#these change over the course of the campaign and they all begin to learn to live for themselves rather than for others

[wings-of-flying]

chip, jay, gillion. past, present, future. continue

[httpsoftbunni]

The Life of the Leper King

Before Baldwin IV became The Leper King, his early life is one of privilege, but it isn't without tragedy. Baldwin was son of King Amalric I of Jerusalem and Agnes of Courtenay, making him a member of the royal family of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. While his youth was filled with the typical education and upbringing of a prince, his path to the throne and his legacy would be shaped by a life-altering diagnosis: leprosy.

He spent his early years under the care of his father and other noble tutors, including the notable historian William of Tyre. William, who later became Archbishop of Tyre, was Baldwin’s primary tutor and was the first to recognize that something was physically wrong with the young prince. While Baldwin was intellectually sharp and demonstrated promise in many areas, he lacked sensitivity in his right arm—a detail that would later signal the onset of leprosy.

Baldwin’s childhood was spent in the royal courts of Jerusalem, where he learned about governance, religion, and military strategy, all in preparation for his potential future as king. The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, established after the First Crusade, was a hotbed of political and military conflict, and Baldwin was expected to continue his family’s efforts to protect the Christian-held territories in the Holy Land.

Leprosy changed the course of Baldwin's life forever. Diagnosed around the age of 9, Baldwin’s illness was initially recognized by William of Tyre, who observed that Baldwin could not feel pain when other children pinched or hurt him during play. This alarming symptom led to the realization that Baldwin was suffering from leprosy, a disease that attacked the nerves and skin, leading to severe physical deterioration over time.

Despite the prognosis, Baldwin’s condition did not immediately disqualify him from royal duties. He continued his education and began training in the arts of leadership and warfare. While his illness worsened slowly, Baldwin grew into a capable young man, showing signs of the strength and wisdom that would later define his reign.

Baldwin’s path to kingship was accelerated by the death of his father, Amalric I, in 1174. At just 13 years old, Baldwin was crowned King of Jerusalem. His ascension to the throne marked the beginning of one of the most tumultuous and challenging reigns in Crusader history. Despite his youth and illness, Baldwin was determined to prove himself as a capable ruler.

During his early reign, Baldwin faced numerous political and military challenges, particularly from external threats like Saladin, the powerful Muslim leader who sought to reclaim Jerusalem. The young king quickly showed his courage and resolve, participating in military campaigns and demonstrating his ability to lead, even as his leprosy gradually weakened him physically.

What sets Baldwin IV apart in history is not just his royal lineage or his battle against leprosy but the resilience and strength he displayed in the face of adversity. Despite the limitations imposed by his illness, Baldwin remained a vigilant leader and a fierce protector of his kingdom. His early life was marked by a profound sense of duty and determination, qualities that would come to define his reign.

As a teenager and a young man, Baldwin learned to navigate the complex political landscape of the Crusader states, dealing with not only external enemies but also internal conflicts among the nobility. His leadership, even at a young age, earned him the respect of his subjects and his allies.

[mittensmorgul]

Hi everyone! I just need like two minutes of your time.

Have you enjoyed all the scripts that the @spnscripthunt has posted over the last few years? Have you screenshotted them and written meta and made gif sets or just cried over your favorite scenes again? Have you supported the group in any way?

Would you like to OWN one of those scripts, autographed by the stars of Supernatural?

Maybe you miss participating in GISH, doing some wacky fun good in the world and the style of fundraising we learned there-- that many people making small contributions can come together to change lives.

Well, we are down to our last little stack of scripts now, with no new scripts coming on the horizon. This project has been thrilling, and we're trying to send it all off with a bang. We're giving away the final portion of the collection, all signed by the cast and crew, and hopefully doing a little good in a very big way.

We picked RIPMedicalDebt as our final charity, because of the exponential power of increasing how far our donations will go. $10 donated pays of $1,000 of medical debt, free and clear with no tax burden to the recipients! With a small donation, you could literally change someone's life.

We get that folks outside the US might not understand how completely messed up the US healthcare system is, so for some perspective, 65% of people who file for bankruptcy in this country do so directly because of crushing medical debt. We know personally how horrifying the medical insurance system is in this country. One illness, one accident, can be financially devastating. But we can save a few people from having it completely destroy their lives.

We got the idea from John Oliver. This entire episode is eye-opening about debt in the US in general, but the part we're specifically interested it begins around 17 minutes in.

We're already a quarter of the way to our goal! Thank you to everyone who's already donated! What we need now is to spread the word!

If you've spent any time at all enjoying the work we've done, the scripts we've collected and shared with fandom, we're hoping you'll consider sharing our posts widely with anyone who might be interested. Our contact network has been demolished as twitter collapses (and historically the vast majority of our contributors have come from twitter), and we're practically begging just for a signal boost.

All the details on how to donate, and then enter the raffle can be found right here:

You can also see all the prizes we'll be making available, too! And if for some reason you're not interested in a prize and just would like to support the campaign, that's fine too, of course!

(but the prizes are super cool... at least we think so...)

You only have until November 5, 2023 to enter the raffle, and our final group of prizes will unlock when we hit $5000 donated (which could pay off half a million dollars in medical debt!)

Please help us spread the word, and good luck!

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Okay but AU where the Dekusquad murders Bakugou without Izuku knowing when they find out what kind of shit he put their friend through. (Nedzu is covering up from them because a. OFA is more important than one student, one determined to be a possible threat, and b. old hate of humanity and love of chaos.)

5 Headcanons (life got in the way sorry)

1. It’s an accident. It actually is they just got so fucking mad when they found out. They wanted to confront him but the vile crap he said, claiming Izuku deserved it… they hadn’t been able to hold back. Standing over his body was… disturbing. Luckily Nezu stepped in to help.

2. Tenya probably feels the most guilty. He had sworn off vengeance after Hosu but he broke that in his rage. He promises himself to try to help others like Bakugou, kids who had flashy Quirks who got put on pedestals. He promised himself to try and enable them to live better lives and learn they aren’t gods like they think.

3. Ochako doesn’t feel as much guilt as Tenya but she is the one who feels the most after him. She didn’t like Bakugou, but she didn’t want him dead. She feels his death is cheap and that a proper punishment should have been the loss of his place in the hero course along with the destruction of his dream. She secretly releases how he acted to the world and after Nezu falsifies evidence he was killed by running around as a vigilante to prove he was better then Izuku, she begins campaigning for stricter laws about who hero schools take in.

4. Shouto would come after Ochako for the guilt issue. He can’t help but see his eldest brother in Bakugou, from what he remembers. A kid held up high for his Quirk and whose attitude changed for the worst due to it. He begins to work with Tenya to campaign about it. Dani’s reveal just adds fuel to his fire.

5. Tsu feels the least amount. She handled a problem, and got rid of an issue. Her only regret is that Izuku feels bad. Otherwise? She doesn’t care at all.

[toreii]

Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Review

Let me just preface this post by saying I’m still on the fence about sharing my thoughts. Like many, I am highly disappointed with the direction this DLC went. I would have never imagined this was in store for me last year during the summer when I first watched the Lin Kuei trailer. Khaos Reigns provoked two days of awful headaches followed by days of disillusion. Yes, NRS played me for a fool (thank god I did not purchase this). I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and it came to bite me in the ass. If I had a physical copy of the game, I’d chuck it in the trash. I’m finding it difficult to proceed forward which is hard because I like to see things through even if it sucks. All I can do is protect my vision of Bi-Han and staying true to the old lore as I try and move on.

That being said, to address my take on this expansion:

To begin, the elephant in the freaking room--Sektor and Cyrax.

I am a Lin Kuei fan overall. Not a big fan of him in general, but there has been appreciation for him and Cyrax throughout the years. When I learned that both were going to be genderbent, I had a little bit of misgivings suddenly changing things drastically. But, again, I gave NRS the benefit of the doubt. Since this is a new era, I was on board with it until the rumors started circulating about both being love interests for the brothers. I was like "That makes no sense whatsoever." To me, the Lin Kuei has always been like a brotherhood. In no given time, has there ever been any indication of personal relationships outside of camaraderie. For example, Cyrax and Smoke being vehemently upset over Bi-Han's death in MK9, and not just Kuai Liang.

The argument can be constantly made that this is a new timeline, and it's Liu Kang's creation over and over. But, when you have that man (Dominic) constantly saying the timelines are canon, but not really. But, still are. It's incredibly hard to take anything seriously right now especially with the constant flip flopping that man does for the sake of the current script. Which is another point, but back to the bastardization of our two Lin Kuei girls.

I wanted to believe in a strong, female Sektor, who has her own ideals which we can all clearly see. Like her past iterations, she lives, breathes, and bleeds Lin Kuei. I wanted to see a Sektor who slowly, but surely descended into her own madness of corruption as she pursued her goals for the Cyber Initiative. Sektor has always been known for his technological genius, and she would be no different. To see her potential constantly get staunched for her adulation and obsession for Bi-Han was hard to witness. I can understand that this may be a flaw for her, but it is a very shitty flaw. Because this one trait absolutely negates everything she stands for. I can see that both she and Bi-Han use each other to a certain extent where it seems fit. I know her horrible romance is the center of focus right now, but if you listen to her intros with Bi-Han, it seems to be all business between them. There is barely any indication that their relationship goes beyond the realm of the clan and into a personal tryst. Sektor calls it love, but it's not quite there. I mean, there's love for the grandmaster, but the love that seems to be implied between the two is not quite there. At least, in my view.

I don't know about Sektor yet, but I already deduced that Bi-Han isn't someone who's desperate to correct anyone on the spot. He doesn't have to. He doesn't owe anyone an explanation, so of course he runs with whatever people say about him. He's unbothered by anyone's opinions of him. When Kuai Liang told Cyrax the truth about Bi-Han letting their father die, Bi-Han could have stepped in at any given moment and contradicted Kuai Liang. Instead, he chose to own every word Kuai said. I've had this feeling since the end of the base campaign that Kuai Liang simply took pieces of what Bi-Han said, and spun them to fit his own narrative. (Killing your father and letting him die because of an accident are two completely different things.)

Anyways, going back to Sektor, that scene where Bi-Han's mind was being restored seems to be the only shoehorned indication that there is more to them than meets the eye. But, again, it was badly placed, badly presented as well. First of all, Sektor really should not have been there in that room at all. From a storytelling perspective, I'm supposed to believe that both Sektor and Bi-Han have this obsessive romance and codependency between each other in a few seconds of frames, than the brotherhood between Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, and Tomas??? And this was my worst fear for Bi-Han too. I did not want him to be "saved" by romance. I wanted his salvation to come from within himself as he reflected on his poor decisions and the tragedy of his downfall which sadly we were robbed and negated from. If the scene only involved Liu Kang, Bi-Han, and Kuai Liang, it would have been more poignant. There has always been that story between the two brothers. I understand, this is not the same Kuai of two timelines ago. But, why is MK: Onslaught's ScorpKuai a lot more wholesome than our MK1 iteration??? He was absolutely horrified meeting MK11 Noob. He couldn't understand why Bi-Han became Noob (and how). But, Kuai's first instinct in the DLC is to be absolutely pissed and disgusted? "Your new attire suits you. It is as black as your heart." Darling, no. I would have been more pleased seeing Kuai approach the table and have this conflicting expression. The hatred can still be there, but the concern and sorrow for whom was once family to him, and his eldest brother needed to be portrayed. I mean, we sort of got it with the whole coffin scene at the end. But, in that scene, in that moment, that more than Bi-Han reaching for Sektor and touching foreheads with her is a lot more powerful in terms of storytelling. I don't know why NRS is so against these two hashing it out and resolving their issues.

Now to Cyrax...oh my god...

According to Kuai Liang in the main story, Cyrax and Sektor were supposed to be absolutely loyal to Bi-Han and would abet his corruption than follow him. We obviously see that in Sektor, but what the hell happened to Cyrax? It leads me to believe that Dominic and others suddenly decided to change the script. Mind you, I firmly believe that they did so. Sektor and Cyrax being women in this game must've been a decision that came after everything was said and done for the base campaign. I'm a bit skeptical on Bi-Han suddenly turning on Cyrax because I do recall some time ago listening to some leaked audio in which Bi-Han says "Kuai Liang was supposed to give Cyrax back." It made me think "Oh shit. Does Cyrax get held hostage or something?" Like, what the hell happened? And, I'm realizing, are we missing dialogue now? There is so much that does not make sense!!! Why would they turn on her all of a sudden?!

She's supposed to be close to Bi-Han just as much as Sektor. And suddenly, Cyrax is presented as a free thinking individual who abides by her own ideals and tradition. The moment that is threatened, she feels like she can no longer follow Bi-Han and his ambitions. To make it worse, she feels so much remorse with Kuai Liang that she's ready to give up her life in penance to make up for it. It just makes no sense. And to make it worse, she spends the rest of the DLC following Kuai Liang like a little puppy ready to serve her new grandmaster. Why was she even presented as a strong individual when all she wants is Kuai Liang's adoration as well? Not to mention, it was a really gross line to include in the intros where Noob threatens to spill her relationship with Kuai Liang to Harumi. We're seriously cheapening these two women to typical high school romance tropes? Like others have expressed, this is fanfiction levels of madness.

Kuai Liang is all levels of messed up too. I am so sick and tired of him prancing around like he does no wrong, and everyone believes every word he says. Suddenly, he's the self appointed grand hero of the story when you have Liu Kang's champions sitting around and twiddling their thumbs? Why not place faith in them and send them with Kuai to resolve the current threat. I understand Kuai's Shirai Ryu is now the new protectors, but you also have these other people and beings who are preparing themselves as well for these upcoming threats. I hate that they just suddenly bled into the background, and disappeared completely. Somebody needs to not only knock Bi-Han but Kuai Liang as well a few pegs down. He too is not without his own flaws and they need to be addressed. And Liu Kang's line "Trust your wife. Avail yourself of her wisdom." The same thing with Sektor and Bi-Han. Here too. This fucking trope cannot be it. Love cannot only be the thing that saves the day. His anger, his vengeance, is no where near the levels of Hanzo. Hanzo legit had a reason to be like that. Kuai is literally throwing a bitch fit at Bi-Han, and pointing fingers anywhere but himself. Seriously, his anger and disgust against Cyrax was so unwarranted. And every time she was flustered and tried to explain, he barely gave her time to say a word. Always cutting her off, and rejecting her apologies until the end because it is implied Harumi stepped in. And he seems to just completely simmer down a bit in the presence of Noob. Where was the you who tried to take him on earlier in Chaosrealm? Suddenly, you don't feel like butting heads with your brother? Kuai Liang is such a hypocrite, and I'm tired of seeing it.

Liu Kang was also another that just got dragged through the mud. A lot of his words and actions did not make sense. He's content with disposing of Titan Shang Sung and Titan Quan Chi, but he won't let Bi-Han finish off Titan Havik because he isn't sure how he's tied to his timeline, and doesn't want to kill innocent lives? What about the timelines tied to the other two? Liu Kang had no problem ending those. Why is Titan Havik's timeline any different? Bi-Han is right. Why does that timeline matter when the most important one is theirs, Liu Kang's timeline? He tells Raiden and Kung Lao to do their best and pray they make it out alive, when Liu Kang could have better prepared them. Gets his ass handed to him, can't even go save Geras himself. Sends Kuai, Cyrax, and Sektor to Chaosrealm in blindly. And, snaps at Bi-Han for the most part towards the end instead of having a meaningful talk with him. Not just simply telling him "This is what you are meant to do. Defend Earthrealm." Well, geez, why not elaborate on that, Liu Kang? Can't you give Bi-Han a few minutes of your time to air out grievances and come to a consensus?

And what the hell happened to Titan Havik? Is he dead? Does he still live? Trapped in the void? The Kamidogu were briefly mentioned, and then dropped. They were hyped to be of importance in this DLC. I'm certain they'll make their return eventually if NRS continues the story involving Onaga when the time comes. But, Havik had plans for them as well. And we only see him fusing with the Kamidogu. That final fight with him felt pretty lackluster. Just a regular match like any other.

We are definitely missing script, and scenes. We were supposed to have gotten a whole lot more. Ed Boon said this was their project for the next few years. I suppose they felt compelled not just to omit certain things, but cut out others for future DLCs. This was setup to be more than what we got. The bar absolutely fell short of what the end product was. To charge full price is absolutely heinous. I'm sorry, but I do not have $50 on hand for each DLC that they plan to release. They charged full price for the main game, and now they plan to do so for every little story line that comes after? I can't in good conscious support this kind of marketing. I'm devastated with the story. Like, I could work and make sense and justify every decision made with the main story to a degree. I can't do the same with Khaos Reigns.

I know I was making gifs of Bi-Han last week, but after KR...my heart right now really isn't in MK1. Every time I come across posts and remotely start thinking about it, I get headaches. They are not as bad as they initially were, but this is how horribly this DLC affects me. It keeps giving me headaches. I know I probably regurgitated the same sentiments and ideas as many others have already. But, a friend told me it would be cathartic to do this. So, instead of my journal, I am here expunging these thoughts and emotions. I don't know what my future with the brand will entail, but godspeed NRS. I wish you well on your future endeavors, and that's really saying a lot on my end. I can't even hope anymore. They massacred my heart and left me to die just like papa Lin Kuei (I wish we had a name for him).

[the-maid-of-witchwood]

What are your 'anti-ships'? Like who do you think fucking hate eachother?

Oh, so many people. It’s Hatchetfield. All of these guys are petty as fuck, so it probably doesn’t take too much.

I don’t think I have time to list them all lol.

But I will tell you about a specific character hatred that I have hinted at but I don’t think actually discussed yet on my blog.

Georgina despises Stephanie. Well, she despises most people in general save herself, Solomon and other rich people. But her daughter especially.

Becky absolutely hated working for the Lauters. She was forced into it by Stanley, pre nursing school that came after she was fired; Solomon just didn’t like her but at least was polite and civil about it (until his wife died); Georgina just use to bully her (think Linda but worse) for fun; and all their friends were snobby and treated her like shit. But nothing compares to how much Georgina just actively despised Steph and that was unbearable.

To the point, on one of Becky’s first days/the day Georgina signed up for the Honey Queen pageant, she tried explaining that she was going to take Steph to the park to feed the ducks, only to be told to shut up because: “Becky, you could drown the thing for all I care.”

Baby Steph was very much the epitome of a small dog in a rich person’s handbag. She was just an accessory. At this stage, Solomon still had hope for Steph. That she would be a proper Lauter and would be more useful to keep alive. If only because the image of ‘family man’ worked in politics. And though she hated it, Georgina found that ‘wife and mother’ worked in her favour when campaigning to be Honey Queen. So Steph (and Becky by extension) was dragged out to all these events.

It was at one such event they ran into a certain duchess-to-be and her niece. Which started a couple of play dates over the course of the Honey Festival 2004, again stopping with Becky being fired.

Georgina doesn’t actually know Steph’s name. She doesn’t care and purposefully refuses to learn it. Solomon picked it, continuing his family’s S. Lauter (for those related by blood) tradition. She knows it begins with an S and is kinda long, that’s it. It changes every time she says it. Samantha, Savannah, Scarlett, Sapphire, Seraphina, Susannah, Sandrine. You could probably find old Hatchetfield news articles where she talks about her child “Suffragette”.

Reminder that this couple absolutely didn’t want children and didn’t know Steph was there until the birth. (Not that it justifies anything, just wanted to make sure we all knew). But yeah, Steph is well aware she’s the unwanted result of an unprotected fuck on Valentine’s Day - wasn’t too hard to workout considering her father nicknames her ‘his/their October Surprise’ and counting back nine months.

Part of Georgina’s hatred is because of the not knowing she was pregnant. She had gone to enter the Honey Queen pageant the year prior but couldn’t because she got sick with what was Steph, but at the time everyone believed was food poisoning or a stomach bug. She recovered by the time for the actual pageant but it was too late to enter by then, so she remained at home, bitter. And casually calling favours for certain contestants to be ‘dealt with’ behind the scenes as she does every year. She didn’t want any old bitch in her crown.

(Needless to say, she’s had her name on the Honey Queen trophy for fucking years).

She blames Steph for having her miss out on a back to back win. Her intention having been to keep entering the pageant every year and become the first consecutive winner.

This song is definitely part of some hypothetical AU where Georgina lives and becomes Mayor over Solomon. It just nails her and Steph’s dynamic perfectly, especially the ending but I highly encourage you to listen to the full thing:

I could say more, I have so much lore about her, but that will do for now.

Georgina is the absolute worst (which is necessary because she did win Honey Queen and it’s Hatchetfield) and I love her.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Mint Plays Games: Household

March saw the beginning of a new multi-session series with my home group, and this time we're hopping through a number of different dimensions, using the Planedawn Orphans campaign toolkit. The basic premise is that the characters are hopping into the lives of people inside various worlds, looking for items or relics that they can use to build a brand-new world, a place where all of them can start over. Our first world visited was Household!

Household is a roleplaying game by Two Little Mice, about tiny fae folk going on big adventures in an old, abandoned house. Players choose from four different kinds of folk and five different Professions to determine their faerie gifts and their personal strengths. The game consists of rolling a number of d6s in the hopes of getting pairs, three of a kind, or, if you're lucky, four matching numbers.

We had two different investigations, one looking out for a missing noble's son, and the other trying to figure out where a missing prize bumblebee had gone. Household chosen to represent the "Air" element from the checklist in Planedawn Orphans, so we decided that the relic that made the most sense for this setting was "A Pair of Perfect Wings".

We had two different groups of adventurers, both of them given advice to blend in to whatever events were going on around them when they showed up in the other world. Since some of the players signed up for Household, but not the for the inter-dimensional travel, we decided that their characters would be permanent fixtures of the world, new friends and companions that the Orphans made along the way.

I find the setting for Household to be very charming, and the art certainly helps you visualize all of the different places and main characters. I think the set-up of the game is very good for folks who want a lot of help coming up with adventures, because Household is written as a history that has already happened; the events of the book will come to pass unless the player characters decide to do something about them.

The rules themselves are easy to learn, but this might be a downside for folks who like complex character builds with a lot of pieces that can be tweaked. Your character is pretty simple in Household, and while you'll improve as you gain experience, I don't see a lot of big changes happening over the course of play. Then again, we only played a couple of sessions, so I might be putting the cart before the horse.

Household absolutely delivers on the atmosphere it promises, but based on our limited run of it, I think the world outshines the rules. We're looking at playing another game in the same rule-system down the road, and I'm interested to see what changes have been made, and whether or not they give me more cool things to do. I'd be happy to revisit the House in the future, but I'd also love to run some other rules-systems inside the setting!

[arclundarchivist]

Finally got to the end of the whole thing.

And I will say while there were moments that I found very fitting and sweet, from how the characters ended their various journeys.

Chet becoming a mentor, Dorian becoming a new Bertrand seemingly, Deanna and Pelor reconciling. Dorian and Opal seeking to hunt down the Spider Queen. Pike dropping everything to go find the Everlight.

Was not though expecting Ashton to one, kind nix a long term relationship with Fearne and 2, just up and fucking vanish.

Also want expecting Braius to be hiding out with the Traveler and Jester.

And I did genuinely like Keyleth refusing to tell anyone about the birth of one of gods.

And there being things I’m curious to learn more of in the future.

The Realm Wardens, the identities and fates of the now mortal gods, how the Ruidians integrate into the wider Exandrian society, and so much more I have… problems with some aspects of the finale.

Firstly, it didn’t have the impact I think it should. There were hints of resentment, some anger, signs of threats on the horizon, but it just felt… too peaceful. Yes, there’s inklings of the Betrayers forces being a problem in the future, and threats against the newborn gods lives from other forces, possible resentment at the Ruidians and Ruidusborn… but nothing actually hints at any true uncertainty or danger to come.

See I get it, it’s supposed to be the happy ending of the campaign, but they just undid 800 years of status quo, the fact that everything basically seems to be over all fine feels a bit disingenuous.

The Age of “Reclamation” coming to an end should have a stronger impact and change than it at least seems to on paper.

I don’t know it just feels stark when compared to similar incidents like the the Last War in Eberron or the Godsrain in Pathfinder.

Great change should lead to some form of adversity, but even those angry over the change or distressed seem to be implied they’ll just get over it.

It just… I don’t know, I get the intention I just find it lacks impact.

Then there is the question of, well… what about the lesser powers?

Like Artagan, and the numerous others, what influence to they now get to work upon the world in the gods absence, with the added almost hypocrisy of Fearne beginning to medal in a manner that at least some of the party said was a reason to be rid of divinity.

If she gains such power, what heights could others get to?

Then we get to Ludinus hiding in the Shattered Teeth, and I hope he doesn’t get to just live out the rest of his days in peace, he doesn’t deserve that. Nor can I honestly see him doing that for long, maybe he’s just waiting for the first gods to be reborn so he can snuff the candle at the match.

I just… wonder where we go from here, what the next age is going to bring, and while I’m curious I honestly can’t say I’m excited to see it.

Of course next week we’re going back to the beginning of this passing age and I am excited for that.

One final note, one which might get me a bit of hate.

I don’t honestly think Vax and Keyleth should get back together.

But yeah, suppose these are my last thoughts until the wrap up for C3… but I am writing something a bit more fun here soon.

See you all next week for our trek back in time and whatever new masterpiece Brennan will craft.

Edit: I do find it interesting also that Opal, who is tied to the Luxon is hunting down Lolth, who…. Well if the Bright Queen story is still truly canon, is the daughter of the Luxon’s main worshipper, not just possessing her and that feels… so paradoxically fitting.

[chronoslovers]

the suckening episode 13 spoilers

first of all, so so happy that there's a season 2! as the episode was coming to a close i was feeling super bittersweet as i felt that there was a lot that hadn't been resolved, so glad this series is getting a second season as it totally deserves it! it's been my first jrwi campaign so it's very dear to me.

second of all, shilo. sweet sweet shilo. god how i've loved his arc this season. the difference between the shilo of episode 1 and 13 is palpable. what i especially loved was shilo coming to terms with empathy - facing the consequences of the old peoples home directly during the games. that entire scene with ben's death was genuinely heartbreaking, what a brilliant moment to show that yes, your actions actively hurt people around you.

i've always believed for shilo to be kind, i think it's in his nature as a person. but his lack of empathy for others held him back. he went from basically sending castle guards to their deaths to attempting to make ben's death as pleasant as possible, using his own abilities for the sake of others instead of his own personal gain. this is something i'd really love to see explored further during season 2, can definitely see the parallels with emizel here with his note at the end of the session. both have used people like they were pawns (love the literal example of this with the card planning 'board' in the motel), and are coming to terms with this. the fact that the final track from the session is called 'absence of reflection' really sums this up for the both of them. they really struggled to reflect on their own actions for the majority of this season.

yet shilo has also been fighting for his own agency, this has already been discussed by others so i'll keep in brief. shilo was a pawn for edward from the very beginning, and honestly to a lesser extent for arthur too. he's constantly used for his title and connection to the queen unwillingly, others seeking to access the power that he has. during this season we've really seen shilo attempt to break free from this, to make his own choices as he learns more about the outside world and overcomes some of his naïvety that's honestly no fault of his own. i'd need to make a whole separate post for his relationship with edward but he was only ever seen as a stepping stone to power.

of course arthur is scary, both physically now and in his abilities from the start of the campaign. but in this finale honestly i found shilo the scariest. his spell against edward that ultimately finishes the fight, the way he conducted himself in that moment, the loss of his innocence merit all made for such a wonderful scene that really shows how far shilo has come. he's always commanded people, he's not the best at physical combat but Words, that's nothing the other two pcs have much power with. the power to change someone's appearance to 0 and impact their social stats is such an insane amount of power, and i really hope this is the direction shilo heads down next season. combined with emizel's lives and physical combat skills they make a really scary duo.

summing things up, i really really love shilo. his arc has been incredible and i'm overjoyed that we will be seeing more of him as his story definitely isn't over. i'm glad we will probably get to learn more about his birth and his thoughts on that, guys they're so cain and abel. but yeah. brilliant finale to a wonderful season!

[mcjeetus0133]

Woke and Anti-Woke... Competent?

Didn't think you had it in you, Azzim.

Over the course of time, there are some things about being... not 100% wrong, (although, being 100% wrong sometimes isn't either,) that just became episodes of an ever-growing process.

One is that it's cringe. Apart from being pain. That's probably a no brainer, but it's definitely something worth throwing out over there.

Two is that in such a case where one man can be wrong, the wisest thing he can do in this situation is actually hold your tongue whether that is positive critique or arrogant outcries until the stage unfolds further because you'll never know when your smallest mistakes become your greatest daggers.

Why am I talking about this?

Because I have some funny funny to share with you. One that out of everything that surprised me from Allout Monte and his hate group, I'm actually surprised this greaseball of a bitch had it in him.

So what am I talking about? Let's run it back.

Previously, it all started where I made one slight backhanded jab at a clown by the name of Woke and Anti-Woke Detected, not only like the most incompetent missing link during the Fallout: Ashfall Hate Campaign, but also the most incompetent anti-woke loser there is. I'd personally share some of his personal pieces of cringe to help you get the point across, but the scales of the love hate relationship between myself and Tumblr is not in any mood for me to botch it with cringe by the most densest clown bitch you can find second to Monte. So you'll just have to take my word for it. And a post self-promotion.

What I will share though, is what'll end up happening after.

Around the beginning of 2025, an "Official" Fallout Ashfall Moc-Tumblr would proceed to plague the streets of Tumblr and basically impersonate the entire group. This is also the same people that ended up mass reporting my posts btw. But that's not the point, (because that's already dealt with,) the point being the first initial thoughts, because I originally thought that this was owned by Allout Monte. Not only has he attempted cringe like this in the past for schizo promotionals on a project he got rightfully fired for, but of course, I can't still imagine the insatiable amount of hate-boner cope one would have when an upstart writes several different successful hit pieces on you even taking down some alts of your own creation during the process. So of course, the first natural reaction was the ol' reliable and share it with as much people as possible.

(This is their updated video as after everything, they decided to update it with the accommodated changes to their findings.)

This did end up being successful until I ended up meeting somebody by the name of @lonewanderer821 who would not only acknowledge this, but also made an entire video covering the this entire alt. However, one change.

That the moc-Tumblr post was not owned by Monte, but by Woke and Anti-Woke Detected.

This was not something I actually didn't expect coming to the conclusion, and as we'll learn eventually, they definitely were not wrong. However, I personally was not convinced. In hindsight, I already made up my mind about Woke and Anti-Woke Detected that this was one of the dumbest coordinators defamation can buy. W&AWD had no definition of an actual cohesive and comprehensible video, let alone forming a single argument, so why the hell would be capable of making an alt and getting away with it.

So with due diligence, I had paid a visit to the video and explain the situation I knew. About Monte and his escapades, and how that even though W&AWD did not feel like the culprit of the alt at this very moment, it can definitely be on the table and I could be wrong about it. And lo and behold... there ended up being a misstep.

Because not long after the video got updated, was when they would be inactive for a while after being exposed for what they were and even providing additional evidence that the Tumblr was owned by Monte. Then the next thing you knew, they become active again, and update their pinned post with a link to a discord. What the discord was called? A Gamer Named Azzim.

Naturally, I made the mistake of believing that this was Allout Monte making the most racist name imaginable to avoid ever using their names or likeliness. The second mistake I made within that first one is that this pointer would have to work under the assumption that Allout Monte upgraded from an IQ of 8 to an IQ of 12 and ditched the loyalty of OpenAI to make it work.

And during my search and examination of this, is nothing short of fruitful.

What inevitably came next is not only the shoddily put together slop of a Discord Server where he didn't even bother to try and sell it as if this was the Ashfall Dev Team, but an entire open book on our friend and owner of the Moc-Fallout Ashfall Tumblr Channel. And this is the part where my last statement from the beginning comes to fruition.

Because I eventually found much more information about Azzim and not only that, basically provide additional proof that this troglodyte of of clown doesn't have any kind of opinion that needs to be taken seriously let alone acknowledge. And since I'm here dropping all of this at the dinner table right now, I can give you this dubious amalgamation of a main course.

What this fuckass greaseball of a clown you're looking at right now is a real manchild by the name of Azzim Zulqarnain Mohd Hazmi.

And yes, this is him. I got this information fair and square from another YouTuber who was covering this discourse where they covered a video made by Azzim which is the one and only piece of existence of this man showing his irl face. And on top of that, they also gave permissions to hold on to copies of it and sort of make mini-archive channels in the offchance that uhh... unforseen circumstances take place. (Copyright Abuse.) Also a lot of this like this goofy goober's names and socials is public information on top of their alts if it wasn't obvious enough. The only thing hiding involved being his face because after getting ratio'd so hard from that one video I will be sharing the remnants of with you that he made and then deleted, that he figured it best to just not put a face on how to be one of the greatest clown bitches of the internet.

(But because we are here today, might as well change that.)

Their videos are currently unlisted and I didn't want to ail them by asking for exacts of this video, but I will be sharing a copy of it I still had just for the sole purpose to say that it physically existed.

The long and short of this was that I definitely made an oversight on who's actually competent and incompetent. Which is certainly fair to say, however, it's also safe to say that my last statement just changed to the same thing but reversed.

There's certainly a chance that Azzim is the proprietary owner of the faux Fallout: Ashfall Tumblr Account and Monte was just either actually gone or carrying on with his life.

However, this doesn't explain why Azzim has an entire AI Generated hit piece on myself. He was still once a participant of the hate campaign. And yes, I still believe that Azzim is that useless that he would not even run ChatGPT with 0.5% potential. If anything, I think he'd break it with all the "please and thank you's" after asking it how to discredit and gaslight a geeked up writer who has the one and only existing instance of your IRL Face and having actual reading comprehension.

Either way, at the end of the day, it actually doesn't really matter to me now as much as it did before. Because all Allout and his hate group is effectively doing now is just proving each and every single syllable that targeted them right to myself, you the reader, and everybody eles. Every strike-back is effectively a confession from them, and all I really needed to do during that time was just vibe and bide my time until I get bored. And finally it did. For a bit, until Azzim actually indulged me with this new development of his ever vacant clownshow and a surprising feat I didn't know he had in him the whole time.

So, lesson of the day: mutually assured destruction is fun.

[lutethebodies]

Figured I send my questions over now while I begin answering yours!

The magic dice rolled a 6 for me for questions 3, 10, 16.

OC Ask Game: Qiranna Jasti

Rolling a 6 on the LTB-Tav-d8 gets you a shadowy Seldarine Warlock! Qiranna's gone through a BG3-era appearance change, but her story remains the same (useful links: Tav Tuesday • Minthara's judgment • mood board • character tag). This is a willful semi-ingenue who's juuuust this side of "way over her head" in pretty much everything. I've paused her modded run, intending to start it over once her original subclass (Hexblade) drops in Patch 8, but of course that doesn't preclude character-based ask games. So let's get to it, below the cut:

3. Is your character an indoor or outdoor person?

She'll take either, but would probably favor "outdoor" because as a youth her impulse to explore and discover was always encouraged. I thought a fun twist on the Lolth-sworn/poison aspect might be a Seldarine/hallucinatory aspect (can't spell fungi without fun!), so in her original 5e homebrew NPC incarnation, Qiranna was an Acolyte learning the vagaries of visionary hallucinogens—specifically a drug called "sightseed." As a herbalist-in-training, she'd have to be knowledgeable or at least aware of where sightseed plants grow and how to prepare them for ceremonies. Work like that probably would require scholary research-time but also wouldn't favor a shut-in, right?

The slightly-outdoorsy impulse also netted her a warlock patron. In my brother's campaign her background was Archaeologist (I went through a phase with non-standard backgrounds), inspired by the character Vash—Picard's roguish frenemy-with-benefits—from Star Trek Next Generation. But Qiranna's much younger and (initially) much more religious, so I needed a warlock twist. That happened on a fateful expedition with her father (more on her parents below) to find ancient artefacts of their faith. Qiranna accidentally unearthed/awoke/unleashed a powerful otherwordly entity. In 5e it was a manifestation of the Raven Queen, and in BG3 it was an archfey.

10. What kind of music do they enjoy?

I wouldn't have known how to answer this for her until BG3, because I hadn't realized how much of Eilistraee's portfolio involved song and dance. So as an acolyte of that goddess, music would have been huge for Qiranna and religious music in particular. Now, I was raised resolutely secular and have happily stayed that way, so what we Americans call "worship music" usually creeps me out, but as a lore bard and music/history nerd (and, uh, U2 fan) I know that music and religion have always gone hand in hand and there's all kinds of lore-y glory in that.

What that means for our willful warlock: I like the idea of Qiranna ditching (or behaving as if she's ditching) much of her childhood religiosity and adopting, like, oppositional defiance by taking up Minthara's (or Nere's) spider lyre and jamming out with that. Like Minthara, she's gonna have the Performer feat. So let's go with a fantasy equivalent of the gospel-and-blues, heaven-and-hell fusion that in its best form became rock & roll. Ecstatic-revelatory but also rhythm-based and sex-positive. So her fave might be…Faerun's version of…Prince? No wonder her favorite color is purple!

16. How does your OC feel about their parents?

Well, speaking of rock & roll—isn't the posturing rebellion of youth often about distancing yourself from your parents in order to begin defining yourself? Let's go with that assumption, because that's what happened to Qiranna. When briefly possessed by that aforementioned otherworldy entity (whom I really should post about; you all might like her), our impressionable acolyte experienced a display of raw power that left her exhausted but thirsting for more. "How could this be a bad thing? What could possibly go wrong?" All the famous last words flew through her brain.

If you think this wouldn't go over well with parents who were both fervent clerics of Eilistraee (or my homebrew equivalent), well, you'd be right! These two scions of House Jasti might not exactly be religious fanatics, but they'd certainly recognize their daughter's fervent protestations of direct communion with a powerful being and feel uneasy at least. Her father Qadama in particular became pretty alarmed at his daughter's slightly-unhinged enthusiasm. Turns out the mail-order-diploma nature of a warlock's magic is off-putting to more than just wizards! So let's just say her familial bonds are, at the moment, more than a little strained.

That's all for now, but I'll always accept more. Unlike my beloved bard, I do take requests.

[lurkingshan]

Love in the Big City Part 1: On Friendship

Let me start right out of the gate by addressing one of @bengiyo’s discussion questions: “What are your thoughts on the first major relationship breakup the narrator experiences being with his best female friend?” I have many thoughts about this, and it’s one of my favorite things about this novel. It means a lot to me that this story that takes us through the important relationships and great loves of our narrator (we’ll call him Young) begins not with a romance, but with a friendship. As someone who is long-term single and has been living on my own in a large city since my early 20s, I relate so much to the way Young clung to Jaehee, his hurt when their relationship began to change, and his resigned acceptance after her marriage that it will never be the same. Most of us who have lived through enough seasons of life have experienced this kind of shift in a friendship and know how destabilizing it can be, especially to those of us who do not rely on romantic partners as a primary source of emotional and practical support. 

It’s crucial when considering this relationship to be rooted in Young’s perspective as a gay man in a structurally and culturally homophobic society. As far as he is concerned, there is no possibility that he will fall in love, get married, have biological children, and fulfill the platonic ideal of a successful life that he has been taught to believe in. Young sets himself apart from those expectations and defiantly rebels against them, and he sees in Jaehee a kindred spirit. Both approach life with a kind of wry detachment and sarcastic wit, both are promiscuous and carefree about their sex lives, both care little for the people they date, and both rely primarily on each other for companionship. In their post on Part 1 @doyou000me posited that Jaehee and Young have a queer platonic relationship in which they serve as each other’s primary partners for everything but sex, and I completely agree. The two of them are functionally domestic partners, and for Young, whose sexuality precludes him from ever striving for marriage, this is an ideal set up and one he never wants to change. Though he never explicitly thought about it at his young age, I think he subconsciously hoped that he could live with Jaehee just like this for the rest of his life, seeking out men for sex and romance and otherwise coming home to her.  

The problem, of course, is that while Jaehee enjoys living this way with Young for a time, she was ultimately still raised under the same societal expectations Young is bucking, and her identity lends itself to her eventual capitulation and conformity in a way Young’s does not. So inevitably, she starts dating someone seriously, and everything changes. And here I want to get into one of @bengiyo’s other discussion questions: “The greatest distance between Jaehee and the narrator begins with her outing him to the future husband. For all of the narrator's prior concerns about being outed, why do you think he was so hurt?”

For me, the answer to this is clear: Young was hurt by this because it was a clear signal that Jaehee’s loyalty had shifted from him to her boyfriend. Young is not exactly closeted—we learn much more about this in Part 2, but even in Part 1 he is clearly living pretty openly as a gay man—but he and Jaehee had a longstanding agreement to lie to the people they date about each other’s genders and the exact nature of their friendship, and she broke this agreement for the sake of a boyfriend, which made it clear exactly how serious she was about this guy. Because as we see, the boyfriend finding out about Young is the beginning of the end for the way they’ve been living, as he expresses the expected discomfort with his girlfriend living with a man and begins his campaign to get her to marry him and live with him instead. Jaehee’s decision to break their promise was the first step to her choosing a more traditional lifestyle over their style of companionship—choosing her boyfriend over Young—and Young could feel that shift instinctually. In the moment he found out Jaehee outed him, Young knew that life with her as he knew it was over. He felt abandoned and that is why he was so hurt.

One of the things I love about the nature of this fracture in their relationship is it’s not some big dramatic explosion. Young doesn’t throw a fit and move out and Jaehee doesn’t dump him or really ever stop being his friend. They simply start drifting apart in the natural way that happens when your priorities change. The closeness they once had slowly fades away until they’re more like acquaintances, albeit acquaintances who hold an honored place in each other’s lives. Young and Jaehee continue living together for months after she gets engaged. Young helps her plan the wedding and is given an honored role at the event, explicitly acknowledged as someone important to her. She still invites him to her parties and includes him in her life. But it’s not the same, and Young doesn’t feel comfortable around the (het, conformist) people who now make up her social circle. Young doesn’t want to be the queer curiosity in Jaehee’s straight edge friend group; he wants to be her person, and he isn’t anymore, and that hurts. 

[gorimbaudandgojohnnygo]

I’m on a semi-hiatus from Facebook. I check in a few times a week, but I’ve deleted the app from both my phone and tablet so I don’t start doom scrolling. See, some of my friends are getting way too doom-and-gloom. They’re all “collapse of society” this, “global climate collapse” that, sharing every horrific news article that comes along. And I just can’t immerse myself in that energy at this juncture. I’m not burying my head in the sand, or remaining neutral in situations of injustice, I’m not becoming some kind of CoViD denier or climate change denier or anything like that. But, as I’ve said before, I’m naturally prone to anxiety, depression, and existential dread. It is a daily fight for me to not completely succumb to them. I’ve started to learn, over the past few years, some ways to deal with those tendencies. There’s art and music, of course, and physical activity. There’s also the question I ask myself before I read any news article: “Can I do something, even something small, to deal with this problem in a constructive way right now?” If the answer is ‘no,’ I simply don’t read it until I’m in a headspace in which I can handle it, which is sometimes never. And there’s temporarily distancing myself from friends and acquaintances when they get too gloom-and-doom, or too bitter. I don’t expect people to be relentlessly positive all the time, but I also can’t subject myself to excessive negativity all the time. And I don’t know. A lot of my friends who are falling into that constant negativity and doom don’t have kids. And I feel like…having kids, I don’t have the luxury to let myself fall into total despair. No matter what’s happening, I’ve still gotta keep my kids safe and healthy, and it’s a lot harder to do that if I’m too depressed to get out of bed.

So I do what I can: I participate in letter-writing campaigns and phone banks for various causes, I help plan and cook community meals, I modify and mend my old clothes, I repurpose other old things for art projects, I plan what I will grow in my garden this year (and I teach myself more about sustainable gardening). I remind myself of that Tumblr post that was floating around a while back, about not thinking too much about the end of the world because there are dishes to wash and people to love. I remind myself of Brother Curtis Almquist saying: If you are anxious just now, you are almost already hopeful. And of Rebecca Solnit saying: To hope is to gamble. It’s to bet on the future, on your desires, on the possibility that an open heart and uncertainty is better than gloom and safety. And I remind myself of Richard Brautigan’s poem “Calendula:”

My friends worry and they tell me about it. They talk of the world ending of darkness and disaster. I always listen gently and then say: No, it’s not going to end. This is only the beginning, as this book is only a beginning.

[from a journal entry, January 15, 2022]

[askagamedev]

When we look at FPS games that have a story or a campaign mode, one of the flaws I see is the last boss and making it "feel" like a last boss fight. It always is either make the boss a bullet sponge and take 100 headshots, he dies in a QTE, or the player has so powerful a gun it trivializes the fight. Is this an inherent unsolvable problem with the FPS genre or can you think of FPS games that have come up with interesting, climactic, and "epic" boss fights?

What you're describing is the dissonance between having a normal human (with all of the common context that carries with it, like "people often die when they are shot at all") as the final boss and the expectation of a final boss fight being a prolonged, memorable, and epic battle that tests the things you've learned so far. There are a number of clever and reasonable ways to work around these conflicting concepts. Here are a few general methods of doing this that I thought of off the top of my head. This list is by no means exhaustive.

We build the encounter to make it difficult to reach or attack the boss directly. The boss could have mostly-similar stats to ordinary grunts when engaged directly, but the boss constantly summons allies or obstacles. Chasing the boss while ignoring the external threats would quickly result in the player's death, so the challenge becomes controlling the reinforcements while chasing the boss down and striking when the opportunity presents itself. Another possibility along this method is to have a multi-phase fight where the boss is not initially vulnerable, and the player must tackle the different phases in order to open the boss up and make it vulnerable.

We can also make the boss do something to alleviate its human fragility, e.g. get into a mech suit/tank/giant death machine, mutate into a monster, or was never human to begin with - a demon, an alien, a monster, a robot, an angel, a dragon, a dinosaur, a god, whatever. With a reasonable in-universe explanation to why the last boss no longer has all of the normal human fragility, we don't feel the dissonance anymore and can happily fight a boss driving a scorpion tank with accompanying sonic cannon and acid drone swarm.

A third approach is to change the parameters of the encounter so it isn't just a fight. The final mission could be, for example, to infiltrate the final boss's lair, assassinate the final boss, and then successfully extract from that lair. The final mission could be obtaining/destroying the McGuffin that the player and the enemy have been chasing over the course of the game. It could just be "survive long enough" while something happens, like uploading evidence to expose the bad guy's wrongdoing to the world.

As you can see, there's a lot of possibilities to make engaging and different final boss encounters. Not everything has to fall into just standing and shooting each other until one side runs out of health. If we change the parameters of the conflict, we can make the encounter different and interesting. We can do this by adjusting other parameters within the fight, changing the boss's state to alleviate human fragility, or even change the goals so that the boss encounter is more than just a gunfight. As a design exercise, can you think of other methods of a final FPS boss fight that maintains the boss's humanity but still makes it reasonably engaging?

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[gamergirljournalist]

Review: The Legends of Vox Machina Season 3 (2024) - Relationships intertwine with adventure

RATING: 4/5 Stars Warning: this review contains spoilers for the third season of The Legends of Vox Machina

Season 3 of The Legends of Vox Machina has dropped and thanks to Amazon, I received early access to the show. Ever since the successful Kickstarter campaign, this D&D-themed animated series was able to share the tale of Critical Role's first campaign in an easy-to-digest format, especially for new fans who don't have the time to watch hours of D&D campaigns that span hundreds of episodes.

For those who don't know what this show is about, it stars the original Critical Role cast - Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, and of course, Matthew Mercer. All of them reprise their roles that form the Vox Machina team, who travel across Tal'dorei to stop various enemies, while also forming some alliances. While many thought that Season 3 would feature a new campaign, it was actually a continuation of the Chroma Conclave - the second arc of the Vox Machina story. So was this latest installment able to tie this story together within the 12 episodes it received?

Warning, I will be spoiling the show, so if you want to watch it blind, steer clear for now. Also, this review is written by someone who hasn't watched the original livestreams.

In Continuation of the Chroma Conclave arc

Season 3 continues where season 2 left off, where the Vox Machina team finally learns about Thordak's plan and somewhat forms an alliance with Raishan. Unlike season 1, where it was able to tell the entire Briarwood arc, the Chroma Conclave story was extended into two parts, with season 3 merging multiple side quests and story arcs into 12 episodes. While it does try to make it work, it seems like some of the stories felt condensed to keep the ball rolling, especially if the show wants to move on to its next story arc in season 4 (more on that later). Not to mention, it's clear that some changes needed to be made, especially if they were to tell this story for a Television/Streaming size format. It's not all bad as it gives greater focus on our characters.

Less action, More Relationship Building

The previous seasons of The Legends of Vox Machina showcased so much action and adventure, something that's reminiscent of many Dungeons and Dragons games. But season 3 flips that format and decides to focus on the relationships our characters have. Whether it's Pike's trust in the Everlight, Vax and Keylith's will-they-won't-they situation, and Percy and Vex's situationship, all of these relationships get a fair amount of time in the spotlight and play a role in how our characters develop, not only as themselves but also as a team. And it's not just the team dynamic, even those outside the party like Scanlan's daughter, Vex and Vax's father and mother, and Allura and Kima, these external characters also play a role in the team's development. It's really great how The Legend of Vox Machina showcases that our source of power is from the people we're close with, not just from physical strength alone. If you're invested in the relationships that have been formed since the show's beginning, it's best to grab some tissues because you're going to need them.

The adventure isn't over yet.

Fans of the original livestream know what happens to Vox Machina at the end of the campaign. So the way that season 3 ends shows that the adventure isn't over. The final episode teases another big bad is on the horizon, while our team splits up for the time being to work on themselves. It's quite a heartfelt ending, while also teasing there is more to come. While a season 4 (or possibly a season 5) has yet to be announced, The Legend of Vox Machina has prepared itself to tell one or two more final story arcs before it moves towards the Mightly Nein campaign.

Overall thoughts

In all honesty, The Legends of Vox Machina Season 3 feels a bit rushed. While it did conclude the Chroma Conclave story in this season, some story beats had little development and you wished the show did more with it. But it also makes sense why it was condensed the way it was due to the amount of time and episodes the show has. Despite some of its flaws, it's also a fun season, with more relationship-building, music from Sam Riegel, LGBT+ themes, and the usual Dungeons and Dragons antics translated into an adult animation show.

Viewers will be on the edge of their seats, and there may be tears, but in the end, it wraps up another story arc that needed two seasons to showcase its conclusion.

The Legends of Vox Machina Season 3 is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

[neattequila]

Harry's Style Evolution (by an actual stylist) Part 3: Fine Line Era! Part 1 of 2*

Hi hi hi. First of all thanks for all the love on Part 1 and Part 2 which are linked. I highly recommend reading them first as I'll be referencing some of his past style.

This one took me so long to do because Harry's Fine Line era is when he really develops the personal style that he's now known for, and I have LITERALLY SO MUCH TO SAY. So without further ado!

*LOL I HIT PIC LIMIT before we even got to 2020. This is officially HS Style part 3 but Part 1 of 2 for the Fine Line Era.

HERE'S THE LINK TO PART 2

We left off in 2018, Harry was still touring his first album and was dating Camille Rowe (as far we know) who was beginning to influence his style.

After Live on Tour ends there's a period where we don't see him for a bit. Later we'll learn that him and Camille have broken up, and he jets off to Japan for some much needed hermit time.

2019

January, Harry's spotted in Japan. He rings in the new year with a ragtag batch of famous people that are for some reason all in Japan at the same time.

Here we see the debut of the custom gold Gucci rings that will become a staple for him (they retail at $470 each incase you were wondering.) We also see him in some Gucci jeans, and this vintage army jacket that I still have dreams about.

By March he's back in London and we get some more hints of his evolving personal style. He's back in jeans but he's over the black skinny's he previously coveted instead opting for a light wash straight leg. He wears this Raf Simmons jumper I'm obsessed with an looks oh-so-cozy. We'll also see the athletic outfits that he still wears today.

Also in March he introduced, and preforms with, Stevie Nicks as she's inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame.

He wears a gorgeous blue Gucci suit with white Gucci boots. We'll actually see him in this exact same Blue suit later in an ad campaign for Gucci for their Fall 2019 collection. (P.S. his hair is so delicious here I love this length on him.)

The next time we publicly see Harold is in May for the MET GALA! Y'all do not understand how hard I screamed in my living room when I found out he was going to be one of the chairs.

We first see him in a Gucci ensemble at the pre-gala dinner which he hosts at <3 Stonewall Inn <3 I literally remember when these pictures dropped me and the girlies were going stupid on Tumblr.com. It's hard to see in this picture but this is the first we see the EARRING! (May she rest)

I do remember being slightly disappointed with Harry's gala fit at the time. I wanted it a little campier and brighter, but as his style has evolved into the Harry's House era (we will get there when we get there lol.) I feel like in retrospect I can appreciate her much better.

She was delicate, she was sexy, and she was camp and queer in a much subtler way. The pearl earring really was everything not to mention the way he looks in the sheer black. YUM!

For the after party H changes into another Gucci ensemble which is very camp in an Orville Redenbacher way. He Gucci drop cross earring is a slay.

Also in May Harry attends his first (can you believe it?) Gucci show and wears one of my FAVORITE outfits he's ever worn.

It's head to toe Gucci of course, but the white suit with the white tank underneath it. Paired with pink sunglasses and pink soft loafers and a WICKER bag! Honey, THIS is styling!

He looks like he's about to ask if I wanna do a bump in the bathroom and my answer is YES!

Harry started working with Harry Lambert towards the end of his time in 1D, and so it's safe to assume that Lambert also had something to do with this outfit (and every other outfit he wears during this era.) How we fell from grace I still can't place in my head.

Anyway we also see his soon-to-be signature Fine Line pink and blue forever nails.

In August and September he appears on a myriad of Magazine covers. Most notably Rolling Stone, but my personal favorite The Face.

So what if I think about his photos for The Face in the night time sometimes, what're you gonna do sue me?!

Left he wears Bode shorts, middle a Gucci shirt and right a gorgeous Martine Rose jacket that he pairs with acid wash jeans.

In October the music video for Lights Up drops out of no where (fun fact when it dropped I was drunk in a club and went in the bathroom to watch it, when I woke up the next day I thought I'd dreamed the whole thing.

The Lights Up MV features a variety of looks. Including what will become the official Fine Line outfit: suspenders over an open shirt with high waisted trousers. This graphic is from Harry Fashion Archive which I did get a lot of these pics from so go check them out.

In November Fine Line the album is officially announced! (See how much there is to cover! We haven't even gotten to album release yet!)

On the cover Harry wears a custom Gucci ensemble of an open shirt, suspenders, and high waisted pants. Featuring Tom Walker's hand in a Gucci glove.

In November he hosts and is the musical guest on SNL where we get some great looks.

He preforms the soon-to-be smash hit Watermelon Sugar for the first time in a custom Watermelon-coloured Gucci suit. He also preforms Lights Up in a sequin Gucci suit.

On the show he wears another Gucci suit from their Spring/Summer collection (left). This look (right) is another all time favorite outfit of mine. A custom Bode shirt jacket paired with the iconic Christopher Kane "Sex" shirt, and brown Gucci trousers. This is another example of styling at its finest.

Off the show he wears a few sweater vests, most popular of which is this one by Lavin (left.) At a Spotify party for his album in December he will wear another Lavin piece, this time a cardigan, paired with baggy chinos and vans and the soon to infamous pearl necklace.

A few more fashion moments happen in December. He collaborates with Alessandro Michele for the first time to create this limited edition "Fine Line" t-shirt (left) that retails for $75. (Did anyone actually buy these?) He also goes through a Marc Jacobs sweater/shirt kick seen here on the Ellen show (right) but he wears them a few more times as well.

He preforms "Fine Line Live" in Los Angeles wearing the Gucci suit from the album cover paired with socks that say Fuck It (left.) Right he wears another Gucci suit to preform "Fine Line Live" in London.

*LOL I HIT PIC LIMIT before we even got to 2020. This is officially HS Style part 3 but Part 1 of 2 for the Fine Line Era.

LINK TO PART TWO HERE!