#really fucking difficult because they have a ton of health and i do not

[foxstens]

i’ve experienced three bosses so far and they were all really fucking cool

[foldingfittedsheets]

on the topic of mattresses and pillows, first off, thank you for being a treasure and answering everyone's bed queries, secondly, i have a mattress that is at least 15 years old if not older at this point, and i prefer to sleep angled somewhere between my side and stomach due to an unfortunate overendowment of the chest. what type of mattress would you recommend, and are there any decent pillows that don't go flat and won't cause me to accidentally smother myself in my sleep?

Hmgh. Okay so first as a benchmark, our bodies needs change every 7-9 years. Replacing a bed that often is expensive but start to think of it when you hit the ten year mark. $800 over ten years is a reasonable amount for your health.

No shade at all, 15 years is getting awfully long in the tooth and will definitely be a contributing factor in sleep position. If you’re reading this and your bed is that old please consider whether it’s still meeting your needs or if you’re sleeping in a dent and putting it off. Beds are part of your health. Be nice to your sleeping body.

To your question: you’re probably gonna want to aim for something in the middle range, very soft beds are rough for stomach sleeping, but very hard is brutal for side sleeping.

For a pillow a solid memory foam, but as an erstwhile stomach sleeper I find that pulling the pillow partially under my chest helps stop the suffocating. With a solid memory foam you’re not struggling to come up for air.

And now for the line that I straight up didn’t believe before I got a nice bed: Sleeping on your side and stomach are symptoms of discomfort. The “ideal” sleep position is on your back with your head raised slightly.

See, the reason most people don’t sleep on their back is lack of low back support from the mattress. That curve in your lower back needs to get filled in for you to really be comfy. Ever found you need to keep your knees up while laying on your back? It’s shitty back support! Your body is unconsciously saying it’s not comfortable and you’re making an adjustment to accommodate that.

I truly thought this was bullshit until the first night I woke up on my new bed, flat on my back, having not moved all night long. Nothing hurt and I was freakin shook. I’ve always had a fucked up back and slept almost exclusively on my stomach. So with the right setup your sleeping position might change.

Now some people need help getting the low back support- people like I used to be who don’t weigh enough, people with difficult spines. Other people need help with breathing on their back like if you have huge massive boobies flopping every which way. Adjustable bases can go under your bed and provide the least pressure on your body to sleep well.

This isn’t always feasible for a lot of people, because fancy beds that facilitate real comfort can be expensive, not to mention moveable bases. The upshot is you can achieve some of that with pillow placement.

A pillow under your knees while sleeping on your back helps a ton. There’s angled wedges that can help prop your head up a bit while you sleep. Only ten degrees makes a huge difference for all kinds of issues. Acid reflux, sleep apnea, migraines, the list is long.

So if it’s in the stars for you to splurge don’t rule out that back sleeping might be in your future which my betitted wife has always found comfiest, bed permitting. But when you go into the store, lay how you sleep. Don’t rule out trying a bed on your back but if you sleep at an angle, lay at an angle.

I know it’s awkward to lay ass up in front of a stranger. But do it. Do it for long enough to really feel if the bed is supportive, squashing your tee-taa’s too much, if it’s letting your spine bend too far the wrong way. And ask to try it with a nice pillow that fits your body. Get a combo that works for you.

Good luck!

[drdemonprince]

Im sure some of them have been way over a line but if you’re feeling petulant at vulnerable disabled people saying fuck yall to society imagine how we feel to see someone “reticent” to talk about covid issues because “people take it too far”. Sorry that’s probably not entirely fair I’m just so fuucking sick of it. Like of course their exceptions to masking. But don’t tell me how to speak after what I’ve been through. The paternalism makes me want to throw up

Yeah, I think a lot of people think this is about tone policing disabled people who are rightly outraged and despairing, and that's really not what it's about.

This is about the Joe Bidens and Lori Lightfoots of the world blaming covid spread on individuals behaving badly, while systematically dismantling the very social programs that would have made it possible for anyone to behave "well."

There are two conversations happening here that keep getting flattened because of context collapse on the internet. There is the conversation about which feelings disabled and high risk people are allowed to voice. there is no virtue in tone policing that. Disabled people need to express their hurt, hopelessness, and outrage, and no one can stop them from doing that. no one should stop them from doing that. It is not an act of shaming for them to say how they feel. it's important.

There is a separate, more tactical conversation to be had about which kinds of messaging are effective in altering behavior. This is the question for the public health researchers and the activists and the people planning outreach. We have to be able to talk about what works and what doesn't and why.

Just as disabled people who are despairing about COVID have the right to express their pain, disabled people also have a right to discuss how to best movement build and influence public behavior.

I am gonna talk about what the research shows about persuasion and why a lot of organizations are utterly fumbling in influencing people's COVID mitigation behaviors, and I do that because I care about those things changing. I have no interest in silencing my comrades who are experiencing deep grief and terror and outrage and wish to express that, and certainly no one will be silencing me. Even if listening to people who do find masking and social distancing hard and trying to meet them where they are at so that we can practice harm reduction does make you want to barf.

It's understandable you feel that way, and you don't have to do that kinda work. it's work I have the bandwidth for though as someone who also finds doing the "right" things hard here. no amount of people being mad about that is gonna change the fact that strict COVID mitigation adherence is difficult for me. if that fact becomes unspeakable, my behavior wont become perfect, it will just become more secretive.

a person can be angry at me for not being perfect and that's their right but it won't "fix" my behavior. it will just make me feel like a murderer for having pressing, life or death needs of my own. conversely, someone listening to me and caring about me and helping me meet my needs while also reducing my risks helps a whole ton. and so I try to extend that to others as best I can.

[sapphic-scylla]

First Impression Best to Worst Boss Fights in Shadow of the Erdtree

DLC has been out for a minute and I’ve done my initial runthrough and taken as much as I could from it. Suffice to say, I did love it a lot and thought that it has a solid amount of staying power. This list covers the main bosses only (and a few notable side bosses) and as usual, unless you don’t care about SPOILERS, I recommend not reading past this point:

Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame: Now, already, I feel like people are gonna disagree with me. Hear me out. When I first hit this fight, I was like “they integrated a PVP-centric status condition into a boss fight. How is that fair?”. And then I thought about it for a second. No fight style makes this fight easier. No weapon, no spell, no armor makes this fight easier. It is as you see it. This man’s attacks can cover almost an entire room, snipe you from a thousand miles away, his melee attacks hit like a train, and builds up your Frenzy, which can leave you vulnerable and chunk your health and FP. But, he also is easy to stagger, he doesn’t move very fast, and his attacks are telegraphed a year in advance. It’s perfect. He doesn’t have a ton of health, but he is absolutely savage. He’s what difficulty SHOULD be and the sigh of satisfaction when you beat him is REAL. You can’t really cheese or simplify this boss beyond KILL HIM and it’s so refreshing to find a boss that no matter your choice of loadout, Midra will keep you on your toes in the most horror game-like way. Also lore wise, the vibes in this entire area were unsettling and immaculate and the “Eyes of Sauron/Winter Lantern” enemies actually made me jump in that horror game fun way and I adored it.

Messmer, The Impaler/Base Serpent: Now, this was the fight I forced myself to learn through sheer force of will. I literally slammed my head against this man for a day because I knew that the only thing that was killing me was my own arrogance and IT PAID OFF. By the end when I finally beat him, I adored this fight. This man lets you fucking have it, but at no point did it ever seem unfair or bullshit or, hell, even free. This fight is a perfect mix of cinematic, difficult, and a riot to learn and improve at and I genuinely look forward to this fight each playthrough now.

Rellana, Twin Moon Knight: A scaled-up version of my favorite base game Dark Souls 3 boss and she didn’t disappoint. Incredible fight, solidly learnable, and definitely one of the highlights of my first runthrough.

Bayle the Dread: The quickest love-hate relationship I’ve ever had the pleasure to wade through. In my first ten tries, I could not help but think “this is the worst. What can I do against this man except die?”. But the more I fought him, the more I enjoyed it and the more fair I found it. He is overwhelming, yes, but his tells are obvious and when you recognize the areas his attacks affect, he becomes a lot less oppressive. He also has the greatest phase 2 transition of all time. I mean my love for Placie has grown over the past few months, but I think Bayle edges out for Second place in best Dragon fights in Elden Ring. Fortissax takes first.

Scadutree Avatar: This fucker seems easy at first, and then he starts driving around. I severely underestimated this boss at first due to how much damage he was taking compared to everything else. Then he hits second phase and until then, I’d never been jumpscared by a sunflower before. Still not the hardest boss by any means, but definitely checks you at the door.

Romina, Saint of the Bud: I mean, outside of the obvious, I don’t know why I enjoyed this fight. Her rushdown is legendary and she deals in Scarlet Rot, so you’d think I would hate this fight. But her tactics ended up being fairly straightforward, her Rot wasn’t as oppressive as I thought it would be, and she really is such an aesthetically pleasing fight.

Putrescent Knight: The goofiest looking creature on this list by far, but this dude kicked my ass several times. He definitely came with his fair share of surprises, but he never felt overly obnoxious or overstayed his welcome. Not the most fun fight, but definitely worthy of more praise than scorn.

Allies of Miquella: Debated putting this in here because it’s more of a PVP standoff than a boss fight, but I feel it’s worth a mention. Nothing particularly exciting, but it definitely is much more of a marathon than I was expecting and a very difficult one at that. Come prepared here. These people don’t pull punches.

Ghostflame Dragons: More a mention than anything. Nothing unique, but it did force me to rethink how to fight dragons a la Darkeater Midir which I enjoyed.

Metyr, Mother of Fingers: Well, we had to hit the lower half eventually. Metyr doesn’t have a ton of health which puts her up here, but I generally dislike bosses that remind me of The One Reborn where it feels like no matter where you hit the boss, you’re still being dealt damage just for walking up to it which, I’m sure, incentivizes spellcasters, but frustrating nonetheless.

Promised Consort Radahn: Malenia without all of the charm and enjoyment. Malenia, I still firmly believe takes the cake in terms of hardest (and best) boss in Elden Ring, but Radahn did not skimp on the difficulty round two. That being said, his move set is far less enjoyable to learn than Malenia’s and often, it just felt the impressive amount of health and the absolutely unhinged amount of capable range this man has is unjustifiable. Plus, Malenia invites aggression and allows for so many ways to contest her despite her making you work for it while Radahn just hurts. Pain for the sake of improvement is great. Pain for the sake of pain is a lot less fun.

Ancient Dragon Senessax: I did not think that the thing that would make me hate a fight like Lansseax or Fortissax would be just setting the damn thing in a pool of water, but here we are. The lightning AOE’s in this fight are ruthless and are a lot less avoidable for how much they stagger on a regular day. Definitely not the worst, but not a fun development.

Golden Hippopotamus: This thing definitely killed more innocent players than real hippos do every year in real life. This thing SUCKS to fight. Camera monsters in general are just a pain, but when half of your screen is covered in porcupine quills (yes, YOU HEARD ME), this thing becomes substantially more of a drag. That and this abomination punches above its weight class and I just generally found this fight as entertaining as a mosquito bite.

Commander Gaius: Fuck this man. I’ve never had a dude kill me so consistently or so consecutively in the first 5 seconds of the fight. It’s been a minute since a boss legitimately made me yell at my TV screen and I did not welcome the experience. Also, this man had absolutely no right or privilege to ride my ass this fucking hard unless he bought me dinner first. Will not enjoy revisiting this dude.

Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Brace yourself. This is gonna be a long one. I apologize in advance. *breathe in* *heavy sigh* I’ve never actively thought any boss in any Dark Souls game was purely unwarranted or worthy of true hatred. Despite all of the bosses I dislike fighting across all FromSoft games, I always attempted to find a bright side or something like lore or environment or something to justify its existence and I had succeeded. Until I met this fucking thing. This menace didn’t have the most kills on me (that goes to Malenia and Messmer) or did anything in particular that actively exploited my playstyle (like Maliketh, Mohg, or the Crucible Duo). This cockroach merely existed and it was enough. Its body is a giant blob. Its hitbox is horrific. It punishes aggression. It punishes passivity. This thing has ranged attacks, melee attacks, magical attacks, passive effects, movement patterns, retaliatory tactics, and even him just looking at me hits like a goddamn truck. He is so hard to read and does so much damage and does the most unhinged, wtf follow-ups that I’ve ever seen with the most hairpin trigger aggression I’ve ever experienced in my life. He does frost damage, lightning damage, physical damage, I’m pretty sure there is fire damage in there somewhere, emotional damage, and mood damage. And, to top it all off, THERE’S A FUCKING SECOND ONE OUT IN THE BOONIES THAT IS EVEN FUCKING WORSE. Basilisks have been in the Soulsborne conglomerate for as long as I can remember and I’ve tolerated their existence until FOUR OF THEM WANDER INTO THIS FUCKING FIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF PHASE 2. THIS LION HAS A DEATH BLIGHT PHASE. You know, the one status effect in Elden Ring that INSTANTLY KILLS YOU. And the best part? If you don’t kill him fast enough, HE CAN DO IT AGAIN. It would not surprise me if the same sadist that came up with the Double Gargoyle fight came up with this one. And like I said, he doesn’t have the most health I’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t fucking matter. The only thing that matters is how fast you can remove his health because he WILL kill you if you give him any leeway. I fought this thing twice and I know about as much about how to fight this thing as I did the first time I walked into its arena. I succeeded twice by SHEER DUMB LUCK. I despise this thing and if I could actively avoid it, I would not hesitate.

[lexcellence]

What is it about Western comics as a medium that enables them to tell specific stories--or be types of art--that other media can't replicate? It feels like it'd be so easy to translate a comic to a film, but we've also seen how outrageously difficult it really is. What, to you, makes comics so worth it all?

This is gonna be long and hella cynical, and I'm going to specifically focus on the big two (Marvel and DC) here, but I think a big part of it comes down to money, and the fact that comics are largely considered to be disposable media by the companies creating them.

See, there isn't a ton invested into the actual creation of comics. Creators are freelancers, so no need to worry about pesky things like "paying a reasonable wage," or "offering health insurance" — every few months or so you'll see people who shaped and revolutionized the medium setting up gofundme's because they never got a safety net, and they aren't taken care of by the companies they put all that work into. IP rights and royalties largely aren't a thing, and the nature of capeshit is that you're always going to find some fan who is honored to have the opportunity to write for them, even as the creators they grew up reading are torn up and spit back out. Couple that with an inherently built in marketbase of nerds, and, more often than not, not "wasting" money advertising actual comics to anyone who doesn't buy them already, and to a large extent it doesn't really matter what risks a comic takes. Warner and Disney don't really have to give a shit —a "bad" superman comic, by any definition of bad, might piss off a few nerds, but isn't gonna do a damn thing to the cultural perception of Superman™️, the Brand™️, available on everything from t-shirts to truck nutz at your local Walmart. And hell, 99 times out of 100 the nerds will keep buying the book anyway, and who cares if they don't, because the comic shops will.

Movies, on the other hand, are a pretty significant investment! You've got actors, hundreds of people in cast and crew, and *actual marketing.* They've gotta make that money back and then some, while appealing to an audience of people who might own a Batman wallet, but couldn't tell you the difference between Joe Chill and Victor Fries. It's harder to take risks with movies, because suddenly you might actually taint the image of a seventy year old brand, and that terrifies all of the investors. You throw too much Comic Book Bullshit™️ at general audiences who haven't already devoted their personalities to caring about who Batman is fucking that week (Hal Jordan), and it gets messy. This isn't even some "general audiences wouldn't understand*" gatekeepy shit, either - if you pick up literally any random comic issue and you don't like it, worst case scenario you've spent like four bucks and fifteen minutes of your life, and you've got anything from dozens to thousands of other issues to try.

*that being said, I still maintain that Batman & Robin is better than any Batman comic that came out that year, and everyone who says otherwise is a fucking coward.

And so, comics end up in a weird, probably ultimately untenable position of being able to take more risks, and being made largely by people who love comics, and grew up speaking their bullshit language. They're self-obsessed and masturbatory, sure, but the thing about saying that derogatorily is that it ignores the fact that masturbation is fun? The worst comics I've read, and I've read a lot of bad comics, are still almost always labors of love, be that for better or for worse. As exhausted as I get sometimes, it's hard for me to write that off entirely.

And, ultimately, I'm just way too invested in who's fucking Batman (Superman).

[compo67]

Is everything okay? You haven't been around in a bit and I'm worried! (Sorry if this is too parasocial of me! I don't want to intrude on your personal life. You don't have to respond to this!)

Hello anon,

Thank you for reaching out. I really appreciate it. I have been struggling to juggle everything on my plate, with varying degrees of success. Below the cut for an extended "why."

My father needed more care than I anticipated after coming back from Chile. I am caregiving twice a week, sometimes three. This includes taking him to appointments, doing his grocery shopping, setting up adaptive equipment, taking him out so he can walk around safe spaces, and keeping him company. I got respite from my older sister this past weekend, but it was just not long enough. I am so tired.

I have been battling flare ups and side effects. Still going for infusion therapy, PT, and other various appointments for myself. I have a nasty bruise on my left arm from infusion therapy, and a nasty bruise on my right arm from my liver MRI. Good news is that infusion therapy went well and the liver MRI came back stable. I am very grateful.

I had a health scare this week about my kidneys, but it seems like it's just costochondritis. It's painful, as it affects my ability to breathe or move, but I am used to my ribs flaring up. It's just... not ideal?

Finishing school was great! But then it launched me into attending a ton of webinars/seminars/networking events. I have been able to keep up with 90% of them, but it's been a real trip. I hate networking. I have had to push myself out of my comfort zone and that has been incredibly draining and anxiety-provoking.

I also received "feedback" on my LinkedIn profile from my mentor that I need to "tone it down" in regard to what I post/repost and comment on. All I post/repost/comment on about are queer/poc-related things. I spent an entire day crying about this "tone it down." I have been told before by society, by partners, by family members, by friends... to "tone it down," or, "stop being so obvious," or "don't go around flaunting it." Does anyone know how *difficult* it is existing in the world as my authentic self? If someone on LinkedIn doesn't like it, then they can kindly fuck off. I wouldn't want to work with them anyway.

It's been tough, anon.

Hockey is over, Delly got traded, and the Panthers blew their lead.

My HR certification exam is in 16 days. I do not feel like I've been able to adequately study/prepare. The amount of material to study is overwhelming. I have apps and flashcards, plus books, but I feel like I have neglected all of them this past week.

So. I have a lot on my plate right now. I can't even get my library books turned in on time because it feels like I never have enough time to do that. Not that I have time to read anyway.

Then there's the usual stuff like depression, shitty executive function, anxiety, and mood swings. Also, medications and side effects.

TLDR: I'm struggling and I am doing my best. You'll see more of me after July 6th (exam date).

I'm also just... really, really tired.

[igotthebees]

Help Me Get Out, Get a Drabble!

You win, I win! Everybody wins.

So i'm Phoenix, I made a post two or three months ago and people were wonderful and now I'm even more desperate.

My family life is very dangerous. I am a diagnosed complex system because of them and that environment. I managed to go low contact with part of the family and no contact with another and become completely independent or mostly independent. I started a new job. I had hopes for the future.

And then I had what we're currently calling "the incident".

I had a brain injury. The hospital said it was a hemiplegic migraine or stroke-like migraine but cannot explain why my loss of my peripheral vision is sticking around exactly two weeks after the incident. I also developed pretty serious essential tremor although it is being handled with a fuck ton of determination and grit.

So, I can't work the old job or drive anymore. Where did I go? Back to my parents house, where I've been for a little less than two weeks now.

I have to get out again. I can't go back to them. Luckily we have an out - they've agreed I should move out again since my health is getting better and we toured places. I'm moving either end of July or mid August.

Except today they told me that I may not be able to move if I can't have a stable income and money coming in before I leave. I got a "work as needed" job I can do from the computer and with my health but it's hard to focus and do work when you're in the place you were tortured again.

I can't really do the big difficult things but I've always wrote. I love to write - check out my AO3 (Voidfish) if you like Gravity Falls or The Adventure Zone for so many fics about identity and disability and being a sad old man. Message me for my professional writing - I've had my plays produced more than fingers I have. You won't be disappointed.

So if you want to be super nice and help me get through this time and maybe even prove I can make money so I can get out...below is my information. For every $5 you donate, message me privately or send something in the notes telling me how to contact you and I will write 500 words of whatever fandom you like that I know, sfw or if you're 18+ and can prove it nsfw, whatever concept or idea. Or if you'd prefer poetry or prose or even hell a short play, we can also figure something out.

Paypal: paypal.me/albeecreates Venmo: @Albee-Horowitz Kofi: ko-fi.com/phoenixcharmed

Thank you so much for reading and hopefully spreading this.

[landslided]

do you have any fic recs / favorite fics you’re willing to share with the class 🫶🏻

hi anon!! yes, of course!! i have a ton of fics i adore that i would love to share with you! actually, im a serial bookmarker on ao3 so if you want to check those out, definitely go take a look over there but for the sake of this ask and because i want to shout out works that i adore, here is a non-exhaustive list of gen and lawrusso fanfics i live for!

The Recidivists by @vimesbootstheory is a lawrusso fanfic set a few years before the show’s actual timeline and following daniel’s journey as he goes to prison for a twenty-month sentence. his cellmate happens to be a certain johnny lawrence. it is my absolute FAVORITE fic right now, i am so happy every time i get an update. the writing is phenomenal and daniel is sooo realistic in this, i love him so so much.

Fight Like a Man by @miyagi-hokarate is a gen fic exploring dutch’s character and the reading of him as a trans man. it’s beautifully written, it’s a really interesting take on the character and it’s a must read for me.

A Means, A Way, A Plan by an_sceal is a gen fic exploring johnny’s mental health after season three and before that, during his childhood, his teenage years and young adulthood. it’s absolutely heartbreaking and it made me cry three times reading it. you should however READ THE TAGS!! i like fics that sometimes talk about difficult or dark themes and i don’t want anyone to end up reading something that upsets them so read the tags before you read any of the fics i recommend!

ordinary things by @toothpuulp is a lawrusso fanfic that is a the piano teacher AU. yes, the piano teacher by michael haneke. if you’ve seen the piano teacher or if you’re familiar with haneke’s work you probably know what this fic is but if you aren’t i will just say that it’s a fic that explores daniel’s desires, his repression and his trauma. it’s a fic that i’ve become totally obsessed with in the past month and that i’ve reread five times. it’s violent and sensual and just so brilliant i cannot even express how insanely good it is. once again do definitely read the tags and also read the author’s note but goood, i love this fic. it will also make you feel things for daniel larusso that i can only compare to like, shrimp colors.

lost my head in san francisco by GoldStarGirl is a lawrusso fanfic where johnny and daniel both bring their students (aisha and miguel vs robby and sam) to a competition in san francisco but their plans end up getting a little messed up by an earthquake and daniel and johnny have to team up and actually act like adults. it’s funny, it’s sweet, the kids are great in this. just mwaaah.

Race to the Bottom by kbaxter is a lawrusso story about infidelity, babyyyyy!! these men are NOT working through their issues and they are making it everybody’s problem!! they’re emotionally STUNTED and they have to fuck it out! a great fic by a great author whose other fics i also adore!

last night i had a dream by shortcrust is a lawrusso slice of life fanfic that i love dearly. it’s super sweet, super funny and it makes my heart do funny things every time i read it.

gravestone flowers by menocchio is a lawrusso fanfic that is actually the sequel to another GREAT fanfic called bootstrapping. gravestone flowers is my favorite of menocchio’s objectively amazing lawrusso fanfics because they are DIVORCED AS FUCK!!! it’s basically a retelling of season one if johnny and daniel had dated for a long time before and then had the world’s messiest break up. i love this fic to death. you can read it as a standalone but i definitely recommend bootstrapping as well.

Boxed series by ezlebe is a lawrusso fanfic where johnny used to do porn modelling when he was young and the kids find out… through daniel’s hidden stash of magazines. it’s funny! it’s hot! johnny is a wet dream! daniel has conflicting feelings! wonderful fic!

if anyone wants to recommend me their favorite fics, you’re definitely welcome to and don’t think that im not open to other things than lawrusso just because i have a one track mind, feel free to send me all of your recs! also!! if you’re a fanfic writer come recommend me your stuff!!!!

thank you for this ask and happy reading!

[explodingchantry]

After a few hours into my Dao replay I think I'm starting to really warm up to the gameplay trailer for dav, and indeed its more action oriented combat.

Something I think a lot of us, especially those of us who are a bit apprehensive, are struggling with is that we haven't replayed dragon age in... A while. We have this idea of what it was like but personally my last playthrough was soon after trespasser released. I think we ourselves, unless you're one of the people whose replayed all three games very recently, aren't the best place to decide what dragon age should 'feel' like

Dao is absolutely brilliant and it's combat system is so in depth, the fact that me and a lot of people always complain about how difficult it is just means that it was a system directed towards more strategy oriented people. The little strategy options for the companions, you know the menu not a lot of us use in Dao and da2, where you can tell a companion "if this happens, do that" is a fucking marvel, it's so smart, it's so efficient, it offers so much control it genuinely is amazing. But the thing is that I don't think the core player base of dragon age ended up being the players who used that a ton.

Something you feel a lot especially replaying Dao with modern sensibilities, is sluggishness. You have to remember that it IS a real time action rpg - this means that reactivity is pretty important and even though the other Dao systems make you feel like you're wholly in control, the animations themselves as well as hit boxes and general... Feel of combat doesn't bring that across. It feels like playing an old mmo. It's absolutely fine and expected for its time, but expecting something similar in our modern era is foolish.

If bioware was going to keep the real time fighting, which, I would've been shocked and disappointed if they didn't, they had to make it more snappy and reactive. Furthermore as a bunch of people have pointed out the trailer specifically shows rogue which is THE most snappy bouncy class there is, at least with the double dagger. But we still have our pause. We still get to tell our companions what to do. And with so much work put everywhere else to "get back to their roots" it would be strange of bioware to completely abandon it just for the combat system

Something that did bother me in the trailer is how few abilities seemed available at one time and also the fact you couldn't see your companions' health bar: it seems they confirmed you can see the health bars on discord, and as for the abilities and the hud... I think it might just be a product of them showing console gameplay, because I saw some Dao console gameplay earlier today and was like. Oh. That looks similar. And there isn't necessarily any worries to have about them choosing to show console gameplay - statistically speaking I'm positive the majority of gamers these days are console gamers, and with how beautiful the game seems I imagine it'll put most computers to their fucking knees, and the amount of people who have access to up to date gaming computers is lower than you think. It makes sense from a marketing standpoint to use console gameplay. Keep hold of your knickers

I've personally no problem with a more stylised approach to the graphics either because I've always been of the opinion that inquisition looks like garbage and it aged even worse than I expected. It's so fucking ugly bro I hate how frostbite engine looked back then it's disgusting LMFAO.

I've even seen people critiquing the look of minrathous even though it's fairly consistent with what we'd seen of tevinter so far... I think people forget that in Dao, dragon age really didn't have as much of an artistic identity as it has now - really Dao in many ways looks like usual your dark fantasy game. So many elements that would become emblematic of dragon age only came in later games. Do I really need to bring up flemeth or the qunari lol, or the many looks elves and their vallaslins have had over the years.

Like dragon age's visual and artistic identity has always shifted with every game. There's literally nothing wrong with that. It's just par for the course course. You can't have a long running series of fantasy games with lore as complex as dragon age without stumbling here and there over such a large amt of year, mediums and teams.

As for the fucking idiots complaining about the game not being dark enough idk replay any of the games for like 5 minutes and then come back. Well maybe not dai that game is boring as hell most of the time but either way dragon age was always silly as hell y'all are so fucking stupid. Go watch game of thrones or something instead

I think I'm saying all that because I've seen a lot of negativity for the sake of being negative. A lot of people went into this expecting to be upset, so obviously they ended up upset. And I know it's so fucking hard: inquisition was already a mess in many ways, most of the original dragon age staff left, there were major layoffs which we should not forget about, the game was restarted I think twice or something, and in general it's had a bit of a messy development. That and the horrors that were me:a and anthem, and of course people wouldn't have faith in bioware. But it's not the first time a game studio went a dangerous path only to have a moment of clarity and come back. I've personally seen it when a few years back devil may cry 5 came out and was the best game in the franchise, going back to its roots and bettering what was already there with bold steps towards modernizing its gameplay, when all fans thought the franchise dead and buried. I want to believe bioware is able to have such a comeback as well.

What is transpiring from many of the articles, from the little tidbits of the staff on twitter, from interviews - it's that there's heart in this. It's that they're trying. They've listened. And maybe I'm just falling for the marketing machine, but I'd rather believe and be disappointed than live with no hope in my heart man. Dragon age is a series that means so much to me. We've waited so long for this. I want this to be something I can love.

[ice-devourer]

so, idk if i should do this for my two of my friends bc my parents dont approve of me doing it for others.....so i kinda need advice on what imma bouta do for em it's about disabilities and the ph government i cant post this anywhere else but tumblr .com so

tw one mention of hospitals n overdosing

slightly long post but i need sound advice 😭😭😭😭

↓

so disabled people here have this pwd card thing, however they are very restrictive and pedantic about the application and SLOW AS FUCK for the processing. only recently (last month i think) did they approve of mental disabilities as a disability. the card is difficult to get. two of my friends are neurodivergent and one of them has depression, however their families aren't that...well, receptive about it. 

it's not my first time falsifying documents so im thinking:

i replicate my doctor's prescribing pad and ‘prescribe’ them medicines as proof of their illness, ive been prescribed a ton of different medicines so it's quite easy to make combinations hshhssh,  i also need to falsify a certificate vouching and verufying that they do have an illness. it's fucked up bc they are ill andidk why they need so many verification steps to give the benefits i fucking hate this governmnt why do disabled people need to prove shit multiple times but yeah im not actually falsifying because their illness and disability is real and the government is a fucking asshole abt it so let's use create and not falsify as a verb uwu

i can also create an admission slip for them by replicating and just modifying my own slip from the time i overdosed (twice hshsh) as proof that theyve been hospitalized due to their mental illness bc just the presc. pad may not be enough, so for good measure yep.

i can just accompany them or give them a script of what to say when they get interviewed.

ive falsified vaccination cards for my oarents bc theyre anti vaxxers and i coyldnt fucking get them to ge the vaccine (gurl they are gonna drive me insane) and it worked, ive also falsified an id for myself saying im 21 during the pandemic too bc only people olderthan 21 can run errands and minors werent allowed to go out accoding to our local gov. and i was elected president during my 1st yr bc i made effetive excuse letters that our dean didnt question (mfs (my classmates) said i was doing gods work for em theyre lucky i love em) and ive recently copied someone's signature to get an spa (special power of attorney) andlied to our social security system (went okay hshwhhs) so WHY CANT I DO IT FOR MY FRIENDS IF I CAN DO IT FOR MY FAMILY FUCK GATEKEEPING THIS IS ABOUT DISABLED PEOPLE NOT GETING THEIR RIGHTFUL BENEFITS THIS IS ABOUT THE PEOPLE I ALSO CARE ABOUT

but yeah it's not easy, but to me it's only proper they ge their benefits like i did.

(also cheated mine bc like i said they only considered mental health recently so i went and falsified that i have really reaaly horrible eyesight and bribed my optometrist AHSHSHHWHSSH)

so should i go ahead with this and override my parent's permission bc i am still a lil scared of my mom this could cause a big fight but like...i love these ppl, i want them to have a slightly better life man hshhhahsshsh

[jitterbugjive]

I think it's sad when people start to only look at other people as numbers. They see a large collective of people get fucked over and say things like "Oh that happens all the time, it doesn't really matter" or "Why should I care about these random people" and to me, it just really shows how much the internet has taught us to view other people we don't know as blips in the wind.

I can't do that. I can't see even a group of 5 people getting fucked over as 'nothing'. Because I am keenly aware of how every single person is an individual with lives and feelings and I care what happens to most of them and when I'm seeing how bad the homelessness situation is first hand I take shit like losing your already very difficult to obtain job in this horrible bullshit economy VERY seriously.

When someone who is blessed enough to have a talent or reputation that's good enough to keep them afloat, they can lose sight of the people who just don't. When someone has the backup cushion of asking for help online and a ton of people will in fact help, they can forget that most random artists or voice actors out there working for companies do not have a fanbase they can rely on.

Long term houselessness is a major issue in this country right now, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say when a lot of people lose their jobs, there's at least a handful of them that are going to be forced on the streets. And you don't really KNOW houselessness until you've seen first hand the struggles with society, the law, drugs, and mental health that often comes with it.

If someone doesn't really care about mass firings because "it happens all the time" maybe that's the fucking problem? That it happens all the time? Or that it's happening more and more? Ever stop to think maybe there's a reason we're basically a third world country now with how bad our homelessness situation is? Hm.

Sorry I'm not so jaded by the internet that I have a deep seeded hatred for humanity and stopped giving a fuck about peoples' wellbeing if they aren't important to me. Sorry my job has made me see people as people more than ever before. Let's just say I wouldn't give up my empathy for the world.

[marionedde]

HOGLOW KNIGHT SHIT OR WHATEVER.

this will be updated once silksong comes out (good fucking lord.)

I've been watching mossbag and he had that one theory about masks giving bugs mind. Also i would like to add that there's a SHIT TON of little guys all around hallownest. Squits, tiktiks, vengeflies, etc. Now as far as we know they were never really a part of the society of hollow knight. So they were either animals essentially, or most of them didn't have the masks to be aware like mossbag says.

There's porbably also the effect of the pale king's leftover light causing at least a bit of sentience remaining for people such as Tiso, mila, iselda and sly who as far as we know don't have masks.

so more advanced or at least evolved bugs and beasts are sentient.

We also might be able to think back to the ancients. From what we see, a lot of them have face shapes similar to the fools, but they don't look like removable masks. It's possible that the ancient beasts were born with this mind, and the masks just mimic the pattern and idea of sentience.

this also might give us an answer to the nailsmith. He's obviously dead and really fucking old. and possibly stupid considering he picked that tiny-ass cave for a living. Conclusion? Didn't have a mask.

Now in one of mossbag's videos he mentions Boon from the prequel and how he talks much less...educated than quierrel. But tuk can, and is in hallownest, so i think like this.

Advanced beings (npcs) can exist in hallownest and have mind, or with a mask. being without either will diminish their thought process, but it's still present.

Lesser beings (smaller enemies) can exist in hallownest and (maybe?) have mind, but being without a mask will delete their thought process essentially.

THis can also contribute to how easily the radiance would be able to infect them.

If the bed bugs as i call them (mila, husks, aristocrats) were once lesser beings then gained the kings light/mask they were able to think more.

Maybe mask maker couldn't make a mask big enough for the tiktiks.

Some masks may not be obvious too. the Knight's masks, aka health, are possibly handheld objects. they wouldn't fit its face. so maybe some of the lesser bugs capable of HOLDING OBJECTS (aka bed bugs) would be able to obtain a mask.

Now what about the guys in the howling cliffs? they have the mask look but lost their mind.

answer: i don't fucking know. Probably the hex the king placed, but maybe those aren't masks and are just what they look like. It's possible, i guess. Mask maker did say it's difficult to tell who's in a mak or not.

Also, other substances may have worked similar to the pale king's light.

Think:

Unn's essence keeping the mosskin sentient but got canceled out by the radiance (shes called that for a reason.) thus causing unn to be tired from trying to push back.

The hiveblood keeping the bees functional during the reign of the pale king (they were technically outside the kingdom) but, once again, not being strong enough to stop the infection.

jiji, the snail shamans and the seer all avoided infection and this is porbably due to their own spiritual resolve.

OTHER MASKS:

-Godseeker masks: causes a conection between minds. this is obviously stronger than the mushroom hivemind, probably because it's a PHYSICAL MASK. the godseekers didn't have any gods, or they died, so the mask was a way to remain safe from losing their one collective mind (also mask caused that) as well as connect them to any nearby god they could attune (latch) onto.

-Grimm troupe masks: probably keeps the wears under the control of the nightmare's heart. This could also explain why divine seems a bit more in control of herself than brumm. She only wears half a mask. Brumm wears a full one.

-Steel soul masks: no idea what these do but it's probably important. Jiji is most likely affected in a positive(?) way as far as we know, considering she isn't from hallownest and doesn't have a traditonal mask. Since she seems to carry info from...wherever she's from...the mask probably helped her keep it stuck in there.

tl;dr

mossbag is great, masks keep mind, and so does a god's light, the more evolved the creature is the more mind they can keep if it's lost.

[avelera]

I know it’s a really dumb nitpick for Ted Lasso but it bothered me in the last season that we had no sense of how much money the players or coaches were making.

Thing is, when you write fantasy, you gotta establish ALL the worldbuilding rules. Theoretically when things are set in the real world, you can allow more audience knowledge to create obstacles that hem the character in. So for example, in a magical world I have to tell you why a character is running late for a meeting despite being able to teleport, but in the real world I can just say they got stuck in traffic and the audience knows what I mean.

So in the real world, real football players and coaches make a fuck ton of money. Like millions. We’re shown that Colin has a Lamborghini. We know that Jamie has a sweet apartment. These guys should have a lot of money (they should have an entire staff btw of hanger ons and health specialists etc too but that’s another matter more likely related to limiting the number of named characters). That’s what these guys as athletes and their coaches should have.

So it was constantly perplexing this season whenever money came up because it varied so widely that it seemed entirely arbitrary who was shown to have it and who wasn’t, which made the obstacles the characters are facing difficult to predict because many of them, in the real world, would not exist for athletes or coaches at their level.

- How much money was Nate making? Theoretically Rupert should have been paying his head coach very well but there is literally no sign of that and even the car he gets Nate disappears from the narrative. One beat in Nate’s story should have been the siren song of just how much money he’s suddenly making.

- How much money does Jamie Tartt make? Why is his mom still living in working class circumstances if they’re so close? I’m not saying she couldn’t have turned down financial assistance from him but then I’d expect a line about that and why she’s still living in their childhood home when a professional footballer could afford to do a lot for her.

- Why couldn’t Ted fly his mom out to the game? Or get a private car for her? Heck, Rebecca could have used the private jet mentioned in the same episode to get his mom there as a favor! Why couldn’t Ted make more regular trips to the US to see his son? A coach at his level would be able to afford that.

Thing is, it’s a valid story choice to just not include money concerns at all, but Ted Lasso doesn’t do that. We are frequently shown billionaires as villains (except Rebecca in later seasons). We are shown Colin’s fancy car. We had an entire plotline about the investment in Keeley’s company! Money matters in this world! And we are shown glimpses of the life of fame and fortune that footballers have and that by extension, coaches have in the real world. But the obstacles they face could be in some cases overcome by a more realistic take on how they could use that fame and fortune in real life and is often arbitrarily ignored too.

It’s valid as a choice but it’s a symptom of the wider problem I saw in S4 of Ted Lasso which was not having a solid plot or worldbuilding foundation. This meant that the audience’s ability to follow or predict the obstacles faced by the characters was largely arbitrary and showed the hand of the author.

[soullikethesea]

I dreamt about the First T last night, L. I can't remember the story-line, but it felt real. It felt like how I felt back then - in complete awe of her. She felt like a shining light. She opened the door to a whole new world, in which there were (relatively) competent adults who actually cared. Just like the narrative I had about Bf, it felt like she saved me. She taught me about different emotions people can have. She was strong and funny and thoughtful at the same time.

Sometimes she wasn't, of course. But that's not how I saw her. I really idolized her and fantasized about what her life must be like. Sometimes she let things slip about her other workplaces. She worked in a facility for juvenile delinquents, as a teacher for budding therapists, and used to work in child protective services. She clearly had tons of experience with boundary-pushing, difficult children and teens. Experience with building unlikely alliances. And I'm still impressed by how she helped me, way before I knew how to help myself. It was by no means perfect, but she did have a sense of what I needed and how to approach me. Even when she was maybe scared about it, because she looked like a deer in headlights relatively often (lol). Ending treatment was a different story. She had no idea on what path she put me - budding discovery of parts and trauma stuff that couldn't be ignored anymore. She made lots of mistakes at times.

And she met Bf once. I really wonder what she thought of him. He told me later that he'd wanted to fuck her, that she was good. Such a bizarre thing to say, let alone to a 16 year old. I didn't even notice the weirdness.

Bf got diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder when we were in a relationship. He received schema therapy and talked a lot about his past, how it was caused, the different sides to him.

Last night I watched a documentary about forensic mental health care and it was like both of these elements came together. There she was, my L. Reflected in the caring and thoughtful staff. In the patients I saw Bf everywhere. Smooth talking, good intentions - sometimes horrible actions. The journalist said that he felt like his inner compass didn't seem to work in the facility.

I have this one colleague that we will have to confront about (likely unintentionally) crossing people's boundaries. I wonder if my inner compass also didn't work with him. How did I not see this?

Sometimes I worry if my strategies for dealing with my dad give me a massive blindspot. I can handle "scary" colleagues and build rapport with them. They usually end up respecting me and there is no problem. But other people feel unsafe and guess what, maybe they are. I may be the outlier that didn't feel that and I'm really sorry I didn't see it.

My dad got suspended and eventually fired from his job for crossing people's boundaries. He said some really fucked up things, but I suspect that it mostly was because he behaved like he did at home at the dinner table - going on and on until people break.

He didn't notice that there was a colleague who really was even more malicious. I'm sure it was someone like Bf. Someone charming and oh so dangerous. I do know he was also diagnosed with NPD. I hope it was someone that L would have sniffed out - maybe. I wonder if she realized about Bf or if he also succeeded at charming her. Either way, I failed to see it with Bf and I really hope that one day I will learn to see it, even with my colleagues.

[siristaci]

I need to tell y'all about this Mongolian barbeque place in my city that was... something special.

But first, a little about me. I hate trying new things, had a really bad immune system (I promise that's relevant), have a hard time processing accents that makes talking to people with heavy accents anxiety-inducing, and another thing I was going to point out but can't remember right now. Hopefully I'll remember before posting this and amend it.

It's been closed for a few years, so you also need to keep in mind that my memories of this place are, at most recent, about 8 years old.

Y'all. Once I was finally convinced to try this place (about 17 years ago), I fucking loved it. Went as often as I could afford.

There were always only two people running the place- an Asian woman, who acted as the host/waitress/cashier and spoke just enough heavily-accented english to get by, and an Asian man, who was the cook and spoke even less english.

The place was dark and dirty. There's not a chance in hell it ever passed health inspections. The back corner of the dining area was difficult to see from the front (impossible when you first walked in and were day-blind) and no dining customers were ever sat there. There were, however, usually at least a couple of businessmen looking guys sat there who, if they spoke to each other at all, were too quiet to be heard from just a few tables away. They were rarely eating; just sitting there doing idk what. I didn't look often nor long because I just had this overwhelming feeling that it was best not to pay too much attention to them.

When you arrived, the woman would chat with you about what's been going on in your life since she last saw you (she had an excellent memory, even remembering me a few years since the last time I'd been there) as you were seated at booths whose seats no longer had functional springs and asked what you want to drink. You had to ask what drinks they had, since there was no menu. And no sign saying how much anything cost at all.

The food was set out in a buffet style. You'd load up a bowl with meat, veggies, and sauce, and hand it off to the guy, who would cook it and give it back to you. How long had the food been sitting out? Who knows? I went at various times of the day and never saw anything get refilled.

But the food was good, and I never got sick, despite the aforementioned terrible immune system. It was a tad pricey, but definitely a worthwhile treat.

After it closed, I was heartbroken and needed to find a replacement. I went to reddit to see if anyone had any recommendations. Or any idea why it had closed. Sure, it never had many customers at any given time. I think the most tables filled (by dining customers anyway) at once was 3 out of the maybe 12 available. But that had been the case for the 15 years I'd been going. Declining patronage couldn't be the answer.

I couldn't find a ton of references to the place; just a handful of posts asking the same questions I was. Any good replacements? And what happened?

But the responses were many. A few comments recommending the same three places. A lot of people sad to learn that it was closed or reminiscing about how good it was and how long it had been there- while most experiences had the same negative things to say as I did (health code concerns and a wariness of the men in the back), nearly everyone agreed that it had been a great place.

And there was a universally agreed-on theory that it had been a money-laundering scheme that was no longer needed.

Ah. Yeah, that makes sense, actually.

But here's the funny part. Recently, another post reminded me of this place. And I wanted to read those reviews again, but I didn't want to use reddit because, well.

So I just googled it. It's hard to find any reference to it at all since it's closed, never had a website, and it's name was similar to a national (maybe global? I don't care enough to look it up) fast food chain. All I could really find were old Yelp reviews.

Nobody on Yelp liked this place.

There were only two good reviews. One was just the same "LOVE this place! GREAT food and great atmosphere! Other things in all caps and lots of exclamation marks!" you see everywhere, and the other was this.

Y'all

Anyway, I just find it funny that everyone- myself, the people I introduced it to, the people I know who already knew of it, reddit, and yelp- all had pretty much the same experience, but reddit (and the people I know)- who all agreed it was sketchy all around- loved it and yelp- who only had health code concerns- hated it.

[rayclubs]

What would you say the hardest part about learning English is? Also, any tips for learning Russian?

I think you’ve mentioned before that English is your second language and I literally wouldn’t have known otherwise because your writings are that good, so I was just curious! (I’m trying to learn Russian myself and it’s not been too terribly difficult but,, cases really mess me up man 😭)

I'd say the hardest part of learning English depends on how far your end goal is. Third conditionals ("This would not have happened if I had not done that") are pretty hard, but you pretty much never use them in regular speech. Articles ("a", "the") are pretty hard, it takes a while for them to become intuitive, but if you practice enough, you stop having problems. Prepositions ("in", "on", "at") still mess me up, I think, but mostly I do alright. Idioms aren't hard, don't trust anyone who tells you otherwise. Fuckin' posers.

As for learning Russian, I am actually working on a project detailing our phonology, and the goal is to eventually expand it to a full nethodology. It's just that it's going very slowly because I'm currently going through a bit of a mental health crisis while working full-time. But we'll get there. I hope.

Cases are a fuck, honestly. I'd say practice helps a ton, but you probably heard fgat before. Reading and identifying cases in every sentence of what you're reading could also help a ton. It's how I teach articles in English. Gotta learn to undrstand the enemy before you can take on it yourself, is my advice.

If you have any particular questions about cases or anything else in Russian, or you need help translating something or checking something you've translated, feel free to ask me. I mean it. I wish I could be a language teacher again, I really miss it.