sneak Attack.

Oh and again: you can use Arcane Recovery to get some spell slots back, which will obviously be helpful.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 2

Yes we are going with Bladesinging again, although this time you should probably grab Scimitar proficiency from Training in War and Song as it’s the only DEX-based weapon Rogues don’t have proficiency with (other than Whips I suppose.)

We’re going with Bladesinger again simply because Bladesong is too good for defense. Adding your Intelligence to AC (and Concentration checks) makes you incredibly sturdy, and the increased movement speed is helpful too. The advantage on Acrobatics checks in particular will be a lot better now that you have proficiency in Acrobatics!

And finally you can grab both Identify and Earth Tremor, for identifying magical artifacts and knocking foes down with your tail.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 3

Second level spells time, and here’s where things will vary up a bit: take Misty Step (because obviously we need Flash) but the main spell we’ll be using in this build is Flock of Familiars. You can summon 3 void remora (not stacking with the Find Familiar spell, unfortunately) to act like regular familiars. This notably means that all three of them can distribute the Help action to you or your allies to swing fights in your favor thanks to your children. Flock of Familiars is sadly a concentration spell though, but if you use your Cunning Action to Disengage and Hide you shouldn’t be hit hard enough to lose concentration, especially while in Bladesong.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 4

Hey look another Ability Score Improvement. Since we aren’t really using Intelligence for anything (INT won’t make your void remora any better) more Dexterity will give you better AC as well as a better chance to hit!

You can also learn two more spells: Mirror Image is still a good pickup (especially now that your Dexterity is higher) but I’d actually recommend Kinetic Jaunt as your second spell, for more mobility and the ability to disengage basically 24/7 in case you really need to use your Bonus Action to hide instead. You can also learn another cantrip and Mage Hand is still probably your most useful option, even if you could probably have your Void Remora grab things for you.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards get 3rd level spell slots to cast spells like Fly (to, well... fly, because that’s a thing you do), but I’m actually going to jump back to 2nd level for Vortex Warp. Your Intelligence isn’t good enough for any saving throw spells (yet) and you should really be concentrating on Flock of Familiars anyways, so grabbing Vortex Warp as a utility to save your subjects is more useful overall.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 6

The main reason for the Wizard dip was (ironically enough) Extra Attack. No matter how you spin it one more chance to Sneak Attack is incredibly valuable, especially since you can mix a cantrip in with your attacks for even more potential damage.

You also learn two more spells though and I assume Hypnotic Pattern and Tidal Wave will be good as your levels increase and your saving throw DC increases. But remember that the Void hungers for knowledge, and you can hunger for spell scrolls through the entire campaign to increase your knowledge.

(Artwork by @NeutrallawA on Twitter.)

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

Now that we got extra attack (and then some): it’s Roguing time! Along with a 3d6 Sneak Attack (which does also make Wails from the Grave stronger because that ability rounds up) you also get Uncanny Dodge, allowing you to use your reaction to halve an incoming attack’s damage. I mean, Shield is almost always a better option but at least if you’re stuck by one very powerful blow you can use this to reduce the damage. Although it has to be from a weapon, so results may vary.

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills! Take Expertise in whichever skill you didn’t grab at level 1 (so either Deception or Persuasion) along with Perception, because your other skills honestly aren’t that useful.

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues see their Sneak Attack increase to 4d6, adding quite a bit of sting to the attacks of a void stingray. More importantly however you get Evasion, allowing you to halve the damage of DEX saves you fail and take no damage if you succeed! Dash around skillshots to keep yourself alive in a fight!

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

More Intelligence would probably be useful as a Wizard? Yeah I agree. Anyways take Resilient Constitution because concentrating on Flock of Familiars is far more important, and also because more health is nice.

(Artwork by KasumiTan on DeviantArt. I’m actually kinda surprised I found Bel’veth artwork on DA.)

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

Total level 15 isn’t too late to get Void Coral, right? When a creature dies within 30 feet you can use your reaction to grab a Tokens of the Departed. While you have a soul trinket you have advantage on death saving throws and Constitution saving throws (which notably extends to Concentration checks!), and when you deal Sneak Attack damage on your turn, you can destroy one of your soul trinkets to immediately use Wails from the Grave without expending a use of that feature, which is nice because your Sneak Attack now does 5d6 (and your Wails from the Grave does 3d6 because of rounding upwards.)

Additionally as an action you can destroy one of your soul trinkets to ask the spirit associated with the trinket one question. They have no obligation to be truthful, and it grants you knowledge as concisely as possible. You can have a maximum number of soul trinkets equal to your proficiency bonus, and you can’t create one while at your maximum. But don’t worry: all those around you are just food for the void, giving you more Wails from the Grave as your foes fall.

LEVEL 16 - ROGUE 10

Wizards of the Coast sorta just... randomly decided that Rogues get one extra Ability Score Improvement? But that’s good for us because you can finally increase your Intelligence for more Wizard spells prepared and maybe actually a midway decent spell save DC.

LEVEL 17 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues have a Reliable Talent to roll a 10 baseline for any ability check they’re proficient in. This has natural synergy with Whispers of the Dead but as per standard whenever we get this ability in a Rogue build I like to list out all your ability checks and the minimum roll you could get at this level:

27 Stealth

23 Perception

22 Persuasion / Deception

21 Acrobatics

16 Intimidation / Performance

And to top it off your Sneak Attack now does 6d6 damage!

LEVEL 18 - ROGUE 12

12th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement and feel free to take feats if you wish but I’m going to keep it simple with another +2 to Intelligence, capping off that score so you can have most of your spells prepared and foes might actual fail saves against your spells.

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 13

13th level Phantom Rogues can assume their true forms as a bonus action, entering a Ghost Walk. While in your true form you have a flying speed of 10 feet and can hover, and attack rolls have disadvantage against you. You can also move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, but take 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside a creature or object. You can stay in your true form for 10 minutes unless you end it early as a bonus action, and you’ll have to consume some Void Coral (IE your Soul Trinkets) to enter this form again. (But at least you get one free use per Long Rest.)

And to top it off your Sneak Attack now deals 7d6, meaning that Wails from the Grave will deal 4d6 damage!

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 14

Our final level is the 14th level Rogue for a 10 foot Blindsense. Yeah not the most impressive capstone all things considered, but it makes sense for Bel’veth to see foes that are hidden or invisible.

FINAL BUILD

Not putting Bel’veth quotes in this section either, partially because the Wiki doesn’t have them all written down but mostly because I’m lazy.

PROS

Well for one Rogues have a lot more health than Wizards, and Cunning Action will help you keep out of the line of fire by Disengaging and Hiding during combat.

Of course being a Rogue makes you a good skill monkey as well, with all the skills you have proficiency in being boosted by Reliable Talent, and Expertise carrying you a long way.

And finally your Void Remora (Flock of Familiars) allows you to fill a strong utility role both in and out of combat, granting allies Help and scouting out with your pets.

CONS

For a start you’re not a 20th level spellcaster, which means you don’t have access to Wish. In fact you don’t have a lot of spells in general, and unlike a class like Warlock you can’t always have them on demand.

Additionally Phantom Rogue is the definition of a “hard carry” subclass that doesn’t come online until about level 9, which is kinda a problem when you multiclass. If you aren’t going past level 10 taking any other Rogue subclass would probably would be better.

And uhhhhhh... We didn’t take proficiency in any Intelligence skills, I guess? Honestly the only problems with this build are just “you’re not a level 20 caster” and “you take awhile to get this build online.”

But here’s a different direction to take Bel’veth with less minions and magic and more slapping. Unfortunately I can’t get that many attacks (5e kinda doesn’t handle multiple attacks well outside of Fighter or Monk both of which require too much level investment) but I still think the fantasy provided is good. A lot of the fun of Bel’veth is roleplay, but do make sure that everyone is having fun with the void empress in the party.

(Artwork by @BlackFoxAID on Twitter.)

#dnd #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #League of Legends Bel'veth #Bel'veth #void #empress #empress of the void #lavender sea #manta ray #dnd wizard #dnd bladesinger #dnd rogue #thicc #thighs #still #save #lives

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natsunoomoi · 4 months

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Honestly, I think togashi used the term child to emphasis the fact that hiei is around the same age as yusuke and since hiei's character is based on the chuunibyou, I guess he must be around 13 - 14 when he first fought yusuke, in the three kings saga it was mentioned quite a few times that hiei is really young as he didn't knew much about the three kings and thought it was a fairytale. Personally I feel that yukina has the same level of maturity as hiei, I don't think her living with the ice maidens made her better at communicating with people cuz unlike hiei, yukina doesn't really have many close friends besides kuwabara in the manga, while hiei has yusuke, kurama and mukuro. Anyhow, yukina is hiei's twin sister, since togashi already called hiei a child there's no reason for him to call yukina a child too. Like you said hiei's development might have been stunted because of the circumstances but gaining friends made him mature by the end. I know i said too much but i find the idea of hiei and yukina being the same age as the rest of the yyh group really interesting imo it makes the perfect sense, don't you think?

I'm not sure if it's interesting, as much as it just is and people are different.

Also, you don't have to have friends to know how to socialize. Even if everyone around you is hostile and you don't like your hometown, you learn how to socialize and be civil with the people around you. That kind of thing happens normally all the time. LGBT child grows up in the Bible belt countryside of the US with everyone around them, or at least most people around them, spewing hateful things about them. They are a child that is waiting and biding their time for their chance, their opportunity, to leave to go somewhere safer where they are free to be themselves. Even in that kind of a situation, you do learn to communicate better, but in a very specific way. I think you're greatly underestimating how much socialization a person can get from simply being around other people even if those other people suck.

Yukina is a very kind person, but her kindness is probably fostered by Rui who likely cared for her in her mother's absence. While Rui didn't actively act against the wishes of their leader or their people, it's made very clear that she agrees more with Hina and was not happy about throwing Hiei off. Rui very likely raised Yukina in a certain way, that allowed her to grow kindness, but at the same Yukina had to be around to be around everyone else in their home who is cold. She has to survive, so she also knows and learns how to have a certain level of outward politeness even if inside she holds deep resentment. That kind of outward attitude is also very Japanese and a trademark of Japanese customer service. The customer could be the most raving bitch of a Karen, and you still have to smile through it and pick your words precisely to balance what the customer wants and what you want/are able to provide, which can go up to doing things that outwardly seem humiliating, but are designed to bring the others' guard down so that you don't have to do something else more important. It's a game of social chess, and it's a thing that Hiei cannot do because he grew up in wildlands and after early childhood didn't spend that much time with the bandits that took him in.

Hiei in contrast is very blunt and straight and wouldn't have been in any place where people would talk or gossip. Even then for surviving purposes, he would fundamentally be uninterested in people's gossip, so the Three Kings wouldn't be a thing that made sense for him to know about and would logically become a fairytale to him because he spent so much time in the woods among the trees alone. Like he straight up is just not in situations or circles where he would find out actual news about them because he stayed away from everyone at a certain point.

Relatively though, you would know who's the leader of the place you're in, but beyond that it's of little significance to his everyday life. That's also a kind of life that probably people in 2024 now aren't aware of as much because the internet connects us all so much. But before fast communication, the common farmer or regular lay person could not give a shit about who the leader was in the castle or whatever. It's true in every country prior to modern communication and the printing press. Whatever the leader did, did not matter because their big decisions for the country didn't affect their everyday life. It's likely Hiei knew that the Three Kings existed, but it's more that he didn't know or needed to care about whatever issues they had between them because it was irrelevant to what he needed to do to live.

Yukina on the other hand is able to show her caution and able to handle difficult social situations mainly through her conversation with Hiei about "finding her brother". She might be a kind person, but that conversation in particular shows that she does have hidden strength and "darkness" (not the right word, but I can't think of the right one atm) of her own. I recall also, during her time at Tarukane, she tried to be cold to him and not allow him to get gems so easily, but like instead he killed people that helped her, killed her bird friends, etc. Other beings are essentially hostages since she can't be attacked directly to get the gems, and I think I recall Toguro being brought in specifically because they couldn't get gems out of her recently. Yukina shows a number of times she has skills to pivot her reactions to different kinds of people, and that is a social skill and a kind of maturity that Hiei doesn't have. It is also a kind of maturity that adults in Japan have, but kids do not as they are straight and blunt don't know how to "read the room" or observe other kinds of Japanese subtlety. The adults in their life and their parents teach this to them. They fundamentally do not have the same level of maturity as Hiei acts like a child that never learned how to do that, and that's more that what he means. You're taking the "child comment" way too literally to fit what you want and ignoring Yukina's skills and achievements to serve what you want to be true about Hiei.

Other than the above, Yukina's also just more able to join in on activities with Yusuke & Co, while Hiei in contrast is still looking out of a window and largely ignoring what's going on. It's not necessarily that he's completely uninterested, but it's probably really awkward for him so he'd rather be a bit away from the group instead of joining in and maybe looking stupid or whatever. Being able to join in with new people and dive into new experiences is a kind of socialization skill. It can come naturally to some people, but it also takes some practice. Yukina had to survive in her home, but she also befriended animals which are skittish and run away. Being more approachable takes practice and is something Yukina has from not staying away from interactions. Hiei basically focusing on survival for most of his life and was alone is not able to really navigate that kind of situation.

Also, I don't know if it's a translation error on the part of the interpretation from the translator in the English version, but I have the Japanese version of the chapter where Hiei says that he "thought it was just a fairytale" and in Japanese it's ambiguous actually whether or not he thought the Three Kings themselves were a fairytale, or rather the war between them was a fairytale. I've never read any translations. I have the whole series in Japanese and I can read it. He's comments in that page is that he's "heard about the feud between the Three Kings", and then in the next panel says that the thought it was just a fairytale. It doesn't say it was specifically about the Three Kings' existence, but more about their struggle for power. That can be a sign of youth, but only because youkai live for hundreds of years and if you are younger than the last time there was a war or significant conflict, hearing that nations don't get along is like a fairytale. If that nuance was taken out of the English translation, I don't know what to tell you. It's for that reason I don't really rely on translations so much. I've made translations of my own, and there's a lot of compromises made to the text to get the gist of it so that you can get it on screen or in a box readable that I genuinely feel bad for English speaking fans because they are *missing* so much context and nuance that was also there in the same sentence.

For a modern day example, right now we have a number of wars/horrific things happening in the world. For a lot of people who are younger right now, they were not alive when this conflict started and do not understand the history. There's a lot of misinformation going on about who's at fault and why, and it's easy to get misled if you don't know the history of how it started. I had the fortune of having a history teacher in high school that taught me the history and it's a fucked up situation for everyone, and basically everyone sucks. It's also a mess that we as the newer generations in the world inherited because the creators of the original situation were naive and real stupid and tried to solve a "problem" they perceived by ignoring people that exist now for their own agenda. But also because we are a newer generation, there's a lot of people who do not get taught this history and are taught by the adults in their life to blindly support one side or the other hence leading to the clusterfuck screaming match and actual war and war crimes and turbulence we have now. The conflict has been going on so long that people don't remember how it started. Strife and difficulty is just the modern reality, and the start of it and the actual source of the conflict is like a fairytale because it's so far in the past and not talked about.

Back to our source material, Mukuro even asks if he'd heard about their conflict because it'd been 500 years. Like we know Hiei and Yukina are definitely less than 100, so their last conflict was a way long time ago and they were in a stalemate/truce for 500 years. We also don't know how their specific species ages either because they could both be 60 something and we'd never know either, but that'd imply that their trauma and living in strife and difficult situations lasted longer than if they were around the same age as the rest of the crew. That said, their objective reality and lived experience is not one of war and conflict, so hearing that battle is about to break out is like, what? Why? Kurama's comment after Hiei tells him his plan about going to Mukuro's though is that he "wasn't born yet" so "he doesn't know how frightening Mukuro is". There's 500 years of time for him to not know. It's not that he's a literal child or that he's "too young". It's that it literally happened *way* too long ago for him to know about it still being an ongoing grudge and how bad an actual conflict could be.

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thebearthatreads · 6 months

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15 Questions Tag

Thank you to @keysandopenmind for the tag!

So for this one you can apparently answer the 15 questions either as yourself or as one of your OCs. I've decided to respond as myself as I'm in the midst on NaNoWriMo and still getting to know my new OCs.

Let's do some no pressure tagging before we hop in: @fleurtygurl, @cottonberryfinn, @thepitflower, @chauceryfairytales and @maskedemerald (as well as anyone else who might want to do it)!

15 Questions:

Are you named after anyone?

Yes! I'm named after a character in a book (don't ask me which book my parents don't remember).

2. When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday. I cry pretty frequently, tears just come very quickly for me and I feel emotions quite intensely. The reason for my crying was because I was emotionally moved whilst watching the latest One Piece episode.

3. Do you have kids?

I have a fur-child, does that count? Her name is Miley and she's an Alaskan Malamute cross who I rescued as a puppy. My partner and I are planning on having human children in the future but currently we don't.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes, sometimes.

5. What is the first thing you notice about others?

Oh that's tough, generally it changes from person to person. Usually it's facially orientated but it can be other aspects. If someone has fun earrings I'll notice those first, if they have tattoos, piercings, cool clothing. Little signifiers of personality, that's what I notice first.

6. What's your eye colour?

I used to describe my eyes as kind of mud brown but they're actually quite pretty the closer you get. From a distance a dark walnut brown, up close more of a sepia or russet brown. Looking them closely in my hand mirror they kind of make me think of the crystal Tiger's eye.

7. Scary stories or happy endings?

A bit of both, I like scary stories with happy endings. But if I have to choose I'll probably lean more towards happy endings.

8. Any special talents?

No, I am decidedly very untalented... Although I can read tarot cards, I don't read them very often (I don't self-read) but the times that I have my friends have said my predictions were fairly accurate. I'd love to believe that means I'm a little psychic but it's probably just luck and guiding intuition from how well I know the people I was reading for.

9. Where were you born?

It's no secret I was born in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

10. What are your hobbies?

Reading, writing, playing video games. I also enjoy walking with my dog, volunteering, researching different mythologies and history. I've dabbled with knitting, though it's taking me a long time to finish a single project because I keep forgetting about it.

11. Do you have any pets?

As mentioned before I have an Alaskan Malamute cross called Miley. My brother also has a dog, she's an Akita Inu cross German Shepherd called Akela.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I am not a sporty person. I've done sports carnivals, taken martial arts classes, and I participated in weekly sporting events at University as part of our Res Wars (friendly competition between the different residential buildings). But I've never really played any particular sport.

13. How tall are you?

Uhh, I always forget my height. I'm about 5'2, so somewhere around the 157-160cm range I believe. Just tall enough to reach the top of my bookshelf, not tall enough to reach the back of the top cupboards in the kitchen.

14. Favourite subject in school?

English or history in high school. Criminal Profiling at University (it was a super fun and informative, I took it as an elective).

15. Dream Job?

Being a full-time author but that requires a lot of luck along with a lot of work. For now I'm pretty happy with the job I recently started working sales in a jewellery store, I'm learning a lot of fascinating things and have super nice coworkers. Still one day it'd be nice if my books provided me a stable income.

#writeblr #tag game #about me

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lumoschildextra · 11 months

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I got tagged by @artiststarme to share some stuff about me, so let's go!

1. Are you named after anyone? As far as I can remember, no. My middle name is the same as my aunt's though!

2. When was the last time you cried? Like last week I think. Existential crisis, wooo! 🙃

3. Do you have kids? From mine womb? No. A bunch of kids I adopted from my high school years? Yes.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? I don't think so. I'd like to think I do, but I'm ultimately not super great at it so I keep it to my few close friends, ha ha.

5. What sports do you/have you played? I played soccer when I was in elementary school and cheerleading in elementary and middle school. I dabbled in swimming when I was in high school and did shot put and discus my last two years. My two favorites from high school were dance team and color guard. And yes, color guard/marching band is a sport, go look up the definition. 😌

6. What's the first thing you notice about people? Their mouths/smiles. I had jaw surgery a few years ago so I tend to focus on the way people's mouths move when they talk.

7. What's your eye color? Brown, but they get a little hazel in the summer.

8. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings 100%. I'm such a wimp when it comes to horror movies lol.

9. Any special talents? I can do a bunch of cool tosses with my color guard flag. I made my own toss and most of the team learned it! What's even cooler is one of the girls added a catch behind the back and it was so cool to see everyone learning it. 🥰

10. Where were you born? Virginia. My dad was in the military so he and my mom were moved around whenever he was stationed somewhere else.

11. What are your hobbies? Reading, writing, crocheting, and drawing.

12. Do you have any pets? Yep! I have two silly chihuahuas, one short hair and one long hair. And no, they're not ankle biters...most of the time.

13. How tall are you? About 5' 3".

14. Favorite subject in school? I enjoyed math. I liked that there was a definite answer to the problem. The worksheets were also super pleasing to look at with all the equations neatly typed out on the paper. 😌

15. Dream job? Streamer! I'd love to be able to make people laugh and simultaneously doing something I enjoy, such as gaming, crocheting, etc.

Thanks for tagging me @artiststarme, I had fun! Join us if you'd like! (I know most of you aren't mutuals, but I don't have 15 mutual ha ha)

@chalkymoon @cloud-za @outraged-original @anxiousandafraid @videodrome-fag @poppedbubblgum @goose-of-chaos @cutepotatook @lovebugism @henderdads @eliascolorkidd @time-woods @somerandomdudelmao @fernandesart @m0nomercy

#15 questions #15 mutuals

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alsjeblieft-zeg · 11 months

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326 of 2023

survey by lafemelle

1. How many cars have you ever owned?

None on my own, but one as a co-owner.

2. Can you do math in your head well?

Quite much so. I’ve been always good at such things.

3. What’s your least favorite chore to do around the house?

Cleaning the floors and the toilets.

4. What’s your favorite flavor of potato chip?

I don’t eat these.

5. Do you ever read the weather forecast?

Yeah, before travelling so I know what to expect, possibly.

6. Do amusement park rides make you sick?

I don’t ever use them. My health doesn’t allow.

7. Who is your favorite Star Wars character?

No.

8. What kind of cheese do you put on your sandwiches?

Normal cheese lol. Like gouda or emmental or o.

9. What radio station do you listen to the most?

UVB-76 lol. I don’t listen to the commercial radio.

10.Who was the last person to give you a gift?

My husband, as usual.

11. How old were you when you got your driver’s license?

Nevergot it at all. I don’t know how is it in your States, but here people with neurological disorders are generally restricted from driving in some cases.

12. What was the first thing you ever learned how to cook?

Water lol. Just like most of people, I suppose.

13. Did you ever collect beanie babies?

Never heard of it.

14. When was the last time you got a haircut?

Last year lol. This calls for another one.

15. Have you ever been to a bachelor/bachelorette party?

No, and I’m not sure if I’d like it.

16. How many people can you say you TRULY love?

About ten.

17. Where are you most ticklish on your body?

Everywhere, literally.

18. Do you like kids?

I do like toddlers, but only when they are curious about the world and ask questions.

19. Have you ever cheated on a test?

Once or twice.

20. Is your next birthday coming up soon?

No, next year.

21. Have you ever bailed anyone out of jail?

I’ve never had an occasion to do so.

22. What’s the last board game you played?

I don’t play board games.

23. Have you ever given someone a fake phone number?

No, but next time I will give a police number as my own when someone is too intrusive.

24. Do you actually eat 3 meals a day?

Even less.

25. Do you have any bumper stickers on your car?

No, my husband doesn’t like them.

26. Do you leave good tips when you eat out at restaurants?

I just leave tips. It’s normal in my country.

27. What’s your favorite thing to eat at bbqs?

Veggies.

28. Do you still own any VHS tapes?

Not anymore, but I’d love to.

29. How many of your friends have you known for at least 5 years?

Most of them.

30. Are you superstitious?

Not at all, it just makes me laugh.

31. What was your favorite book as a child?

Pelle Svanslös.

32. Have you lied to anyone in the last 24 hours?

Nah, I had no occasion anyway.

33. What’s the most expensive restaurant you’ve ever eaten at?

Probably this one in the Martin’s Hotel in Waterloo. It was very elegant :P

34. How many jobs have you had?

One as a fruit picker when I was a teenager, one Infrabel maintenance summer job (from my dad), cleaning the library as a student, and then this job in the rolling stock company.

35. Are you keeping a secret from anyone right now?

No, not really.

36. What’s the smallest town you’ve ever visited?

I think Lillo, it’s a town near Antwerp.

37. If there was a real Jurassic Park, would you visit it?

No, thanks.

38. Have you ever gone golfing?

Omg no, boring.

39. What’s your favorite kind of soup?

All of them, really. But I need to have chunks in it, I don’t like blended soup.

40. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?

About four, or even earlier.

41. Do you know any sign language?

No, I don’t.

42. If you became famous for something, what would it be?

Photography, I guess.

43. How many friends do you have that are married?

Most of them, really.

44. Do you ever read the newspaper?

Sometimes when I’m at the physiotherapy.

45. When you’re having a bad day, how do you make yourself feel better?

Let my cat sleep on my lap while she’s purring. Optionally going somewhere with the train.

46. Do you still have your wisdom teeth?

Yeah, I do, all of them. I’ve never felt them growing, honestly.

47. Did you have a swingset in your yard when you were a child?

Yeah, I did.

48. Have you ever played poker for money?

No, I’ve never played poker at all.

49. You’re making a fruit salad: what kinds of fruit do you put in it?

Strawberries, blueberries, banana lices, tangerine pieces, maybe peach cubes.

50. What are the last 2 digits of your phone number?

09.

51. What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?

I don’t even bother wasting my time on movies.

52. Do you eat your mac & cheese with a fork or a spoon?

I don’t ever eat this shit.

53. Where did you have your first kiss?

On a tram stop lol.

54. When you were a kid, were you ever afraid of cooties?

I still don’t even know what it is.

55. Do you ever go Christmas caroling in December?

No, not anymore.

#survey #q&a survey #random survey

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zebrashavestrips · 2 years

Note

oooooh all the q's

Hello anon! I’m guessing you mean the wlw + mlm asks so here it is!

1. describe your crush / partner.

I’m not really crushing anyone right now tbh, just hanging out with friends and trying new things.

2. describe your perfect date.

The simple answer, going to a brewery and playing board games. I love any competitive activity tbh but with the right vibes, we could also go walk around the streets and have deep talks. maybe lay down at the beach or a park and look at the sky.

3. describe your dream house.

I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS SOOOO MUCH but thats also because its a near life goal right now. Anyways room#1 a game/ hangout room to watch tv, read, play board or console games, and work lol cant forget about working. Then room#2 would be a guest room with a murphy bed to save space. Room#3 would be my bedroom with a closet with enough space to separate my clothes and gear. The livign room would have what i like to call a scream box, basically these like conference call soundproof phonebooths but could also be used to scream the stress. Bc i have a whole bunch of stuffed animals from family and friends, i want to build a claw machine to store them and thats like another gaming device in my house. The kitchen i actually havent thought that much about but i think i want a lot of counterspace and idk how else it would look like rn. The garage would store all my gear and the camper van i would use for adventures. I would also like a grass patch in the front but theres no more space in the bay area so the park will do. OHHH and a straight roof or patio to watch the skies.

4. describe your dream life.

i see my life with two lifestyles: one like a day job, where most of the week I'd work during the day and hang out with friends afterwards or chill at home and wind down; another full of adventure - hikes, climbing, camping, some day trips to hang out somewhere. some combination of that with friends and we kinda just keep doing that.

5. describe your ideal partner.

Someone to do most of my hobbies with, to challenge and grow together. Kinda someone that I can continuously learn from in any aspect. I really enjoy having people around me just doing our own things together so things like that.

6. morning cuddles or night cuddles?

Night cuddles

7. big spoon or little spoon?

Little spoon

8. hugs or kisses?

Hugs

9. walks on the beach or walks in the forest?

Walks in the forest

10. sitting on your partner’s lap or them on yours?

Them sitting on my lap

11. favourite lgbt movie?

Imagine me & you… soooo cute

12. favourite lgbt book?

I actually don’t really read that many books but I love a good enemies to lovers, fake dating, soulmates angst. I’m in the middle of We Are Okay by Nina Lacour. But I did read a lot of fanfic and there was this soulmate AU with a name tattooed on each wrist and you don’t know which one is a platonic soulmate and which one is a romantic soulmate.

13. favourite lgbt character?

Fictional, Laura Hollis. Real, Hayley Kiyoko

14. favourite lgbt ship?

The og hollstein! Ughhh I miss them so much

15. favourite lgbt song?

Oooo this is hard, I actually have a few… can I give top 3? Whatever, it’s my blog. Top 3 are sleepover by hayley kiyoko, kiss the boy by keiynan lonsdale, and sick of losing soulmates by dodie

16. what’s your favourite thing about your partner / crush?