More you might like
I thought this was just a post about what month was coming up.
It's gonna be may, but it's already an economic crisis.
burn out
Internet hugs for anyone else out there dealing with burn out or other mental and/or physical issues that make it hard to interact right now
When u follow a bunch of ppl who are into a series u know nothing about and your dash is full of posts about the big update
I spy, with my little eye, a photo that was faked by an AI image generator! Can you spot the clues?
FB is turning into a parade of fake AI images churned out by click-farming pages. More misinformation is on the way. Learn some tricks for spotting AI photos!
Which is Eliot's best outfit of the entire series?
1 - Blue undershirt, white apron, red bandana
2 - Dark grey button-up over white undershirt (+ optional vest), blue jeans
3 - Black leather holster over blue button-up over navy undershirt, blue jeans
4 - Brown shoulder holster over red button-up over black undershirt, blue jeans
5 - Brown shoulder holster over grey Henley, pale cargo pants, striped bandana
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
C3E091 True Heroism
The Archivists have been hard at work gathering Episode 91 data. You can visit our site for a fuller picture, but some highlights are below, starting with some statistics about our beloved Faithful Care-Giver:
- FCG dealt 967 points of confirmed damage over the course of the campaign, with their top damage episode being C3E057 The Sorrow of Molaesmyr, when they did 150 points of damage.
- But, as we know, his greatest strength was in protecting his friends. Across 91 episodes, FCG gave 1,452 points of confirmed healing. Their final episode, C3E091 True Heroism, was also their top healing episode with 286 HP.
- Additionally, FCG used Transfer Suffering to mitigate 243 points of damage across the campaign. Of all the Hells, he most frequently took damage for Imogen, and took the highest number of points for Fearne.
- Appropriately, their favorite spell was Guidance, which they cast 140 times. Their other top spells/features included Cure Wounds, Transfer Suffering, Enhance Ability, and Channel Divinity (Sympathetic Binding).
- At the time of their death, FCG had taken more damage than any other PC: a whopping 2,062 points of damage over the course of the campaign.
- He got three HDYWTDTs, wished people a smiley day 51 times, and made (or inspired) 66 unfortunate references to having a flesh tongue.
- He was made of metal and wires, but he was alive, and because of him, his friends are too.
ALTVisit our site for the rest of our FCG highlights, as well as a special tribute that you should make sure to click.
As for the Legend of the Peaks, some truly frightening highlights:
- Otohan Thull dealt 847 points of damage. With four attacks per turn, they were likely a level 20 Psi Warrior fighter. She had two legendary resistances, and she took a total of 501 points of damage, 299 of these before exalting.
- At 399 damage, Otohan took a health potion and healed 66 points. She then took 63 additional points of damage before FCG made their sacrifice.
- Presuming that Otohan was not resistant to the damage from FCG’s explosion (79), which seems likely given the particular arcane nature of FCG’s core, that puts her total HP somewhere between 400 and 475 points.
- For comparison, these stats put her in the same HP range as a Forge Guardian, the demon prince of undeath Orcus, or an Ancient Dragon Turtle, with more multi attacks and damage resistances than any of them. Terrifying!
ALTVisit our Episode 91 page here for more detail about Otohan, and check out our homepage for some additional highlights.
You know what's interesting to me? For all people keep claiming at every juncture that perhaps Bells Hells will come around on the gods and see the harm they do (which, as discussed extensively, is, half the time, simply not intervening) not only have they never done so, but also they never quite cross the line into saying the party should join the Ruby Vanguard or aid them - and indeed, they defend against it - so what does this achieve? It feels like they're asking for a story in which the party stands idly by, which isn't much of a story nor, if I may connect this briefly to the real world, a political stance anyone should be proud of.
That's honestly the frustration with the gods and the "what if the Vanguard has a point" conversations in-game. What do we do then? Do we allow the organization that will murder anyone for pretty much any reason that loosely ties into their goals run rampant? The group that (perhaps unwittingly, but then again, Otohan's blades had that poison) disrupted magic world-wide, and caused people who had the misfortune to live at nexus points to be teleported (most, as commoners, without means of return). While also fomenting worldwide unrest?
Those were the arguments before the trip to Ruidus; with the reveal of the Vanguard's goals to invade Exandria, the situation becomes even more dire. Do you let the Imperium take over the planet?
And do the arguments against the gods even hold up? If Ludinus is so angry at them for the Calamity, what does it say that he destroyed Western Wildemount's first post-Calamity society for entirely selfish means? (What does it say about the validity of vengeance as a motivator?) What does it say that Laudna told Imogen she could always just live in a cottage quietly without issue before the solstice even happened? (Would this still be true if the Imperium controls the world?) What does it say that when faced with a furious, grieving party and the daughter she keeps telling herself was her reason for all of this, Liliana can't provide an answer to the question of what the gods have done other than that their followers will retaliate...for, you know, the Vanguard's endless list of murders. (That is how the Vanguard and Imperium tend to think, huh? "How dare your face get in the way of my boot; how dare you hit me back when I strike you.") She can't even provide a positive answer - why is Predathos better - other than "I feel it", even though Imogen and Fearne know firsthand that Predathos can provide artificial feelings of elation. Given all the harm Ludinus has done in pursuit, why isn't the conclusion "the gods should have crashed Aeor in such a way that the tech was unrecoverable?"
Even as early as the first real discussion on what the party should do, the fandom always stopped short of saying "no, Imogen's right, they should join up with the people who killed half the party," it was always "no, she didn't really mean it, she just was trying to connect with her mother." Well, she's connected with her mother, and at this point the party doesn't even care about the gods particularly (their only divinely-connected party member having died to prevent the Vanguard from killing all of them). So they will stop the Vanguard; as Ashton says, the means are unforgiveable. As Laudna says, it's not safe to bet on Predathos's apathy. As Imogen says, she's done running; the voice that she used to think of as a lifeline belongs to someone she doesn't trust. So I guess my question is: if they're stopping the people who are trying to kill the gods (and defense of the gods isn't remotely their personal motivation)...do you think the next phase of the campaign is Bells Hells personally killing the gods? Reconstructing the Aeor tech and hoping none of their allies notice? How does this end? Does your ideology ever get enacted? Or is this entirely moot and pointless and the story ends with Bells Hells saying "well, I'm really glad we stopped the people who [insert list of Vanguard atrocities from above]; none of us follow the gods or plan to, but honestly, the status quo we return to is preferable to whatever nightmare Ludinus had concocted in his violent quest for power and revenge"?
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere but it feels relevant again in light of the most recent episode. Something that’s really fascinating to me about Orym’s grief in comparison to the rest of the hells’ grief is that his is the youngest/most fresh and because of that tends to be the most volatile when it is triggered (aside from FCG, who was two and obviously The Most volatile when triggered.)
As in: prior to the attack on Zephrah, Orym was leading a normal, happy, casual life! with family who loved him and still do! Grief was something that was inflicted upon him via Ludinus’ machinations, whereas with characters like Imogen or Ashton, grief has been the background tapestry of their entire lives. And I think that shows in how the rest of them are largely able to, if not see past completely (Imogen/Laudna/Chetney) then at least temper/direct their vitriol or grief (Ashton/Fearne/Chetney again) to where it is most effective. (There is a glaring reason, for example, that Imogen scolded Orym for the way he reacted to Liliana and not Ashton. Because Ashton’s anger was directed in a way that was ultimately protective of Imogen—most effective—and Orym’s was founded solely in his personal grief.)
He wants Imogen to have her mom and he wants Lilliana to be salvageable for Imogen because he loves Imogen. But his love for the people in his present actively and consistently tend to conflict with the love he has for the people in his past. They are in a constant battle and Orym—he cannot fathom losing either of them.
(Or, to that point, recognize that allowing empathy to take root in him for the enemy isn't losing one of them.)
It is deeply poignant, then, that Orym’s grief is symbolized by both a sword and shield. It is something he wields as a blade when he feels his philosophy being threatened by certain conversational threads (as he believes it is one of the only things he has left of Will and Derrig, and is therefore desperately clinging onto with both bloody hands even if it makes him, occasionally, a hypocrite), but also something he can use in defense of the people he presently loves—if that provocative, blade-grief side of him does not push them—or himself—away first.
(it won’t—he is as loved by the hells as he loves them. he just needs to—as laudna so beautifully said—say and hear it more often.)
4:35 Blaze it sorry traffic was crazy
oh we missed the ten year anniversary of the worst post i’ve ever made
traffic again?